The Qantas American Express Discovery Card is the base level American Express-Qantas co-branded card in the Australian Market. This card will appeal to those who want to kick off their Qantas points earning journey, but don’t wish to pay hundreds of dollars per year in fees on more premium cards.

Prominent Features & Fees

• Annual Fee – $0, Foreign currency transaction fee – 3%
• Welcome Bonus – Nil
• Rewards Program – Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Airline Partner : 1
• Insurance – Purchase & Refund Protection

Annual Fee

The Discovery card is a no annual fee card, which is pretty good for a rewards card. Most of the other rewards card in the Australian market charge some degree of annual fee, which makes this card stand out. You can also order up to 4 additional cards for family members for no additional cost.

There is a 3% foreign currency transaction fee though, which is applied to the converted Australian dollar amount.

Rewards Program

The Qantas American Express Discovery card earns Qantas points. The card earns uncapped 0.75 Qantas point per $ on all spends, except on payments to Government bodies, where it earns 0.5 Qantas point per $. This isn’t a lot, but is better than several Visa & Mastercard issued cards which don’t earn any points on Government spend.

However, the card really shines on purchases made with Qantas, such as on flights and Qantas Club membership fees, where the earnings rocket to a very impressive 1.75 Qantas points per $.

Earn 1.75 Qantas points per $ spent with Qantas

At the end of each month, once your monthly statement is generated, these points are directly transferred to your linked Qantas account.

Airline Partner

There are several American Express cards in Australia which earn Membership Rewards points. These points can subsequently be transferred to a number of different airline partners. The Qantas Discovery card though, earns Qantas points exclusively, and as such, is targeted at those prioritising Qantas points.

That said, Qantas has several bi-lateral partnership with the likes of Emirates and Fiji Airways where you can redeem Qantas points. Qantas is also one of the founding partners of oneworld alliance, which includes more than a dozen airlines and access to Qantas points opens up redemption possibilities at all of these oneworld partners too.

Redeem Qantas points to fly Cathay Pacific First Class

Insurance

The Qantas American Express Discovery card is insurance-light. There is no complimentary Travel Cover, Rental Car Damage Waiver or Smartphone Screen Protection etc. If those are important to you, you may want to consider getting a more premium card such as The American Express Explorer Credit Card. That said, the card does offer a couple of handy protections.

Purchase Protection

Under Purchase protection, you are covered for up to $10,000 per year and up to $2,500 per claim ($50 excess applies) on items stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase. To activate this cover, you must have paid for your purchase with The Qantas Discovery card.

Refund Protection

This is another useful cover to have for situations where you have simply had a change of mind after the purchase, and for whatever reason, the retailer will not take it back. Under these circumstances, items paid for by the Qantas Discovery card can be returned to American Express, who will reimburse you with an amount specified under the terms of the cover.

There are conditions attached to each of these cover and it’s important that you familiarise yourself with them by referring to The Qantas American Express Discovery Card Insurance PDS.

Who can apply?

This brings us to the last but an important question, who can apply for this card?

You are eligible to apply for this card if you meet the following conditions:

• You are at-least 18 years old.
• You are an Australian citizen, permanent resident or on long term visa. (1 year or over).
• You have pre-tax income of $35,000 pa or more.
• You have a good credit history and no payment defaults.

In Conclusion

The Qantas American Express Discovery card is NOT targeted at advanced points collectors. There is no welcome bonus on offer, which is pretty much the norm for a no annual fee rewards card.

The regular earning rate is fairly respectable and like all American Express Cards, The Qantas Discovery card also comes compatible with both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

If your intention is to rack-up hundreds of thousands of points in a short period of time, this card won’t do that. However, if you are someone who wish to slowly establish their feet in the points and miles universe, but don’t want to shell-out for the privilege of doing so, this card should be in your consideration.

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this post is author’s personal opinion, it does not constitute advice of any kind and must not be relied on. You must assess your own personal circumstances and needs before applying for this product.

pointsHq or its related entities are not authorised credit representatives and will not be responsible for losses arising from any actions taken, as a result of views or opinions expressed here.