For those in Perth always looking for a better, faster, cheaper way

Friday, June 24, 2011

Which AMEX Platinum - Velocity?

I have to admit, I'm quite a sucker for credit card rewards programs. When Virgin Australia announced the Velocity Platinum card, it got me sitting up. First thing that came to mind was, what about the Platinum Edge and Platinum Reserve cards? Seems like AMEX love their Platinum and needed to find some other avenues to push them. So here's the comparison between the Velocity Platinum and the other existing Platinum cards.



The Velocity Platinum card is mainly for
  • People who don't just wish for a Business Class upgrades but actually DO fly Business Class. This card will give you the perpetual option to buy one get one free for business class tickets. This means you have unlimited opportunities to bring your wife or significant other on your business trips for free! That's a massive perk and one that would probably justify the $349 annual fee. Perth to Melbourne Business Class tickets cost around $1400.
  • People who fly Virgin if you are a Qantas-all-the-way traveller, it's probably time you logged onto Qantas.com.au rather than reading on. This card will give two complimentary entries into the Virgin Lounge which is supposed to be only accessible for Virgin airlines passengers. Also the card comes with 3 velocity points per $1 spent on Virgin. 
  • People in Perth This card comes with a free domestic flight to select cities in Australia (see this post here for a list of cities you can go to). Perth residents may find this card quite limiting as the free flights redeemable with this card are only flights to  Broome, Karratha, Newman and Port Hedland (subject to change).
  • Travel a lot and use AMEX to pay for it If you use your AMEX to book a flight, you will also get complimentary travel insurance whether it is a domestic or international flight. Handy if you don't fall into any of their exclusion clauses
  • Oh yeah and you get 30,000 points for signing up.
Hope that helps someone out there, trying to decide which card to get. If you are not a heavy traveller but like the idea of a free flight each year, the AMEX Platinum Edge card for $149/yr is probably for you. And if you like Bali and access to international airport lounges, go for the Platinum Reserve card for $395/yr.

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