We ranked 15 different Qantas Credit Cards into a tier list to see what are the best Qantas frequent flyer credit cards. These are some of the best credit cards if you want to earn a Qantas points credit card and redeem free travel with Qantas in business class. Hopefully This will help you to make a better decision as to which credit card to sign up for next.
So, there are over 30 different Qantas Points earning credit cards on the Australian market, and deciding which one to sign up for can be difficult. There are personal cards, Qantas business credit cards, cards with annual fees ranging from $0 all the way up to over $1,000, and a whole array of different card features to choose from. I’m going to be ranking every single Qantas points credit card with no annual fee into a tier list so that you know next time which ones you should be considering signing up for and which ones you should absolutely avoid.
Best frequent flyer credit cards Ranking Criteria & Tier List
Now, to help me rank all of these cards, there are four different categories that I’ll be looking at. Secondly, the annual fee, and also the ongoing earn rate of Qantas Points for when we use our card for purchases. And finally, card features, so things like lounge invitations, travel insurance, etc. The ranking of these cards will also be split up into four simple categories. Firstly, we have the cards that you should absolutely be signing up for today, cards that you should consider signing up for in the future, and then cards that are a maybe, and then finally, cards that you should absolutely avoid.
Best Frequent Flyer Qantas Credit Cards in Australia
Qantas Credit Cards
As I’m doing the review, I’ll also group them up based on the provider. So, let’s get things started with cards that are offered by Qantas themselves, which include the Qantas Premier Everyday Card, Platinum Card, and Titanium Card. These three cards represent the three different tiers offered by Qantas themselves.
Qantas Premier Everyday
- Sign up Bonus: 8,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $49
- Free: complimentary travel insurance
- 1.0: earn 1.0 Qantas points per $ spent
- N/A: Qantas club lounge access
With the Everyday Card, you won’t receive a lump sum amount of bonus Qantas Points as a part of your signup. So this means you’ll be earning three Qantas Points per dollar spent as a part of your sign up bonus, but this is capped at 8,000 points, which could be better.
The standard earning rate of the card is one Qantas Point per dollar spent, and because it is more of a beginner card, the annual fee is low at $49 per year, which is good, In terms of additional features, the only thing that comes with this card is complimentary travel insurance so it doesn’t have any lounge access, which shouldn’t come as a surprise for this card as it is a beginner card with a low annual fee.
Qantas Platinum credit card
- Sign up Bonus: 60k +20k Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $399
- $349: reduced 1st year annual fee
- 1.0: earn 1.0 Qantas points per $ spent
- 2: Qantas club lounge access
- 20% discount on domestic airline
The Platinum Card is the next step up with a signup bonus of 60,000 bonus Qantas Points after spending $3,000 in the first three months, plus receive an extra 20,000 bonus Qantas Points if you’re a first-time Qantas Card holder and you haven’t earned any Qantas Points from a credit card within the last 12 months. It also comes with a reduced first-year annual fee of $349 before reverting to $399 in the second year. You’ll also earn one Qantas Point per dollar spent on all domestic purchases, but for any international purchases, you’ll earn 1.5 Qantas Points.
However, there is an international transaction fee of 3%, so I would avoid using this card for any international purchases. As this card is a more premium card, it comes with some nice features with two complimentary Qantas Club lounge invitations. You also get up to a 20% discount on all domestic airfares for you and 8 other friends when you book through Qantas’ concierge service. That alone is a significant saving, especially if you’re going with 8 other friends.
Qantas Titanium Credit card
- Sign up Bonus: 150,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $1200
- 1.25 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 4 1st class & Qantas club lounge passes
- 20% bonus status credit earned
The Titanium card is the most premium card offered by Qantas, and it comes stacked filled with benefits. It comes with the largest signup bonus, with 150,000 bonus Qantas Points after spending $5,000 within 3 months. You’ll also earn 1.25 Qantas Points on an ongoing basis, which is also the highest earning rate, and it comes packed full of additional travel benefits that will have frequent flyers salivating at the mouth.
