With a name like ‘Commonwealth Awards Credit Card’ you’d be hard pressed to find someone who couldn’t figure out what the main feature of this card is. So let’s get straight into it. What ‘awards’ can you earn yourself by using the Commonwealth Awards credit card?

Well for every dollar you spend with this rewards credit card you’ll get one point that goes towards your total awards amount. Once you’ve accumulated enough points you can redeem them for such items as vouchers, gift cards or merchandise from over 30 bonus partners, cash back or frequent flyer points for either Air New Zealand, Qantas or Virgin Blue (providing you are already a member of your chosen airline’s frequent flyer scheme).

The card’s annual fee, but if you happen to be applying for (or already have) a Commonwealth Bank home loan or bank account then the annual fee of your credit card will be waived. Or, if you are an existing Commonwealth credit card customer then (depending on which credit card you have) your annual fee will be either waived or reduced.

Bank account or home loan – Annual fee is waived
Awards Card – Annual fee is reduced
Gold Card – Annual fee is reduced
Platinum Card – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate – Annual fee is reduced
Low Rate Gold – Annual fee is reduced
Low Fee – Waived when you spend $1000 or more per year on your credit card
Low Fee Gold – Waived when you spend $10,000 or more per year on your credit card

As an alternative you can also redeem points for cash back which is credited back to your account. If you make regular purchases with your credit card with rewards and therefore spend enough money each week to earn enough points to cover your annual fee, then it pretty much pays for itself.

You’ll also have access to Travel Plus, Commonwealth’s exclusive travel service. You can use this service to book anything from flights to snow passes, and car rentals to traffic packages. And to top it all off, any money spent on your awards credit card using this service will earn you bonus points!

Interest is charged at % p.a. for purchases and p.a. for cash advances, and despite having up to 55 days interest free it’s still pretty high for a card such as this, so should be taken into account when considering this card. Balance transfers earn interest for the first 5 months, after which the interest rate increases to p.a.

The Commonwealth Awards credit card would be great for someone who uses their credit card to pay for everyday items as the points earned from this should be enough to cover the annual fee for just having the card. Any points on top of that is a bonus! But with interest rates like the ones that apply to this card, if you’re not always able to pay your monthly bill in full then it might be better to look elsewhere.

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