FunancePerks only count if you use them
A travel credit you would not otherwise have spent is not worth its face value. The model asks what you actually use rather than what is advertised.
Credit card value for AustraliansIs that annual fee actually paying for itself?
Premium cards are sold on the perks and paid for on the fee. The honest test is whether the value you personally extract exceeds what you hand over each year, and most people have never run it.
14 days of Pro free, no card · then the free plan, or $79 a year · no bank login
Net value a year, after the fee
+$80
$530 of value you would actually use, against $450 in fees.
- Points, at your spend
- $300
- Travel credit you would have spent anyway
- $150
- Lounge visits
- $80
- Insurance you would otherwise buy
- $0
- Other perks you use
- $0
- Annual fees
- −$450
- Net value
- +$80
- Spend where the points cover the gap
- $22,000 a year
The card pays for itself by $80 a year, as long as the perks are ones you would have paid for anyway.
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The reasoning tends to go: the lounge access alone is worth it. Which may be true, if you use the lounge. The fee is certain and annual. The perks are conditional on behaviour you may not actually have.
The calculator above runs that arithmetic on your own card, counting each perk only at what it is worth to you. Inside Funance, the real fees, earn rates and benefits for 20 Australian cards are loaded and put against your actual spend, so comparing alternatives is arithmetic rather than vibes.
Sometimes the card wins comfortably. Sometimes the answer is that you have been paying several hundred dollars a year for a lounge you visited twice.
| Side | What goes in |
|---|---|
| Cost | Annual fee, including any additional cardholder fee |
| Value, points | Your annual spend at the card's {{earn-rate|earn rate}} |
| Value, travel credit | Only if you would have spent it anyway |
| Value, lounge access | Visits you actually make in a year |
| Value, insurances | Only if it replaces cover you would buy |
| Result | Net value, positive or negative |
Structure of the comparison. Actual fees and earn rates vary by card and issuer.
See it with your own numbers
Every account starts with 14 days of Pro, no card. Keep it for $79 a year, or carry on with the free plan.
How it works
How it avoids flattering the card
Earn rate against your real spend
Points value depends entirely on how much goes through the card. Your budget already holds that number, so it is used rather than guessed.
20 Australian cards
Real fees, earn rates and benefits for the major Australian cards, so you can compare the one you hold against the alternatives.
No referral incentive
Funance takes no commissions and runs no card referral links. There is no version of this calculator where recommending a switch pays us.
What you need
- Your card and its annual fee
- Roughly what you put through it each year
- Which perks you genuinely use
- Any additional cardholder fees
Questions
Before you start
Does Funance earn commission on credit cards?
No. Funance takes no commissions and carries no referral links. It is funded by subscriptions only, which is why the calculator is free to tell you to cancel a card.
How many cards are included?
Twenty Australian credit cards, with their real fees, earn rates and benefits.
Which plan includes the card analyser?
Credit Cards is part of Pro, at $9.90 a month or $79 a year.
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Every account starts with 14 days of Pro, no card needed. Keep it for $79 a year, or carry on with the free plan: Overview, Budget and Debts, for good. No bank login either way.
14 days of Pro free, no card · then the free plan, or $79 a year · no bank login