With 55,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply online, are approved and spend $3,000 on your new Card within the first 3 months (new Card Members only), an easy-to-earn points system and no cap or expiry date on the number of Qantas Points you can earn, the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card is... ultimately rewarding. Especially given that you can bag 1.25 Qantas Points for every $1 spent on eligible purchases.
In fact, the Ultimate Card was found to be so rewarding that it was awarded a 2020 Mozo Experts Choice Award for best Qantas Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card.
The Qantas Ultimate credit card from 2020 Credit Card Provider of the Year American Express has a high annual fee of $450, but the $450 Qantas Travel Credit you snag each year neatly cancels out that cost.
Using this credit, you can book eligible Qantas flights online through American Express Travel. Standard card features include up to 44 interest free days, 20.74% purchase rate and there's the option of up to 4 additional Card Members for free, so you can get your partner to help build up those rewards points. But remember to pay those bills on time or you'll be hit with a $30 late payment fee.
For every $1 spent on standard purchases, you will earn 1.25 Qantas points per $1 spent (except at government bodies in Australia, where you will earn just 0.5 points). And for every dollar spent on Qantas products and services in Australia you will earn 1 additional Qantas Point.
The Qantas American Express Ultimate Card also comes with those coveted AMEX service benefits such as free domestic and international travel insurance, refund protection and purchase protection insurance and global 24/7 customer service.
And let’s not forget the 55,000 bonus Qantas Points on offer. To score these points you’ll need to apply online and (once approved) use your new card to spend $3,000 in the first three months. Successful applicants can also receive a $200 statement credit when they meet the same conditions. Just keep in mind, you’ll need to be a new American Express Card Member to be eligible.
The Qantas American Express Ultimate Card is perfect for anyone that prefers flying within the Qantas network and pays off their full balance regularly, otherwise that 20.74% interest rate will sting. You'll also need to be earning more than $65,000 a year to be eligible.
If you're planning on using the free travel insurance attached the card you'll need to purchase the trip on your Qantas AMEX Ultimate credit card or with QFF reward points for it to be valid.
Fly Sydney to London return
110,400 points
Fly Sydney to Melbourne one-way
8,000 points
$100 Giftcard
19,730 points
$100 Cash
-
1.25 points per dollar on Amex, uncapped
Points are automatically credited to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.
All rewards are redeemed via Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent at government bodies, earn 2.25 Qantas Points per $1 spend on selected Qantas products and services.
$450 Qantas Travel Credit each year to use for eligible Qantas flights when you book and pay online at American Express Travel. Two complimentary Qantas Club and American Express Lounge invitations each year. Complimentary Qantas Wine Premium Membership.
Receive 55,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply online, are approved and spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. New Card Members only.
Spend $15,784 (AmEx)
Spend $6,400 (AmEx)
Spend $88,320 (AmEx)
Uncapped
Never
How do we calculate these points?
To work out the "Rewards value minus fees" in our Rewards Revealer we:
calculate how many points you'd get each year,
figure out how many flights or gift cards or cashback credits you could get for those points,
work out what that's actually worth to you,
take off the annual fee you'd pay.
More details:
Our calculations are designed to help you compare the value of different rewards schemes. To do this, we've looked at earning a one-way Sydney-Melbourne flight excluding taxes and charges, a return Sydney-London flight excluding taxes and charges, a $100 shopping Gift Card and $100 cashback. Most cards will also offer other rewards, which may be worth more or less than the ones we've shown.
We have made no allowance for bonus points for using your card at specific merchants, introductory offers or special offers. We have not assigned any value to instant discounts, insurances, ticketing and concierge services or other such benefits.
Rewards value calculations do not take credit card interest into account. If you do not pay off your card each month you may be better off looking for a card based on interest rates than on the value of rewards.
In products that have more than one card, a different mix of spend between American Express / Visa / Mastercard will give different results. Mozo's Rewards Revealer lets you choose the mix based on the way you would use such a product, and gives you tailored results.
We assume flights purchased with airline points are 'classic' or 'reward' economy seats with restricted seat availability. 'Any seat' rewards will probably cost more.
