Qantas Cash vs Virgin Australia Velocity Global Wallet cards

By Chris C., September 6 2017
Qantas Cash vs Virgin Australia Velocity Global Wallet cards

Both Qantas and Virgin Australia offer pre-paid travel money cards – with Qantas, that’s Qantas Cash, and with Virgin, the Velocity Global Wallet – but how do these cards compare when it comes to earning frequent flyer points, exchange rates, fees and usage limits?

Australian Business Traveller pits the popular travel cards against each other to see how they stack up.

Qantas Cash vs Velocity Global Wallet: earning frequent flyer points

Whip out your Qantas Cash card overseas and you’ll fetch 1.5 Qantas Points per Aussie dollar spent (or the equivalent in foreign currency): but use the card to make purchases in Australia and you’ll get only 0.25 Qantas Points per dollar spent.

The Velocity Global Wallet card instead offers a higher two Velocity points per dollar spent abroad – 33% more points than Qantas Cash on the same spend – and 0.33 Velocity points per dollar spent in Australia: 32% higher than the Qantas Cash earn rate.

Neither card awards points on ATM cash withdrawals: only on purchases, such as using your card to buy goods or services.

Winner: Velocity Global Wallet

Of course, it must be said that neither card has a particularly impressive earn rate on domestic spend, given that these products are primarily designed for use overseas.

Savvy spenders hoping to maximise their points but minimise fees could instead consider using credit cards like the Qantas American Express Discovery Card and the American Express Velocity Escape Card for domestic transactions to earn one point per dollar spent, with no annual fees to pay.

Qantas Cash vs Velocity Global Wallet: supported pre-load currencies

Want to store money on your card in a foreign currency ahead of your trip to lock-in the exchange rate?

Both Qantas Cash and Velocity Global Wallet support balances in US dollars (USD), pound sterling (GBP), Singapore dollars (SGD), euros (EUR), New Zealand dollars (NZD), Hong Kong dollars (HKD), Japanese yen (JPY), Canadian dollars (CAD) and Thai baht (THB).

Qantas Cash also supports Emirati dirhams (AED) – currency of the United Arab Emirates, which includes the Emirate of Dubai, home to Qantas partner Emirates – while Velocity Global Wallet instead supports South African Rand (ZAR), useful if visiting the country on Virgin Australia partner South African Airways.

A separate balance in Australian dollars is also supported by both products. Cardholders can still spend in currencies other than the above (funding the transaction from one of their currency balances), but cannot store funds in currencies other than those listed.

Winner: We’re calling this one a draw

Qantas Cash vs Velocity Global Wallet: exchange rates

One of the most important aspects of any travel card are the exchange rates used when loading foreign currency onto that card, because it directly affects how much overseas dosh your Australian dollar will buy.

Here’s how Qantas Cash and Velocity Global Wallet compared across a selection of mutually-supported currencies when loading-up an international currency balance, based on rates obtained on September 5 2017 at 5:20pm AEST:

Qantas Cash was the most competitive for travellers heading to the United States and New Zealand, with A$1,000 buying US$760.40 and NZ$1,063.90 – whereas the same conversion through Velocity Global wallet would have fetched a marginally lower US$757.44 and NZ$1,055.16.

In all other currencies, Velocity Global Wallet's rates were more generous than Qantas, giving travellers 0.3-1.1% more foreign cash to spend from the same starting amount.

However, keep in mind that exchange rates can change from day to day and even minute-by-minute, so our advice is

1. always check and compare the rate that's on offer when loading up on foreign cash, and

2. confirm whether the rate you're seeing is a quote or merely an indication that's subject to change between the time you send your money across and the time it arrives.

Winner: For Asia, Europe and Canada, it's Velocity Global Wallet – but for USA and New Zealand, Qantas Cash had the more favourable rates based on those compared.

(Exchange rates that apply when funding a purchase in one currency with money stored in another currency don't form part of this comparison.)

Qantas Cash vs Velocity Global Wallet: fees

While exchange rates are important, so are the fees you’ll pay – or avoid – along the way. Here’s how they compare.

When loading money onto your card, both Qantas Cash and Velocity Global Wallet provide free top-ups using EFT (bank transfer) and apply a 1% fee for top-ups funded by a debit card, although Qantas Cash also accepts top-ups via BPAY at no charge, whereas Velocity Global Wallet charges a 0.5% fee for this when loading Australian dollars (no BPAY fee applies when directly loading a foreign currency, however).

To withdraw money at an ATM in Australia, Qantas Cash also has no fees, while Velocity Global Wallet charges $1.95 per withdrawal, in addition to any charges imposed by ATM operators which apply to both cards.

When you spend in a currency not loaded onto your card, Qantas Cash again has no currency conversion fee (but uses a less-generous exchange rate than when loading funds onto your card in that same currency), although Velocity Global Wallet levies a 2.25% currency conversion fee.

