Reward Programs Compared

22 Apr 2009

Tags: rewards|tips|advice

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Let us do the hard work for you. We've compared twenty two Australian reward programs and ranked them by their value for shopping, cash and flights.

For each program, we've listed the number of points required for a $100 Myer voucher, $100 cash and a $100 flight (one-way Melbourne to Sydney economy) and given awards for the best value in each category.

  Program $100 Myer $100 Cash $100 Flight Overall
American Express Best All Round Rewards ProgramMembership Rewards
Winner: Best All Round		 13,500 14,500 10,5001
ANZ Best Shopping Rewards ProgramRewards Visa
Winner: Shopping		 13,320 13,750 12,980
Macquarie Rewards 14,950 16,5752 8,2003
FlyBuys Best Cash Rewards ProgramFlyBuys
Winner: Cash		 12,5004 13,2005 22,500
(no stars)
Westpac Altitude 16,700 16,7006 10,9403
HSBC Rewards Plus 15,400 16,5007 16,5008
Qantas Frequent Flyer 13,500 N/A
(no stars)		 11,000
Virgin Blue Best Flight Rewards ProgramVelocity
Winner: Flights		 14,800 N/A
(no stars)		 6,9009
David Jones AMEX Rewards 13,30010 N/A
(no stars)		 15,000
Diners Club Rewards 16,500 20,000 14,00011
ANZ Sphere Rewards 16,400 15,40012 6 N/A
(no stars)
Citibank Rewards 16,500 20,000 15,5001
Myer One 10,000 N/A
(no stars)		 N/A
(no stars)
Suncorp Clear Options 18,200 18,200 18,20013
Bankwest Business Rewards 17,50010 17,500 20,90011
Commonwealth Awards 16,20010 20,000 N/A
(no stars)
GE Money GO Rewards 13,76014 N/A
(no stars)		 N/A
(no stars)
GE Money GO Business Rewards 13,76014 N/A
(no stars)		 N/A
(no stars)
ANZ Balance Visa Rewards 20,000 22,500 20,00015
GE Money Eco Rewards N/A
(no stars)		 20,00016 N/A
(no stars)		 (no stars)
Bankwest More Rewards 24,00017
(no stars)		 30,000
(no stars)		 21,60018 (no stars)
Woolworths Everyday Rewards 17,24019 N/A
(no stars)		 N/A
(no stars)		 (no stars)

1 $100 Flight Centre voucher.

2 Using the Macquarie Universal Gift Card.

3 Flight does not include tax.

4 $100 FlyBuys Gift Card (redeemable at Coles, Kmart, Target etc).

5 $100 NAB Visa Gift Card.

6 Only redeemable on card annual fee.

7 Redeemed as a $100 rebate on school fees, insurance etc.

8 $100 travel voucher.

9 Points quoted are for a Rewards Seat. There are limited Rewards Seats available per flight. A general seat requires 9,400 points.

10 $100 David Jones voucher.

11 $100 Virgin Blue voucher.

12 Value calculated from the $87 annual fee.

13 Using Suncorp Clear Options Travel Card.

14 2 x $50 Harvey Norman vouchers.

15 $100 Harvey World Travel voucher.

16 Using the 0.5% on emission reduction projects and 0.5% cash back option.

17 2 x $50 Myer vouchers.

18 2 x $50 Flight Centre vouchers.

18 $100 Woolworths shopping voucher.

And the winners are...

 

  • Shopping: ANZ Rewards Visa - although cards such as the Myer One and David Jones American Express had better redemption value, they only offer the one redemption option (a voucher at their store). The ANZ Rewards Visa offers a broad range of shopping redemptions including car hire, accommodation, charities, gift cards and more.
  • Cash: FlyBuys - the cash option on FlyBuys is in the form of a NAB Visa Gift Card, however the card can be used on any purchase so it's valid to consider it 'cash'. FlyBuys just edged-out the ANZ Rewards Visa for this award.
  • Flights: Velocity - a surprise winner, toppling the mighty Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Note the 6,900 points quoted is for a Rewards Seat, which has limited availability. However, you can get any seat for 9,400 points, which is still very low.

You should know:

  • $100 Myer voucher - we've used a Myer voucher as the benchmark for shopping rewards as it's commonly available. Where a Myer voucher was unavailable, we've used David Jones or a similar large retailer and we've included a footnote. We've also sometimes used multiples of smaller vouchers (e.g. 2 x $50 vouchers). Again, where this is the case, we've included a footnote to explain.
  • $100 cash - cash is tricky. Many cards don't offer a cash back option. For those that don't, we've attempted to use debit cards or cash back on annual fees. We've included footnotes to explain.
  • $100 flight - where a program doesn't offer flights directly, we've attempted to use a $100 voucher for a travel agency or airline and have included a footnote.
  • The points value is only one half of the equation - before making a decision, you should research the 'earn rate' of the individual card (how quickly the card accumulates points).
  • The star ratings are calculated based upon the rank of that card in the table (where the best value card scores 5 stars and the worst scores 0 stars).
  • This information is provided as a guide only. While every endeavour has been made to ensure the information is current and accurate, you should do your own research before choosing a rewards program.