Bank Australia reduces Qantas Points earn rates
You’ll soon earn fewer Qantas Points per dollar spent with the Platinum Rewards Visa credit card.
Bank Australia is the latest bank to drop the value of a rewards credit card since the interchange fee regulations rolled out in July.
From 1 October 2017, the Bank Australia Platinum Rewards Visa will collect 0.75 Qantas Points per dollar spent on eligible purchases. This is a drop of 25% from the current earn rate of 1 Qantas Point per dollar spent. When you use your card to make Qantas purchases, you'll continue to earn 1 additional point per dollar spent on Qantas purchases, but this now brings the earn rate down from 2 points to 1.75 Qantas Points per dollar spent with the airline.
As well as lower earn rates, the potential to earn points will also be slashed by the introduction of a new monthly cap. Cardholders can now only earn up to 20,000 Qantas Points per statement period.
While some of us are unlikely to spend enough to earn 20,000 Qantas Points in a month, this could hurt your points potential if you have big ticket purchases coming up or use the card to cover business costs.
Unfortunately, Bank Australia is now one of many banks, including ANZ, CBA and Westpac, that have reduced the earn rates across its reward cards. Check out our comprehensive list of the banks that have announced changes to their rewards programs to compare your options.
With all of these changes to loyalty programs, it’s probably no surprise that Australians are losing interest in rewards cards. According to recent finder research, 43% of Australians are less interested in applying for a rewards credit card following the interchange fee regulations and subsequent changes in the rewards landscape. Meanwhile, 11% of cardholders who already own a rewards credit card are considering ditching it.
If you’re unhappy with the changed earn rates and are in the market for a new card, you can use finder’s Qantas Frequent Flyer credit card comparison to get started. There are a bunch of cards that earn 1 point per dollar (or more) spent, but make sure that you compare the earn rates with other factors including the annual fee, bonus points offers and interest rates.
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