Westpac Altitude Black Credit Card (Altitude)
Highlights
- Earn up to 180,000 bonus Altitude Points. Receive 130,000 Altitude bonus points by spending $6,000 on eligible purchases within 120 days of card approval. Additionally, get 50,000 points after your first eligible purchase in year 2. Exclusions apply.
- Earn 6 Altitude points per $1 on Qantas, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, and Emirates flights bought in Australia, subject to eligibility criteria.
- Redeem your points for gift cards, travel, transferring to partner airline programs, and other rewards.
- Get 2 free Priority Pass lounge visits each year.
- Use the Concierge Service to book experiences online, including exclusive tickets, last-minute reservations, and more.
- Comes with complimentary insurance, including Interstate Flight Inconvenience, Rental Vehicle Excess, international travel coverage, extended warranty, purchase protection, and overseas transit accident insurance.
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Westpac’s credit card designers were certainly at the top of their game when they came up with the Westpac Altitude Black Credit Card (Altitude), which neatly packages most of the features that any credit card user could ask for, even though it comes with the usual hefty fee for a black credit card. If you choose this card, you’ll want to hang around for at least a year to make the most of the multiple benefits, including choice of rewards, high points earning rates coupled with substantial bonus points, and a suite of complimentary benefits.
Westpac’s highest Altitude points earning rate, uncapped
Earn as many Altitude Rewards points as you like, every month, at the following high rates:
- 6.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* up to $10,000 per month, on flights purchased in Australia directly with Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines, then 1.25 points per $1 spent thereafter
- 2.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* on overseas purchases, including online
- 2.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* at David Jones, Myer, THE ICONIC, Spotify Premium, Uber, Uber Eats and Airbnb
- 1.25 Altitude points per dollar spent* on all other eligible purchases
Sign up bonus points
Get ready for an amazing sign-up perk: Score a hefty 130,000 bonus Altitude Rewards points when you spend at least $4,000 on card purchases within 90 days of getting your account approved. That breaks down to around $1,333 per month, totally doable for those eyeing a black-tier credit card. But wait, there's more! In year 2, upon making your first eligible purchase, you'll snag an extra 50,000 points, bringing the total to a whopping 180,000 points.
To give you an idea of what this is worth, 180,000 Altitude points will buy you around $715 worth of retail gift cards delivered electronically. Convert the Altitude points into Velocity frequent flyer points, and the resulting 50,000 points could be used for three return Economy flights between Sydney and Melbourne or Brisbane (46,800 points).
Redeeming Altitude points
There are plenty of attractive options for redeeming your Altitude points, and once you get your hands on those 150,000 bonus points you’ll feel like a kid in a lolly shop:
- Exchange Altitude points for frequent flyer points* with Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Malaysia Airlines;
- Get a cashback to your card account* at the rate 14,100 points per $50;
- Choose a retail gift card*, starting at 4,200 points for a $20 eGift card;
- Swap points for cinema tickets*, e.g. 19,250 points for two Event Cinemas Gold class tickets;
- Select from a range of merchandise in an online catalogue, including technology, fashion, homewares, wine, and more;
- Pay with points* for any card purchase made in the previous 90 days.
Almost every conceivable complimentary benefit
- Multi-trip overseas travel insurance for trips lasting up to six months, saving you at least $750 a year for a family policy. Activate the cover by using the card for at least $500 of each person’s prepaid trip expenses.
- Purchase security insurance, providing four months of loss, theft or accidental damage cover against goods purchased with the card (better than competing cards, which limit the cover to three months).
- Extended warranty insurance of up to 24 months on card purchases (again, an improvement on competitors’ 12 months maximum extended warranty).
- Price guarantee cover. Price difference refunded if you find a recent purchase advertised at a lower price in a printed store catalogue within 21 days.
- Interstate flight inconvenience cover for delays, cancellation, luggage loss or damage during trips of up to 14 days.
