Amex offers sign-on bonus worth $556

Australians can claim 100,000 bonus Velocity points if they take out an American Express Velocity Platinum Card before 29 January 2018.

To qualify for the 100,000 bonus points, you must apply for the card through American Express affiliates like RateCity. You must also:

• Apply online by 29 January 2018
• Get approved
• Spend $1,500 on your new card within the first three months

If you wanted to exchange your 100,000 bonus points for Coles vouchers, you could claim $556 worth of vouchers, given that 9,000 points need to be redeemed for one $50 voucher.

The American Express Velocity Platinum Card has an annual fee of $375.

It has an interest rate of 20.74 per cent and an interest-free period of up to 55 days.

Balance transfers

If you take out the card as part of a balance transfer, you will qualify for a balance transfer rate of 0 per cent for the first 12 months.

A one-off establishment fee of 1 per cent applies to any balances transferred.

You can transfer up to 70 per cent of your approved credit limit, to a maximum of $10,000.

Velocity rewards points

American Express Velocity Platinum Card holders will earn 1.5 Velocity points for every $1 of eligible spending.

The exception is if you spend with government bodies such as Australia Post and the Australian Taxation Office – that will give you 0.5 points for every $1.

You will get 100 Velocity frequent flyer Status Credits when you make $50,000 worth of eligible purchases in a membership year.

Status Credits are used to determine your Velocity membership level. The higher your membership level, the greater the benefits you will receive.

Travel perks

Another benefit of the American Express Velocity Platinum Card is that you get one free Virgin Australia return domestic flight after your first card spend of every membership year.

However, flights are only available between selected Australian cities, with all flights subject to availability.

Other travel perks include two invitations per year to the Virgin Australia lounge at selected airports and two entries per year to the American Express lounge at Sydney International Airport T1.

You also get complimentary domestic and international travel insurance when you pay for eligible travel on your card.

If you lose your American Express Velocity Platinum Card while overseas, you can usually get a replacement card within 48 hours “virtually anywhere in the world”.

Additional cardholders

There is an additional cardholder fee of $0, so it’s free to give other people access to your credit card to potentially earn Velocity points on your behalf.

However, you will be held legally liable for all supplementary credit card spending.

Supplementary credit card members must be over 18 years of age.

Eligibility

To qualify for the American Express Velocity Platinum Card, you have to be able to say yes to the following:

• I am aged over 18
• I am an Australian citizen or permanent resident or hold a current Business Long Stay Visa (subclass 457)
• I have a personal gross (pre-tax) annual income of $65,000 or more
• I have no history of bad debt or payment default

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