Are there any credit cards with no annual fee and a sign up bonus?

This is an unlikely combination, since there aren't too many 'no annual fee' rewards or frequent flyer credit cards in the first place. The card issuer is already effectively giving away cash in the form of sign up bonus points, and to expect them to do that without asking you to commit to an annual fee is probably unrealistic. But there are sign up bonus cards with a low annual fee (starting at $95 p.a.) and others with a discounted annual fee in the first year.

Can I apply for the same sign up bonus credit card more than once?

It would be very difficult to do this within a short time frame, since most card issuers disqualify from earning a sign up bonus anyone who has held one of their rewards cards in the past 12 or 18 months. You could certainly try again a year or two after cancelling your first sign up bonus card, but expect your previous activity in cancelling the card to raise a red flag with the card issuer, who may hesitate to approve your application a second time.

Can I close my credit card account after the bonus points have been deposited?

Yes you can. Once the points arrive in your points or frequent flyer account they won't be taken back. But while the expiry of the frequent flyer points is dependent on the rules of the frequent flyer program, the card issuers can set their own rules about the expiry of their rewards points. You may find that your points expire as soon as, or shortly after, you close your credit card account. So make sure you redeem your points before you close your credit card account. Be aware that closing your credit card account will also lift your credit utilisation rate (your total borrowings as a percentage of the credit available to you), which could temporarily reduce your credit score. Also, since you will have paid the first year's annual fee upfront once your card application was approved, you may as well retain the card for the remainder of the 12 months in order to take advantage of ongoing reward points and any attached complimentary benefits.

Can I get the sign up bonus more than once?

Yes, but usually only by applying for a different credit card. The sign up bonus is a one-off incentive for new customers. You will receive the bonus once only, either when your account is approved or, more normally, when you meet the spending conditions. Most sign up bonus offers exclude existing customers who currently have, or have previously held, another card from the same issuer. This exclusion can often extend to customers of another bank in the same group (e.g. the wide-ranging Westpac / St.George group). However, in some cases you will be able to qualify for the sign up bonus if a reasonable period of time (e.g. 12 or 18 months) has elapsed since you last held one of the issuer’s cards.

Do cash advances and balance transfers count towards eligible spend for the sign up bonus?

No. These two transaction types are considered to be ‘cash equivalents’, and will not be counted as part of your qualifying spending. You must make actual purchases of goods or services in order to meet any spending criteria. Other types of transactions likely to be excluded include: Credit card account annual fees Credit card account interest Purchases of foreign currency banknotes or traveller's cheques Gambling transactions Some cards will also exclude any BPAY payments made using the card, and any premiums paid for the bank’s proprietary brand of credit card insurance.

How do I compare sign up bonus credit cards?

Firstly you should compare the various interest rates and also find a deal that offers you the biggest savings if there are promotional interest rates on offer. You must also take into consideration how long the introductory deal lasts, and how it changes when the honeymoon period expires. Sign up bonuses look great in the short term, but you also need to plan ahead to make sure you get the best deal for the long term. Most sign up bonuses involve a single bonus of points added to your account. So when you are comparing this type of bonus, consider how many points are on offer, what they can be redeemed for and how many points you need to redeem for something you actually want, e.g. flights, hotels, electronics, &c.

How long does it take for sign up bonus points to hit my account?

Sign up bonus points involving a target spending amount will normally be credited to your points account within two or sometimes three months of the spending criteria being met. For example, if you are required to spend $3,000 in the first three months after card approval, and you don’t reach the spending target until the end of the third month, your bonus points may not arrive until six months after you first get your new card.

If I have a bank-issued AmEx companion card, can I apply for a card issued by AmEx itself and get the sign up bonus?

Yes. Amex companion card holders are not excluded from Amex’s own sign up bonus offers. American Express will still allow you to qualify for a sign up bonus if you apply for a directly-issued American Express card, even though you may already have, or recently had, a companion Amex card issued by another bank.

Is there an average sign up bonus?

Sign up bonuses are limited-time offers, and may appear or disappear, or go up and down, on the same card. It's also the case that more expensive premium cards (i.e. those with higher points earning rates, more complimentary benefits and a higher annual fee) will tend to offer larger sign up bonuses. Additionally, rewards points in different programs are not directly comparable, since different programs will require varying numbers of points for the same redemption value. Finally, rewards points bonus offers tend to be larger than frequent flyer points bonus offers, simply because rewards points are on the whole less valuable than frequent flyer points. Cards which offer a choice between earning frequent flyer points and in-house rewards points will usually offer twice as many bonus rewards points when compared with bonus frequent flyer points. So there's no such thing as an 'average' sign up bonus. Bonuses typically start at 15,000 rewards points (or 7,500 frequent flyer points) and rise to 200,000 rewards points (or 100,000 frequent flyer points) depending on the card.

What are the benefits of a new card with a sign up bonus?

If you are someone who regularly travels either domestically or internationally, then a sign up bonus offering frequent flyer points may be exactly what you are looking for. However, before deciding on the card you want to apply for you should carefully consider which airline you fly with most, which airlines fly the routes you travel most and even what airlines fly from your local airport.

