Qantas and Velocity credit cards: earn rates, fees and caps compared

Every Qantas direct-earn card, as listed by Qantas on 10 October 2026

Qantas's comparison page listed 30 cards that earn Qantas Points directly: 25 personal and 5 business. The personal cards are below, alphabetically by issuer, with the annual fee, any separate fee to earn Qantas Points, the everyday earn rate and any cap or step-down, taken from each issuer's own page. Where an issuer's page and Qantas's listing differed, we used the issuer's page and say so in the footnote.

A higher headline rate isn't automatically better. A card earning 1 point per $1 with a $450 fee needs much more spending to come out ahead than one earning 0.5 points with no fee. Put two or three cards from the table into the break-even calculator above, with your own spending, to see which leaves the most after fees.

Direct earn cards vs bank rewards programs

There are two ways a card turns spending into airline points, and the difference matters more than the headline earn rate.

A direct earn card credits points to your frequent flyer account automatically: every card in the table above works this way. A bank rewards card earns the bank's own points, which you convert, usually at a set ratio and sometimes in minimum blocks. The trade-off is flexibility against simplicity: bank points can often go to more than one airline, but the conversion ratio is where a big-sounding earn rate can shrink.

Why the headline earn rate is rarely what you earn

Earn rates are advertised as "up to" a figure for a reason. In the table, headline rates run from 0.5 to 1.5 points per $1, but the rate you actually get depends on what you buy and how much.

Look for these in the card's terms:

• Tiers by spend type. St.George's Amplify Qantas Signature, for example, earns 1.5 points per $1 on international spend, 0.8 on everyday spend and 0.4 on other purchases.
• Caps and step-downs. ANZ's Frequent Flyer Black earns 1 point per $1 on the first $7,500 in a statement period and 0.5 above that, with nothing above $50,000, under caps ANZ is introducing from 28 October 2026. Bankwest's Qantas Platinum drops from 0.6 to 0.15 points per $1 after the first $2,500 a month.
• Excluded transactions. Cash advances, balance transfers, fees, interest and some government and tax payments usually earn nothing.
• Opt-in points fees. Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA charge $125 or $155 a year on their Qantas cards on top of the annual fee. Add both together when you do the maths.
• Rules that change. From 1 October 2026 the RBA cut the cap on consumer credit card interchange fees from 0.8% to 0.3% of the transaction, and said it doesn't want interchange funding rewards. Several issuers have changed their programs around that date (see what's changed since 1 October 2026), so check the current terms, not last year's review.

Frequent flyer cards with no annual fee

Two personal cards in the table had no annual fee on 10 October 2026. American Express lists the Qantas American Express Discovery Card at $0 a year, earning 0.75 Qantas Points per $1 on card purchases (1.75 on eligible Qantas products and 0.5 at government bodies). BankVic lists its Qantas Visa at $0 a year; Qantas lists it at 1 point per $2, and it's offered to members of certain police, ambulance and firefighter associations and unions.

A no-fee card earns less per dollar, but with no fee to cover, every point is a gain if you pay in full. A card with a fee has to earn its fee back first: put both into the break-even calculator to see which comes out ahead on your spending. Other fees still apply on a $0 card; see no annual fee credit cards.

Are Qantas Points still worth it?

They can be, but less than they were. For Classic Flight Rewards booked from 5 August 2025, Qantas raised the points price of Economy seats by about 15% in every zone, so the same balance books less than it did, and older cents-per-point figures overstate what points are worth today.

Whether a card's points are worth it for you comes down to two numbers: what the points would replace that you'd otherwise pay for in cash, and what the card costs each year. If the first is bigger than the second, the card earns its keep. Our guide to how much Qantas Points are worth sets out the current reward table and a formula for valuing any redemption, and the calculator on this page does the comparison with your own spending.

Velocity credit cards

Velocity's own page, checked on 2 October 2026, said cards from American Express, Virgin Money, Westpac and BOQ Specialist earn Velocity Points directly, and ANZ, NAB and MyCard cards can convert rewards points automatically through Auto Transfer. The same method applies: count the points after caps, value them the way you'd redeem with Virgin Australia and its partners, and take off every fee. The break-even calculator works for Velocity cards too.

Does the annual fee pay for itself? A break-even method

Frequent flyer cards usually carry higher annual fees and higher purchase rates than basic cards. The only way to know if one is worth it for you is to do the sum with your own numbers. Here is the method the calculator above follows, with round hypothetical figures to show the working.

• Step 1, estimate the points: your monthly card spend × 12 × the earn rate that applies to that spending, after any caps. Example: $3,000 a month × 12 × 0.5 points = 18,000 points a year.
• Step 2, value the points the way you will actually use them: work out the cash you'd otherwise pay for that redemption, minus any taxes and fees you still pay, divided by the points used. Example: if 18,000 points replace $300 of flights you'd have paid for anyway, they are worth about $300 to you.
• Step 3, subtract the total yearly cost: annual fee, plus any points opt-in fee, minus any travel credits you would genuinely use. Example: a $300 total fee against $300 of value is break-even, before any interest.
• Step 4, compare against the alternative: a no annual fee card, or a cashback card, where the value is simpler to count.
• Step 5, treat sign-up bonuses as a one-off. They can make year one look good; the fee comes back every year.

Who a frequent flyer card suits

It suits someone who pays the full closing balance every month, puts most of their regular spending on the card, and will redeem with that airline. It doesn't suit anyone who carries a balance: Moneysmart points out that rewards cards can cost more, especially if you don't pay the full balance each month. If that's you, a low rate card or a balance transfer will save more than any points program earns. For cash rather than points, see rewards vs cashback cards, which also covers which cards are easiest to get approved for.