I have previously reviewed the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card some time in June 2014 and it has come to my attention that with effect from 10 July 2014, certain changes will be put in place. This post serves as an update to the previous entry to provide supplement to the existing review as well as to reflect the new changes that will take place.

Please click HERE to access the previous review.

EARNING TRAVEL$ (AND MILES)

Card members will continue to earn 1.4 Travel$ for every S$1 spend. However, this is only applicable for the first S$10,000 of total retail spend in the month's billing cycle. Subsequent expenditure above S$10,000 for that month will earn 0.5 Travel$.

Participating merchants where you could earn 2.8 Travel$ per S$1 spend have been greatly reduced. Merchants where you can earn 2.8 Travel$ for every S$1 spend only includes the following now:

Foreign retail spend in AUD or NZD,
Qantas, and
Jestar Airlines

REDEMPTION OPTIONS

The same conversion applies: 1 Travel$ to 1 Mile on KrisFlyer or Asia Miles. Miles need to be redeemed in blocks of 2,000 and there's a administrative charge of S$25 for each conversion (so it's always wise to convert all at one go when you need it). If you do not wish to pay for the administrative charge, you have the option to offset that amount with 3,000 Travel$ which is an extremely bad idea.

Cash credits can be redeemed at a 55 Travel$ to S$1 ratio (2.55% cash rebate on every dollar spent). If you were to redeem 3,000 Travel$ for a conversion fee of S$25, you are practically using 120 Travel$ for S$1 which is effectively only 1.17% cash rebate.

Conversion rates for redeeming Travel$ against cash credits remain the same. However, you now have the flexibility to redeem against S$8, S$20 and S$50.

DISCONTINUATION OF TRANSPORT/LIFESTYLE REBATES

You used to be able to get 5% rebates for MotorPay, EZ-Reload as well as some participating merchants (e.g. Cold Storage, Golden Village, Giant, Jasons, Marketplace and Guardian). These will be discontinued after 31 August 2014.

ANNUAL FEE

The card member used to be awarded 12,000 Travel$ upon renewal of the annual membership from the second year (S$200 for main card holder). Since it only requires 11,000 Travel$ to redeem for S$200 cash credit, paying the annual fee allowed cardholders to earn a minimal profit (S$15) alongside some extra Travel$.

However, the bonus Travel$ issued for card renewals will fall from 12,000 Travel$ to 10,000 Travel$, discontinuing the "profit" that cardholders were able to take advantage of previously. 10,000 Travel$ is enough for S$180 cash credit so you're essentially paying only $20 for the card - which isn't a bad deal considering the free lounge access that you get with holding the card.

CONCLUSION

With all the impending changes to the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card, is it still worthwhile to keep this card? The answer for me is yes. Since I do not fly internationally often enough on non-budget airlines, spending only S$20 a year for free lounge access is a no-brainer for me. The card also offers a flat 2.55% cash rebate for the first S$10,000 spend each month with no minimum spending required. Do keep in mind that you still have to deal with paper statements and the internet banking for ANZ Singapore right now is almost non-existent especially if you do not have a savings account with them.