I've never owned or wanted a credit card until recently. It's not really a necessity but every couple of months there's something that I have to ask a friend or my parents to get for me because it's credit card payment only. I'm not worried about getting into debt because I'm good with money.

I like the idea of getting Qantas miles with purchases, but I guess I would care more about the yearly fee. What other options do you get in choosing a card? I'm with Suncorp and I need to keep some money there, but would consider opening a new account somewhere else if I had to to get a good credit card.

Anyone help me out with some options and yearly fees? Like I said I'm good with money so I don't care TOO much about interest rates.

dont do it its a trap ....

anyway, if you think you manage your money well then just apply for a card that has a reward system and 55 interest free days so you rack up reward points (this is assuming you spend up on your card)

have a look through here to compare the cards side by side

http://yahoo.infochoice.com.au/banking/creditcards/selector.asp

Get a VISA debit card or whatever... the convenience of being able to do CC payments/online payments without the noob trap of paying with money you don't have.

last edited by CHUB at 10:37:40 11/Dec/07

in same position as you basically, got a comm bank card, no yearly fee, 55 days interest free, basically costs me nothing. afaik there's some reward scheme too but im nowhere near balla enough with it for it to be of any use

yeah ... australias downfall is heavy dependance on credit cards, its better to have the cash :S

Like I said, I'm not worried about being a noob with the card. Can you use the debit cards all around the world like Visas? Are they exactly the same and the only difference is the limit on the credit card? Thanks for the link le infidel.

Since you'll be paying it off before you incure Interest, Look for a Card with a $0 yearly fee.

Some cards have stupidly high yearly Fees.

I have Virgin Credit Card, which has served me well for a similar purchase.
No rewards or anything, but with what I (and by the looks of it, you) put on it I could maybe get a cheap coffee machine once every decade anyway.

Visa Debit FTW
they are king
basically just a normal bank card but it works with credit facilities. that is all. if you're bank can't get you one for next to nothing, move banks.
ANZ has one $6/mth unlimited transactions. only $1 more than a normal debit card w/unlimited transactions.

Yeah virgin has been fine for me. $0 annual fee. Never had a problem. Never paid interest.

I just had a look at Suncorp's options and there aren't many. The Visa Debit card looks pretty awesome. Virtually no fees and the convenience of Visa anywhere in the world...

Visa Debit FTW
they are king
basically just a normal bank card but it works with credit facilities. that is all. if you're bank can't get you one for next to nothing, move banks.
ANZ has one $6/mth unlimited transactions. only $1 more than a normal debit card w/unlimited transactions.

As far as I can see, Suncorp's is totally free.

http://suncorpmetway.com.au/suncorp/personal/credit_cards/visa_debit_card.aspx

yup...

get a debit card billy (as others have said)

team spook never did better fincially then when we axed all our cc's

but what happens if you're travelling and for whatever reason you run out of cash and need a cc to be able to buy a ticket home until you can fix out the mess that resulted in you having no money? is visa debit of any use in this situation?

i'd go with the 55 day free option billy, visa debit cards are for 17 year olds who wanna look cool pressing the credit button when they buy their favourite nsync cd

Well I guess I'm thinking that I will be traveling overseas about once a year, spending a couple of thousand each trip. So it seems it's worth paying a yearly fee and getting frequent flyer points? That way, if I travel Qantas I double up, but if I decide to travel with someone cheaper, I still get at least some points?

but what happens if you're travelling and for whatever reason you run out of cash and need a cc to be able to buy a ticket home until you can fix out the mess that resulted in you having no money? is visa debit of any use in this situation?

i'd go with the 55 day free option billy, visa debit cards are for 17 year olds who wanna look cool pressing the credit button when they buy their favourite nsync cd

I hear what you're saying, but like I said I'm hardly the person that would happen to, and if it did I could always get someone to put cash into my account.

geta visa Debit... very handy but without the risk of spending that which you can not afford.

