Opal

Can anyone recommend a good credit card for saving airmiles? We are a family of 5, hoping to go have a trip back to the UK next year so any savings would be good, thanks

h2oskineil

We have a Bankwest Platinum Card
http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/...e-credit-cards

http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/...s-credit-cards

1 x Mile per $1 spend
No overseas transaction fee's

You will have to spend a fair bit to get flights in a couple of years for a family of 5. We have been spending and saving for a number of years and only just have enough for 2 x tickets.

SUPERCAD

HSBC do a good one premium card

20k of points when you open
1 point for $1 sent in oz
2 points for $1 overseas (be careful with this as there are exclusions)

also look at this web site, they have discussions on the best CCs

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.c...nity/forum.php

In the states people "churn" there CCs all the time to get free travel throughout the year. have a look at these sites

http://www.pointhacks.com.au/members...h-spg-2mr1spg/

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/

this site is the biggest in the world for frequent flyers lots of good info
there a few members from this board on there to

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/

hope this helps

PS this is a far easier way of doing what you wont to do in the time span

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653462

northernbird

We also have a Bankwest Platinum card, we bank with Bankwest too so I give a big thumbs up generally to Bankwest. Couple this with a Woolworths rewards card and points soon add up.

verystormy

You would need to be spending a huge amount or doing other flights to make much on it.

I have a NAB one that gives me quantas points, but was only really worth it when i was flying a lot with them. Also have a CityBank platinum that is linked to Emirates as i fly a lot with them. Even then though its barely worth it. Was OK when i flew economy as i would get a couple of vouchers every year for access to the Emirates lounge in Perth and a chuaffer driven car to and from the airport once a year. Oh, and free access to the Maharaba Lounge in Dubai (Its OK, but not a patch on the business lounge). But now i fly business, not really worth it

Unless you fly a lot, or are planning on spending huge sums on the card, your better off just looking for what is the best rate

bcworld

As SUPERCAD suggested, if you want to earn a lot of points relatively quickly you'll probably have to churn between sign on offers. I am a serial churner but I'd be a little careful about it if you need access to finance for more important things like home loans etc...consider the impact on your credit score.

Prior to starting to burn them I ended up with 400k+ QFF points and most of that would've come from churning as I very rarely fly QF or other OneWorld airlines on a paid ticket.

Some examples of sign on offers (not current) I've used - I can't remember them all!

Citibank Plat - 60,000 QFF for $125 annual fee in first year
David Jones AMEX - 45,000 QFF for $99 annual fee
Jetstar Mastercard - 30,000 QFF for $0 annual fee in first year
Woolworths Qantas Card - 16,000 QFF for $0 annual fee in first year
Virgin Money Flyer - 50,000 Virgin Australia Velocity points (and 4 complimentary domestic flights*) for $99 annual fee.

If you just look at the first three that's 135k QFF for about $200. That's enough for a return to the UK in economy or one way in business. I'm not actually a big fan of QFF - it's a stingy program full of fees and surcharges - but you can make it work for you in Australia.

*the T&Cs of this offer are changing soon and it's becoming much less attractive.

quoll

I guess we must spend a huge amount but we manage to rack up a free or nearly free flight quite often, especially with judicious family transfers - haven't paid full price for a flight since the year I paid for 6 of us . We have ANZ and NAB cards linked to Qantas and basically use the CC for everything and pay it off each month. I know those are probably not even the best for racking up the miles but I can't be bothered to get new ones. My Woolies card doesn't ever get a work out of course being on the other side of the world. I guess, get one with the airlines you usually fly with and the best fee structure for you. As I would be using the CC as we do anyway, the FF points are just a bonus really.

Opal

Thats really helpful, Thanks for all the replies everyone