The start of the 2020 financial year means two things – filing tax returns and gearing up for Christmas in July. To help you through this busy season, I've taken a look at 3 great value credit cards to kickstart your mid-year spending.
Qantas Premier Platinum Credit Card
The Qantas Premier Platinum Credit Card is, in my view, one of the best pound-for-pound credit cards available on the market at the moment.
Qantas is offering a reduced annual fee of $199 per annum for the first year ($299 pa thereafter) and a whopping 120,000 bonus Frequent Flyer points if you meet the minimum spend of $1,500 per month for the first six months.
Of course, as with any credit card, it's only wise to get this card if you can: a) meet the minimum spend to get the bonus points; and b) already incur those expenses without the card, so as to not chase the bonus and waste $9,000 dollars in the process.
The card also lets you earn 1 Frequent Flyer point per $1 spent up to $10,000, meaning you could net yourself a handy 180,000 points in a 12-month period – potentially enough for 2 roundtrips to South America or the United States.
NAB Signature Rewards Card
I like the NAB Signature Rewards Card offering because it has a low initial spend which compensates for its $295 first-year fee ($395 per year thereafter).
This NAB card allows you to earn 90,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer or Virgin Velocity points when you spend $2,500 within the first 60 days of having the card – not a bad return and certainly one of the lower thresholds available at the moment.
St George Amplify Platinum Card
For those with a slightly lower average spend, this St George Amplify Platinum card could be great value with a minimum spend of just $2,000 within the first 90 days (or less than $650 per month!).
Naturally, a lower minimum spend means lower bonuses, with the St George card offering 60,000 bonus points plus 0.5 points per $1 spent.
However, on a points per spend basis, St George still stacks up nicely against the NAB and Qantas cards with an average bonus point per $1 required spend of 30 (compared to NAB's 22.5 and Qantas' 13.33).
As with all personal finance, getting a credit card is a big decision and should be done carefully and with consideration of your individual circumstances and spending needs to maximise value and boost your earnings.
For those who want to skip the July spending spree and invest that hard-earned cash instead, I'd be looking at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) as a good value option following its post-Royal Commission rebound.
