Woolworths Qantas Platinum 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: Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card

The perfect companion for frequent Woolies shoppers, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card makes it easy to earn Qantas Points on the weekly shop, while providing an excellent range of useful features. With a reduced $99 annual fee for the first year and 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 14 months, this card is hard to say no to, especially when extras such as access to Visa Luxury Hotels and a platinum concierge are thrown into the mix.

• Earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent within the Woolworths Group
• Earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent elsewhere
• Points earned on the Woolworths Rewards program can be converted to shopping credit or Qantas Points
• Earn an additional 1 Qantas Point per $1 on selected Qantas products and services
• Reduced annual fee for first year, at $99
• Complimentary insurance cover
• Access to Visa Luxury Hotels benefits
• Access to Platinum Concierge
• Get 10% off your Woolies shop once every month
• 0% p.a. balance transfers for 14 months
• Discounts on selected Woolworths Group products
• Access to Visa Entertainment
• Annual Fee: $99 for the first year, $169 each year after that
• Additional Cardholder Annual Fee: $29
• Purchase Interest Rate: 20.49% p.a. (variable)
• Cash Advance Interest Rate: 20.49% p.a. (variable)
• Balance transfers revert to cash advance rate

This Card: The Lowdown

If you tend to choose Woolies over Coles for your weekly shop, then the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card may just be for you. Allowing you to earn Qantas Points on your Woolies groceries and on your everyday spending elsewhere, this card offers a straightforward points-earner, with no points cap in place.

As you would expect from a platinum rewards card, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card also provides a number of platinum perks, making it a great choice for cardholders who like a few fancy features on their credit card.

In terms of features, here are some of the enticing extras you can expect as a Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card holder.

• Visa Luxury Hotels access provides you benefits such as room upgrades, free in-room internet, complimentary continental breakfast, late check-out and a $25 food or beverage voucher during your stay.
• Your Platinum Concierge service is on hand 24/7, and can assist you with anything from travel reservations to theatre recommendations.
• Once a month, you will get 10% off your Woolworths shop, simply by using your card to pay.
• You can take advantage of discounts on selected Woolworths Group products, such as Woolworths Insurance and selected purchases at Cellarmasters.
• You can sign up as a member of Visa Entertainment, giving you access to exclusive events and pre-sales tickets.
• You can save on interest to pay down your existing credit card debt faster, with 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 14 months from card approval.
• You can save even more, with a reduced $99 annual fee for first year, increasing to $169 per year thereafter.
• You can enjoy peace of mind, with the card’s full suite of complimentary insurance covers.

Digging Deeper

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

This Card: As a Rewards Card

As a rewards card, this is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. Unlike certain other platinum rewards cards with complex earn rates and point structures, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card keeps it simple.

As a cardholder, you will earn:

• 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent at Woolworths, Big W, Caltex Woolworths, BWS, Dan Murphy’s and Cellarmasters.
• 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent everywhere else.

There is no points cap in place, so you can earn as many points as you like.

Like so many rewards cards, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card recently restructured its rewards program. Thanks to changes to credit card ‘interchange fees’, many credit card providers have started to wind back their rewards offerings, making it harder for cardholders to earn big on rewards.

Prior to April 2018, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card delivered 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent up to $2,500, and 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent thereafter, uncapped, until the next statement period.

How this affects you as a cardholder really depends on the way in which you use your card. If you tend to shop mostly within the Woolworths Group of stores, then you will continue to earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 on most of your purchases, plus you enjoy uncapped spending.

However, if you plan on using the card elsewhere – and want to earn more on that spend – you may need to look elsewhere. It’s worth bearing in mind that with so many rewards cards cutting their earn rate, you may need to pay a higher annual fee to attain a higher earn rate. If that’s the case, you’ll need to work out whether that higher payout does actually provide more in return.

With that in mind, we’d like to point out that there are ways you can earn more Qantas Points when using the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card. Here’s how.

You have the opportunity to earn more points when making transactions directly with Qantas. So, if you use your card to pay for Qantas flights or Qantas Club membership, you earn an additional 1 Qantas Point per $1. This gives you 1.5 Qantas Points per $1 overall.

You can now use the separate Woolworths Rewards program to bump up your Qantas Point earn rate as well. As a member, you will not only earn Qantas Points on your total spend, you can also ‘double dip’, by converting your Woolworths Rewards to Qantas Points.

Say your weekly Woolies shop is $200, then paying with the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card would give you 10,400 Qantas Points per year. In terms of your Woolworths Rewards, you can convert 2,000 Woolworths Rewards to 870 Qantas Points, which works out to be around 0.43 Qantas Points per $1.

This Card: As a Travel Rewards Card

Travel rewards cards such as those that earn Qantas Points often provide travel-related perks to cardholders. Here’s what the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card has to offer.

