Qantas and American Express boost points on new reward system

Qantas and American Express has agreed to upgrade the credit card's rewards system that would boost the points earned by the cardholders. Based on the new point system, Discovery, Premium and Ultimate cardholders would earn points for every dollar spent.

For Discovery cardholders, each dollar spent on purchases has an equivalent of one point. However, if the card was used for selected Qantas products and services, the card would earn two points.

Premium cardholders earn 1.25 points for every dollar spent on purchases. If the card was used to spend for Qantas products and services, 2.25 points would be earned. Ultimate cardholders earn 1.5 points for every $1 spent on purchases and 2.5 points if the card was used on Qantas products and services. The reward system allows unlimited number of points that could be banked on the cards.

Meanwhile, Amex and ANZ has canned their partnership from Aug. 5 this year. ANZ would no longer issue Amex cards instead Amex would be replaced by ANZ Frequent Flyer cards with Visa.

ANZ has pulled the plug on companion card due to the new regulations on interchange fee rules set by the Reserve Bank. Due to the new regulations, banks would not be able to afford the high points offered by Amex. " While we have had a very successful partnership with ANZ, we understand the decision in the context, and as a consequence of, the current regulatory environment. People can continue to enjoy American Express service and rewards programs through taking up a credit card with us directly or with one of our other bank partners," Amex spokesperson said in a statement. On the other hand, Stocks said that Amex's Ultimate card allowed cardholders to earn 50 percent more points per dollar spent than the newly launched ANZ Frequent Flyer Black.

The new ANZ cards offer different loyalty schemes. One of the features and changes of the new ANZ cards will be the Westfield voucher. Before, a cardholder earns points after the first eligible purchase in the first three months. But with the new card, the cardholder receives a Westfield voucher.

The rate and spend caps has also changed with the new card. The new rate will be one reward point per $1 spent up to $1000 per month. But every $1 spent after the $1000 purchase, the card gets an equivalent of 0.5 points. For spend caps, all ANZ cards will have it. Spend caps start at $1000 on Rewards card to $75,000 on Frequent Flyer Black.