Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card

Pauline Hatch

Pauline is a personal finance expert at CreditCard.com.au, with 9 years in money, budgeting and property reporting under her belt. Ask Pauline a Question about this card.

The Big Review: Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card

Allowing cardholders to earn points on the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card offers an uncapped earn rate of 1 Qantas Point per $1 on the first $5,000 spent per month, and 0.5 points per $1 thereafter. Complimentary Qantas Frequent Flyer membership. Working well for frequent travellers, the card provides travel and retail insurance cover, no foreign transaction fees, and free worldwide emergency card replacement.

• Earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 on the first $5,000 spent per month, and 0.5 points per $1 thereafter
• Uncapped points earning
• Complimentary Qantas Frequent Flyer membership
• Included travel insurance
• Retail cover
• No foreign transaction fees
• Free worldwide emergency card replacement
• 2.99% p.a. on balance transfers for nine months

• Annual Fee: $270
• Purchase Rate: 19.99% p.a. (variable)
• Cash Advance Rate: 21.99% p.a. (variable)
• Interest Free Period: Up to 44 days
• Minimum Credit Limit: $12,000

This Card: The Lowdown

Previously, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card was available by invite only to existing Bankwest Platinum cardholders. Today though, applications are open to new customers, as long as they meet the bank’s eligibility requirements.

The card offers appeal in its decent earn rate and its uncapped points earning potential. But, with its hefty annual fee, this is a card that rewards big spenders. Why? If you want to make it worth your while, you will need to spend big to earn that annual fee back in rewards.

So, for example, if you had an annual spend of $100,000 on the card, you would earn 52,500 Qantas Points. This could be redeemed for a JB Hi-Fi digital gift card worth $250 (worth 51,840 Qantas Points), which would work to cover your annual fee. Point calculations are accurate but may be subject to change without notice.

Of course, you may get more value on your redeemed points elsewhere, perhaps if you were to use them to purchase flights or upgrade an existing flight. The point is, as you can see from the spend required just to get your annual fee back, you will need to spend big to see value.

Aside from rewards, the card may provide value to cardholders in the various features on offer. As it is a Qantas branded card, it makes sense that its added extras focus on travel, providing no foreign transaction fees, travel and retail cover, and free worldwide emergency card replacement.

Digging Deeper

With the basics covered, it’s time to dig a little deeper into what’s on offer with the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card, so you can decide whether this card is right for you.

This Card: As a Rewards Card

When the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card was released to the general public, it had a nice bonus points offer attached. This not only helped new cardholders boost their Qantas Points balance, it also helped to take the sting out of the card’s annual fee.

Now though, there is no introductory offer on the table. While this is disappointing, it just makes it even more important for cardholders to work out in advance how much value the card can offer, in terms of the number of potential points they’ll receive on their expected annual spend.

Everyday Earning

On the highest rung of the Bankwest Qantas ladder, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card obviously provides the highest earn rate. Earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 on the first $5,000 spent per month, and 0.5 points per $1 thereafter.

If you’re not yet a Qantas Frequent Flyer member, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card provides complimentary membership. Offering a saving of $99.50, this feature can be accessed via the Bankwest website.

On to some of the card’s small print. The Qantas Points you earn will be credited once a month to your nominated Qantas Frequent Flyer account, and will normally be available for use within 21 days. However, you will not receive these points until you’ve spent an initial $1,500 on eligible purchases, and your account has been opened for at least two months.

What count as eligible purchases? Most transactions are eligible, except for cash advances, balance transfers, foreign exchange purchases, gaming or gambling transactions, BPAY payments, government charges, travellers cheques, business related expenses, and some others.

Points Redemption

Qantas offers one of the best-known frequent flyer programs in Australia, providing members with access to a huge range of rewards. While these rewards may be focused on travel, offering flights and upgrades on Qantas and its airline partners, there are other ways to redeem points.

By visiting the online Rewards Store, members can redeem points for more than 3,000 products. These include electronics and homewares, home appliances and gourmet treats, sports gear and toys. Gift cards are also a popular option, with cards available for an array of retailers.

