ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum

 

The ANZ Airpoints Visa platinum has a number of benefits and rewards for cardholders. This is an overview of what the card is and information around the benefits, fees pros and cons.
 

What is the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum?

The ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum is a credit card that allows you to earn Airpoints dollars and collect different benefits. For every $110 dollars you spend on the card, you will earn 1 Airpoints Dollar. Previously $85 dollars was the required spend to earn 1 Airpoints Dollar, but ANZ Bank increased this to $110 on the 20th of February 2023.

How do you earn Airpoints?

You get 1 Airpoints Dollar per $110 dollars spent on your credit card.

For example, if you spent $1,000 for the month (on ANYTHING, petrol, food, movies, flights, doctors etc), you would get 9.09 Airpoints (1,000 divided by $110 = 9.09). So if you spent on average $1,000 a month on the card, you’d get 109 points a year. This is 41 Airpoints Dollars short the the $150 annual fee to have the card,  so you’d probably want to get a little more Airpoints to justify the $150 annual fee. If you spent on average $2,000 a month, the Airpoints earn would be double at 18.18 a month or 218 a year.

Additional Benefits the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum provides:

  • No Koru membership joining fee (save $255) and a special discount Koru membership of $549 ($145 off standard 12 month Koru membership fee of $694) for cardholders.
  • Users earn a bonus 50% status points on eligible Air New Zealand flights. For example, if you earn 10 status points on a flight, you will get 10 + 5 status points (50% of your 10 points earned). If you earn enough points you can gain Silver or Gold Status. Silver provides 2x lounge passes per year and 1x free upgrade, for example Economy to Premium Economy or Premium Economy to Business etc. Gold allows unlimited access to Air NZ lounges, priority check in and baggage claim and priority boarding plus 2x free upgrades per year.
  • Complimentary Overseas Travel Insurance. If you are travelling from New Zealand to somewhere close like Australia this should be sufficient travel insurance. If you are travelling to other countries I recommend checking this Complimentary Insurance is sufficient, as you may want to purchase additional insurance for higher risk places like South East Asia or South America etc.
  • Airpoints Advance of up to $200 Airpoints Dollars (These are technically borrowed so I don’t like to use the Airpoints advance personally).

Air New Zealand Lounge

Interest Rate, Fees and Credit Limit

  Rates, fees, limit
Interest Rate on Purchases 19.95%
Interest Rate on Cash Advance 19.95%
Interest Free Days on Purchases up to 44 days
Annual Fee $150 per (charged $75 half-yearly)
Minimum Credit Limit $8,000
Joint or Additional Card $5 per annum (charged $2.50 half-yearly)

Can I apply and how?

It requires the card holder to have a minimum $60k salary per year.

You can apply through ANZ Bank’s website: www.anz.co.nz/personal/credit-cards/airpoints-visa-platinum

*Note I am not affiliated to ANZ Bank and receive no commissions.

What are the fees involved?

The card has an annual fee of $150. Because of this I recommend only applying if you will get more than $150 of value per year. For example, I get around 500 Airpoints a year, lounge vouchers in the Air NZ lounge (for being a Silver Member) and free travel insurance when travelling overseas. If you were only getting say 100 Airpoints a year, it’s probably not worth having the card with the $150 annual fee. See the below ‘net gain on Airpoints after fees’ table which shows how much you’d ideally need to spend each month to justify the fee.

Net gain on Airpoints after fees

Average Credit Card Spend (per month) AirPoints Dollars Earned

AirPoints Earned Annually minus Annual Fee ($150)
$1,000 109 -$41
$2,000 218 +$68
$3,000 327 +$177
$4,000 436 +$286
*Remember there are additional perks described above on top of the net gain like lounge vouchers, free upgrades, travel insurance, extra status points etc.

Additional card to help accrue faster:
I got a second card ($5 per year) for my partner and she uses it for all her purchases, and I do the same with mine. So like I mentioned, we end up getting around 500 airpoints plus the other lounge and travel insurance perks. Again, spending $1,000 a month sounds like heaps, but some people would spend that easily (depending on your living situation of course). For example for a couple, $300 food a week and $150 petrol a week between a couple is already $450 spent in a week or nearly $2k per month. May as well get points and perks for it!

Important to understand:

This credit card allows up to 44 days interest free, but if you don’t pay it off before the balance is due, you will pay a HIGH interest rate at 19.95%. I have never paid interest on my credit card as I clear it ASAP. Some people like waiting for the monthly bill and to clear it all at once. I like to be a step more organised and pay it off ASAP. If I put $100 petrol on the card, I’ll either clear it the same day, the next day or 100% within the same week to stay on top of it.

When I pay it back I enter the purchase and date to distinguish my transactions from my partners, this helps us keep track of what we’ve paid and when. When two people are spending on the same Airpoints card, the Airpoints can add up quick.

It’s also important to note just because you now have a credit card, doesn’t mean you should go and live above your means. My card credit limit is $10,000, meaning the bank will let me spend/rack up debt on the card up to that amount. It’s important to not think because you now have a credit limit, that you can go and spend willy nilly. Stay disciplined, pay no interest and pay off as you go. Then you will receive all of the perks and pay no interest. This is a win/win if you are acquiring enough Airpoints and benefits to rationalise the annual fee of $150.