The American Express Gold Ascent credit card is a relatively inexpensive financial product with a great rewards program that provides a wide range of different products to spend points on.

Frequent Flyer Points

Card holders with the American Express Gold Ascent card get one Membership Rewards or Airline Rewards point for every $2 spent on the card. Points are not capped and points never expire as long as the account remains current. Therefore you are free to accumulate as many points as you want, so you could save up for a long period of time and use them to, for example, splash out on long haul flights.

Points can be redeemed with seven different airlines, which allows a greater degree of freedom and choice when booking flights. Those airlines are Singapore Airlines, New Zealand Airpoint, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways. American Express Gold Ascent credit card holders can earn bonus points with American Express’ bonus partners Avis, Bob Jane T-Marts, DFS Galleria and Hotel Club. With the American Express Gold Ascent card, customers need the fewer points to fly than with any other program in Australia.

Other Rewards

Rewards points earned with the American Express Gold Ascent credit card can be redeemed with a huge variety of retailers and service providers. Those include travel agency partners Travelscene American Express, Harvey World Travel and Flight Centre. Rewards points can also be used to pay for accommodation with Sofitel, Novotel, All Seasons Hotels Best Western, Comfort Hotels, Conrad Jupiters, Conrad Treasury, Crown Promenade, Crown Towers, Four Points by Sheraton, Grand Mecure Hotels and Apartments, Hilton, Ibis Hotels, Mecure Hotels and Resorts, Mirvac Hotels and Resorts, Novotel Hotels and Resorts, Peppers Hotels and Resorts, Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton, Sofitel Hotels and Resorts, Stamford Hotels and Resorts and Westin. As well as this, car rentals with Avis and Hertz are available.

Travel and transport aside, card holders can use their points to get gift cards from Angus and Coote, Bob Jane T-Marts, Borders, BP, Bunnings, Coles, Country Road, David Jones, Domayne, Harvey Norman, Myer, Officeworks, Rebel Sport, Red Balloon, Sanity, Simon Johnson, Target, Tiffany and Co. and Vintage Cellars. For straightforward shopping, card holders can use their points to pay for over a thousand products from Apple, JVC, Lonely Planet, Navman, Nike, Panasonic, Royal Doulton, Samsonite and Sony.

Pros

The interest rate on the American Express Gold Ascent credit card is relatively low considering that it comes with a rewards program, and there is no annual fee for the card either. There is also no annual fee on any supplementary cards you might want. These two features combined, no annual fee for primary or supplemental cards, is practically unheard of when compared with other frequent flyer credit cards.

The card comes with around-the-clock online account access with paperless statements, and an online fraud protection guarantee.

Cons

If you want to redeem the points that you have earned using your American Express Gold Ascent credit card with one of the partner airlines, you’ll need to sign up for their frequent flyer program. This can cost you additional membership fees over and above any fees you already pay for membership to any programs you are already subscribed to.

Furthermore, some airlines require you to redeem a minimum number of points with them. Malaysia Airlines require a minimum of 500 points; Velocity Rewards, New Zealand Airpoints and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club require a minimum of 2,000 points; and Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific will require a minimum spend of 5,000 points.

The American Express Gold Ascent credit card also lacks the overseas travel insurance found on many other frequent flyer cards. Flight inconvenience insurance, protection against damaged or stolen goods and car rental cover are also lacking.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the American Express Gold Ascent credit card, customers must be a permanent resident or citizen of Australia aged 18 years or over. They must have a good credit rating and an income of $40,000 or more. If you are self employed, you’ll need to be able to produce your accounts for the past year.

Is This Card Right For You?

This card is a great deal for customers looking for a relatively cheap card with a wide-ranging rewards program. Very few frequent flyer cards have no annual and even fewer have no annual fee for supplementary cards. In this regard the American Express Gold Ascent credit card is quite unique. These money saving features coupled with the fact that with the American Express Gold Ascent credit card rewards program you need fewer points to fly compared with any other program make it a very attractive offer.