Being aware of how often you can get a credit card sign up bonus from Australian banks is important to ensure you are maximising your points earning potential.
We’ve previously written about how often you can apply for a new credit card without damaging your credit score and the information below helps you plan out which credit card to apply for next.
In this post:
American Express Australia | Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
American Express has the longest waiting period between credit card sign up bonuses with a standard 18 month requirement.
Bonus & Eligibility. Offer only available to new American Express Card Members who apply online, are approved, and spend $4,000 on their new Card within the first 3 months from the Card approval date. Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer.
ANZ Bank | Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
ANZ has a generous policy for credit card sign up bonuses as the 12 month waiting period is per product family rather than across all ANZ credit cards.
Below we can see the conditions for the ANZ Qantas Frequent Flyer Black (Milton’s Review):
Offer available to new and approved applicants who apply for an ANZ Frequent Flyer Black credit card account. This is a limited time only offer which may be withdrawn or changed at any time without notice. Not available in conjunction with other offers, packages or promotions or when transferring from an existing ANZ credit card. Offer not available where you currently hold an ANZ Frequent Flyer, ANZ Frequent Flyer Gold, ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum or ANZ Frequent Flyer Black credit card, or have closed, or qualified for bonus Qantas Points or a credit back on, any of those ANZ Frequent Flyer credit cards within the previous 12 months.
Compared to the ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures:
Offer available to new and approved applicants who apply for an ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures credit card account. This is a limited time only offer which may be withdrawn or changed at any time without notice. Not available in conjunction with other offers, packages or promotions, or when transferring from an existing ANZ credit card. Offer not available where you currently hold an ANZ Rewards, ANZ Rewards Platinum, ANZ Rewards Black or ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures credit card, or have closed, or qualified for bonus Reward Points or a credit back on, any of those ANZ Rewards credit cards within the previous 12 months.
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) | Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
CommBank applies the standard credit card bonus waiting period of 12 months, as shown here for the Ultimate Awards (Drew’s Review) card:
Offer available on new Ultimate Awards credit cards applied for between 1/10/2021 and 28/02/2022. Offer not available on all other card types, existing cards, and switches from other card types and is not available to customers who currently hold, or have held, any Awards card types in the 12 months prior.
National Australia Bank (NAB) | Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
NAB applies the same ‘one per credit card family, per year’ criteria for new credit card bonuses as ANZ.
Below we can see the conditions for the NAB Qantas Rewards family of cards:
This bonus Qantas Points offer is not available to existing customers who have received or are entitled to receive NAB Qantas Rewards bonus Points for a new personal NAB Qantas Rewards credit card in the twelve months prior to the opening of a NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card, NAB Qantas Rewards Premium Card or NAB Qantas Rewards Card account.
Similarly, the requirement for the NAB Rewards (Drew’s Signature Rewards Review) family of cards:
These bonus points offer are not available to existing customers who have received or are entitled to receive NAB Rewards Bonus Points for a new personal NAB Rewards credit card or NAB Home loan in the twelve months prior to the opening of a NAB Rewards Signature Card, NAB Rewards Platinum Card or NAB Rewards Classic Card account. Offers are not available when closing/transferring from another NAB credit card account or in conjunction with any other NAB credit card offer.
Westpac Bank | Credit Card Sign Up Bonus
Westpac has a blanket 12 month waiting period between credit card sign up bonuses.
The conditions for the Westpac Altitude Black card (Drew’s Review) is comprehensive, including cards that are no longer for sale:
Existing Westpac customers who currently hold an Earth Classic, Earth Platinum, Earth Platinum Plus, Earth Black, Altitude Classic, Altitude Platinum or Altitude Black credit card, or who have held one in the last 12 months, are not eligible for this offer.
Credit Card Sign Up Bonus Summary
The time you need to wait between credit card sign up bonuses varies by company but ranges from 12 month to 18 months. Some banks like ANZ and NAB allow one bonus per credit card family (i.e. Qantas Frequent Flyer and their in-house program) while others are once per company.
