The Platinum Awards credit has a $249 p.a. annual fee. Here is our independent review of the Commbank Platinum Awards card.
| Card | Smart Awards credit card |
| Points Earn Rate | 1.5 Awards points per $1 spent up to $5,000 on eligible spend per statement period |
| Points cap | unlimited |
| Minimum credit limit | $3,000 |
| Extras | International Travel Insurance |
| Overseas transaction fee | $0 |
| Mobile wallet | Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay |
| Monthly fee | $19 per month, but waived if you spend $2,000 or more per statement period plus $60 per year opt-in feee to earn CommBank Award points |
The CommBank Platinum Awards Card earns 1 Awards Point per dollar on eligible spend up to 150,000 points per year.
You can earn 1 point per $1 spent on all eligible spend with the card up to a hard cap of 150,000 points per year.
Through the Commbank Awards eShop, you can also earn bonus points at retailers.
Commbank Awards provides a number of ways to redeem your Award Points, including Travel, Shopping, Gift Card and Banking rewards.
Commbank Awards is one of the best programs in terms of variety of frequent flyer partners available, however, the redemption rates are relatively poor. Rates can vary from 2 Award Points to 1 frequent flyer point to as low as 4 Award Points needed for 1 frequent flyer point.
Award members can transfer Award Points to Velocity Points at a rate of 2:1, while those looking to redeem for Qantas Points will face a redemption rate of 2.5:1. Those wanting Qantas Points should also note that you will need to opt-in for this option at a cost of $30 per year, and you will be excluded from transferring Award Points to any other frequent flyer partner program. Such transfers are also capped at 60,000 Qantas Points per year.
| Transfer partner | Transfer rate | Effective earn rate per $1 |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas Frequent Flyer* | 2.5 to 1 | 0.4 points |
| Velocity Frequent Flyer | 2 to 1 | 0.5 points |
| AirAsia BIG | 2.5 to 1 | 0.5 points |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 3 to 1 | 0.33 points |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 3 to 1 | 0.33 points |
| China Eastern Miles | 3 to 1 | 0.33 points |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 3 to 1 | 0.33 points |
| IHG Rewards Club | 2.5 to 1 | 0.33 points |
| Etihad Guest | 3.5 to 1 | 0.29 points |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 3.5 to 1 | 0.29 points |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 3.5 to 1 | 0.29 points |
| JAL Mileage Bank | 4 to 1 | 0.25 points |
| Lufthansa Miles & More | 4 to 1 | 0.25 points |
| United MileagePlus | 4 to 1 | 0.25 points |
| * Need to opt in to the program for a $30 annual fee | ||
Aside from travel, popular use of Commbank Awards points is for gift cards, where 20,000 Award points will get you a $100 gift card. It’s also possible to pay-off purchases in-store at Myer and Flight Centre, or certain Commonwealth Bank banking fees with your points, which also costs the same rate of 200 points per $1.
You can also use your points at an Awards store for retail products, but the value you get from each point will vary.
The other key benefits that come with the CommBank Platinum Awards Card are:
You can read the full insurance PDS here.
This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.
The Commonwealth Bank Platinum Awards card has a $295 p.a. ongoing annual fee.
The purchase interest rate is 20.24% p.a. with a standard 55 days interest-free period. The $20 late payment fee, 21.24% cash advance rate and $3 or 3% cash advance fee is fairly standard on award cards. It’s always advisable to only spend what you can afford and pay back the full amount monthly, to avoid all of these fees.
The minimum credit limit is $6,000, but no minimum income is indicated in the application.
Commonwealth Bank cards support Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments.
Read the Point Hacks guide to using Apple Pay or for using Google Pay and Samsung Pay, including instructions on how to add your card to those services.
With this feature set up, it means you could still use your NFC-enabled phone to make purchases with your Commonwealth Bank card, even if your physical card is lost or stolen and pending replacement.
The Platinum Awards card is the Commonwealth Bank’s mid-tier card offering. While the card has an impressive list of travel partners, including many frequent flyer programs from around the world, the poor redemption rates take away from much of this benefit.
However, the card does come with generous overseas travel insurance, without the requirement to put the full (or any for that matter) costs of travel onto the card.
Overall, for those seeking maximum points earn, Commonwealth Bank cards currently fall short of the broader market within this category and it would pay to shop around.
CommBank Platinum Awards Credit Card was last modified: July 13th, 2023 by Daniel SciberrasDaniel lives and breathes loyalty programs, and has spent over two decades researching the best ways to earn and redeem loyalty points for maximum value. He travels for both business and leisure and is a frequent traveller to Europe and the US. In his downtime, he enjoys CrossFit, hitting the beach and playing tennis.
Daniel can also be found on: LinkedIn Twitter
Read more articles by Daniel Sciberras.
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