How to choose the best credit card to get free flights faster

But to get to the ticket-booking stage as quickly as possible you need to find the card that will earn the most points for your level of spending. And to do that, you usually need to do some calculations involving annual fees and earn rates.

We’ve made it easy to see which card will be best for you with our nifty credit card rewards calculator.

Our product test writer Nick Gelling updates the calculator regularly. This means our members don’t have to create their own spreadsheets to check they’re getting the best reward rate.

Kiwibank recently announced it will no longer offer its Airpoints credit cards from November. That leaves just three providers – American Express, ANZ and Westpac. But, in the calculator, Nick has included credit cards that earn points you can turn into flights.

How to use the calculator

• Enter how much you expect to spend on your credit card each year.

• Select the reward type.

• The calculator sorts a table of credit cards in order of dollars you can expect to earn over two years.

“As you can imagine, there’s a lot of information to consider, so we have to maintain a big spreadsheet behind the scenes. The result is an easy-to-use calculator that spits out how much you’ll earn towards flights with each card. I think it’s a really valuable tool for consumers,” Nick says.

“Hopefully it prevents some people from signing up for a card they think will earn great rewards, when they’ll actually pay more in fees. And if earning flights is your goal, I hope it helps you choose the card that’ll get you on your way the quickest.”

Of course, earning rewards is only a good idea if you’re a very organised spender.

“You’ll need to be disciplined enough to put all your regular spending through the card and pay it off each month so you’re not paying interest. If you pay interest, that will likely outweigh any rewards you get,” Nick says.

Which credit card will get you free flights fastest?

The card that will earn you the most Airpoints depends on your yearly spend. As a Consumer NZ member, you can start comparing with our credit cards rewards calculator.  

Yearly spend on card: $20,000 

Best card: American Express Airpoints 

You’ll earn $400 towards flights over two years.

If you don’t want an American Express card, the next best earner for you will be the ASB Visa Platinum Rewards card, with a return of $240 over two years – but you’ll need to redeem your True Rewards at supported travel stores or turn them into travel vouchers rather than automatically accruing Airpoints.

Yearly spend: $50,000 

Best card: American Express Airpoints Platinum 

You can expect to earn $1,039 towards flights over two years.

The best non-American Express earner is again the ASB Visa Platinum Rewards with an earn of $840 over two years.  

Yearly spend: $80,000 

Best card: American Express Gold Rewards  

If you’re able to spend this much on your credit card each year, you’ll earn $1,900 towards flights over two years – but it’s by collecting points you can turn into trips rather than with Airpoints.

Again, the best non-American Express option is the ASB Visa Platinum Rewards card. This card will earn you $1,440 towards flights over two years.