ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum Credit Card

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 Big Review: ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum

The ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum is an Airpoints earning card with no points cap or points expiry. Cardholders can access perks such as a 200 Airpoints Dollars Advance, complimentary overseas travel insurance, Koru membership discounts and Air New Zealand lounge access, while earning 1 Airpoints Dollar on every $75 spent and 1 Status Point for every $250 spent.

• Earn 1 Airpoints Dollar for every $75 spent on eligible purchases
• No points capping or expiry
• Access up to 200 Airpoints Dollars Advance
• Earn 1 Status Point for every $250 you spend on eligible purchases
• Receive 2 single entry Air New Zealand Lounge visits per $20,000 spent (per $30,000 spent after 10 July 2019)
• Complimentary overseas travel insurance
• Savings on Koru membership
• Access to Platinum Privileges
• Annual fee: the annual fee is $150 (with $75 charged every six months)
• Additional cardholder fee: $10 p.a. (charged $5 half-yearly)
• Purchase rate: 19.95% p.a. (variable)
• Cash advance rate: 19.95% p.a. (variable)

This Card: The Lowdown

Providing a pretty solid earn rate, the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum could be a great choice for bigger spenders, as long as they are able to offset the card’s higher annual fee with their higher points earn.

Cardholders who frequently travel with Air New Zealand could see plenty of benefit in the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum, with Koru discounts offering no Koru joining fee (save $255) and a discount of $145 off the standard annual Koru membership fee. On top of that, spending $20,000 (or $30,000 after 10 July 2019) on the card provides two single entry Air New Zealand Lounge visits, making time in the airport that much more enjoyable.

Aside from various Platinum Privileges provided by Visa – including the Visa Concierge – the card also offers overseas travel insurance, which again works well for the frequent traveller. While it’s always a good idea to check the small print on credit card travel insurance, cardholders may find this card’s coverage handy, helping to save time and money on standalone cover.

Digging Deeper

With the basics covered, it’s time to dig a little deeper into what’s on offer with the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum, so you can decide whether this card is right for you.

This Card: As a Rewards Card

As the card’s name would suggest, the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum earns points on Air New Zealand’s loyalty programme, Airpoints. Like most platinum cards, it offers a higher earn rate than its classic cousin, with an earn rate of 1 Airpoints Dollar for every $75 spent on eligible purchases. This could make it a very appealing option to bigger spenders who are able to offset the card’s annual fee with a higher annual spend.

One of the nice things about this card is the fact that there is no limit on the number of Airpoints Dollars you can earn, and your Airpoints Dollars will never expire while you have an ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum account (and you are the nominated earner). That means you can continue to use the card over time to build up points to spend on larger rewards without worrying about going over a points cap limit, or having your points expire before you get the chance to use them.

And what does it mean by ‘eligible purchases’? Like most rewards cards, not all card spending results in a points earn. On this card, eligible purchases do not include cash advances, balance transfers, the purchase of cash substitutes (such as travellers cheques), gambling transactions, or business related expenditure. If you want to earn Airpoints Dollars on your business spending, check out the business card options.

Redeeming Points

Airpoints is one of the easier rewards programmes to get your head around thanks to its super easy redemption rate. Every Airpoints Dollar you earn is worth NZD $1. As a flexible rewards programme, it offers an array of points redemption options. You can redeem your points for travel, using your Airpoints Dollars to cover flights with Air New Zealand and some Star Alliance partners, or you could use them to pay for an upgrade.

Alternatively you could use your points on the ground, using them for purchases in-store and online at Mitre 10, on rental cars and travel insurance, on fine wine, or at the Airpoints Store. Here you can find a huge range of options, from home-grown to international brands, all delivered direct to your door.

Airpoints Dollars Extras

While Airpoints Flexipay offers members a way to pay for rewards they don’t have enough Airpoints Dollars to cover, with the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum you have another option open to you: Airpoints Dollars Advance. As a cardholder, you can get up to 200 Airpoints Dollars in advance to make up the difference on rewards you want now but don’t quite have enough points to pay for.

Working in much the same way as an overdraft, that 200 Airpoints Dollars Advance sits in your account until you’re ready to use it. If you don’t have enough points to cover a reward, the difference will be taken from your Advance total. As you earn points in the future, they will automatically go towards paying off that Advance to get you back to positive numbers in your Airpoints account.

You can check the status of your account at any time by logging into your Airpoints account or via the Air New Zealand mobile app. Bear in mind you only have 12 months to earn back the Advance so be sure of your future spending before utilising this feature.