- Rental car excess cover, overseas and in Australia.
- Transport accident cover, providing cash compensation in the event of a serious accident sustained on public transport or a commercial airline .
- Two free Priority Pass airport lounge passes, every year.
- Westpac’s 24/7 concierge service for assistance with travel, entertainment, and restaurant information, recommendations and bookings. There’s also a Black Card Concierge app.
- Altitude Black Card Priority Service telephone line.
That’s quite a list, and it not only matches but often exceeds the benefits offered with other black cards.
The fee is typically high
The $295 yearly fee, which includes a supplementary card at no additional cost, is quite standard, considering the benefits of earning points and the added perks. However, newcomers to Westpac can delight in a reduced first-year card fee of $200.
Ongoing interest rates
Anyone interested in a top-of-the-range card like this is unlikely to be concerned by its interest rates since they probably plan to pay off their purchase balance in full every month. But for the record, the purchase interest rate is 20.99% p.a., while the cash advance interest rate is slightly higher at 21.99% p.a.
Some credit cards give you up to 55 interest-free days on purchases, but this isn’t one of them. You’ll get up to 45 days instead — still a valuable benefit — but it does mean that you’ll need to come up with your repayment cash a total of 120 days earlier during the course of a year.
Is the Westpac Altitude Black worth it?
This card is designed for someone who wants it all — and can afford to pay for it — but still expects top value per dollar spent.
Overall, it is a very strong offer that combines a high points earning rate, generous sign-up bonus points offer, airport lounges passes, and free insurance cover that’s better in many respects than the cover provided by competing cards. And since Altitude Rewards points can be transferred to several frequent flyer programs, there's flexibility and availability when it comes to high-value Business and First Class redemptions.
Reviewed by Credit Card Compare Staff
History
User reviews
Convenience
Customer service
Rates and fees
Rewards
Trust
Just like any other card, but with bells
Reviewed by Brian
Not sure what I would do without it
Reviewed by Tony P
Value and convenience
Reviewed by Phillip McW
Happy with this card
Reviewed by Black westpac card
Generally very pleased with this card
Reviewed by veevee
I redeem rewards points for gift cards
Reviewed by Diane
I trust Westpac
Reviewed by ADAM
Nice features but read the fine print
Reviewed by Jm.jazzy
Very happy with this card
Reviewed by Mark Belkind
Worth it for the rewards... maybe?
Reviewed by Susan
Banking with the best
Reviewed by Jules
Very good
Reviewed by Mel
Generally a good card
Reviewed by Oscar
Love the rewards
Reviewed by Sandra
Annual fee is extremely high
Reviewed by Sam
This card gives me wings
Reviewed by Kerryanne Kelly
Good card for accruing points and getting rewarded
Reviewed by Jacquie
Premium package
Reviewed by Brenda
Great card
Reviewed by Russ
Back in black
Reviewed by Julie
Pleased, but would like unlimited lounge access
Reviewed by Ravi
The card I save with
Reviewed by Glenys
The rewards are fantasic
Reviewed by Daniel
Trustworthy card, great service
Reviewed by Cheryl
Pay it off on time and enjoy good rewards
Reviewed by Russ
Happy with service
Reviewed by Maureen
Good communication from the bank
Reviewed by Clem
Good for tracking spending
Reviewed by Judy
Good card for big-spending Westpac loan customers
Reviewed by Amy
More points with the AmEx card
Reviewed by David
Some cons but more pros
Reviewed by Phil
Good rewards system
Reviewed by Jonno
A solid offering with good rewards and insurance
Reviewed by Sarah
A well-rounded travel and award-ready card.
Reviewed by Liz
Love the rewards and service
Reviewed by Michelle
Great rewards and service
Reviewed by Greg
Great features but comes at a high price
Reviewed by Avinash
Saved on balance transfer, earned lots of rewards
Reviewed by Huan Ling Winnie
Awful communication and incompetent staff
Reviewed by Sean
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