To compare the value of flight rewards, we sample online retail flight prices once a quarter based on the average price on a Wednesday 3 months in advance but outside NSW school holidays. For domestic flights we take the lowest available fare from each flight on that day from Qantas Red e-deal, Virgin Australia Saver including baggage and Jetstar Starter including baggage. We calculate the average price excluding taxes and surcharges for each airline, and also the average across all airlines (which we use when rewards are travel agent vouchers). For international flights, we take the lowest available fares on that same Wednesday from each of Qantas, Emirates, Malaysian, Etihad, Singapore, Cathay Pacific and Thai, assuming a return flight 2 weeks later, calculate the average price before taxes and surcharges and use this as our assumed cost of a flight on any airline.
Shopping rewards are based on $100 gift cards from a major national department store.
We make every effort to ensure our calculations are correct and up to date but make no guarantees.
20.74% p.a.
none
No current offer
no
none
44
$450.00
none
none
none
$30.00
none
3.00%
$10.00
$7.00
$0.00
$30.00
2.5
up to 4
none
Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay
Travel Insurance,
Purchase Protection,
Account alerts by SMS
Great credit card, especially for travel.
Read full reviewGreat credit card, especially for travel.
AMEX has this embedded dislike from many retailers and despite efforts to be more user friendly, the card sadly isn't accepted as easily as Mastercard or VISA. That said their local initiatives that support local as well as generous rewarding for per point spent still makes this my preferred card to use. Another bonus is the $450 annual Qantas credit once you get over the equally hefty annual fee of $450. The fee is cancelled out by the credit which makes owning the card not so bad on a year by year basis.
Read full reviewAMEX has this embedded dislike from many retailers and despite efforts to be more user friendly, the card sadly isn't accepted as easily as Mastercard or VISA. That said their local initiatives that support local as well as generous rewarding for per point spent still makes this my preferred card to use. Another bonus is the $450 annual Qantas credit once you get over the equally hefty annual fee of $450. The fee is cancelled out by the credit which makes owning the card not so bad on a year by year basis.
There is no fault with this credit card. The service is also amazing and the features are plentiful.
Read full reviewThere is no fault with this credit card. The service is also amazing and the features are plentiful.
They're reliable... but really annoying. The kind of bank you instinctively know will be around forever simply because they're so good at money management. Sneakily greedy. Online banking is woeful compared to the mainstream Aussie banks and they make it so difficult to pay your credit card on time. No Osko quick payments, it typically takes 3-5 working days just to transfer money from another bank. And forget about paying some today whilst you think about it, and some tomorrow... because - you won't believe this - they don't let you pay them again until 5 days later. What the?!? Yes. ...oh and watch out for the late fee! It will blindside you. Customer Service is fast, very fast, and yes they'll kindly reverse that fee for you, but watch your back, I mean bank statement - as they'll probably still hit you up with late interest charges. Its the insincere customer service that really gets under my skin: "I'm so sorry about those late fees (again), and thank you for the feedback (again), and don't forget you can just call and we'll sort it all out (again)". If only they truly understood good service... then I wouldn't have to call. Ever. Bottom line - if you're brilliant at money management then all the a.maze.ing rewards and perks are worth it. Just always keep your wits about you.
Read full reviewThey're reliable... but really annoying. The kind of bank you instinctively know will be around forever simply because they're so good at money management. Sneakily greedy. Online banking is woeful compared to the mainstream Aussie banks and they make it so difficult to pay your credit card on time. No Osko quick payments, it typically takes 3-5 working days just to transfer money from another bank. And forget about paying some today whilst you think about it, and some tomorrow... because - you won't believe this - they don't let you pay them again until 5 days later. What the?!? Yes. ...oh and watch out for the late fee! It will blindside you. Customer Service is fast, very fast, and yes they'll kindly reverse that fee for you, but watch your back, I mean bank statement - as they'll probably still hit you up with late interest charges. Its the insincere customer service that really gets under my skin: "I'm so sorry about those late fees (again), and thank you for the feedback (again), and don't forget you can just call and we'll sort it all out (again)". If only they truly understood good service... then I wouldn't have to call. Ever. Bottom line - if you're brilliant at money management then all the a.maze.ing rewards and perks are worth it. Just always keep your wits about you.