Status Points

With the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum, you don’t just earn Airpoints Dollars, you also earn Status Points at a rate of 1 Status Point for every $250 spent on eligible purchases. What does this mean exactly? As an Airpoints member, your spending automatically earns Status Points. For example, you will earn Status Points on eligible Air New Zealand flights and many Star Alliance and partner flights.

However, you can boost your Status Points earning using this card, which could allow you to move through the Status Tiers or retain your tier year to year. To gain Silver tier status, you must earn 450 Status Points in a year, with at least half earned on Air New Zealand operated flights, qualifying partner airline flights, or Star Alliance qualifying flights. To retain Silver tier status, you must earn at least 405 Status Points in a year.

To gain Gold and Elite tier status, you have to earn at least 900 Status Points and 1,500 Status Points in a year, respectively, and earn at least 810 and 1,350 Status Points each year to retain those tiers (check the Air New Zealand site for more info on this). With each tier, you receive a variety of benefits, such as lounge access, upgrades, priority check-in and boarding, extra baggage allowance, vouchers for car hire and accommodation, and more.

This Card: As a Travel Rewards Card

As an Airpoints Dollars earning card, the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum places itself firmly in travel rewards card territory. So, as you would expect from a card that focuses on travel, it provides a number of travel-related perks.

Airport Lounge Access

With the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum, you have the opportunity to earn Air New Zealand Lounge visits with your card spending. Previously, the card offered two single entry Air New Zealand Lounge eVouchers for every $20,000 spent on the card. After 10 July 2019, cardholders have to spend $30,000 on the card to receive their complimentary two single visit passes. Regardless of your spending, you can only earn a maximum of four single visit passes per calendar year (two pairs).

Koru Savings

As Air New Zealand’s lounge membership programme, Koru has plenty to offer members – and as a nice touch on this card, cardholders benefit from paying no Koru joining fee (providing a saving of $255), plus a discount of $145 off the standard 12 month individual Koru membership fee. If you were thinking of joining Koru anyway, this card could offer valuable savings.

So, what does Koru membership offer exactly? As a member, you can enjoy access to Air New Zealand Lounges and partner lounges when departing on Air New Zealand flights and selected flights with alliance airline partners, with the opportunity to bring a guest along as well. You can also benefit from priority check-in and boarding, complimentary frequent flyer seating, baggage privileges, access to Fast Bag on regional flights, and alliance airline partner travel benefits.

Overseas Travel Insurance

Like many platinum options, the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum provides complimentary overseas travel insurance to cardholders. You can enjoy cover for you and your immediate family travelling with you, as long as you use your card to pay for at least half of your pre-paid travel expenses. Cover benefits include:

• Medical expenses and personal injury,
• Travel delays and missed connections,
• Personal effects and luggage,
• Loss of income.

As part of your Overseas Travel Insurance, you’ll also receive 24-hour emergency assistance and a concierge service through Travel Guard. Travel Guard can help you find the nearest English-speaking doctor, arrange emergency travel and medical evacuations, find translators and interpreters, replace lost passports, money, other documentation and luggage, get legal advice and more.

Before relying on credit card insurance, always read the PDS to find out more about activation, eligibility and exclusions.

This Card: Extras on Offer

Platinum Privileges

With their higher price tag, platinum cards tend to offer platinum perks to provide additional value to cardholders. Aside from the extras already mentioned, the card also offers access to the Visa Concierge service, and 0% commission on foreign cash purchases from any ANZ branch in New Zealand.

Apple Pay & Google Pay Compatibility

You can use this card to pay using your compatible device with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Security

In terms of security, the ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum provides Visa’s Zero Liability protection against unauthorised transactions, fraud monitoring to identify suspicious purchasing activity on your card account, and card replacement should your card be lost or stolen.

This Card: The Essentials

Now we’ve discussed all the card can offer you, let’s look at what you’ll have to pay to keep the card in your wallet. You will pay $150 per year, charged $75 every six months. While this is not a huge amount to pay out for a platinum card, you will need to make sure it is both affordable and worthwhile, both in terms of the rewards and features you get back.

You can add an additional cardholder to the account for a nominal amount. Considering the fact that this card doesn’t have a points cap, this could offer an easy way to earn more points each month, helping to gain more value from the card. As with most rewards cards, this card will likely reward bigger spenders with higher incomes, especially given the high minimum income requirement.

As for interest, the card currently has the same rate of interest on purchases and cash advances. Far from being a low rate, it is best avoided by clearing your balance before interest starts accruing. You will usually find that paying out interest on a card such as this negates the value of any rewards you earn, or the features you use.

Decision Time

The ANZ Airpoints Visa Platinum offers a decent earn rate and the opportunity to earn Status Credits, alongside extras such as earned airport lounge access, Koru discounts and overseas travel insurance.