This includes receiving two complimentary first class lounge invitations and also two Qantas Club lounge invitations. You’ll also receive 10% off eligible domestic and international base airfares for you and one other traveler twice a year, and this is the only card that offers a 20% bonus status credit when you book and pay for your flight using the Titanium credit card. If you are someone who purely flies with Qantas and you’re focused on earning status credits and climbing Qantas’ loyalty program, then this card can be extremely beneficial.
This is definitely more of a niche card and should only be considered by people who are really going to be frequently traveling with Qantas and can really leverage all the benefits that come along with this card. And it’s for those reasons that I’m putting this card in the maybe tier, while the platinum card goes into the consider in the future while the everyday card unfortunately goes down the bottom.
Amex Qantas Credit Cards
Qantas Amex Premium Card
- Sign up Bonus: 20,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $249
- free complimentary travel insurance
- 1.0 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 2 Qantas club lounge access
credit cards are offered by Qantas themselves, but what about my favorite American Express, where they offer two different Qantas points earning credit cards?? The Qantas premium card is their middle-of-the-range card, which offers a signup bonus of 20,000 bonus Qantas velocity points credit card after spending $3,000 in the first three months.
You’ll earn one Qantas point on an ongoing basis, and the annual fee is $249 per year. You do also receive two complimentary Qantas club lounge invitations, and it comes with a range of additional complimentary insurances as well. However, I still don’t think those benefits justify the relatively high annual fee that comes along with this card.
Qantas Ultimate Card
- Sign up Bonus: 100,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $450
- $450 travel credit to use with Qantas
- 1.25 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 2 Qantas club lounge access
The Qantas ultimate card, however, a bonus, you’ll earn 100,000 bonus Qantas points after spending just $3,000 in the first three months, and on an ongoing basis, you’ll also earn 1.25 Qantas points per dollar that you pay, which puts it on par with the Qantas titanium card. Now, it does come with a relatively high annual fee of $450, but you’ll also receive a $450 Qantas travel credit that you can use for eligible domestic and international flights.
You’ll also receive a total of four lounge passes, two of which will be to Qantas’ lounge, and then another two will be to Amex’s Centurion lounge in Melbourne or Sydney. While this card doesn’t have as many additional perks and benefits as the titanium card, it is essentially a $0 annual fee credit card because of the $450 travel credit. Still comes packed full of features and comes with a sizable signup bonus, and for those reasons, this is a card that you should definitely be considering signing up for immediately. At the same time, the Qantas rewards credit card premium goes on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Citi Bank Credit Cards
Citibank Prestige Qantas Card
- Sign up Bonus: 100,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $749
- free 4th night free for hotels
- 1.5 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- free priority pass membership
- $10 cashback on uber rides
Next, let’s look at credit cards that are offered by Citibank, where we also have two different cards to choose from. Now, it’s important to note that Citibank was acquired by NAB Qantas credit card last year. However, I expect the credit card offerings offered by Citibank to remain the same. I still expect them to operate as a separate entity, just under the umbrella of NAB. The city prestige card is the most premium card offered by Citibank. It can be compared with the likes of the Qantas titanium card and the Qantas American Express ultimate card.
It has a great signup bonus of 100,000 bonus Qantas points after spending $7,000 in the first two months and has the highest ongoing earn rate out of all cards on this list, with 1.5 Qantas credit card offer points earned per dollar spent. The annual fee is $749 which slots it right between the middle of the titanium card and the Qantas ultimate card. While it doesn’t come with any credits that directly offset the annual fee, it does come with a wide range of benefits that could make the annual fee worth it for the right individual.
Firstly, you’ll receive a complimentary priority pass membership with unlimited lounge visits at over 1,400 airport lounges across the globe which is usually valued at around about $300. You’ll also receive your fourth night free when you stay four consecutive nights at a wide range of hotels when booked through this Citibank concierge service and also enjoy $10 cashback per month when you spend more than $40 with Uber.