While it is common on platinum credit cards, complimentary insurance can be a great little bonus. It not only saves you the hassle of looking for standalone insurance when travelling, it can also save you a heap of money. The catch? You need to read the small print.

Insurance offered by credit cards can offer excellent cover, but you need to read the PDS carefully to make sure it offers the cover you need. The Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card offers a comprehensive suite of insurance covers, for both travel and retail purchases.

• Overseas Travel Insurance
• Interstate Flight Inconvenience Insurance
• Transport Accident Insurance
• Global Hire Car Excess Waiver
• Purchase Security Insurance
• Extended Warranty Insurance
• Wallet Guard Insurance

The card’s overseas travel insurance provides cover for your whole family if they travel with you for the entire journey, as long as you use the card to pay for everyone’s overseas travel fare. Cover includes unlimited overseas medical emergency cover, interstate flight inconvenience insurance and transport accident insurance when outside Australia.

Another handy one to have when travelling is the card’s global hire car excess waiver. As long as you pay for your car hire using your Woolworths Money Qantas Platinum Credit Card, you can access cover should you have to pay an excess due to loss or damage of your rental vehicle.

Also on offer is the card’s range of retail insurance covers. With purchase security insurance, eligible items purchased using the card are covered for theft or damage for up to 90 days, while extended warranty insurance extends the manufacturer’s Australian warranty by up to 12 months.

When you use your card to book a stay at any of the hand-selected portfolio of hotels listed within the Visa Luxury Hotels collection, you can access a number of tantalising benefits. These include:

• Best available rate guarantee.
• Automatic room upgrade upon arrival, when available.
• Free in-room internet.
• Complimentary continental breakfast.
• 3pm check-out, when available.
• VIP Guest status.
• $25 food or beverage voucher.

Another familiar feature on platinum cards is the platinum concierge service. Offering cardholders a service similar to that of a personal assistant, this concierge service can be accessed 24/7, to provide valuable advice and assistance.

Whether you want theatre tickets while visiting New York, or a table reservation in Melbourne, your platinum concierge can assist you. From booking a holiday to finding the perfect gift for that someone special, help is only a phone call away.

This Card: Extras on Offer

One of the most important aspects of choosing a credit card is working out whether it offers value. When it comes to platinum credit cards such as the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card, that means looking at the extras on offer, on top of other features and rewards.

A handy money-saver, this feature gives you a 10% discount on your Woolies shop once a month. Woolies will notify you ahead of time by email, telling you which weekend to shop. Then, all you need to do is shop online or in-store during the specified weekend, use your card to pay, and you will automatically enjoy the 10% discount.

You are limited to one transaction per customer, up to a value of $500, so to make it worth your while, it’s best to plan your big shop for that discount weekend. It’s also worth noting that this offer excludes purchases of liquor, tobacco, newspapers, vouchers, gift cards, mobile recharge, travel cards and tickets. It’s also not available in Tasmania.

If you’re looking to clear your credit card debt, this balance transfer offer could help get you there faster. With 0% p.a. on balance transfers for 14 months, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card lets you transfer the balance from your existing credit cards, so you can pay down the balance while enjoying some breathing space from interest.

You will pay no interest on the transferred balance for 14 months from card approval, after which point, any amount left unpaid will revert to the cash advance rate.

As a cardholder, you can benefit from a number of discounts on offer within the Woolworths Group. If you’re thinking about taking out insurance, you could benefit from 10% off Woolworths Insurance, including Home, Car, Landlords, Pet and Travel Insurance. The offer excludes Life and Funeral Insurance.

Or, if you’re looking to re-stock the wine cellar, you could take advantage of 50% off selected wine cases at Cellarmasters. Note, this offer is only valid when you use your card to pay at the online checkout – and delivery charges apply.

This Card: The Essentials

Making an informed decision means taking into account not just the fancy features on offer, but how much it will cost you to enjoy them. In terms of annual fees, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card has a reduced annual fee of $99 for the first year, increasing to $169 for each year after that. If you want to add additional cardholders to the account, that will cost $29 per card.

Both the purchase rate and cash advance rate on this card are relatively high, but that’s not out of the ordinary for platinum rewards cards. To avoid interest charges and make the most of the rewards and features on offer, be sure to clear your balance each statement period. If you tend to carry a balance month-to-month, a low rate card may be a better choice.

If you want to take advantage of the card’s balance transfer offer, know that it’s best to pay off the transferred balance before the introductory period ends. If you leave any part of that transferred balance unpaid, it will start to accrue interest at the higher cash advance rate, which will start to hurt pretty quickly.

Decision Time

If you are a Woolies shopper, the Woolworths Qantas Platinum Credit Card has seriously a lot to offer, especially when you take into account its affordable annual fee. You can earn Qantas Points on your everyday shop, maximising your points-earning potential with Qantas purchases, and by converting Woolworths Rewards into Qantas Points, while enjoying some very appealing extras.