When does the clock start on the spending requirement for a credit card sign up bonus?

The clock starts ticking as soon as your application is approved, not some time later when your card arrives in the mail. So it means you need to start spending as soon as you receive the card if you're going to meet the target (unless you have a major purchase in mind). And since some card issuers advise the time limit in days (e.g. within 90 days of card approval) while other do it in months (e.g. within two months of card approval) it's best to assume that each month has only 30 days and get your spending done in 60 or 90 days, depending on the requirement.

When the sign up bonus is frequent flyer points, do I need to have a frequent flyer account before applying?

No. Your card issuer will normally ask you to notify them of your frequent flyer number within a given period (e.g. four weeks) after your new card is approved. However, you will need to have the appropriate brand of frequent flyer account before you can receive any bonus points or points earned on normal spending: Qantas Frequent Flyer . There is a fee payable to join the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, but many card issuers will pay this fee on your behalf if you are not already a member. Virgin Velocity and Emirates Skywards . Both programs are free to join, so it would be a good idea to open a points account at the same time if you are applying for a credit card with a sign up bonus for these programs.

Will I get the sign up bonus automatically, or do I have to meet other conditions?

The terms ‘sign up bonus’ and ‘ first purchase bonus’ are often used interchangeably. In fact, there is a difference. A very small number of cards will give you the sign up bonus as soon as your account is approved — no spending required — and this is a true ‘sign up bonus’. But for most cards, the sign up bonus is in fact a ‘first purchase bonus’; that is, you will be required to fulfil certain spending conditions (e.g. make $3,000 worth of purchases in the first three months of holding the card) before you can receive the bonus.

Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses | Compare Introductory Offers

Credit cards with a sign up bonus

Boost your rewards points account by applying for a credit card with a sign up bonus, available from most banks and often linked with Qantas and Velocity.

By Yvonne Taylor | Verified by David Boyd | Updated 16th September 2021

Overview

A credit card sign up bonus is an incentive offered by card issuers to new cardholders, in an effort to gain new business by attracting those who have never held a card before, or by wooing others away from their existing card. In the case of rewards points and frequent flyer points cards, the bonus normally takes the form of tens of thousands of points, which would normally take years of card spending to acquire.

Since points can usually be redeemed for account credits (effectively cash), retail spending vouchers and airline flights or seat upgrades, they are a very alluring incentive.

Sign up bonus vs first purchase bonus

These two terms are in fact used more or less interchangeably. While the term 'sign up bonus' implies that all that is required is for the new cardholder to apply and be approved in order to earn the bonus, the fact is that most offers of this kind demand that the new cardholder spends a qualifying amount within a short period after card account approval. A typical condition would be for the cardholder to spend $3,000 using the card within 90 days of account approval.

These targets are rarely difficult to achieve, and are ranked according to card level, with the more expensive, premium cards offering larger bonuses and usually having higher spending targets, in line with the likely income profile of the cardholder.

Only eligible purchases count

In order to qualify for the sign up bonus by meeting the minimum spend criteria, only certain types of spending will count. Typically, the same conditions apply to bonus points as those applied to ongoing points earning. This means that cash and cash equivalent transactions are excluded from both points earning and sign up bonus points minimum spend targets. The types of transactions almost certain to be excluded are:

Balances transferred from another card or loan
Cash advances
Purchases of traveller's cheques or foreign currency banknotes
Credit card fees (including annual fees) and interest charges

Other types of payment which may be excluded by some (but not all) card issuers are:

Payments made from a credit card using BPAY
Government charges such as payments for car registration or to Australia Post (although there are cards that earn points on government spend)
Purchases of gift cards
Gambling transactions

Credit card churning

Credit card 'churning' is a strategy used by some people to maximise the benefit derived from sign up bonus point offers. Churning can take two forms: applying for multiple sign up bonus cards at the same time, or applying for cards in rapid succession, waiting only until the bonus points have been received before cancelling the card account and applying for another card. But these procedures are fraught with risk.

Firstly, applying for many cards at the same time, or in quick succession, can seriously damage your credit score. Each credit card application results in a 'hard' credit enquiry by the prospective lender being recorded in your credit history file. These hard enquiries have a negative effect on your credit score, and could make it more difficult for you to be approved for credit in the future.

Secondly, striving to meet too many spending targets on separate cards could see you committing to spending more than you can really afford, leading to credit card account balances you cannot pay off in full by the due date. The resulting interest charges will seriously reduce the benefit of any sign up bonuses you might earn.

Finally, most card issuers will not grant the sign up bonus to 'new' cardholders who currently hold another of their rewards points cards, or who have held one of their rewards cards in the previous 12-18 months. So taking a scattergun approach to sign up bonuses could end up severely limiting your future rewards card choices.

However, there's no denying that there are lots of points to be earned if you're prepared to spend a large amount of time chasing sign up bonuses, making card applications, monitoring your card usage and cancelling cards.