Your firstpoints-earning card.

An interactive guide to make your spending work for you and start earning points for travel. Work through the four steps in order.

Step 1: the eligibility filter

Before you dream of flatbeds, let’s check the first hurdles: income and credit score. Card providers use these to decide whether you’re eligible. Pick the options that fit you to see what you might qualify for.

Standard card

$35,000

Platinum card

$75,000

Premium or Black card

$100,000

Step 2: the simplicity filter (your core choice)

This is the most important decision for a beginner. Do you want “set and forget” simplicity or long-term flexibility?

Type 1: Qantas direct earn

Points are automatically sent to your Qantas account each month. Simple and direct.

• Pros: “Set and forget” — fully automated. All your points pool in one place (Qantas Frequent Flyer). Simple and no-fuss for beginners.
• Cons: You are locked into the Qantas program. You miss out on flexible transfer bonuses. May require a Qantas Frequent Flyer membership fee (though it’s often waived by the card).
• Key providers: Amex, NAB, ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA.

Go deeper: the ultimate guide to Qantas points cards.

Type 2: Velocity direct earn

Points are automatically sent to your Velocity account each month. Simple and direct.

• Pros: “Set and forget” — fully automated. Velocity Frequent Flyer membership is free. Simple and no-fuss for beginners.
• Cons: You are locked into Velocity and its partners. You miss out on flexible transfer bonuses.
• Key providers: Amex (co-brand), Virgin Money, Westpac and BOQ.

Go deeper: the ultimate Velocity points guide.

Type 3: flexible (transferable)

You earn bank points (for example, Amex Membership Rewards) and manually transfer them to airline partners.

• Pros: Flexibility! You can choose from multiple airline partners. Access to transfer bonuses (for example, 15% extra points). You can transfer to partners Qantas and Velocity don’t have, like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
• Cons: More complex — it takes an extra step to transfer. There’s a risk of “orphaned” points (small amounts left in the bank program). And most bank programs (ANZ, NAB, Westpac) don’t partner with Qantas.

Key programs and their airline partners:

• Amex Membership Rewards: Velocity, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and more. Only specific (often Platinum) Amex cards can transfer to Qantas.
• Westpac Altitude Rewards: Velocity, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines.
• ANZ Rewards: Velocity, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand.
• NAB Rewards: Velocity, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand.

Go deeper: why flexible points cards are a game-changer.

Step 3: the redemption focus (your end goal)

Your card choice dictates your redemption path. Here’s how each card type connects to Qantas and Velocity.

Redeeming on Qantas

• The simple path (direct earn): Qantas direct-earn card → Qantas Frequent Flyer. Points land in your account automatically. It’s the easiest path.
• The flexible path: selected Amex flexible cards → Qantas Frequent Flyer. This is a key trap: most flexible cards (ANZ, NAB, Westpac) can’t transfer to Qantas.

Redeeming on Velocity

• The simple path (direct earn): Velocity direct-earn card → Velocity Frequent Flyer. Points land in your account automatically. It’s the easiest path.
• The flexible path (the key advantage): all flexible cards → Velocity Frequent Flyer. This is Velocity’s big advantage: every major bank flexible program (Amex, ANZ, NAB, Westpac) partners with Velocity, giving you maximum flexibility.

Step 4: watch out for beginner traps

The points game is full of jargon and gotchas. Here are the key traps to understand before you apply.

Sign-up bonuses and “minimum spend”

This is the biggest incentive to get a new card. Providers offer a large chunk of points (for example, “100,000 bonus points”) to new customers.

The trap: You only get the bonus if you meet the minimum spend requirement — a set amount you must spend on the card in a short period (for example, “spend $3,000 in the first 3 months”).

Beginner tip: Always check the minimum spend and make sure you can meet it through your normal, everyday spending. Never spend extra money just to get points.

Annual fees

Almost all good points-earning cards have an annual fee, paid once a year.

• Entry-level cards: typically $0 (with a low earn rate) to $150.
• Platinum cards: typically $150 to $400.
• Premium or Black cards: typically $400 to $1,500+.

Beginner tip: Look for cards with a low annual fee or a “first year free” offer. This lets you try out the system without a big financial commitment. Only pay a high fee if you’re sure the benefits (like lounge access, bonus points and travel credits) are worth more to you than the fee itself.

Points capping

This is a nasty trap on some cards, especially entry-level ones. A cap is a limit on the points you can earn per month or per year.

For example, a card might offer 1 point per $1, “capped at 5,000 points per month”. Once you spend $5,000 in a month, any further spending on that card earns zero points.

Beginner tip: Look for a card with no points capping so all your spending is rewarded.

Points expiry

Do points expire? It depends on where they’re stored.

• Qantas Points: They expire if your account has no activity (earning or redeeming) for 18 months. A direct-earn card solves this, as you’re always earning.
• Velocity Points: They expire if your account has no activity for 24 months. A direct-earn card also solves this.
• Bank flexible points (Amex, ANZ and others): Generally, these don’t expire as long as you keep your card account open, so you can save up points for years without stress.

Ready to pick?

Our top 3 cards for points beginners has one card of each type, with the bonus, fee and catch for each.