Rewards Credit Cards: Easily Compare

The key points to consider when comparing different rewards credit cards are:

• Do not assume you are getting something for nothing - take into account every facet of the card into account when comparing or you may end up paying more for few benefits.
• Is there an annual fee? You may be paying more in fees than you receive back in rewards.
• Cap and expiry - there may be a limit imposed on how many points you can earn on a certain period. Check the expiry date on points too - this prevents people who do not spend much from saving up for a decent reward because they are forced to redeem their points before then.

• How can you redeem your points?
The main options are: Travel rewards: make sure your card is allied with the airline that you often use and that services routes you usually fly on. The rewards often also cover more than just flights. Retail goods: you can earn points for shopping at affiliated retail locations or whenever you make any purchase, or you can have discounts applied at the time of purchase with that specific card. Cash back: this means you get a certain amount of cash back for your expenses. Either you get a percentage of your total spend back, usually 1%, or you can redeem accumulated points for cash. Cash back can be paid in multiple ways. Charities: These cards will contribute a percentage of your total spend to the given charity.

• What are you points worth? Translate the reward points of different cards back into dollar value. Eg. $1 = 1 point = 5c, another may be $1 = 1 point = 50c, or $1 = 1 point = 75c etc. You need to put in the effort to uncover this information, but if you don't do it then you cannot effectively compare different rewards schemes.

• How do you earn your points? Points are earned when you spend on your card. You should never think it is a good move to expend purely to earn points. If you end up not being able to pay off your balance at the end of the month, the value of any points earned will be more than wiped out by your interest payments.

• Interest free days, interest rates, fees and charges. A rewards card is just like any other credit card and you will be hit with interest charges if you do not pay off your balance in full each month.

Featured Rewards Credit Card

Get accelerated points earning and great platinum features with an ANZ Rewards Platinum credit card account.
• 20,000 Bonus Reward Points (equal to a $100 gift card).
• Uncapped points earning
• Accelerated points earning power of 2 cards in one account:
• Earn 3 Reward Points2 for every $1 spent on purchases using your ANZ Rewards Platinum American Express card
• Earn 1.5 Reward Points for every $1 spent on purchases using your ANZ Rewards Visa Platinum card
• Competitive Total Annual fee of $149.

Easily compare: No Annual Fee Credit Cards

The key points to consider when comparing different No Annual Fee credit cards are:
• Does an annual fee kick in after a certain time period, e.g. after one year?
• Is the provider compensating themselves in another way for waiving the annual fee?

What is the interest rate? Look for the lowest interest rate available unless you are absolutely, without a doubt certain that you will be able to pay off your debt in full each month.

This is Ray Ethell author of Finance Sites. Compare Credit Cards were never this easy. The information provided by us on all major Australian Credit Cards helps you compare credit cards on our site and saves your time money and effort. Try our services today

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