Westpac Altitude Platinum Credit Card (Qantas)

As Australians grow accustomed once more to the idea of traveling, particularly by air, it’s time to review your frequent flyer points to make sure that you have enough to take you to those bucket list destinations that have reluctantly been on hold. And if your points total is falling some way short of where you need it to be, the Westpac Altitude Platinum Credit Card (Qantas) could be the perfect way to top it up.

It comes with a significant quantity of bonus Qantas Points to give your balance a real boost, a satisfactory ongoing points earning rate, and other complimentary benefits to suit the traveller.

Bonus Qantas Points

Sign up for the card, spend $4,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days, and you’ll be rewarded with a large quantity of bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer points. If you already have at least 35,000 QFF points that you’re itching to use, the addition of the bonus points should give you enough for an Economy return fare to Europe or the US. Even if your current points balance is zero, those bonus points are likely to be more than enough to get you to Honolulu and back.

Keep on earning Qantas Points

It’s not just about the bonus points. You’ll continue to earn Qantas points, with no points cap1, on all of your eligible purchases with the card.

Eligible purchases include most non-cash transactions, which means that you’ll earn points on almost everything except cash advances, purchases of foreign currency, card fees and interest charges, balance transfers, BPAY/Post Billpay payments and government payments.

The Qantas Points earning rate is 0.5 points per dollar, which is not a stellar rate, but reasonable given the relatively low annual fee. And you can always increase your points earning by using your card to make purchases at Qantas partners, including Woolworths, BP, Uber, Hello Fresh and more than 250 stores at the online Qantas Shopping Mall, where you’ll earn points both for shopping and for paying with your card.

Qantas Points redemption options

Although there’s no doubt that the most cost effective way to use Qantas points is to redeem them for award flights and seat upgrades, there are other redemption options, such as:

• Retail gift cards
• Vouchers for restaurants, movies and other entertainment
• Travel, holidays, accommodation bookings
• Car hire with Avis and Budget
• Merchandise from the Qantas Rewards Store online

Complimentary insurance cover

The complimentary insurance cover accompanying this card has recently been upgraded for Westpac Platinum card holders, who now receive much the same high level of cover as Westpac Black card holders:

• Overseas travel insurance for cardholders and their families, covering multiple annual trips of up to three months’ duration, activated by using the card for at least $500 of prepaid trip expenses for each person traveling and requiring cover.
• Overseas transit accident insurance, where the fare for the bus, ferry, plane or train was paid for with the card.
• Interstate flight inconvenience cover, to compensate for luggage loss, delays and cancellations for a period of 14 days, where the airfare was purchased with the card.
• Rental vehicle insurance excess in Australia, a useful additional cover to complement the overseas insurance excess included in the overseas travel cover.
• Extended warranty insurance, doubling the manufacturer’s Australian warranty for items purchased with the card, up to a maximum of 24 extra months.
• Purchase security insurance, covering new items bought with the card against loss, theft or accidental damage for four months.

SmartPlan repayments

Even the best financial plans can go astray sometimes, and you may find yourself running up a balance on your new Westpac card that you can’t clear at the end of the month. If this happens, you can choose to participate in a SmartPlan monthly repayment program and take advantage of an interest rate that’s lower than the normal interest rate on outstanding purchases, as well as retaining your up to 45 interest-free days on new purchases.

Shopping privileges

The Westpac Extras program comes with the card, and brings you cashback on your shopping with the brands you love. You’ll be notified by email of available offers (e.g. spend $150 at a specified store and get $50 cashback) and any cashback you earn in this way will be credited to your card account.

High interest rates – as expected

In spite of the availability of SmartPlan repayments, this kind of premium card is not designed to benefit anyone who expects to have an interest-bearing card balance on a regular basis. Anyone in this situation should look for a low interest credit card, rather than a card with a high rate of interest like the one on this card, on purchases balances carried beyond the payment due date.

The cash advance interest rate (and balance transfer revert rate) is even higher than the interest rate on carried-over purchases.

Moderate annual fee, discounted first year

The ongoing Qantas Points, initial bonus points and attached complimentary benefits are all available for a moderate annual fee (which includes the rewards points program fee), but in the first year, to welcome you aboard, you’ll pay a reduced annual fee. That’s one more reason to try this card out.

The verdict

If you’re looking for a frequent flyer points card at a moderate price in a program with plenty of redemption options, this card could suit you well. The generous bonus points and a reduced annual fee on the first-year offer to sweeten the deal make it well worth considering.

How this card compares with others

Before making your final decision, take a look at some similar frequent flyer credit cards, just in case there’s one that might suit your lifestyle and spending pattern even better. Perhaps either the NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card or the St.George Amplify Platinum Credit Card (Qantas) has features that would be a good fit for you.