If u get a gold/plat card u get free travel insurance if u purchase your tickets with your credit card. definitely something worth looking at if u go o/s every year.

Otherwise go with a low rate interest card. Bankwest is cheap i think. Stay clear of commonwealth and make sure wherever u get one they dont charge o/s transaction fees (f*** u cba!)

IF you are good with money as you said - then a credit card can be a very good thing.. i have had one for about 5 years (limit 2k) and never paid a cent in interest the whole time. I put fuel, food almost anything on it and pay it all off every 2 weeks when my pay comes in. I also then get the award points which i redeem for cash back awards - like 4000 points = $20 which isnt much but it means that i can get about $100 a year out of it and therefore after you take aways annual fees etc its still making me money.

Works well for me.. oh and its just a normal commonwealth mastercard.

edit - afaik if you are a student still you shouldnt have to pay any annual fee, at least i never did anyway.

last edited by pyro at 11:12:51 11/Dec/07

last edited by pyro at 11:13:25 11/Dec/07

I think in your situation a Visa Debit is the best choice. If you do get a credit card I highly recommend Citibank because they had an online coupon floating around for a while that got you their gold credit card for no annual fee (for the life of the card).

If you feel you can handle paying off the card in the interest-free period, just get one with no annual fee and a good rewards program.

I personally have a Visa Debit from my credit union, and an AMA Amex Gold Card. My Amex has no annual fee and a good rewards program - probably is, lots of places either don't accept Amex, or do with a surcharge. But since I have the Visa debit as backup it's all good :)

yeh the only rewards that I'm after are the travel insurance or frequent flyer points. I think they're the only ones I would get value out of.

I think if you do stuff like buy plane tickets on your VISA card, you get free travel insurance... Scope that one out for sure...

You mean regardless of any deals?

Agree with blahnana.

I was in the same position as the OP, I went with a Virgin card because a the time they had by far the best rates and no yearly fee, and I pay off the card via netbanking as soon as I use it. You have said stuff about being overseas, so I assume you will be travelling with the card? Consider an AMEX card or something where you will get free travel insurance if you use it to buy the tickets. There will be a yearly fee, but it may prove worthwhile if you travel a few times a year... Reward points may be good for you as well.

If you won't let yourself go in the red then ignore the interest rates (provided there is an interest-free period).

AMEX charge merchants higher commisions then visa/mastercard and as such many merchants pass that cost on to consumers or don't accept AMEX.

visa debit with over draft on your account would meet your requirements. if u run out of money os u can just keep going negative w/ overdraft (to your limit).

also, if u r only spending a couple of thousand a year on it reward schemes are pointless.

the free stuff w/ credit cards is usually inferior or significantly limited with conditions. 'difference back if seen cheaper' is full of loop-holes, and i'd hate to be reliant on extended warranty when I needed it, or stranded in a OS hospital because the free travel insurance only covers stubbing your big toe on a monday before 3pm.

last edited by natslovR at 12:36:44 11/Dec/07

I want 1 of the credit cards you can put an image on, cuz i'd put a big pedobear on it

Billy, yeah I think the travel insurance is a VISA thing, but you should check it out...

question on credit vs debit card...

if someone is nasty or accidentally charges ur card $10k...

a) if u have $10k in your account for ur debit card, will it take it all? Or do they have a limit as well...
and
b) if this happens, do you immediately have $10k of ur own money gone? And you have to battle to get it back? I think if so then I'd prefer the credit card idea of getting a bill first, then choosing to pay it or not (or organising an extension while problems are worked out).

good question

I think if you do stuff like buy plane tickets on your VISA card, you get free travel insurance... Scope that one out for sure...

I dunno what other cards are like, but I only got this on my ANZ visa when I upgraded it recently to a Platinum card. Even on Gold you don't get free travel insurance. Platinum has a high yearly fee (but worth it if you're doing 1 or more international trips per year).

Good questions, I am not SURE but I THINK:

a) if u have $10k in your account for ur debit card, will it take it all? Or do they have a limit as well...

