If you’re looking for a great rewards program with international travel benefits then Westpac’s Altitude Gold credit card fits the bill.

With two credit cards doing your points earning (two points for every dollar on your American Express and one point for every dollar spent on your Visa/MasterCard) and 10,000 points bonus when you make your first purchase, rewards are easily in reach.

These include frequent flyer points on Virgin Blue, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Malaysia Airlines (you must be a member of the relevant scheme), flights with a number of international airlines, vouchers, discounts and products from selected Altitude bonus partners.

A lot of rewards credit cards can look good at first, but then when it comes to redeeming your points you get ripped off. This is not the case with the Altitude program. A $100 flight will cost you just under 11,000 Altitude points (which is actually more than some rewards credit cards), but the earning rate (how much you’ll have to spend) is much better so it works out to be a good trade-off.

This rewards credit card offers a number of international travel benefits, including international travel insurance that covers you, your spouse, and your children. You’ll also get transit accident insurance up to $250,000, one years extended warranty and up to 3 months purchase protection which will cover you if your valuables are stolen, lost or damaged while travelling.

Interest on purchases with the Altitude Gold rewards credit card is p.a. and p.a. on cash advances. The annual fee which is only a mild jump from the standard card, and the balance transfer rate is low. You will find that there are better rates out there than p.a. for the first 6 months. But if this is not a priority for you then it’s just a nice addition to the card.

If you’re not planning on travelling in the next few years then this card will only end up costing you more money than it’s worth to you, but if you are then this card comes highly recommended. It’s got all the features you could need while still not being too expensive.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

Like all other platinum cards, the Westpac Altitude Platinum rewards credit card is the next step up in terms of value from its sibling the Altitude Gold card.

While some features are the same, the majority of them are variants of the standard and Gold Altitude rewards credit cards.

There are two significant differences between the platinum card and its lesser siblings and the first is the points earn rate. Using your Altitude American Express you’ll be able to earn three points for every dollar spent, and one point per dollar spent on the Altitude Visa/MasterCard. You’ll also get 15,000 bonus points when you first use either of these cards to make a purchase.

You can redeem your Altitude points for a huge range of rewards. These include flights, vouchers, frequent flyer points, electrical goods, clothing, homeware, and even wine if you feel like having a few!

The Altitude Platinum card also offers all the same travel benefits as the Altitude Gold card, but at much higher values. Overseas travel insurance applies for six months, as opposed to three on the Gold card. You also get up to 2 years extended warranty and 4 months protection on purchases made with your Westpac Altitude Platinum credit card.

While these increases in value do seem like a big (and quite valuable) jump, there is a significant increase in annual fee with the Altitude Platinum card. This is more than the Altitude Gold card.

So is it worth it? Yes. We think so.

While it is double the price of the Gold Altitude credit card, the value of the rewards and benefits is well worth it. However, as usual it really depends on your travelling/spending habits and priorities – so make an educated decision based on your credit needs and capabilities.

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice category

FEATURES SUMMARY

• Annual Fee: Low annual fee
• Interest rate (purchases): Low p.a. purchase rate
• Interest rate (cash advances): Low p.a cash advance  rate
• Balance transfer rate: Low balance transfer rate
• Interest-free days: Up to 40

• Extras:
  • Phone/internet banking
  • Rewards – Donations made to the RSPCA based on your spending

This card tugs at the heart strings of anybody that has got, has had or ever wanted a pet. Bendigo’s RSPCA Rescue credit card offers a charity-based rewards program where the bank makes payments to the RSPCA based on a percentage of the payments made on your credit card.

Overall this is without a doubt, a very very affordable reward credit card. Yes, there are other charity-based rewards programs out there, but they don’t make the grade like this card does when it comes to overall affordability. While rate is a rock bottom for cash advances it isn’t the lowest interest rate for purchases, but still, it measures up quite nicely.

It has an even lower introductory rate on purchases for the first 6 months* which will cut your interest payments significantly during that time, so it is really a very cheap credit card. It also requires you to pay just annual fees and a much lower potential interest payment on balances, it’s no surprise that this credit card takes out 2nd place in the Editors Choice – Low Annual Fee credit card category.

Only one other bank’s rewards cards have an interest rate to rival this, but this is at the expense of the annual fee, which on the RSPCA Rescue card is really low. Not only is it nipping at the heels of those at the top of the low interest and low balance transfer credit card tables, but it is also the cheapest rewards credit card by far.

The balance transfer offer on this credit card is low.* This might seem quite high compared to other cards that fit into the low balance transfer rate category, however this is a flat rate which is actually lower than most balance transfer rates after introductory periods are over.

The only downside to this card is that the interest free period offered on this credit card is lower than most low interest credit cards at just 40 days*; however this is still quite a high number when you realise that some cards actually have none.

The more you spend using the Bendigo RSPCA Rescue credit card, the more donations are made. And with four card designs to choose from – each with a different picture of a furry friend from the RSPCA, it’s bound to put a smile on your face every time you make a purchase. It’s a win-win situation, who could say no to that!

See our top credit card picks in the Editor’s Choice Category