Comparing Rewards Credit Cards? The Bonus Points Are Just the Start.

Most rewards credit cards lead with the same pitch: sign up and earn a big pile of bonus points. The numbers sound impressive. 100,000 points. 120,000 points. Some cards offer 250,000.

But bonus points on their own can be misleading.

The number behind the number

A point doesn’t have a fixed dollar value. A Qantas Point redeemed for a domestic economy Classic Flight Reward returns around 1.0 to 2.0 cents per point, depending on the route. The same point used for an international business class seat can return anywhere from 2.3 to over 6 cents. Used for a gift card or Points Plus Pay, it drops to around 0.5 cents.

That range matters. 100,000 Qantas Points could be worth roughly $500 through a gift card, or over $6,000 on an international business class redemption. Same number of points. Twelve times the difference.

And two cards offering the same number of bonus points can have wildly different net benefits if one earns Qantas Points and the other earns bank reward points at a lower cents-per-point rate.

The cents-per-point rate matters — but so do the annual fee, the minimum spend threshold, and the card’s perks.

Annual fee

Annual fees on Australian rewards cards range from $0 to $1,450. A card at the top end needs to return more than that just to break even in the first year. If the bonus points are estimated at $1,200 and the fee is $1,450, the net first-year position is negative — before you’ve swiped the card once. Another card might offer a smaller bonus estimated at $800 with a $250 fee, netting $550. The bigger bonus number looked more attractive. The smaller one returned more.

Minimum spend

Most sign-up bonuses require you to spend a set amount within the first few months or you don’t receive the points. Across Australian rewards cards, those thresholds range from $2,500 to $35,000. Some give you three months. Others give you twelve.

If your regular monthly spending doesn’t reach that threshold in the required period, the bonus is theoretical. And spending more than you normally would just to hit a target usually costs more than the points are worth.

Perks and ongoing value

Perks vary widely — travel credits, lounge passes, insurance, companion fares. Two cards with the same fee and the same earn rate can look identical until you account for what’s bundled in.

Then there’s Year 2. The bonus is gone. The annual fee is still there. What does the card return on everyday spending alone? A card that stacks up well in Year 1 can fall behind in Year 2 when the ongoing earn rate and fee are all that’s left.

The comparison problem

There are dozens of rewards credit cards available in Australia across multiple loyalty programs. Every card has a different fee, earn rate, bonus offer, minimum spend period, and perk set. Comparing even three or four of them across all of that takes real time — and most comparison sites earn commissions from the issuers they feature, which means the ranking you see may not reflect the numbers alone.

What PointMate’s Cards tool does

PointMate covers 66 personal Australian rewards credit cards across major banks and issuers. Enter your monthly spend and the tool calculates estimated Year 1 net benefit — factoring in the bonus points at their estimated cents-per-point rate, the annual fee, and perk offsets. It also flags whether your spending is on track to reach the minimum spend threshold, and shows what the card looks like in Year 2 once the bonus is gone.

Because PointMate earns no commissions or referral fees from card issuers, the rankings reflect the calculated numbers — nothing else.

The bonus points headline got you to look at the card. PointMate does the maths behind it.