A flight upgrade or cashback to your account: What’s the best way to spend your Altitude Points?
Westpac Altitude Rewards credit cards often boast massive bonus points offers. If you apply for the American Express Westpac Altitude Platinum bundle through finder by 27 November 2018, you can score up to 75,000 bonus Altitude Points when you meet the spend requirement (60,000 on Visa & 15,000 on Amex when you spend $3,000 within 90 days on each card.) But how much are Altitude Points worth?
Well, the value of your Westpac Altitude Points will vary depending on what you’re redeeming them for. To help you get the most out of your Altitude Points, let’s look at some of the best and worst ways to spend your Altitude Points.
These examples are all correct at the time of publication on 12 June 2018 and should only be used as a guide.
Westpac Credit Card Offer
American Express Westpac Altitude Platinum Bundle
Receive up to 75,000 bonus points
$0 annual fee in the first year
Offer ends 27 November 2018
Eligibility criteria, terms and conditions, fees and charges apply
Westpac Credit Card Offer
Receive up to 75,000 bonus Altitude Points (60,000 on Visa and 15,000 on Amex) when you meet the spend criteria and save with a $0 annual fee in the first year.
- $0 p.a. annual fee for the first year ($199 p.a. thereafter).
- 20.24% p.a. on purchases
- Cash advance rate of 20.74% p.a.
- Up to 45 days interest free
- Minimum income requirement of $50,000 p.a.
The smarter ways to spend your Altitude Points
You can use your Altitude Points to redeem everything from gift cards and cashback to flights and merchandise from the Altitude Rewards Store. These are some of the options that will give you the most valuable return for your points.
| Reward | Price in Altitude Points | Retail/dollar value | Value per point (in cents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trip for two to Queenstown (inc. 3 nights accommodation at the Luxury Lake Suites in a 2-Bedroom Lake View Apartment) | 17,975 points + $718 | $1,386 | 3.71 |
| Donation to Cancer Council Australia | 8,400 points | $50 | 0.6 |
| BT Super for Life Transfer | 3,000 points | $15 | 0.5 |
| Taylors Wines, Promised Land mixed 10 pack – The Red Wine Crowd Pleasers with BONUS 2 bottles | 36,050 points | $168 | 0.47 |
Using your Altitude Points to book accommodation through Altitude Travel offers the most value in this instance, with the 17,975 points valued at 3.71 cents per point.
If you’re feeling philanthropic, a $50 donation to Cancer Council Australia also offers good value, with each point worth around 0.60 cents. You can use your points to fund your nest egg with BT Super, which offers 0.50 cents per point used in this example. Or you could treat yourself to a mixed 10 pack of Taylor Wines with two bonus bottles, which offers similar value of 0.47 cents per point.
Now that we’ve looked at some of the best ways to spend your Altitude Points, here are some of the redemptions you should steer clear of if you're looking to get the most value from your hard-earned points.
The less valuable ways to spend your Altitude Points
From headphones and a sandwich toaster to cashback, here’s what you probably shouldn’t do with your Altitude Points.
| Reward | Price in Altitude Points | Retail/dollar value | Value per point (in cents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker II Pearl | 69,225 | $199 | 0.29 |
| Breville The Original 74 Jaffle Maker | 26,275 | $90 | 0.34 |
| Pay with Points | 12,500 | $50 | 0.4 |
| Cashback +15% | 119,750 | $500 | 0.42 |
Redeeming your Altitude Points for a Bose Bluetooth speaker is one of the lowest-value ways you can spend your points. It only offers 0.29 cents per point, which isn’t competitive compared to some of the offers we've listed earlier. Similarly, the Breville Jaffle maker only has a value of 0.34 cents per point.
Cash-type rewards also don’t offer great value. Opting to pay for a $50 credit on your account with points will cost 12,500 points, which boils down to around 0.40 cents per point. Meanwhile a $500 cashback award, which includes the current 15% bonus, is only worth 0.42 cents per point.
Instead of using your points to redeem these rewards, you’re better off using your Altitude credit card to pay for them and earn points on the purchase.
What about transferring your Altitude Points to frequent flyer rewards?
As well as redeeming them for cashback or merchandise, you can exchange your Altitude Points for frequent flyer points with Velocity Frequent Flyer, Asia Miles, Air New Zealand Airpoints, Malaysia Airlines Enrich and Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer.
For example, you can exchange 2 Altitude Points for 1 Velocity Point. As it’s probably the most popular option for Australians out of the partnered programs, here are some of the best and worst ways you can use the Velocity Points you get from your Altitude credit card. To give you an idea, we’ve provided a domestic and long-haul international example.
Sydney to Melbourne
| Reward type | Price in Altitude Points | Retail/dollar value | Value of 1 Altitude Point in cents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy flight | 15,600 | $99 | 0.63 |
| Business flight | 31,000 | $449 | 1.45 |
| Upgrading from Economy to Business | 20,000 | $350 | 1.75 |
As you can see in the table above, you’ll get the most value from your points if you use them to upgrade your flight from Economy to Business.
Sydney to Los Angeles
| Reward type | Price in Altitude Points | Retail/dollar value | Value of 1 Altitude Point in cents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy flight | 89,600 | $1,414 | 1.58 |
| Business flight | 191,000 | $8,838 | 4.63 |
| Upgrading from Economy to Business | 90,000 | $7,424 | 8.25 |
Like the domestic flight, upgrading your flight from Economy to Business offers the best value for your points. However, the value you’ll get from upgrading your flight is even more impressive for international bookings.
Buying your flight outright with points has limitations as they’re subject to availability. You may find that you need to redeem your points for flights month in advance and will usually need to be a little more flexible when picking flight dates and times.
Although earning Altitude Rewards can be a great way to reward your spending, not all rewards offer the same value. Generally, travel and flight upgrades offer more bang for your buck than items from the Altitude Rewards Store or paying for purchases with your points. So before you cash in your Altitude Rewards Points bounty, compare a few options to find the most rewarding deal for you.