Other redemption options allow members to redeem their points for hotel stays and car hire, Qantas Club membership and Qantas insurance. If you don’t have enough points to cover the rewards you want, you can make up the difference on your card.

This Card: As a Travel Rewards Card

The Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card provides some nice travel perks for the frequent traveller, including travel insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and free worldwide emergency card replacement.

Unfortunately, unlike some other cards of this calibre, it does not offer airport lounge access, or enticing extras such as travel credit or airport transfers.

Travel Insurance

Allowing cardholders to save money on standalone cover, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card provides overseas travel insurance as an extra on this card. As a cardholder, this covers you for a maximum of 6 consecutive months. What's even more great is that you no longer have to meet any minimum spend to make them eligible. So long as your card is active and in good standing while you're travelling, you and your family will be protected.

The overseas travel insurance covers you for unlimited emergency medical and hospital expenses, as well as a wide range of other cover, including emergency dental cover, transit accident insurance and interstate flight inconvenience insurance for flights within Australia.

There’s no doubt this cover could save you a substantial sum if you are a frequent traveller. It could also save you the hassle of searching for standalone insurance. As always though, you should read the PDS in full before relying on any cover provided by your credit card.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Another great money-saving feature, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card waives all foreign transaction fees. We believe this is the only Qantas credit card currently on the market to offer this.

Normally 2.95% of the transaction amount, this fee is reduced to zero on all purchases made on the card in a foreign currency. This includes purchases made overseas in person, and those made online via international retailers.

Free Worldwide Emergency Card Replacement

Providing yet another way to save money, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card doesn’t charge for emergency card replacement while overseas. We’ve seen some cards charge up to $200 for this service, so not only does it provide peace of mind, it could also provide significant savings.

This Card: Extras on Offer

While the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card doesn’t exactly offer an abundance of extras, the ones it does have are decent. These include retail cover on purchases, payment tech compatibility, and a balance transfer offer.

Retail Cover

Not all cardholders take advantage of these retail covers, but they’re handy to have should you need them.

• With price guarantee, you will be refunded the difference in price if you purchase an item and then find it cheaper at a store nearby. To be eligible, the item needs to be advertised at a bricks-and-mortar store within 25km of where the original item was purchased. The price difference must be greater than $75, so this works best for big ticket items.

• With purchase security insurance, you will benefit from 90 days of cover should your purchased item be lost, damaged or stolen anywhere in the world. Cover limits and policy exclusions apply.

• With extended warranty, eligible items you purchase on the card will benefit from an extension on the standard manufacturer’s warranty. This cover typically doubles the warranty offered, up to a total of one year.

Payment Tech

Currently, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card can be linked to Google Pay, available on compatible Android devices.

Balance Transfer Offer

The Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card currently provides 2.99% p.a. on balance transfers for nine months. It doesn’t take a mastermind to see that this is not the lowest balance transfer offer you could find, but it could still help you save money on interest if used correctly.

Interest Free Period

As long as you don’t carry a balance – or have a balance transfer on your account – you can take advantage of up to 44 interest free on purchases. This can help you to save on interest, while making it easier to manage your cashflow.

This Card: The Essentials

With its sizable annual fee, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card is a card that needs to offer value. Compared to other cards of this calibre, this card isn’t exactly overflowing with extravagant features, so that value needs to come from its rewards.

While you could find other cards with a higher Qantas Point earn rate, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card does offer decent points earning potential, with no points capping. So, the value you get from the card will depend on the amount you spend. As with any other rewards card with a high annual fee, it best suits cardholders who are willing to spend big.

In terms of interest, both the purchase rate and cash advance rate is relatively high, which means any balance left to accrue interest will seriously impact the value of the rewards and features offered. However, this can be avoided by shunning cash advances, and clearing your balance by the due date each month.

Decision Time

A worthy option for cardholders looking to earn Qantas Points on everyday spending, the Bankwest Qantas World Credit Card provides a decent earn rate with no points cap. Features are fairly slim, but they can provide additional value, especially to frequent travellers.