Points valuations, cashback versus points, balance transfers, minimum repayments, sign-up bonuses and cash advances, with the arithmetic shown.
Rewards cards are sold with big numbers: bonus points, earn rates per dollar, interest-free periods. The numbers that matter are smaller and more personal: how much you spend on the card each year, what a point is worth when you redeem it, whether you ever pay interest, and how long a promotional rate lasts.
The pillar guide to rewards card worked examples brings the methods together. From there, see how to value frequent flyer points, compare cashback, points and a low-rate card, test a balance transfer and its revert rate, read the minimum repayment warning on your statement, check sign-up bonus points maths and count the cost of a cash advance.
Every figure is illustrative. Replace it with your own spending, the card's current Key Facts Sheet and the values your rewards program actually offers. The calculators use the same formulas as the examples.
Worked Examples and Checklists
How an Australian 0% balance transfer works, what happens to the balance when the promotion ends, the monthly payment needed to clear it in time, and the traps on new purchases.
Worked Examples and Checklists
What counts as a cash advance on an Australian credit card, how the fee and daily interest add up, cash-like transactions to watch for, and an illustrative cost example.
Worked Examples and Checklists
Three illustrative Australian credit cards compared over two years for a cardholder who pays in full and one who carries a balance, with every step of the arithmetic shown.
Worked Examples and Checklists
How to work out what frequent flyer and credit card points are worth in Australia, in cents per point, after taxes and carrier charges, transfer ratios and the cash fare you would really pay.
Worked Examples and Checklists
What the Minimum Repayment Warning on an Australian credit card statement shows, how the figures are calculated under the credit regulations, and an illustrative payoff comparison.
Worked Examples and Checklists
A step-by-step method for testing any Australian cashback, points or frequent flyer card with your own numbers, with an illustrative household worked through from spend to net value.
Worked Examples and Checklists
How to value a credit card sign-up bonus in Australia: minimum spend, deadlines, first-year fees, eligibility exclusions and the cost of holding the card afterwards, with illustrative numbers.