... that debit cards have an upper limit same as visa cards. Not sure though.

b) if this happens, do you immediately have $10k of ur own money gone? And you have to battle to get it back? I think if so then I'd prefer the credit card idea of getting a bill first, then choosing to pay it or not (or organising an extension while problems are worked out).

... again I would guess that they work the same as regular credit cards. If you dispute a transaction and they can't verify it, you'd probably get your money back.

If you just want a method to pay for stuff with a CC (international, online, etc) then get a debit card.

If you want to get one with rewards options, look at an AMEX (directly linked to Qantas FF) or something similiar. To rack up FF's you can use an Amex for all purchases and just pay it off every month. You get 1 point per dollar spent so after a few months/years you will have enough FF's for a free plane ticket somewhere.*

* - If your not good with money, don't go this option.

trog, my ANZ gold has Overseas Travel and Medical Insurance :P

Any gold or platinum visas should have Overseas Travel and Medical Insurance as part of the annual fee, normal visas do not.

trog, my ANZ gold has Overseas Travel and Medical Insurance :P

Is yours a Qantas one?

i know for sure commbank's gold card ($120/year) has the travel insurance deal (which i should have done instead of paying $700 for the insurance on my own)

credit cards are awesome if you have any sort of basic money management skills. free credit, rewards points, and the convenience and safety of 100% insured cashless transactions.

great for internet transactions and traveling as was discussed above. in one word - "convenience".

i use a BOQ mastercard. never pay interest, about $40 year fee, which is credited because i have a homeloan with them, and it just keeps spamming out these endless myers vouchers and s***.

Visa Debit cards are covered by the same transaction protections of a normal visa card, in the end its all your money its no different to having your Credit card in debit by paying more money into it than you owe.

trog, no...but yeh anz Frequent flyer gold doesnt have it...what a jip.

careful with the thrown-in travel insurance, sometimes it covers f*** all.

wish I knew all about this travel insurance stuff, I've spent about $1.5k on travel insurance in the last 3 years.

I sucked when I had a credit card, despite being good with it for the first 2 or 3yrs one day I broke into it and it was hard to turn back. I haven't had one since I paid it off 2 and a bit years ago. Smart move for me I think.

Welp, the way i see it if you're gonna pay your cc bill within your 55 day interest free period there's no reason to actually put your own money up instead of the cc companies.

I'd rather have a bill to pay instead of my money automatically gone in case of any problems also.

Thus, unless you are financially irresponsible / retarded / weak then I'd recommend a free, 55 day interest free cc like virgin over other options.

don't get a credit card, get a visa debit card.

i had a credit card for 11 years and hated it, too many fees..

paid it off and cancelled it, my me very happy to get rid of it.

lots of peaple rack them up to the limit and then they can't pay them off, just the min. repayments all their life.. banks love it, they keep getting steady money for nothing..

I've had a Visa debit card since they first came out and love it but have one major problem with it. If you do a lot of travelling ( I do for work) and the hotels pre-approve a certain amount on your card you can get screwed. I'm often on the road for a couple of months moving hotels every few days and each hotel will pre-approve $100-150. They dont actually take the money out of your account but you cant touch it either. It then takes 7 - 11 working days for the amount to be released depending on your bank. I've had to get hotels to fax through letters to my bank telling them to release the funds back to me when I was stuck in Melbourne with no money this way.

Apart from this it's been great and can use it o/s exactly the same as here.

Zelda do you know of any reward schemes with the debit card?

I used to have a commonwealth card, rewards, got a few $100 vouchers out of it but nothing exciting.

Now have a citibank bp card - 5% off everything at bp (much better than gay 4c a litre vouchers), 1% off everything else. Credited to your account at the end of each statement period. Usual 55 days interest free, haven't paid any interest yet.

Wife and I use it to live off, then pay it off each month. Since February we've got almost $700 in cash back.

