Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard

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: Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard

The Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard offers cardholders the opportunity to earn Airpoints Dollars and Status Points on their everyday card spending, with some nice platinum perks on the side. These include Koru membership discounts, a 200 Airpoints Dollars Advance, complimentary overseas travel insurance and retail cover, and up to 44 days interest free on purchases. Apply today and you could also benefit from 5.95% p.a. on balance transfers for the life of the transfer.

• Earn 1 Airpoints Dollar for every $75 spent on the card
• Earn 1 Status Point for every $225 spent on the card
• Waived Koru membership joining fee, plus $145 off the annual fee each year
• Airpoints Dollars Advance providing access to an additional 200 Airpoints Dollars
• Complimentary overseas travel insurance (up to 35 days)
• Complimentary retail cover on purchases
• Up to 44 days interest free on purchases
• Account Fee: $150 per year ($75 every six months)
• Additional Cardholder Account Fee: $15 or $25 per year
• Purchase Rate: 20.95% p.a. (variable)
• Cash Advance Rate: 22.95% p.a. (variable)

This Card: The Lowdown

As Westpac’s mid-range Airpoints earning card, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard sits somewhere between the bank’s entry-level Airpoints Mastercard and its black-level Airpoints World Mastercard in terms of both earn rate and extras. For those who can afford the higher account fee, the platinum option offers a big step up on the classic card with regards to points earning potential, while offering a number of handy features for the frequent traveller.

With a strong focus on travel, these extras include discounted access to the Koru programme (offering a saving of $255 on the joining fee and $145 each year on annual fees), an Airpoints Dollars Advance (providing an advance of 200 Airpoints Dollars to help cover rewards you want now), and overseas travel insurance covering trips up to 35 days.

While the Airpoints World Mastercard certainly offers more in the way of features – on top of a higher earn rate – its higher account fee may be too much of a barrier for some. The platinum card could be a great alternative for cardholders who want to make the most of a higher earn rate, enjoying full value on their mid-range card spend, while paying out a much more modest account fee.

Digging Deeper

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

This Card: As a Rewards Card

Above all, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard is a rewards card, designed to offer an easy way to earn Airpoints Dollars day to day.

Earning Airpoints Dollars

With the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard, you will earn 1 Airpoints Dollar for every $75 you spend on the card. And as long as you’re a cardholder, your Airpoints Dollars will never expire. That means, even if you want to take time to save up for a big reward, you don’t have to worry about your points expiring before you get the chance to use them.

What will you not earn Airpoints Dollars on? You will not earn Airpoints Dollars or Status Points on fees and interest, balance transfers, credit card repayment insurance, purchases of Airpoints Dollars using Airpoints Advance facilities, gambling chips or gambling transactions, cash advances, money orders, travellers cheques, foreign currencies in cash, and business-related purchases.

Redeeming Airpoints Dollars

The Airpoints programme keeps it pretty simple with its redemption rate. Every Airpoints Dollar you earn equals NZD $1. You can choose to redeem your Airpoints Dollars in any number of ways, such as:

Flights: Use your Airpoints Dollars to cover the cost of flying on almost any Air New Zealand flight, and some Star Alliance and partner airline flights.

Upgrades: Use your Airpoints Dollars to pay for an upgrade when flying with Air New Zealand and select partner airlines.

Airpoints Store: Use your Airpoints Dollars to treat yourself at the Airpoints Store, where you’ll find everything from fashion and beauty items, to gadgets and sports gear.

Mitre 10: Use your Airpoints Dollars instore and online at Mitre 10, where you can pay in part or in full with Airpoints Dollars when you spend $75 or more.

Rental Cars & Travel Insurance: Use your Airpoints Dollars to pay for a rental car or travel insurance with Airpoints partners.

Fine Wine: Use your Airpoints Dollars to stock up your wine rack or your home bar, with delivery available worldwide.

Airpoints Dollars Advance

While the Airpoints programme offers a Flexipay option if you want to use a mix of Airpoints Dollars and cash to split the cost of a reward, with the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard you also have the option of using the Airpoints Dollars Advance feature. This gives you access to an extra 200 Airpoints Dollars if don’t have enough points to get the reward you want. You will then work on paying back the advance as you continue to earn Airpoints Dollars on your card.

Earning Status Points

As a platinum card, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard earns Status Points alongside Airpoints Dollars, at a rate of 1 Status Point per $225 spent. Earning Status Points allows you to climb membership tiers within the Airpoints programme, taking you to Silver, then Gold, then Elite Status. With each tier comes more privileges to enjoy as you travel.