You may also Read: Amex vs Citi Bank: Which Credit Card is The Best?
The Citi Premier Card
- Sign up Bonus: 70,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $349
- free 2 complementary airport lounge passes
- 1.0 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- free mobile phone & travel insurance
The Citi Premier Qantas credit card offers a signup bonus of 70,000 bonus Qantas points, of which you receive 50,000 bonus points when you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months from approval. Then, an additional 20,000 bonus points when you keep yours. This does mean that you’ll have to pay the annual fee twice, and the yearly cost is pretty high at $349, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend keeping the card open for more than 12 months.
On an ongoing basis, you’ll receive one Qantas point per dollar spent. In terms of features and benefits, the unique thing about this card is that it offers mobile phone insurance, which is nice to have, meaning that if you break your phone, then the repairs will be covered by this card. It also comes with two lounge passes with a priority pass. However, these additional perks and benefits are not worth the $350 annual fee. So it’s for those reasons that you should avoid this card, while the prestige card can go into the maybe category as it is more of a niche card that’s targeted at specific individuals.
Big 4 Bank Credit Cards
St George Amplify Signature Card
- Sign up Bonus: 90,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $295
- free 2 complementary airport lounge passes
- 0.75 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 139$ reduced 1st year annual fee
we have the St George Amplify Signature Card, the Combank Smart Awards Card, and then the Bankwest Qantas Signature Card. Now, let’s start with the Combank card, given it’s one of the big 4. For a signup bonus, you can earn up to 10,000 Qantas points per month when you spend at least $1,500 or more for the first 3 months. So, in total, you can receive up to 30,000 bonus Qantas points.
Commbank smart awards credit card
- Sign up Bonus: 10,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $19
- free travel insurance & lounge access
- 0.8 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 0% international transactional fees
Combank is the only card that has a flexible reward program, meaning that on an ongoing basis, you’ll earn Combank award points, which can then be transferred to a variety of different partner airlines of which Qantas is one of them. Based on the transfer rate, you’ll be able to earn 0.8 Qantas points for the first 400 Qantas points, and then it reduces down to 0.6 Qantas points per dollar spent, which is definitely the lowest earning rate on today’s list, so that’s a little bit of a letdown.
The only feature that I like about the Combank card is that it has no international transaction fees. However, that’s it. I’m not a huge fan of this approach. You gain access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide through Mastercard’s travel pass, which is the equivalent of a priority pass. However, you still have to pay to enter, so it’s not giving you any benefit there. Definitely a head-scratcher from Combank with regard to this card. Now having no international fees is a high priority for you, then you may want to consider the Bankwest Qantas Platinum card.
As a signup bonus, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus Qantas points after spending $3,000 in the first three months, but you also have to keep the card open for 15 months. This means that, unfortunately, you will need to pay the annual fee twice, and in order to receive the signup bonus, you have to wait 15 months. Honestly, that’s a deal breaker for me and most other people.
The annual fee is $160, so in total, you’ll need to pay $320. It does come with zero international transaction fees, which is the one saving grace, but it also only earns 0.6 Qantas points per dollar spent on an ongoing basis. The St. George Amplify Signature card is St. George’s highest-tiered credit card aimed at people who want to accumulate Qantas points. This card is competitive when compared to the other premium cards offered by the other big four banks.
As an additional feature, they’re also offering a 0% balance transfer for up to 24 months, so if you’re looking to consolidate some other existing debts from other credit cards, then this is a 2-in-1 deal that you can definitely leverage. Something to be aware of is that if you do plan on doing a balance transfer, any new purchases that you make on this card will immediately begin being charged interest because you won’t receive any interest-free days. The annual fee of the card is $295 plus the $75 Qantas reward fee, but if you’re an existing customer, they’ll reduce the yearly fee to $139, bringing the total to just under $215.
