Everyone deserves a free holiday, and with the right rewards credit card you can accumulate enough points to travel for next to nothing. Want to learn how? The first step is to find the right credit card for you. Steve Mickenbecker from Canstar shares his expertise with Gobbill.

Know yourself before you fly into a rewards credit card
Choosing a credit card is one of the earliest financial decisions many young Australian adults will make. Rewards cards are one of the options that should be considered – but they are not right for everyone. Choosing the right credit card is not just about knowing about the cards on offer. It is also about knowing yourself and your financial behaviours.

Do you lose control of your credit card? For some people, no credit card will be right. If you struggle to save because the plastic in your pocket makes spending too easy, stick with a debit card and save before you spend.

Do you leave a debt balance on your card most months? Having passed the “qualify for a credit card test”, now you need to answer a question about your repayment behaviour. If you struggle to repay the full balance every month and end up leaving a debt on your card, you will be paying interest. Typically rewards cards carry higher interest rates, in the order of double that of the lowest rates on the market. The rewards you earn are unlikely to compensate you for the higher interest you are paying. A low rate card is may be a better option.

If you repay in full every month, which type of rewards are for you? If you are a regular payer of the full balance on your credit card then a rewards cards is an option. But you are now faced with the choice of frequent flyer cards or cards that earn you shopping coupons, merchandise or cash back. Frequent flyer rewards take a long time to earn if you spend less than $1,000 per month on your credit card. Shopping coupons and the like can be earned earlier and more frequently, and potentially pay their way as you go rather than waiting years for a flight.

For bigger spenders though, there is something satisfying about paying for flights for an overseas holiday every couple of years or for the odd long weekend at Noosa.

Whether flights or vouchers, don’t pay too high an annual fee
With some cards you pay a fee for the card and a fee for the rewards programme. There are a few free rewards cards, some quite low cost, lots around $400 and a few a lot more than that. What is too much however, depends on how much you spend on your card and the rate at which your card earns rewards.

If your spend is $1,000 per month, the rewards you earn will not cover a high cost card, so you may benefit by looking at the lower end of the scale. However, if you are spending $10,000 per month, a high cost card can be the right choice if it earns high rewards and other benefits.

So now that you understand about you, how do you choose a specific card?

In a nutshell the choice of a specific rewards card comes down to five sets of factors:

1. What type of rewards do I prefer – flights, merchandise, shopping coupons, etc.
2. For my level of spend, what dollar value of rewards do I earn.
3. What is the annual fee for the card
4. What other benefits will I use – travel insurance, concierge, airline lounge entry, etc.
5. What are the underlying credit card conditions

Easy to say fast but a lot to consider when you see the myriad of cards on the market. Canstar compares over 200 credit cards from 64 providers on its website, meaning that the consumer has no shortage of choice ….. but in some ways too much choice.

Acknowledgments to

Steve Mickenbecker, Canstar Group Executive, Financial Services.

www.canstar.com.au 

Source: Photo – Singapore Airlines First Class

“It’s our pleasure to upgrade you to first class. Have a lovely flight.” These are the words that we’d all like to hear on a 23 hour flight to London, but it rarely happens. Everyone deserves an upgrade once in a while. Maybe even a free holiday…

A sure way to feel like royalty while travelling is to earn and spend reward points wisely. Earning reward points is like money on the ground, but most people just don’t have the time (or the insider knowledge) to pick it up. In addition, the reward scheme and how you spend points can determine whether points are valuable.

The first step is to find the right credit card to earn points. So we asked several experts for their advice. Our expert this week is Steve Hui.

Steve Hui is the CEO of iFlyFlat, a Sydney based travel concierge service that helps people to fly business and first class using points. We asked Steve for a few tips…

What should you look for in a credit card that earns reward points?
Remember that not all cards are created equal. There’s a range of different cards out there earning different kinds of points. The first step to picking the right card is understanding what kind of points you need to collect, and that comes from decided which destination you would like to travel to. For every destination, different airlines require different points to fly there – so pick the right points for the right destinations.
Then you can compare cards within that range to find which one will earn you the most points per dollar.

Are there good ways to find and compare cards?
As we know, there’s a range of airlines and cards to choose from. Once you have chosen what type of points to collect based on your travel intentions, it’s time to compare the card benefits. There’s a number of factors to consider;
1) Based on your spending habits, can you pay with mostly with AMEX or only VISA/Mastercard? (AMEX cards may earn more airline points per dollar)
2) Is the card capped as to a certain number of points?
3) Are there bonus points for certain retailers that you regularly use (e.g. Specific supermarkets and petrol stations)?
4) With my spending, will this card help me achieve my travel goal?

Which card do you use and what do you use it for?
Most of my points come from both a personal and business American Express card with each AMEX card earning between 2x to 3x points on every single dollar. The benefit of AMEX points is the increased flexibility. My AMEX points can be transferred to 10 different airline partners including Qantas, Emirates, Singapore and Virgin. Further, my points do not expire and are uncapped, so I can earn as much as I spend.

Remember to choose the card that works for your situation. Pay close attention to the points per dollar earnings and any caps/restrictions. Personally, I don’t worry about the annual fees very much, because the value of flights I redeem with my points far exceed the annual fee by a factor of 10x.

Great insights from Steve at iFlyFlat. In addition, paying expenses online with a reward-friendly credit card is a great way to get those points moving. Using Gobbill, you can link your credit card to make payments automatically. This can earn you reward points much faster and, of course, you don’t have to spend time actually paying the bills.

Gobbill also makes changing credit cards to earn bonus points a breeze. Want to pay one biller with a different credit card? Easy just change the details in Gobbill. In no time, you’ll be enjoying your free flight upgrade or holiday.

Acknowledgments to Steve Hui, Chief Executive, www.iFLYflat.com.au – The Points Whisperer.

Want to dispute a bill? Low on cash towards the end of the month? Too late, your account has already been debited. While direct debit can save you the hassle of bill payments, being locked into fixed automated payments can also get you into trouble.

With direct debit, billers don’t need to contact you or ask for permission before withdrawing funds. This gives a third party control over payments, potentially leaving you with extra fees or bills for products you no longer use. So, if you’re thinking about setting up a direct debit, make sure you understand the pros and cons. Read our article about direct debits.

Ms. Ocea Smith spoke to the Gobbill team about her bad experience with direct debit. “I find it frustrating when it comes to direct debit and there’s a public holiday…The trouble I had was with Vodafone, who direct debited from my account on the 5th of every month. A while back it was taken early due to a public holiday and I didn’t transfer in time.

Sometimes they [billers] decide to deduct early while others wait for the closest business working day. I really wish they would confirm so I can be sure my end is all okay. All I would need to do is transfer between my accounts. Instead I’ve been caught with fees for bounced payments.…So I received a dishonour fee from my bank of $40! I complained to my bank and it was revoked, which was great.”

Do you have a horror story about direct debit? Share it with us here: [email protected]