Thats with a few big purchased like a shed etc, but it's definitely worth it.

unless you use your cc for most of your purchases, pick a card with good rewards (most are s***), and spend a decent amount of money each year then rewards things are f***ing pointless.

the travel insurance can be handy but on most cards it's only decent if you get a card with a sizable annual fee.

billy what you need is a card with no annual fee and 55+ interest free days. virgin seem to be pretty rad in this respect.

Zelda do you know of any reward schemes with the debit card?

No, no rewards but it's just linked straight to your account so your usual account fees.

I have a commbank visa. yearly fee is 55$ with 55 interest free days.

I run nearly everything I buy through it. I have kept the same limit ($3K) since I first got it in 1998. Every 6months I get letters from them asking me if I want to up the limit but I always bin them.

I have never once paid interest on it and I have never once paid the 55$ fee. For every $4K that I put through it I get 20$ back. For purchases greater then $3K I just load it up via netbank before I go out or find a commbank atm and do the transfer there.

I can't remember the last time I used eftpos with my savings account.

I have never once paid interest on it and I have never once paid the 55$ fee. For every $4K that I put through it I get 20$ back. For purchases greater then $3K I just load it up via netbank before I go out or find a commbank atm and do the transfer there.

So you can up your limit in this fashion? I've got a $2000 limit and I've often wondered if it was possible to extend this for once off purchases greater than $2000. I never wanted to try it in case I looked like a fool trying to buy something expensive with no money.

join Velocity and qantas frequent fliers then get a

NAB Velocity Card
http://www.nab.com.au/Personal_Finance/0,,76987,00.html

use it for everything, bills, food, expenses then pay out each month. plus you get an Amex and a Visa, linked to same account, more points on Amex for Velocity rewards but if the merchant doesnt take Amex use Visa. so you get double frequent fliers if you buy a flight on qantas(linked to your qantas ff) with your nab velocity (virgin points)
dont get caught up in fees, points etc....figure out where you can best use the rewards to your advantage.
some people get hung up on "oh you have to spend $20K to get a $1K TV" oe some s***
my thoughts are you would have spent the $20K anyway, if thats your lifestyle, so why not get some reward for it!

NAB is the worst bank though if you do happen to pay interest as they charge the full amount regardless of how much you pay

So you can up your limit in this fashion? I've got a $2000 limit and I've often wondered if it was possible to extend this for once off purchases greater than $2000. I never wanted to try it in case I looked like a fool trying to buy something expensive with no money.

yeah. if you card is empty and you have $2k of credit showing when you dump more money in there your available credit just goes up. your limit is how much of the bank's money you can use, not how much of your own.

i had a friend who tried to buy a peugeot 306 on his diner's club this way, but the dealer said no way cause they didn't want to pay the commision. he still got away with using his card to put down at 5k deposit which didn't trill the dealer much.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Titaniumcenturion.jpg/200px-Black Credit card

I just had a look at Suncorp's options and there aren't many. The Visa Debit card looks pretty awesome. Virtually no fees and the convenience of Visa anywhere in the world...

I have a Suncorp Visa Debit and have used it online and all around the world - it's fantastic!

The only downside I guess is the 2% currency conversion fee, which is sfa really. Highly recommended :)

get a cc that has 60 days interest free + ff credits
i know people who run businesses through them and get to fly first class around the world for the family a few times a year

ie you turn over 500k a month and pay all your bills using the card u can cash in big thats 500k ff points etc

visa debit cards are for 17 year olds who wanna look cool pressing the credit button when they buy their favourite nsync cd

Nah its for smart people who don't end up thousands in debt because they don't screw around buying s*** they can't afford. Same deal with prepaid mobile.

P.S I want a debit card merely so I can buy the odd online thing but CommBank don't have one so I'd have to make a bank account with someone else.. Cbf.

last edited by 3dee at 08:19:03 12/Dec/07

Awesome, thanks ara.

I don't understand all these people running themselves into credit debt. If you don't have the money and don't KNOW you'll have it in your next paycheque, don't spend it. That easy. I think my credit card provider has had about $5 interest from me, ever.