American Express Velocity Platinum Card

The American Express Velocity Platinum credit card pairs points with privileges by offering a complimentary return domestic flight each year, access to Virgin Australia and AMEX airport lounges and up to 50,000 bonus Virgin Australia Velocity points for new AMEX credit card customers.

Suited to frequent jetsetters, cardholders can earn up to 1.5 Velocity points per dollar spent with no points capping, while also receiving domestic and international travel insurance and more.

American Express Velocity Platinum card: fast facts

• Grade/tier: Platinum
• Card type: American Express
• Loyalty program: Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer
• Points capping: Uncapped
  
  

Total Velocity Points earned per A$1 spent with...

• Virgin Australia, such as when booking flights: 2.5
• Governments, such as with Australia Post and the ATO: 0.5
• Everywhere else, including spend with utilities and insurers: 1.5
  
  

Fees, charges and interest: 4/5

• Annual fee: $375
• Additional/supplementary cardholder fee: $0
• Interest rate on purchases: 20.74% p.a.
• Interest-free days on purchases: Up to 55
• Interest rate on cash advances: N/A
• International transaction fee: 3.0%
• Minimum household income requirement: $65,000 p.a.
• Minimum credit limit: $3,000
  
  

Earning points for free flights: 4.5/5

Apply, be approved and spend $3,000 on your card within the first three months for a great welcome boost of 50,000 Virgin Australia Velocity points: enough for a one-way business class flight to Los Angeles with Virgin Australia, plus taxes and fees.

Thereafter, you'd earn enough Velocity Points for an almost-free Sydney-Melbourne flight after spending $3,120 with Virgin Australia; $5,200 almost everywhere else; or $15,600 with government bodies.

Further, American Express also throws in a free return domestic flight each year with Virgin Australia on selected routes, which may help justify the annual fee.

In addition to points, cardholders can also earn 100 bonus Velocity status credits each year when at least $50,000 is spent on the card annually.

Airport lounge access: 4/5

The AMEX Velocity Platinum Card covers you for both domestic and international travel with two complimentary visits to Virgin Australia's domestic lounges when flying with Virgin Australia...

... and two yearly visits to American Express airport lounges in Australia, available in Sydney and Melbourne.

Insurance and travel perks: 4.5/5

You're covered by domestic and international travel insurance whenever using either your American Express Velocity Platinum Card or your Velocity Points to book a return trip lasting 62 days or less, up to a maximum of 120 total travel days per year.

That's impressive on two fronts in that many credit cards only cover you when jetting abroad – not on home soil – and often provide no coverage when booking travel using your frequent flyer points rather than actual money.

Joining that is both purchase and refund protection for 90 days from the date of purchase and travel inconvenience insurance.

American Express Velocity Platinum Card: verdict

On value, the AMEX Velocity Platinum Card stacks up quite nicely, with the yearly return domestic flight mostly offsetting the annual fee.

For example, apply that to a Sydney-Melbourne-Sydney journey – a route where fares can often be found for ~$125 in each direction – and you've already saved $250 on a trip you'd probably have taken anyway.

That leaves you paying just $125 more for the promise of 50,000 Velocity points at the start and uncapped frequent flyer points thereafter, plus travel insurance, lounge access and more: not a bad deal in any respect.