St.George Amplify Signature Credit Card (Qantas)

Need to give your Qantas points a significant boost so that you can snag a long-haul award flight? The St. George Amplify Signature Credit Card (Qantas) pumps a very healthy 80,000 points into your account if you can meet a preliminary spending target. There’s no points cap or threshold to hinder your ongoing points earning.

The high purchase and cash advance interest rates (19.49 % p.a. and 21.49% p.a. respectively) are typical for this kind of card, and in the second and subsequent years, there’s a substantial $295 annual fee to pay.

80,000 bonus points

Provided you can spend $6,000 in the first three months (that’s at least $2,000 per month) your points account will get off to a flying start with 90,000 bonus points. They would put you well on the way to a return economy flight to Los Angeles.

Points earning rate

The ongoing points earning rate is 0.75 QFF points per dollar for all eligible purchases (i.e. excluding cash advances, balance transfers, interest charges and card fees). This is far from being the best earning rate available, but the absence of any points cap or threshold does go a long way towards compensating for the lower rate.

Birthday benefits

St. George will wish you a happy birthday every year with a bonus of 10% of the points you earned in the previous year. So if your average card spending is $1,500 per month you will earn 13,500 Qantas points and receive a birthday bonus of 1,350 Qantas points.

Ways to spend Qantas points

If you really value having lots of choices, you may like the idea of being able to exchange Qantas points for merchandise, retail gift cards, hotel accommodation and car hire. But by far the best value return per point is achieved by award flight redemptions, especially if you can accumulate enough points for business or first-class seats or long-haul flights.

International travel benefits

Regular international travellers will get the most out of this card, although they will have to pay a substantial 3% international transaction fee.

The card comes with two Qantas Club single-visit lounge passes each year.

To get an idea of the value of the Qantas lounge passes, it’s worth remembering that it currently costs $399 merely to join Qantas Club, plus a further $540 for each year’s membership.

Luxury hotel membership

Frequent travellers and higher-than-average spenders will appreciate the automatic membership of the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, offering extras such as the best available rates, free Internet, complimentary breakfast and late checkout at 900 hotels worldwide.

Complimentary insurance cover

You’ll get the full premium card insurance package with the Amplify Signature card:

• Overseas travel: An annual multi-trip policy covering trips up to six months long for you and your immediate family, including emergency medical expenses, unavoidable trip cancellation and the rental car insurance excess.
• Interstate flight inconvenience: Luggage cover, trip cancellation or delay cover.
• Transit accident: Compensation if you’re involved in an accident resulting in serious injury on planes and public transport.
• Rental vehicle excess in Australia: You don’t need to be travelling to take advantage of this cover. Many other cards only provide this cover for overseas travel.
• Purchase cover: Four months of protection against loss, theft or damage for new items bought with the card.
• Extended warranty: Up to 12 extra months beyond the manufacturer’s Australian warranty

The extensive multi-trip international travel insurance for a family would normally cost around $750 per year. Add the remaining policies, and the savings are an estimated $1,350 per year.

Which cards compete with this one?

If you’re looking to earn QFF points, this card’s closest competitors include Westpac’s Altitude cards, the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Credit Card and the Citi Qantas Signature Credit Card. You can compare the many Qantas rewards cards on the Qantas page in our Features section.

It’s an ideal traveller’s card

The travel insurance and Qantas airport lounge pass make this an ideal card for international travellers, while big spenders will appreciate the luxury hotel membership and the absence of a points cap. The value of benefits more than covers the relatively high annual fee (especially in the discounted first year), and the first purchase bonus points make the first year particularly rewarding.