The American Express Qantas Premium credit card provides customers with access to great cheap flights with Qantas, and there are plenty of opportunities to collect points towards them too thanks to a high earnings rate.

Frequent Flyer Points

The points system is geared towards Qantas, naturally, and provides incentives for new customers to spend. Customers get 1.25 Qantas Frequent Flyer points for every $1 spent on the card, which is more than most cards give on straightforward purchases. You’ll also get 2.25 points for every dollar spent in Australia on select Qantas products and services. As well as this, new customers get 5,000 points after their first card spend, and 2,500 points for their first card spend in Australia on selected Qantas products and services.

There is no expiry date or limit on points earned with the American Express Qantas Premium credit card. Those points can be redeemed domestically with Qantas, or internationally with Qantas Plus OneWorld Alliance Partners, which are American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana and Royal Jordanian.

Other Rewards

As well as the hefty points system, the American Express Qantas Premium credit card comes with two Qantas Club invitations every year.

Pros

The American Express Qantas Premium credit card comes with domestic and international travel insurance. Therefore, if you use your card to pay for travel, you’ll be covered by its policy. Additionally, the American Express Qantas Premium credit card comes with travel inconvenience cover, which insures against lost luggage, missed connections and delayed flights.

Global customer service is a given with American Express, as well as global emergency card replacement. It comes with an online fraud protection guarantee, which means that the customer is not responsible for any unauthorised charges online. There is also refund protection, which provides the customer with a refund from American Express even if the retailer they return it to refuses to accept the eligible item.

The card provides purchase protection, which covers repairs, breakage or theft of new items within 90 days of their purchase. For added security and to help customers keep on top of their finances and points accrued, the American Express Qantas Premium card comes with SMS or email alerts on balance updates, payments due and confirmations of payments received.

Cons

This card has an interest rate that’s slightly higher than other frequent flyer cards, which is the price paid for all those cheap flights. There is also a $149 p.a. annual fee for having one of these cards, but it isn’t out of kilter compared to the fees with other similar cards. If, however, the advantages of the frequent flyer points are high enough, these costs will be covered by your savings.

Eligibility

To successfully apply for the American Express Qantas Premium credit card, you must be aged 18 years or over, be a permanent resident or citizen of Australia, have good credit and be able to prove a taxable income of $40,000.

Is This Card Right For You?

This is a credit card with some charges that are quite typical for its type, but a large opportunity to save on flights and accommodation with no points capping.