Hi all,
Very vague question and I’m sure this may even get the odd eye roll reading this and this could show if I am naive or not, but hear me out.
I’ve been into Point hacks for about a year or so now (thanks guys you are all legends) I have 355k qantas points, and have been accumulating for almost 2 years now.
I have 2x credit cards: The Qantas Amex Ultimate and the HSBC Platinum Qantas Card (through the affiliate links, there ya go guys :-)).
I use the Amex for basically everything and the HSBC where Amex is not accepted. We shop through the Qantas online mall, activate all rewards for woolworths, buy wine regularly etc etc.
I am finding Qantas redemptions are good but not great, and the taxes have no mercy. I will obviously keep my Qantas points where they are and use them eventually, but I am sort of leaning towards changing over to Amex rewards (or something similar, any tips?) for example, to have the option where my points go and not being locked in to purely Qantas Frequent flyer.
After flying on Singapore airlines economy for the first time recently and seeing how awesome their higher products are, it makes me want to look into Krisflyer.
I also do not want to exceed more than 2 credit cards total with a minimum spend across the 2 cards being $15-$20k and, don’t mind paying $400 annual fee per year per card, minimum 1 point per dollar spent on both cards (is that too much to ask).
I don’t want to rule Qantas frequent flyer out completely as earning in Australia is so easy, but I am looking at what else other community members and staff recommend and why. You could say I am maturing past the gate keeper of Australian ff programs (Qantas) and opening my eyes to what else is out there haha.
Any guidance or tips would be appreciated,
Thanks!
Cameron
Following, as I am in a very similar position. Interested to see which credit cards most people use/recommend (outside of the sign-on bonus churn - don’t want the hassle of managing more than 2/3 credit cards)
Note: this is my personal circumstances and I am not a qualified financial advisor.
Hi there, thought I would share my strategy, if it is considered a strategy =)
There has been a lot of changes in the point space in the last 12 mths so I may still need to observe and readjust as we find out more.
I put all our spend through Amex if possible. I cancelled all my Amex card to start the 18 mth cooling period since Amex tightened the signup bonus eligibility. My partner holds all the Amex cards (Plat Charge, Plat Edge, Explorer, Reserve, Essential). I have supplementary cards to all amex cards.
We treasure Amex MR pts because it is a flexible point that can be transferred to a number of different airline and hotel pts. So we try to avoid using MR if possible.
We apply QF (mainly) and VFF cards that come with high sign up bonuses. Meet the minimum spend and revert back to Amex + Master Visa regime.
If we aren’t trying to meet minimum spend our typical card use is.
Plat Charge travel (2x + travel insurance) and dining (3x)
Plat Edge for groceries (3x)
Explorer for everything else Amex (2x)
Reserve comes free with Plat Charge - back up for Plat Charge
Essential is only for Amex offers. - got this during Amex referral x2 promotion
Non-Amex: I have a St George Signature Amplify card (0.825x) and a Macquarie Hilton card.
However, with the upcoming Amex changes in April 2019, I will continue to observe and cancel cards as required.
Qantas earning cards is the easiest to earn signup bonuses in currently. But the redemption taxes are huge.
I will qualify for an Amex signup bonus as of March 2019 but might wait till after Apr 2019 to see whether Amex comes up with some great deals as I suspect many customers may start cancelling their cards after emptying their point balance.
Credit applications are expected to be more strict in 2019 as the banks are required to make sure they don’t issue you with too high of a credit limit. Total credit limit will be a consideration going forward.