It’s little wonder the average consumer has trouble comparing credit cards. The Velocity program won our Best Flights award when we compared twenty-two Australian reward programs. In Velocity, you require 6,900 points for a $100 flight. Altitude also scored highly (four out of five stars), but required 10,940 points for the same flight.
However, as we pointed out in our comparison, the point redemption value is only half the story. You also need to consider the earn rate of the card. The NAB Velocity earns one point per two dollars spent on the Visa and one-and-a-half points per two dollars spent on the American Express. The Westpac Altitude (which also comes with two cards – an American Express and a Visa) earns two points per dollar spent on the Amex and one point per dollar spent on the Visa.
Confused yet?
The net effect is that although you require more points in Altitude, you’ll earn those points quicker than under the NAB Velocity.
The Westpac Altitude is the vanilla sibling in a range of Westpac Altitude cards, which also includes the Altitude Gold and the Altitude Platinum.
The annual fee is $100, which is about right for a mid-range card. The interest rate is 17.74% on purchases and 19.99% on cash advances, which is also unremarkable. You do get 45 days interest free (slightly lower than average) and the balance transfer deal is 3.99% for six months (there are better balance transfer deals out there, but if you’re not specifically looking for a balance transfer, it’s just a nice bonus).
But like so many other cards, the Westpac Altitude is all about the rewards program, and the Altitude Rewards program is very good. Points can be redeemed on travel, entertainment, shopping, vouchers, accommodation, cash back and charity donations. Points don’t expire and you receive 5,000 bonus points after your first spend. Money Magazine awarded the Altitude American Express 2nd place in the Bank Best Reward Credit Card category – an impressive feat for a ‘standard’ (neither gold nor platinum) card.
So, if you’re looking for a good mid-range card with a great rewards program, the Westpac Altitude is worth considering. You’re unlikely to find such an impressive earn rate on a standard card elsewhere. Keep in mind that the rewards program is fairly broad – it does a lot, but it doesn’t excel in any particular category, If you’re after a flight-, cash- or shopping-specific rewards program, check out our reward program comparison table.
