ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Credit Card

Got your specs handy? The ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Credit Card comes with the extensive suite of member benefits you’d expect from a prestige black card with a mammoth annual fee, but you’ll need to be all over the small print to make sure you extract the maximum advantage for the extra dollars you pay.

High annual fee, but it could be worth it

The annual fee has two components, the $370 card fee and the $55 rewards scheme fee, adding up to $425 per year. For each extra cardholder, add a further $65 ($10+$55). It’s pricey to say the least, but justifiable if you can spend enough each year to score, say, a business class return from Sydney to Melbourne – 32,000 points, requiring a $32,000 spend (less if some of that spending is with Qantas) and saving you at least $1,539 (excluding any additional charges).

And the annual fee will seem insignificant in the first year, when it is wiped out by sign-up benefits.

Uncapped points earning

This is Visa card, and even for a Visa the ongoing earning rate is not exceptional, given the size of the annual fee. However, although there’s a points threshold, beyond which the earning rate decreases, there’s no overall points cap. It’s ANZ’s most rewarding Qantas Frequent Flyer card.

The earning rate is:

• 1.0 QFF points per dollar, up to $7,500 per statement period
• 0.5 points per dollar, above $7,500 per statement period

That $7,500 threshold is probably not going to be a problem for most cardholders in most months, so it’s likely that the vast majority of card spending will earn 1.0 points per dollar.

Sign-up bonus points plus generous cashback

ANZ will welcome you as a new credit card customer with:

• 75,000 QFF bonus points to accompany your first card purchase (of any amount), provided you make it in the first three months of holding the card. These points will put you well on the way to earning a return economy flight to Europe (120,000 points). (Small print alert. You won’t get the bonus points if you already have, or have had within the last 12 months, any kind of ANZ Frequent Flyer credit card.)

• A generous $200 cashback to your card account for making that same first purchase in the first three months.

Ongoing benefits

The benefits aren’t confined to the first year. You’ll get these additional complimentary privileges for holding the card, every year:

• Qantas Club annual membership fee discount. You’ll get a discount on your continuing Qantas Club membership after the first year.
• Two Qantas Club lounge single-entry passes per year. You can use the worldwide Qantas lounge facilities twice each year (or extend the privilege to a friend if you’re already a member) with these complimentary passes. (Small print alert. You need to be on a Qantas or Jetstar flight in order to use the pass, and you must order it four weeks in advance and wait for it to arrive by mail.)
• Additional points on Qantas purchases. You’ll earn one additional point per $1 spent on Qantas flights and upgrades, QFF joining fees and Qantas Club joining and annual fees. (Small print alert. You won’t get the extra points for Jetstar flights or Qantas holidays, and you need to purchase directly from Qantas, not through a travel agent.)
• Top-of-the-range QBE multi-trip international travel insurance, covering medical expenses, theft, loss and damage of property, car rental excess and more. ANZ says you can save up to $775, and it’s certainly true that even a basic policy could cost $450. (Small print alert. You must use the card for at least $250 of each person’s trip’s cost to activate the insurance cover, but that’s a low amount compared with some other cards.)
• Interstate flight inconvenience cover for flight delay, luggage delay, personal property cover, car rental excess.
• Transit accident cover, providing cash compensation for serious accidents sustained on public transport.
• Extended warranty insurance doubles the manufacturer’s Australian warranty, up to 12 additional months.
• Purchase security insurance provides 90 day cover for card purchases against loss, damage and theft.
• Best price guarantee scheme – price difference refunded if you find items (purchased with the card) cheaper elsewhere within 21 days.
• Personal concierge service. Anyone contemplating a black credit card might well find value in the complimentary concierge service for assistance with travel, entertainment and restaurant bookings, although it’s not made clear who the service provider is, with just a contact phone number and no website link.
• Visa Entertainment. Pre-sale tickets to sought-after events.
• Exclusives by ANZ. Invitation-only upmarket entertainment, food and lifestyle experiences.

The downsides

There’s no getting around the steep annual fee and the high ongoing purchase interest rate of 19.99%, but holders of black cards don’t usually plan to rack up interest-bearing credit card debt.

You also have to be sure that you want QFF points, because there are no options to earn, or transfer to, any other type of reward or airline points.

Competing cards

If you find the $425 annual fee to much to swallow, consider the ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum Card instead, with a lower annual fee but also lower points earning rate. NAB, Westpac, St.George, Bankwest, Citi, Commonwealth, American Express, HSBC, Qantas Money, Bendigo Bank and Woolworths also offer cards directly linked to Qantas points.

This card is meant for . . .

. . . QFF points collectors who prefer the global acceptance of a Visa card, in contrast to the lower acceptance rate and higher surcharges attracted by an American Express card. The substantial bonus points and cashback make the card particularly attractive in the first year, while regular travellers are likely to consider that the lounge passes, lounge membership discount and complimentary insurance more than offset the annual fee in subsequent years.