The good news (and bad news) on credit cards rewards programs
There's good news and bad news for shoppers with rewards credit cards.
The bad news is that you may have only until the end of the month to maximise the full value of your card.
The Reserve Bank will introduce interchange fee caps from July 1 in an attempt to reduce excessive credit card surcharging.
Card providers rely on interchange fees to offer customers high-value rewards, and in anticipation of the changes several cards have already slashed the value of their rewards.
The good news
To make sure shoppers get the best bang for their buck before the changes come into play, Velocity Frequent Flyer is offering eligible customers up to 50% bonus points this week.
If you have a credit card partnered with the Velocity program, you're entitled to 15% additional points if you transfer your eligible credit card and flybuys points to Velocity points before May 31, and if you're an ANZ customer you're entitled a further 35% in bonus points.
What this means
If you've got a flybuys card with Coles supermarkets with a small balance between 10,000 and 15,999 points, the 15% bonus could give you $30 off a flight from Sydney with Virgin Australia.
You could also cash in your points for $20 off fuel at participating BP service stations.
If you've got a bigger balance - say 60,000 to 119,999 points with ANZ's platinum rewards card - the extra 50% bonus could help you cash in an economy-class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. To see what you could redeem with the extra points, see here.
Who is eligible
- ANZ rewards account holders and Velocity Frequent Flyer members
- Westpac Altitute Rewards account holders
- St.George Bank Amplify Rewards account holders
- Bank of Melbourne Amplify Rewards account holders
- BankSA Amplify Rewards account holders
- Flybuys card holders and Velocity Frequent Flyer members
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