From rewards points and complimentary travel insurance to flight credits, airport lounge access and hotel discounts – these are the frequent flyer credit cards with the best travel rewards you need to know about.
When obtained and used responsibly, frequent flyer credit cards can be a fantastic way to make money work harder, while enjoying travel rewards and loyalty program benefits. Many Australian financial providers offer a range of frequent flyer credit cards with features such as percentage discounts, cashback offers, travel vouchers, complimentary airport lounge access and travel insurance, in addition to the accrual of loyalty points (and bonus sign-on points!) for programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity. This selection of frequent flyer credit cards is general and consumers should seek independent financial advice specific to personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
What is a frequent flyer credit card?
Generally speaking, a frequent flyer credit card allows the cardholder to accrue points towards an airline loyalty program of choice per dollar spent on eligible everyday purchases. These credit cards range from entry-level low or no-annual-fee cards that accrue points, and scale up to premium cards that include benefits such as airport lounge access, free flights, complimentary insurance and other features.
What is the best travel credit card?
Travel credit cards are not a one-size-fits-all product. Choosing the right frequent flyer credit card for you requires careful consideration of your current financial situation and ability to service the limit, but also what features benefit your travel habits the most.
American Express
American Express is known for its lucrative internal Membership Rewards program and the Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity partner cards. While entry-level cards have no annual fee and generally accrue points for the airline partner program of choice with each purchase, cards with higher annual fees often have more benefits.
Top picks:
American Express Qantas Ultimate Card
- $450 annual card fee
- $450 Qantas Travel Credit each membership year
- Two entries to The Centurion Lounge and Qantas Club Lounge per year
- Complimentary travel insurance
American Express Explorer Credit Card
- $395 annual card fee
- $400 to spend on American Express Travel each year
- Two entries to The Centurian Lounge per year
- Complimentary travel insurance
- Receive up to US$100 hotel credit and room upgrade (when available) at select hotels in The Hotel Collection when you book two consecutive nights’ stay
- Redeem points with your choice of eight airline partner programs including Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Air New Zealand Airpoints, THAI Royal Orchid Plus, Malaysia Airlines Enrich and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
The Qantas American Express Premium Card
- $249 annual card fee
- Two Qantas Club Lounge invitations per year
- Complimentary domestic and overseas travel insurance
American Express Velocity Platinum card
- $375 annual card fee
- A Virgin Australia return economy domestic flight each year
- Access to The Centurian Lounge and Virgin Australia Lounge
- Complimentary travel insurance
American Express Platinum Card
- $1450 annual card fee
- Accrue American Express Membership Rewards points
- $450 to spend on travel through American Express Travel Online
- Complimentary access to The Centurian Lounges, Escape Lounges, Delta Sky Club, Plaza Premium Lounges, Virgin Australia lounges, Priority Pass, Airspace, Lufthansa, and more
- Points can be transferred to airline and hotel partner programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer, Virgin Velocity, KrisFlyer, AsiaMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Thai Royal Orchid Plus, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Airpoints, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Read more: Inside American Express’s Heathrow Centurian Lounge
Citibank
Like American Express, Citibank has an internal points system that can be transferred to partner airline loyalty programs or exchanged for other benefits. The Citi Rewards and Citi Premier travel credit cards have a variety of cashback and bonus point offers to choose from, such as 10% off selected hotel offers from Luxury Escapes until March 2024, cashback promotions, complimentary airport lounge visits through Priority Pass, and complimentary international travel insurance.
Top picks:
Citi Premier Card Velocity
- $300 annual card fee
- Two complimentary airport lounge visits every year when enrolled in Priority Pass
- Complimentary international travel insurance
Citi Prestige Qantas credit card
- $749 annual card fee
- Enjoy the fourth night free when staying four consecutive nights at a selected range of participating hotels
- Unlimited complimentary access to Priority Pass Lounges around the world for cardholder and guest
- Enjoy $10 cashback once per month when you spend $40 or more with Uber Rides within the same month
Read more: How to maximise your frequent flyer points
Qantas Money
While Qantas isn’t a financial provider per se, it does have an in-house credit card range. This starts with the Qantas Travel Money card at the entry level, and evolves into three different tiers of Qantas Money frequent flyer credit cards, all of which accrue Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
Top Pick:
Qantas Premier Titanium Card
- $1200 annual card fee
- 10% discounted base fare for Qantas flights up to two travellers twice per year on flights operated by Qantas and QantasLInk
- 20% bonus Status Credits on Qantas flights
- Two complimentary Qantas First Lounge invitations per year
- Two complimentary Qantas Club Lounge invitations per year
- Complimentary travel insurance
Latitude
Most often found in retail stores offering interest-free payment plans, Latitude is also a provider of a travel credit card.
Top pick:
Latitude 28° Global Platinum Mastercard.
- No overseas fees on purchases
- Included global data roaming by Flexiroam
- Flight Delay Pass to cover the cost of food, drinks and WiFi at selected outlets for the duration of flight delays of more than two hours
HSBC
Also known for its interest-free offerings in Australian retailers, London-based HSBC is also a provider of credit cards with travel benefits.
Top pick:
Star Alliance Credit Card
- $450 annual card fee
- Earn Star Alliance Points and convert them into miles or points for your chosen frequent flyer program such as Air Canada, Air New Zealand, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Thai, United
- Airport lounge access
- Priority airport check-in and Priority Boarding with access to Gold Track – dedicated airport security lanes
- Priority baggage handling and extra baggage allowance on eligible flights
- Priority reservations waitlist and Priority airport standby
Read more: Why you shouldn’t redeem points for products
THE BIG 4
Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB all have frequent flyer credit cards for loyalty programs such as Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity.
Top picks:
Westpac Altitude Velocity Black card
- $295 annual card fee
- Complimentary access to Interstate Flight Inconvenience Insurance and Rental Vehicle Excess in Australia cover, up to
- 6 months of complimentary cover for international travel insurance, plus extended warranty, purchase protection for up to 4 months and overseas transit accident insurance
- Complimentary Economy X seat Upgrade vouchers and Virgin domestic lounge passes each year
CommBank Ultimate Awards card
- $35 monthly card fee
- Choose to earn CommBank Awards points or Qantas points
- No international transaction fees
- Complimentary international travel insurance
- Two complimentary airport lounge passes per year with Mastercard Travel Pass by DragonPass
ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card
- $425 annual card fee
- Two complimentary Qantas Club lounge invitations each year and a discount on a 1-year Qantas Club membership
- Complimentary international and domestic travel insurance, rental vehicle excess in Australia, extended warranty insurance and purchase protection insurance
- Complimentary Qantas Frequent Flyer membership
NAB Rewards Platinum card
- $95 annual card fee
- Earn NAB Rewards points which can be redeemed for Flybuys, Virgin Velocity, KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific, and Airpoints points, or redeemed for travel with Webjet
- Complimentary international travel insurance, transit accident insurance, interstate flight inconvenience insurance, and rental vehicle excess in Australia.
Virgin Money
Similar to Qantas, Virgin has its own consumer frequent flyer credit card.
Top pick:
Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer card
- $289 annual card fee
- A $129 Virgin Australia Gift Voucher is provided as a Virgin Australia Travel Bank credit each anniversary year
- Two complimentary Single-Entry Virgin Australia domestic Lounge passes each year
- Transit Accident Insurance which provides certain benefits in the event of accidental death, and cover for cardholders who sustain an injury whilst on a trip, while riding as a passenger in or boarding or alighting transport while overseas, where the entire trip has been purchased on the Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer or High Flyer card
The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.
Read more:
A guide to the world’s best airport lounges
The world’s best business class airlines
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