Westpac’s credit card designers were certainly at the top of their game when they came up with the Westpac Altitude Black Credit Card (Altitude), which neatly packages most of the features that any credit card user could ask for, even though it comes with the usual hefty fee for a black credit card. If you choose this card, you’ll want to hang around for at least a year to make the most of the multiple benefits, including choice of rewards, high points earning rates coupled with substantial bonus points, and a suite of complimentary benefits.
Westpac’s highest Altitude points earning rate, uncapped
Earn as many Altitude Rewards points as you like, every month, at the following high rates:
- 6.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* up to $10,000 per month, on flights purchased in Australia directly with Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines, then 1.25 points per $1 spent thereafter
- 2.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* on overseas purchases, including online
- 2.0 Altitude points per dollar spent* at David Jones, Myer, THE ICONIC, Spotify Premium, Uber, Uber Eats and Airbnb
- 1.25 Altitude points per dollar spent* on all other eligible purchases
Sign up bonus points
Get ready for an amazing sign-up perk: Score a hefty 100,000 bonus Altitude Rewards points when you spend at least $4,000 on card purchases within 90 days of getting your account approved. That breaks down to around $1,333 per month, totally doable for those eyeing a black-tier credit card. But wait, there's more! In year 2, upon making your first eligible purchase, you'll snag an extra 50,000 points, bringing the grand total to a whopping 150,000 points.
To give you an idea of what this is worth, 150,000 Altitude points will buy you around $715 worth of retail gift cards delivered electronically. Convert the Altitude points into Velocity frequent flyer points, and the resulting 50,000 points could be used for three return Economy flights between Sydney and Melbourne or Brisbane (46,800 points).
Redeeming Altitude points
There are plenty of attractive options for redeeming your Altitude points, and once you get your hands on those 150,000 bonus points you’ll feel like a kid in a lolly shop:
- Exchange Altitude points for frequent flyer points* with Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Malaysia Airlines;
- Get a cashback to your card account* at the rate 14,100 points per $50;
- Choose a retail gift card*, starting at 4,200 points for a $20 eGift card;
- Swap points for cinema tickets*, e.g. 19,250 points for two Event Cinemas Gold class tickets;
- Select from a range of merchandise in an online catalogue, including technology, fashion, homewares, wine, and more;
- Pay with points* for any card purchase made in the previous 90 days.
Almost every conceivable complimentary benefit
- Multi-trip overseas travel insurance for trips lasting up to six months, saving you at least $750 a year for a family policy. Activate the cover by using the card for at least $500 of each person’s prepaid trip expenses.
- Purchase security insurance, providing four months of loss, theft or accidental damage cover against goods purchased with the card (better than competing cards, which limit the cover to three months).
- Extended warranty insurance of up to 24 months on card purchases (again, an improvement on competitors’ 12 months maximum extended warranty).
- Price guarantee cover. Price difference refunded if you find a recent purchase advertised at a lower price in a printed store catalogue within 21 days.
- Interstate flight inconvenience cover for delays, cancellation, luggage loss or damage during trips of up to 14 days.
- Rental car excess cover, overseas and in Australia.
- Transport accident cover, providing cash compensation in the event of a serious accident sustained on public transport or a commercial airline .
- Two free Priority Pass airport lounge passes, every year.
- Westpac’s 24/7 concierge service for assistance with travel, entertainment, and restaurant information, recommendations and bookings. There’s also a Black Card Concierge app.
- Altitude Black Card Priority Service telephone line.
That’s quite a list, and it not only matches but often exceeds the benefits offered with other black cards.
The fee is typically high
The $295 yearly fee, which includes a supplementary card at no additional cost, is quite standard, considering the benefits of earning points and the added perks. However, newcomers to Westpac can delight in a reduced first-year card fee of $200.
Ongoing interest rates
Anyone interested in a top-of-the-range card like this is unlikely to be concerned by its interest rates since they probably plan to pay off their purchase balance in full every month. But for the record, the purchase interest rate is 20.99% p.a., while the cash advance interest rate is slightly higher at 21.99% p.a.
Some credit cards give you up to 55 interest-free days on purchases, but this isn’t one of them. You’ll get up to 45 days instead — still a valuable benefit — but it does mean that you’ll need to come up with your repayment cash a total of 120 days earlier during the course of a year.
Is the Westpac Altitude Black worth it?
This card is designed for someone who wants it all — and can afford to pay for it — but still expects top value per dollar spent.
Overall, it is a very strong offer that combines a high points earning rate, generous sign-up bonus points offer, airport lounges passes, and free insurance cover that’s better in many respects than the cover provided by competing cards. And since Altitude Rewards points can be transferred to several frequent flyer programs, there's flexibility and availability when it comes to high-value Business and First Class redemptions.