Which American Express Card is the Best for You?

We help you compare Amex cards and choose the best credit card deals. It can be confusing choosing the best credit card for points. You may already have an Amex card so this page will simplify the information for you and help you look into American express credit card points system to find the Best Amex card to suit you.

Amex Reward Points Earning Rates Per $1 Spent

 

American Express Personal Cards

Amex Reward Points Earning Rates

Card Names Category Annual fee Supermarket & Petrol Overseas Others Gov’t Other Major Benefits
Platinum card tier-I $1,450 2.25 1

$450 Travel Credit, Accor Plus Membrsp -$395, Hotel Elite Status, Priority Pass

Sign up incentive: 150k Bonus Member reward points

Explorer card tier-III $395 2

$400 Travel Credit, two complimentary entries per year to Lounges

Sign up incentive: 70k Bonus Member reward points

Essential tier-III $0 1.25

Smartphone Screen Insurance up to $500 for screen repairs, twice a year

Sign up incentive: Receive $100 back

Platinum Edge tier-II $195 3 2 1

$200 Travel Credit

Sign up incentive: $0 Annual Card Fee in the first year

Points earned above are with American Express.

 

Qantas and Virgin Amex Personal Cards

Qantas Amex Cards Annual fee Qantas Products others Government Other Major Benefits
Qantas Ultimate $450 2.25 1.25 0.5

$450 Qantas Travel Credit each year,
Two complimentary entries per year to the American Express Lounge, at Sydney & Mel Intl airports,
2 club lounge invitations

Sign up incentive: 55k Bonus Qantas Points

Qantas Premium $249 2 1 2 Complimentary Qantas Club lounge invitations

 

Sign up incentive: 30k Bonus Qantas Points

Qantas Discovery $0 1.75 0.75  
 
Virgin Amex Cards Annual fee Virgin Products others Government Other Major Benefits
Velocity Platinum $375 2.25 1.25 0.5 complimentary domestic return flight

 

Sign up incentive: 75k Bonus Velocity Points

Velocity Escape $0 1.75 0.75  

Points earned above are with airline loyalty programs, not Amex. You can not transfer them to other airlines.


American Express Business Cards

Business Card Names Card Category Annual Fee Government Others Other Major Benefits
Platinum Business Card tier-I $800 1 2

Hotel Elite Status
Accor Plus membership
Virgin & Amex Lounge access

Sign up incentive: 200k bonus Rewards points 

Gold Business card tier-II $105
($89 Membership Enrolment Rewards fee)
1.5 Complimentary Travel Insurance covers up to $300,000
Corporate Card tier-III $70
($89 Membership Enrolment Rewards fee)
Complimentary Travel Insurance covers up to $150,000

Points earned above are with American Express.

 

Qantas Business Cards

Card Names Annual fee Qantas Products Government/
Utilities/Insurance
Others  Other Major Benefits
Qantas Corporate Platinum Card $1,200 2 1 2

TRIPLE Qantas Points for your business on eligible Qantas flights

Qantas Club Lounge passes
Access savings of up to 8% on the base fare of eligible Qantas Flights

Sign up incentive: 200k Bonus Qantas Points

Qantas Corporate Gold Card $105
($89 Membership Enrolment Rewards fee)
1.5

TRIPLE Qantas Points for your business on eligible Qantas flights

Complimentary Travel Insurance covers up to $300,000

Qantas Corporate Card $70
($89 Membership Enrolment Rewards fee)

TRIPLE Qantas Points for your business on eligible Qantas flights

Complimentary Travel Insurance covers up to $150,000

Points earned above are with airline loyalty programs, not Amex. You can not transfer them to other airlines.

 

How to Compare Amex Cards Points Earning Capacity

When you compare Amex cards to determine which one earns the most point, bear in mind, reward points earned by NONE Qantas or Virgin cards will convert to fewer airline points, see conversion details below.

Amex Points to Airline Points Conversion from 15th April 2019
    Tier-I
Premium
Tier-II
Ascent
Tier-III
Gateway
Airlines Air New Zealand 200:1
Other Eligible Airlines* 2:1
Eligibility Qantas Yes No No
Virgin Atlantic Yes No
Velocity Yes Yes
Hotels Hilton Honors 2:1
Marriot Bonvoy 3:2

* Amex reward points can be transferred to these airline reward programs
Asia Miles, Emirates Skyward Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Etihad Guest, Singapore-Krisflyer, Malaysian Enrich, Thai Royal Orchid Plus, Velocity Frequent Flyer and Virgin Atlantic.  Qantas Frequent Flyer, Virgin Atlantic or Velocity Frequent flyer may be excluded for some cards.

Qantas or Virgin cards earn Qantas or Virgin points, there’s NO conversion.

DO NOT transfer your points to airlines till you know which platform is the best for getting your redemption flights at the lowest points.


CONCLUSION

Generally, you get the most airline points per dollar spent on Qantas or Virgin credit cards, especially if you fly with them frequently.
However, Qantas Frequent Flyer Program is one of the most difficult redemption platforms to redeem your points. 

For those who do not use Qantas or Virgin products frequently, Platinum Card earns you the most points, unless the majority of your expenses is on supermarket or petrol, then get Platinum Edge card.

You need to take into consideration the difference in annual fees, for example, Platinum Card earns you mostly 2.25 points/$ and Explorer Card earns you mostly 2 points/$, but the annual fee difference is $1055.  If you do not need to transfer your points to Qantas, and do not value the other major benefits on Platinum cards, you need to spend approx $400k to justify the higher fees.  However, for frequent travellers, who do value some of the benefits on Platinum Card, such as the Priority Pass for lounge access in most major airports, the higher level of hotel memberships which entitle you for free upgrades, late checkout, free breakfast or additional amenities, and Platinum card concierge service, the Platinum card is a better choice.

 

Our Service

Still unsure which card is the best for you? or too busy to learn the best practice for earning and redeeming your points? If you have a portfolio of 2 million reward points +,   we offer DFY (done for you) service to maximise your points earning capacity and points value,  Contact us to make an enquiry. Service details will be updated on the site shortly.