Good FF card for newbie

[FFGrey]

Hi there!

I just signed up to this website, how come it's taken me this long to find it? Fantastic!

What I was interested in was getting a good FF program credit card as I don't currently have one :shock:

Some things that would be useful - I am not worried about caps, and I would prefer a low fee/low interest rate card if possible. Can anyone help me? There seem to be so many options out there. I had a trawl through a lot of posts but some of the info was a bit old.

Thanks a lot,

Grey

 

[opusman]

Some things that would be useful - I am not worried about caps, and I would prefer a low fee/low interest rate card if possible. Can anyone help me? There seem to be so many options out there. I had a trawl through a lot of posts but some of the info was a bit old.

Citibank has/had an offer of a Gold Visa card free for life - if you can find this offer on the net (search the forum here for links to it) then that would probably be the cheapest for you (free!) and it offers 1:1 QFF points.

Most Visa/Mastercards these day tend to offer 1:0.5 QFF points - exceptions I can think of are the ANZ range, which do come with earning caps and aren't particularly cheap.

If you want maximum points then an Amex is probably the way to go, but they aren't super cheap either. The rewards maximizer offers 1:1.5 QFF points and is $16 / month, and there is a Qantas co-branded range of Amex cards which offers up to 1.5 points as well as one free flight a year depending on how much you want to spend.

My advice would be to have a hunt around and see if you can find the free Citibank offer still on as this would be by far the cheapest card with decent points earning capability.

 

[FFGrey]

Citibank has/had an offer of a Gold Visa card free for life - if you can find this offer on the net (search the forum here for links to it) then that would probably be the cheapest for you (free!) and it offers 1:1 QFF points.

Thanks for the tip - I have had a little bit of a browse and the links tend to direct to the main Citibank page, which makes me think maybe they are no longer offering it.

If you want maximum points then an Amex is probably the way to go, but they aren't super cheap either. The rewards maximizer offers 1:1.5 QFF points and is $16 / month, and there is a Qantas co-branded range of Amex cards which offers up to 1.5 points as well as one free flight a year depending on how much you want to spend.

I found this AMEX card that is actually fee free... should I go for it? It could be as good as the Citibank deal.

Because I have less than 10 posts I cant include the link. If you google "the qantas american express card $0 annual card fee" it's the first link, silver card on the left of the page.

It looks like a good deal, except its AMEX and I would prefer VISA as Visa seems to be more accepted than AMEX, but a credit card is a credit card in the end. I just want to be able to max my point earning potential!

 

[zan5hin]

The right credit card really depends on which FF program you are a part of and your annual spend.

If you are with AA then the expensive Amex one is really good as you can convert the starwood points to AA miles. The signup fee is $395 though, with a free flight or something.

The cheaper Amex you mentioned is on a different program, so you don't get the option to convert to AA airline miles, only to buy items and qantas miles I think.

The citibank is probably the best option if you want a $0 fee card.

Personally I found that with all the fees involved (CC processing and exchange conversion) and the devalutation of FF miles with the way airlines are faring these days, it's going to be cheaper for me to just use a Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard overseas and load it with my own cash and not worry about miles.

 

[oz_mark]

The cheaper Amex you mentioned is on a different program, so you don't get the option to convert to AA airline miles, only to buy items and qantas miles I think.
.

This is incorrect. The base Qantas American Express Card has no annual fee and earns 1 QFF point per dollar spent on the card.

 

[serfty]

Excluding the direct transfer to QFF schemes, to get ANY airline miles from Amex MR, you need to be in either the Ascent or Spirit programs, Choices does not cut it.

I would avoid 'Spirit' as it only allows Direct transfers to one Airline program - QFF.

 

[FFGrey]

Hi, thanks for the posts...

I am only interested in Qantas Frequent flyer programs for now - and I think the AMEX card that I saw looked pretty good.. I like the fact it has no annual fee.

Are there any real advantages with being with other FF programs? I am pretty new to all this stuff so I am still browsing and learning.

I can't seem to find the Citibank no annual fee card anywhere, I am assuming it is no longer being offered?!:?:

This is the AMEX card deal:

• No capping of points
• Up to 55 interest free days on purchases.
• Online Services where you can access your account online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Emergency Card Replacement anywhere in the world usually within 24 hours.
• Current interest rate of 20.49% p.a.
• $0 annual Card fee per supplementary Card.

 

[Danger UXB]

Hi FFGrey
yes the citi bank deal is dead. If you look at the thread (free for life) at the end both evojonny and my attempts resulted in nothing. I did read about someone who printed the application out ( from one of the earlier posts in the thread) and faxed it to India with success( cant remember where!)
If you want max point earning then citibank gold or plat 1:1 with QFF or CBA plat and I think gold 1:1 ( caps and annual fees are different, the caps are the luck of the draw and do not follow any logic some people get caught some dont!)
The rest of the visas and mc cards seem to offer less than 1:1 conversion some are really piss poor!
Any AMEX at 1.5:1 is agreat point earner depending on the spend.
I really think this topic is worth a sticky like the "ultimate qantas guide" and "abbreviations" stickys maybe the PTB (powers that be) could sort it as this question in one form or another gets asked alot
Regards Danger UXB

 

[bati]

anyone know of any fee free visa card with FF points?

 

[bati]

sorry, can someone tell me how to post url?

 

[bati]

Citibank Australia - Special Introductory Offer Application
The link is still available, hopefully someone can work it out.

 

[excite]

I think the Citi gold card with no annual fee and Wizard clear card would be a really good combination.

 

[Tortuga]

Hmm this sucks. Don't think Citibank offer the no annual fees card any more. Seems like I have bad timing, are there any other cards out there that compete with the Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard?

 

[cattledog]

Hi, this is my first ff message!

I wanted to find the current (ie November 2008) situation re best buy Amex & Visa/Mastercards offering Qantas FF points. My current cards become useless for earning Qantas points at the end of March next year.

I'd be grateful for any words of wisdom!