Upgrade your travel: Mozo experts reveal the most affordable travel and best value rewards credit cards in 2025

Today Mozo’s money experts revealed the winners of the best travel and rewards credit cards in the Mozo Experts Choice Credit Card Awards for 2025.

“We know everyone has different spending habits and priorities when choosing a credit card, that’s why we analysed travel and rewards credit cards across a range of categories to find the best cards to help make the decision process easier for Australians,” says Peter Marshall, Banking expert and Mozo Experts Choice Awards Judge.

“Travel credit cards are a great option for savvy travellers with benefits like 0% foreign exchange fees, free travel insurance”

“We’ve seen annual fees for rewards credit cards continue to rise with a 4.49% increase* since last year. That's why now is a great time for Aussies to shop around for the best value card and avoid paying the loyalty tax,” says Marshall

*We compared the annual fees of all the rewards cards (91) in the Mozo database at 1 July 2024 and 7 July 2025 and found the average annual fee has increased from $239.80 to $250.57

Winners you can trust

Travel credit cards

Mozo experts rigorously evaluated travel credit cards, using specific criteria to pinpoint the ones that truly deliver superior value to consumers. Experts awarded the standout travel card winners in three categories, Premium, Low Rate and Rewards Travel Credit Cards. 

“Travel credit cards offer great value for Aussie travellers. Winners needed to offer 0% foreign exchange fees and free travel insurance. Of these cards, we identified the cards with the lowest rates  in each award category,” explains Marshall 

Rewards credit cards

Rewards credit card winners were determined by calculating the retail value of points earned in a year and subtracting the annual fee.

“We assessed rewards credit cards across multiple different rewards areas including cashback, frequent flyer programs and rewards programs to find which cards truly offer Aussie’s the best value. Finding the best rewards card can be a long process of sifting through pages of data, that’s why the Mozo winners list is a great place for Aussies to start their search,” Says Marshall

 Read the credit card awards methodology.

American Express named Australia’s Best Credit Card Provider in 2025

With a strong performance across 10 categories, American Express has been recognised as Australia’s Best Credit Card Provider for 2025.

“With a commitment to great rewards programs and offers, as well as cheap credit card options, American Express stood above the rest, an achievement worth recognising. With 11 category wins in this year's awards, American Express is a deserving winner of this year's top award,” says Marshall.

• Rewards Business Credit Card - Business Explorer Credit Card
• Velocity Frequent Flyer Business Credit Card - Business Explorer Credit Card
• Premium Rewards Credit Card - Explorer® Credit Card
• Cashback Premium Credit Card - Explorer® Credit Card
• Velocity Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card - Explorer® Credit Card
• No Annual Fee Credit Card - Low Rate Credit Card
• Rewards Credit Card - Qantas Discovery Card
• Qantas Frequent Flyer Credit Card - Qantas Discovery Card
• Qantas Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card - Qantas Ultimate Card
• Velocity Frequent Flyer Credit Card - Velocity Escape Plus Card
• Velocity Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card - Velocity Platinum Card

Winners List:

Highly Commended Credit Card Provider

• Bankwest 
• HSBC 

Premium Travel Credit Card

• Bank First - Visa Platinum Credit Card
• Bankwest - More World Mastercard
• Bankwest - Qantas World Mastercard
• Bendigo Bank - Ready Credit Card
• Commonwealth Bank - Smart Awards Credit Card

Low Rate Travel Credit Card

• Bank First - Visa Platinum Credit Card
• Westpac - Lite Card

Rewards Travel Credit Card

• Bankwest - More World Mastercard
• Bankwest - Qantas World Mastercard
• Commonwealth Bank - Smart Awards Credit Card 
• Commonwealth Bank - Ultimate Awards Credit Card
• NAB - Rewards Signature Card

Rewards Credit Card

• American Express - Qantas Discovery Card
• Coles - Rewards Mastercard
• Kogan Money - Black Card

Premium Rewards Credit Card

• American Express - Explorer® Credit Card
• ANZ - Rewards Black
• Bank of Queensland - Platinum Visa Credit Card 
• Commonwealth Bank - Smart Awards Credit Card (Commbank Awards Program)
• Commonwealth Bank - Ultimate Awards Credit Card
• Heritage Bank - Platinum
• HSBC - Platinum Credit Card
• HSBC - Premier World Mastercard (Rewards Plus)
• NAB - Rewards Signature Card

Cashback Premium Credit Card

• American Express- Explorer® Credit Card
• Commonwealth Bank - Smart Awards Credit Card (Commbank Awards Program)
• Commonwealth Bank - Ultimate Awards Credit Card
• HSBC - Platinum Credit Card
• HSBC - Premier World Mastercard (Rewards Plus)
• ING - Orange One Rewards Platinum Credit Card
• NAB - Rewards Signature Card

Qantas Frequent Flyer Credit Card

• American Express - Qantas Discovery Card

Qantas Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card

• American Express- Qantas Ultimate Card
• ANZ - Frequent Flyer Black
• Bankwest - Qantas World Mastercard
• BOQ Specialist - Signature (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
• G&C Mutual Bank - Platinum Visa Credit Card
• HSBC - Platinum Qantas Credit Card
• HSBC - Premier World Mastercard (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
• Qantas Money - Qantas Premier Platinum
• Unity Bank - Platinum Visa Credit Card

Velocity Frequent Flyer Credit Card

• American Express - Velocity Escape Plus Card
• Coles - Rewards Mastercard
• Virgin Money - Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer Card

Velocity Frequent Flyer Premium Credit Card

• American Express - Velocity Platinum Card
• American Express - Explorer® Credit Card
• Bankwest - More World Mastercard
• BOQ Specialist - Signature (Velocity Frequent Flyer)
• HSBC - Platinum Credit Card
• HSBC - Premier World Mastercard (Rewards Plus)
• NAB - Rewards Signature Card
• Virgin Money - Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer Card

To see the full list of winners, and details on how the winners were chosen, you can read the credit card awards methodology.  Head to the hub to compare credit card features and rates.