Excellent deals and products for a modest fee that can be essentially redeemed for a $450 travel voucher.
Read full reviewExcellent deals and products for a modest fee that can be essentially redeemed for a $450 travel voucher.
American Express is a global mega provider of credit cards, including gold cards, platinum cards, charge cards and more. With American Express, you can find a credit card to suit your lifestyle, tastes and aspirations. If you're a rewards points junkie, be sure to check out the hugely popular American Express rewards programs, including Qantas Frequent Flyer points and Qantas Club rewards.
Bendigo Bank
Low Rate Credit Card
11.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 24 months and then 11.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$45
Bankwest
Breeze Mastercard
10.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 26 months and then 10.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$49 $0 in the first year
Westpac
Low Rate
13.74% p.a.
0% p.a. for 28 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
$59 $0 in the first year
Defence Bank
Foundation Credit Card
3.99% p.a. for 6 months then 8.99% p.a.
3.99% p.a. for 6 months and then 8.99% p.a.
$45
MoneyMe
Freestyle Virtual Mastercard
16.99% p.a.
No current offer
$209 Annual fee may vary.
American Express
Explorer Credit Card
20.74% p.a.
No current offer
$395
Membership Rewards
Westpac
Altitude Platinum
Altitude Rewards
$150 $99 in the first year
80,000
1 point uncapped
American Express
Qantas Discovery Card
Qantas Frequent Flyer
$0
No current offer
0.75 points uncapped
NAB
Qantas Rewards Signature Card
Qantas Frequent Flyer
$395 $295 in the first year
110,000
1 point up to $5,000/month, then
0.5 points up to $20,000/month
American Express
Velocity Escape Card
Velocity Frequent Flyer
$0
No current offer
0.75 points uncapped
NAB
Qantas Rewards Premium Card
Qantas Frequent Flyer
$250
30,000
0.66 points up to $3,000/month, then
0.33 points up to $6,000/month
Bendigo Bank
Low Rate Credit Card
0% p.a. for 24 months and then 11.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
11.99% p.a.
$45
Bankwest
Breeze Mastercard
0% p.a. for 26 months and then 10.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
10.99% p.a.
$49 $0 in the first year
Westpac
Low Rate
0% p.a. for 28 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
13.74% p.a.
$59 $0 in the first year
St.George
Amplify Platinum
0% p.a. for 15 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
19.74% p.a.
$99
Amplify Rewards
NAB
Low Rate Card
0% p.a. for 20 months and then 21.74% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
12.99% p.a.
$59
Bank of Melbourne
Amplify Platinum
0% p.a. for 15 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
19.74% p.a.
$99
Qantas Frequent Flyer
St.George
Amplify Signature
0% p.a. for 15 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
19.74% p.a.
$279
Amplify Rewards
Bendigo Bank
Low Rate Credit Card
11.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 24 months and then 11.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$45
Bankwest
Breeze Mastercard
10.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 26 months and then 10.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$49 $0 in the first year
Defence Bank
Foundation Credit Card
3.99% p.a. for 6 months then 8.99% p.a.
3.99% p.a. for 6 months and then 8.99% p.a.
$45
Westpac
Low Rate
13.74% p.a.
0% p.a. for 28 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
$59 $0 in the first year
NAB
StraightUp Card
0% p.a.
No current offer
$120 $10/month - waived if no spend & no balance owing
Bendigo Bank
Low Rate Credit Card
11.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 24 months and then 11.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$45
Bankwest
Breeze Mastercard
10.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 26 months and then 10.99% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$49 $0 in the first year
Westpac
Low Rate
13.74% p.a.
0% p.a. for 28 months and then 21.49% p.a. (1.00% balance transfer fee)
$59 $0 in the first year
Defence Bank
Foundation Credit Card
3.99% p.a. for 6 months then 8.99% p.a.
3.99% p.a. for 6 months and then 8.99% p.a.
$45
MoneyMe
Freestyle Virtual Mastercard
16.99% p.a.
No current offer
$209 Annual fee may vary.
NAB
Qantas Rewards Signature Card
19.99% p.a.
0% p.a. for 6 months and then 21.74% p.a. (2.00% balance transfer fee)
$395 $295 in the first year