Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa

Roland Bleyer

Credit Card Expert with over 15 years card experience and the founder of Creditcard.co.nz. Ask Roland a Question about this card.

The Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa

The Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa offers cardholders the opportunity to earn Airpoints Dollars on their credit card spending, alongside a number of extras such as two single-entry Air New Zealand Lounge passes each year after a $20,000 annual spend, access to monthly prize draws, and a balance transfer offer of 1.99% p.a. for the first six months.

What we love...

First and foremost, the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa Credit Card is an Airpoints-earning rewards card. That means you can use the card to earn Airpoints Dollars on your everyday spending and any Air New Zealand purchases, while keeping costs low with an affordable account-keeping fee.

As a cardholder, you will pay a pretty reasonable account fee every six months, and if you choose to add a joint accountholder or additional cardholder to the account, that will come at an additional cost. Is it worth it? That really depends on how much you use the card – and how many Airpoints Dollars you earn.

In terms of points-earning potential, the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa Credit Card offers an earn rate of one Airpoints Dollar for every:

• $120 spent on eligible purchases, or
• $100 spent on Air New Zealand products bought directly from Air New Zealand

What counts as eligible purchases? Most purchases are eligible, with the exclusion of fees or interest, balance transfers, credit card repayment insurance, gambling chips, money orders, travellers cheques or foreign currencies in cash, cash advances or cash withdrawals made from an ATM, or any transaction that is reversed, refunded or charged back.

It is nice to know that with this card, the Airpoints Dollars you earn will never expire as long as you are the primary cardholder and your card remains current. As for spending those points, 1 Airpoints Dollar is equal to $1 when purchasing any Air New Zealand flight, but you may also choose to use your Airpoints Dollars for rental cars or while shopping in the Airpoints Store.

In addition, if you spend at least $20,000 on your card each year, you will receive two single-entry Air New Zealand Lounge passes, making travel that little bit more luxurious. And, you can also benefit from membership to the Airpoints programme if you are not yet a member.

What’s not so great...

When we review rewards cards, we have to look at outgoing costs. To make the card worthwhile, you must get more value from rewards and extras than you pay out in fees and interest. While fees are unavoidable with the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa, interest should be kept to a minimum.

Like most rewards cards, the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa has a relatively high rate of interest on both purchases and cash advances. So, if you want to make the most of everything this card has to offer, it would be best to clear the balance by the due date each month to avoid interest accruing.

Why should you choose this card?

Placed between the Air New Zealand Airpoints Low Fee Visa and the Air New Zealand Airpoints Platinum Visa, the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa provides a middle of the road earn rate for a middle of the road account fee. To work out which option might be best for you, think about how much you’ll spend on the card and how many Airpoints Dollars you’ll earn.

It’s also worthwhile looking at the extras on offer. The Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa offers up to 44 days interest free on purchases when you clear your balance by the due date each month. You can also buy additional Airpoints Dollars online for a fee with Airpoints Dollars Top-Up.

As a cardholder, you will have access to the Airpoints Dollars Advance. This works like an overdraft, providing access to 100 extra Airpoints Dollars in the short term if you don't have quite enough for a reward. On top of that, for each month you use the card, you will be entered into a monthly prize draw for bonus Airpoints Dollars.

What about that balance transfer offer? If you want to pay down existing credit card debt from a non-Kiwibank credit card, you could benefit from a balance transfer rate of 1.99% p.a. for six months. If any balance remains unpaid after that period, it will revert to the card’s purchase rate.

Overall Rating

Providing a decent earn rate for an affordable account fee, the Air New Zealand Airpoints Standard Visa offers the opportunity to earn Airpoints Dollars, with extras such as Air New Zealand Lounge access and monthly prize draws.