It's easy to get the impression that the Westpac Earth is 'green'. The product website is full of evocative environmental images of peaceful lakes and cloudscapes. Maybe Westpac donates part of the card profits to Greenpeace? Maybe reward points fund anti-seal-clubbing demonstrations?
Nope. This card has nothing to do with environmentalism and makes no charitable contributions whatsoever.
So why is it called 'Earth'? Why all the eco-images? Westpac felt the need to defend the association on the FAQs section of the card's website:
Q: Why is 'Earth' in the card names?
A: Because they're all about travelling and discovering there's more to life on earth.
Riddle me this Westpac: If the card is 'all about travelling', why, in all your images, is there not a single picture of a person or man-made structure? Perhaps the answer should have been:
A: Because we figured if we plastered the card with pictures of coral reefs and fluffy polar bear cubs we could cash-in on the current consumer sentiment toward green products, without ever having to hand over a single giant novelty cheque to some 'Save the Peruvian Tree Sloth' campaign.
Westpac apparently remain ignorant to the inherent contradiction of a 'green' card whose reward points encourage air travel. Take this line for example:
'Earth loves travel as much as you do! Start accelerating your Qantas Frequent Flyer points'
Yes, the Earth loves sucking down the fumes from the tailpipe of a Boeing 747. Not since Al Gore flew around the world promoting 'An Inconvenient Truth' in a private jet have we been subjected to such eco-irony.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. The branding of this card is deliberately misleading. But all that aside, is the card itself any good?
Like many travel cards, the Earth comes with two cards linked to the one account: an American Express and a MasterCard.
As mentioned above, reward points contribute to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account and membership to the program is included with the card. You'll earn one point per dollar spent on the American Express and one point per two dollars spent on the MasterCard. As usual, spending on Qantas products and services earns bonus points at the rate of one point per dollar spent.
The annual fee is $75, which is not bad for a mid-range card (particularly as Frequent Flyer membership is included).
The purchase rate is 17.74% (about average) and the cash rate is 19.24%, which is a tiny bit lower than usual.
In addition to earning bonus reward points, spending on Qantas products and services accrues interest at a flat rate of 5.99%, which might be handy if you're planning large airfare expenses that you want to repay over time.
The interest free period is 45 days, which is a little shorter than normal, particularly as you need to repay your balance in full each month to qualify.
Currently, Westpac are offering 0.99% for six months on balances transferred.
The verdict: For some reason, Cannex awarded the Earth a five star rating. Is it just us, or is Cannex becoming a bit promiscuous lately? The Westpac Earth is OK, but it's full of contradictions. It isn't green, despite the best efforts of their product website to convince you otherwise. They claim it's 'all about travelling', yet it doesn't include any travel related features like travel insurance, commission free travellers cheques or transit accident cover.
If you aren't offended by the subversive product positioning, the Westpac Earth is a fairly run-of-the-mill mid-range card with a good earn rate on a great rewards program.
If you're after a card that offers true environmental benefits, look at the
GE Money Eco MasterCard, which donates money to environmental initiatives.
