💳   Earning

• • On the CommBank Awards Card, you will earn 1 Awards point per $1 up to $2,000 in one statement period, then 0.5 points per $1 until the next statement period begins. There is no limit to the points you can earn in a year. The card has an $8 per month fee instead of an annual fee.

• • On the Commbank Smart Awards card you’ll earn up to 1.5 Awards points or 0.6 Qantas Points per $1 spent up to and including $5,000 in a statement period. You can also earn up to 2 Bonus Points or 0.8 Qantas Points per $1 spent on your highest eligible purchase made in a statement period up to 1,000 Bonus Points or 400 Qantas Points. Plus, you’ll pay no monthly fee if you spend over $2,000 on your card each month (otherwise $19).

• On the CommBank Ultimate Awards Card, you will earn 3 Awards points per $1 up to $10,000 per statement period. There is no monthly fee when you spend $4,000 in each statement period. Extras include insurances, paid lounge access and no international transaction fees.

Within the CommBank Awards program, you can also earn Bonus Points for every $1 spent when shopping with bonus partners. There’s no cap on how many bonus points you can earn and no expiry on your points, either.

  🛒   Redeeming

As a flexible rewards program, CommBank Awards has a number of redemption options to choose from. It’s worth noting that for most options, CommBank doesn’t provide a redemption value on rewards unless you sign in as a member.

• • Pay with points at Myer (redemption value not available).
  • Pay with points at Flight Centre to book flights, holiday packages and more (redemption value not available).
  • Shop the CommBank Awards Store for merchandise and gift cards (where 5,700 points equal a $25 gift card).
  • Transfer points to frequent traveller partner programs:

• • Cathay Pacific 3:1 (where 3,000 CommBank Award points equal 1,000 Asia Miles)
  • Malaysia Airlines 3:1
  • Japan Airlines: 4:1
  • Qatar Airways 3:1
  • United 4:1
  • Eva Air 3:1
  • Lufthansa 4:1
  • Air France KLM 3:1
  • China Eastern 3:1
  • Velocity Frequent Flyer 2.5:1 (classic Awards card) 2:1 (Platinum, Diamond & Ultimate cards)
  • Etihad 3:1
  • Air Asia 2.5:1
  • IHG 2.5:1
• Get cashback onto your credit card or pay down your card fee (redemption value not available).
• Donate to charity (where 4,650 points equal a $25 donation).

Points Plus Pay is also available.

  💰   Value

As we mentioned, you really need to log in as a member to check out the value offered by most of the redemption options within CommBank Awards. However, we can provide some examples of value using what we know of gift card and merchandise redemptions.

CommBank Awards Card (1 point per $1, capped at 50,000 points per year, $59 annual fee).

• • On a monthly spend of $1,000, you would earn 1,000 points each month, or 12,000 points per year, equal to $57 in gift card value. Alternatively, you could pick up Skullcandy Ink’d+ In-Ear earbuds W.Mic 1 for 12,048 points, available to buy for $20.

• On a monthly spend of $2,500, you would earn 2,500 points each month, or 30,000 points per year, equal to $142 in gift card value. Alternatively, you could pick up a Prairie Rivet FO Continental Wallet for 28,548 points, available to buy for $109.

CommBank Platinum Awards Card (1 point per $1, capped at 150,000 points per year, $249 annual fee, insurances, bonus points after min. spend and 12 months).

• • On a monthly spend of $5,000, you would earn 5,000 points each month, or 60,000 points per year, equal to $285 in gift card value. Alternatively, you could pick up a Prairie Saddle Sling for 59,715 points, available to buy for $240.

    Factoring in the 60,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $285 in gift card value, providing a total of $570 gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

• On a monthly spend of $10,000, you would earn 10,000 points each month, or 120,000 points per year, equal to $571 in gift card value (there are no Store items above 60,000 points).

  Factoring in the 60,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $285 in gift card value, providing a total of $856 in gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

CommBank Diamond Awards Card (1.25 points per $1, capped at 1 million points per year, $349 annual fee, insurances, bonus points).

• • On a monthly spend of $5,000, you would earn 6,250 points each month, or 75,000 points per year, equal to $357 in gift card value.

    Factoring in the 90,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $428 in gift card value, providing a total of $785 gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

• On a monthly spend of $10,000, you would earn 12,500 points each month, or 150,000 points per year, equal to $714 in gift card value.

  Factoring in the 90,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $428 in gift card value, providing a total of $1,142 gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

CommBank Ultimate Awards Card (3 points per $1 up to $10,000 per statement period, no monthly fee if you spend $2,500 per statement period, paid lounge access, insurance, no international transaction fees, bonus points).

• • On a monthly spend of $5,000, you would earn 15,000 points each month, or 180,000 points per year, equal to $857 in gift card value.

    Factoring in the 90,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $428 in gift card value, providing a total of $1,285 gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

• On a monthly spend of $10,000, you would earn 30,000 points each month, or 360,000 points per year, equal to $1,714 in gift card value.

  Factoring in the 90,000 intro bonus points, you would receive an additional $428 in gift card value, providing a total of $2,142 gift card value in the first year (additional bonus points only available after keeping the card for 12 months and paying another annual fee).

  ⚖️   Verdict

As long as you’re committed to channelling a relatively high spend through your card, you could enjoy value from the CommBank Awards program, especially in the first year. For those who are eligible, the Ultimate card would be particularly appealing, as there would be no monthly fee on monthly spends over $2,500.

While the rewards on offer are varied, you would need to weigh up the value of your redemptions once you have all information available to you as a rewards member.

Photo source: Getty Images