Macquarie Bank are offering new customers of it Macquarie Black Visa cards a sizeable sign up bonus.
Cardholders taking up the Qantas Rewards version of the card stand to gain 40,000 Qantas Points. In order to receive the points, cardholders will need to spend $3,000 within 60 days of being approved for the card.
In the case of Macquarie Rewards, new cardholders stand to gain 60,000 Macquarie Reward Points. The same conditions apply – spend $3,000 within 60 days of approval.
Macquarie Black Credit Cards
The Macqaurie Black Credit Card is the top of the line card from Macquarie Bank. Issued as a Visa Signature card it has two reward options – Qantas Frequent Flyer or Macquarie Rewards.
The features of the two cards are pretty much the same. The main differences are in the program that you earn points in, and the annual fee.
The following table shows the basic features of the cards:
| Card | Macquarie Visa Black with Qantas Rewards | Macquarie Visa Black |
| Loyalty program | Qantas Frequent Flyer | Macquarie Rewards |
| Points earned and tiers | 1 Qantas Point per $1 spend up to $4,000 per statement period, 0.5 Qantas point per $1 on spend over $4,000 |
1.25 Macquarie Reward Points per $1 spend, |
| Bonus Points | 1 Qantas Point per $1 spend on Qantas Services | 2 points at Macquarie Personal Travel |
| Travel benefits | 24/7 Concierge Service | 24/7 Concierge Service |
| Included insurances | Complimentary Overseas Travel Insurance, Purchase and extended warranty Insurance | Complimentary Overseas Travel Insurance, Purchase and extended warranty Insurance |
| Overseas transaction fee | 3% of the converted Australian Dollar amount | 3% of the converted Australian Dollar amount |
| Annual fee | $299 p.a. | $249 p.a. |
The Reward Programs
As mentioned, you can apply for a card with a choice of rewards programs. The programs are briefly described below.
Macquarie Rewards
The basic eanr rate on the Black card is 2 Macquarie Rewards points per $1 spent. There is no tiering or capping on this earn rate.
The points themselves can be used for a wide range of rewards. However, unlike some other cards, there does not appear to be a way of converting points to other airline or hotel programs. The downside here, is that you are not really able to leverage some of the value that Frequent Flyer programs offer.
Check the Macquarie Rewards website for further information on earning and redemption options.
Macquarie Qantas Rewards
The second Rewards option is to opt for Qantas Points. In this case, there is an earn rate of 1 Qantas point can be earned per dollar spent, on the first $4,000 spent in a statement period. If you go above $4,000 the earn rate drops to 0.5 points per dollar.
Bonus points are awarded on selected Qantas spend. This additional 1 Qantas point per dollar spent is earned for Qantas services, purchased directly from Qantas, such as Qantas passenger flights (with a QF flight number), Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Club memberships.
The use of points tiering is becoming something of the norm for Qantas Points earning cards, with many issuers moving to a similar structure. In the case of Macquarie Black Visa with Qantas Points, the tier is set at $4,000 per statement period.
For spend under $4,000 per statement period, 1 Qantas Point per dollar is on offer. If you spend over this amount, then the earn rate drops to 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar.