Tier privileges can include lounge access, upgrades, additional baggage allowances, priority check-in, frequent flyer seating, hotel vouchers and more. Check out the Airpoints site to find out more about how many Status Points you need to earn to move up to each tier, and retain your tier each year.

This Card: As a Travel Rewards Card

Like many frequent flyer cards, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard provides a range of travel-related benefits geared towards the frequent traveller.

Koru Discounts

As a cardholder, you can benefit from discounted Koru membership, saving you $255 on the joining fee, and $145 each year on the programme’s annual fee. As a Koru member, you can take advantage of some great travel perks, much the same as tier status within the Airpoints programme, but without the need to earn a certain amount of Status Points each year.

Benefits include access to Air New Zealand and partner lounges for both member and a guest, priority check-in and boarding, complimentary frequent flyer seating, baggage privileges, Fast Bag on regional flights, and enticing travel perks when flying on select routes with alliance airline partners, Air China, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and United.

Overseas Travel Insurance

The Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard provides overseas travel insurance for both the primary cardholder and additional cardholders, as well as immediate family travelling with them. To be covered, you must pay for your travel on your card in advance, and have a return ticket to New Zealand. Cover includes:

• Cancellation of travel
• Overseas medical expenses
• Unexpected travel and accommodation expenses
• Death of a relative and resumption of journey
• Luggage, personal effects and travel documents
• Travel delay
• Missed connection
• Funeral expenses
• Accidental death
• Loss of income
• Accidental death and disablement
• Hijack and detention
• Kidnap and ransom
• Rental vehicle collision damage and theft excess cover
• Personal liability

As with all credit card insurance, limits and conditions apply so be sure to check the PDS in detail. Note that a $200 excess applies to claims made within certain categories.

This Card: Extras on Offer

Platinum perks sell platinum cards. So, what does the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard have to offer in the way of extras?

Balance Transfer Offer

You can transfer up to 95% of your available credit card limit, with any balance left unpaid at the end of the intro period reverting to the card’s purchase rate. It’s also worth noting that you can also take advantage of the card’s standard balance transfer offer, which provides 5.95% p.a. on balances transferred for the life of the balance. If you need longer to pay down your debt, this could be a great way to do it.

Retail Cover

It’s not just travel insurance on offer on this card – you can also benefit from retail cover as well. When you use your card, your purchases could be covered by the card’s Purchase Protection (offering up to 90 days cover on items lost, stolen or accidentally damaged), and Extended Warranty (offering an automatic extension of the manufacturer’s New Zealand warranty up to 12 months).

Interest Free Purchases

When it comes to rewards cards, if you want to make the most of the rewards you earn, you need to avoid interest accruing on your balance. Happily, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard offers up to 44 days interest-free credit on all your purchases, as long as you clear your balance by the due date each month and don’t have a balance transfer on your account.

International ATM Savings

A handy feature for cardholders who use their card overseas, the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard charges no international transaction fee (usually $2) when withdrawing money overseas from an ATM within the Global ATM Alliance. It is worth bearing in mind that a withdrawal on a credit card is a cash advance, which can be costly in terms on interest.

Access to Mastercard Priceless Cities

As a cardholder, you will have access to certain Mastercard privileges via Mastercard Priceless Cities. Check out the Priceless Cities page to find an awesome range of offers specially selected for Mastercard cardholders, covering both local and global experiences within dining, travel, retail and entertainment.

This Card: The Essentials

Now, it’s time to weigh all that good stuff against the cost of keeping the Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard in your wallet. As a mid-range card, it has an account fee that is about standard for comparable options within the market. As a nice touch though, it does allow you to add additional cardholders for a small fee per year. This not only allows them to enjoy access to the card’s range of features, you can also benefit from a higher points earn on their additional spending.

And interest? It’s no surprise to see the interest rates charged on this card are on the higher end of the scale, as most platinum cards tend to have higher purchase and cash advance rates. However, you can avoid interest altogether to enjoy maximum value on your rewards and extras simply by avoiding cash advances and clearing your balance each month.

As for value, this will depend on how you use the card. If you clear your balance to avoid interest accruing, and your card spend allows you to earn more in Airpoints Dollars than you pay out in account fees, this card could certainly provide value to you. If you’re looking for something a bit more – and your spend is significantly bigger – Westpac’s World Airpoints earner could be worth looking into.

Decision Time

The Westpac Airpoints Platinum Mastercard is a mid-range Airpoints earning card offering a decent earn rate on both Airpoints Dollars and Status Points. It provides a nice range of extras to suit the frequent traveller, including overseas travel insurance and Koru discounts.