On an ongoing basis, you’ll also earn 0.75 Qantas points per dollar spent and also receive two complimentary Qantas Club Lounge invitations. The St. George credit card is definitely one that you should consider signing up for in the future, while the other two are definitely on the fence between a maybe and definitely a void. However, overall, I’m leaning more towards a void because there are so many other better options out there that you should consider before even thinking about these two cards.
So those are the rankings of all the Qantas earning credit cards in the Australian market. Hopefully, this will give you a good list to help you decide which card to sign up for next, whether you’re someone who’s looking for their very first credit card or if you’re someone who’s onto their third credit card of the year and is looking for their fourth.
Bankwest Qantas Platinum
- Sign up Bonus: 50,000 Qantas Points
- Annual fee: $160
- free travel insurance & lounge access
- 0.6 earn Qantas points per $ spent
- 0% international transactional fees
These three cards are comparable to one another because they are the most premium credit cards offered by each of these banks, but we’ll see in a minute whether the value provided by each of them is the same. The NZ frequent flyer black card is currently offering up to 130,000 bonus Qantas points and an additional $250 cashback when you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months. Just note that you’ll receive the bonus of 30,000 Qantas credit card deals points only if you keep your card open for more than 12 months, which means that you’ll end up paying the annual fee twice.
Now, the annual fee of this card totals $425, which is high, but it also includes a $55 Qantas reward fee in there, which is essentially a fee that credit card providers often charge you in order to earn Qantas points. Generally, it’s only the banks that charge this fee, so other providers like American Express, Citibank, and Qantas themselves don’t actually explicitly charge this fee. While the is high, the $250 cashback does upset it significantly.
For the second year, it’s really up to you to decide whether or not you want to keep the card open. Essentially, you have to choose between a bonus of 30,000 Qantas points or paying $425, which is not worth it. I value each Qantas point at 1 cent per point, meaning, at most, it’s worth $300, which is less than the $425 annual fee that you’re going to have to pay. On an ongoing basis, you’ll also earn 1 Qantas point per dollar spent and also receive 2 complimentary Qantas lounge passes.
Plus, you’ll also attain a discounted Qantas Club membership, which is essentially like a membership to gain access to Qantas Club lounges. With the Westpac Altitude Black card, you’ll also receive up to 120,000 bonus Qantas points after spending $6,000 within 4 months. Similar to ANZ, this offer is also broken up into $90,000 in the first year after you meet your spending requirement and an additional 30,000 points in the second year after your annual fee renewal. The annual fee of this card is $295, which is lower than ANZ, and if you’re an existing Westpac customer, they’ll reduce that yearly fee down to just $150.
Just note that there is also a $75 Qantas reward fee, which is the same fee that we talked about earlier with ANZ. This card does have a lower ongoing earn rate of 0.75 points, which I am disappointed about because, given that this is Westpac’s most premium card, I would have expected at least 1 Qantas point on an ongoing basis. It also comes with 2 complimentary Qantas lounge passes and all of the complimentary travel insurance and inclusions that you would expect from a premium credit card. The last card in this category is the NAB Rewards Signature card.
This card pretty much has the same signup bonus as the Westpac card, so 120,000 points are broken up into $90,000 in the first year and $30,000 in the second year after meeting your spending requirement and keeping your card open for more than 12 months. The annual fee of this card is higher, though, with a first-year yearly fee of $295 before reverting to $395 in the second year. This is the only card amongst the 3 that doesn’t provide you with any complimentary Qantas Club lounge invitations, which is definitely a bummer. Instead, it offers you a 24×7 personal concierge service, which could come in handy if to book restaurants overseas. However, I would prefer the lounge passes.
So when it comes to ranking these 3 cards, there’s really only a little that separates all of them. The ANZ card does have the higher signup bonus and the lowest overall annual fee amongst the 3, so that’s 2 points to the ANZ card. The Westpac card loses a point. It has the lowest ongoing earn rate, and the NAB card also loses a point because it doesn’t have any complimentary lounge passes. So for those reasons, the ANZ card is definitely one that you should consider signing up for today, while the other 2 should be considered for in the future.
