Last year we believed the ANZ Travel Adventures Visa Credit Card was one of the best cards available. It had a good sign on bonus, fee free foreign exchange transactions, travel insurance, low annual fee, free domestic flight with lounge access and good points accrual. The downside with all the benefits is that they were with Virgin Airlines and Velocity.
I plan to close the card down over the next few weeks for a number of reasons.
In this post:
Benefits Don’t Add Up.
Even ANZ believes the card does not add up at the moment. A key benefit was the free Virgin Australia domestic return flight and lounge pass. ANZ recognises that this benefit is now useless and are offering refunds on the card.
The card has an annual fee of $225 consisting of the $170 Annual Fee and a $55 Rewards Program Fee. They are offering a $130 reduction on the Annual Fee. I personally think it should all be refunded as Velocity points are nearly worthless when compared to other card choices.
How To Get A Refund On The ANZ Travel Adventures Card
ANZ are not proactive on giving the refund. I accidentally found it on the website when I was looking at their insurance policy.
To make the claim, simply log onto internet banking and use the Message center. ANZ were quick to respond to my request and offer the refund.
No PlansTo Travel Overseas Until The Covid Curtain Is Lifted
The removal of the 3% foreign transaction fee was awesome when purchasing overseas or buying plane tickets. My recent half price Singapore Airlines business class flight savings paid for the annual fee and more.
There is no point having a foreign exchange free card unless you are travelling so this benefit does not add up.
Reset Credit Card Eligibility
If you plan to apply for other credit cards soon then you should close cards you have no use for. A great tool for checking the same data banks check is the creditsavvy dashboard. Their dashboard provides your credit score as well as what cards you have outstanding and importantly when you closed them. This becomes useful when you need to reapply to take advantage of a new bonus points offer.
There Are Better Cards Around
I am currently using the Commbank Ultimate Awards Credit Card that waives the foreign trancacion fee which is still useful for overseas purchases and subscriptions. It also has great insurance (when we fly again). The monthly fee can also be waived if you spend enough money.
Summary
It’s time to reevaluate what cards you have and only keep the cards you want and can use. Closing credit cards are easy and you save money on the annual fee and be in a position to apply for bonus points when the time is right.