Withdrawing money from an overseas ATM attracts a fixed A$1.95 charge with Velocity Global Wallet in any currency, while with Qantas Cash, the fee ranges from A$1.83 to $2.65 (using exchange rates as at September 4 2017) for currencies where balances are supported by the card.

For withdrawals in all other currencies, Qantas Cash applies a fixed $1.95 charge.

If you only use your card when you travel, note that Velocity Global Wallet applies a $1.95/month inactivity fee when you’ve made no transactions in any rolling 12-month period. Qantas Cash has no comparable fee.

Winner: Although some overseas ATM withdrawals using Qantas Cash attract marginally more fees than with Velocity Global Wallet, the overall balance of fees and charges swings this in Qantas’ favour.

Qantas Cash vs Velocity Global Wallet: usage limits

Qantas Cash allows its users to hold a maximum balance of A$100,000 across all currencies, while with Velocity Global Wallet, the maximum you can have in your account at any one time is just a quarter of that, being A$25,000 across all currencies.

Both cards also limit the amount of money you can load to $100,000 in any rolling 12-month period, while additionally, Qantas Cash caps top-ups at $20,000 per 24-hour period.

When it comes to spending your cash, Velocity Global Wallet limits ATM withdrawals to A$2,500 (or foreign currency equivalent) per 24 hours, but appears to have no limit on purchases within the card’s maximum balance limit of A$25,000.

Qantas Cash instead restricts cash withdrawals to A$3,000 per 24-hour period and purchases to A$15,000 per 24-hour period – which means that even if you have A$20,000 in your account (or the equivalent in foreign currency), you’re capped at spending $15,000 per day.

Winner: With Qantas Cash having higher maximum balance and ATM withdrawal limits, and Velocity Global Wallet having a higher per-day spending limit and a higher top-up threshold ($25,000 vs $20,000), we’re calling this one a draw – although many travellers won’t find the limits of either card to be a problem.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.

Air New Zealand - Airpoints

21 Jan 2016

Total posts 195

I have a Qantas cash card and I get 1 Qantas point for every NZ$2.00 spent within NZ and 1 Qantas Point for every NZ$1.00 spend overseas.

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2447

Figures in our article are based on the Australian Qantas Cash product. :)

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

04 Nov 2011

Total posts 362

I find the Qantas Cash card frustrating to use, many times I have gone to use it and its been declined. I wont be using it in future, will stick to cash and the 28 Degrees credit card.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

22 Oct 2016

Total posts 11

This comment surprises me.  In the past 12 months I have used the Qantas Cash Travel Card in over 30 countries and have never been declined at all.  Go figure!

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

07 Mar 2017

Total posts 19

Same here, I have never managed to get it to work for a transaction where I have to enter a PIN at point of sale, but it would work with contactless payments and would also work when the pin was entered in an ATM to withdraw cash.  This happened in both UK and Singapore using a different card on each occasion. Very frustrating! The telephone helpline was next to useless, telling me to "try it in an ATM to see if the pin works".  They replaced the card twice and the issue continues. ATM and contactless only, no PIN at point of sale.  I will never use it again.  

04 May 2015

Total posts 267

The thing I don't like about the Velocity card is that you have to swipe it backwards at BP (from bottom to top rather than top to bottom) so that the machine doesn't think you're trying to paywave it. If you don't do it this way and the paywave thing kicks in, you end up paying for your fuel on a card you didn't want to use (assuming you're using something better than a 0.33/$1 earner), and you don't get any Velocity points from BP directly because it didn't recognise your swipe. Ditched my Global Wallet card for this reason and asked Velocity to send me a normal one instead... would be nice if you could have both, though!

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

13 Jan 2015

Total posts 584

LOL when the BP partnership started I dug out my original FF card from years ago and carry that in my wallet and can swipe normally and don't have to worry about it accidentally paying with global wallet.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Sep 2017

Total posts 17

With 1.5 QF points for foreign currency loads and spending and no international transaction fees (at 3% on debit and credit cards!), I find the QantasCash card to be a good companion card to my QF credit card.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

13 Jan 2015

Total posts 584

but the exchange rates are so bad with the QF cash and velocity global wallet that it works out cheaper to use a regular CC including the 3% fee.  I find that I can save around 1-2% just by using my regular amex/visa which can easily add up to over $100 when paying for hotels and rental cars etc.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

29 Jan 2016

Total posts 10

Answer: neither. The FF points don't nearly compensate for the poor exchange rates. The better option for the regular overseas traveller is: (a) the 28 Degrees card for purchases; and (b) a pre-loaded Citibank debit card for ATM withdrawals.

29 Jan 2018

Total posts 2

Dead right. Wish I had come here before loading money onto the Virgin Global Wallet - the exchange rate is atrocious. Better off changign for cash at the airport, it is so bad.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Jul 2015

Total posts 27

Had nothing but trouble with Global "Rewards" and had to get very heavy to get my money back, only took 6 months!

Air New Zealand - Airpoints

21 Jan 2016

Total posts 195

Yes, I know but I live in NZ not Australia. Qantas Cash Card is also available in NZ for Qantas FF;)

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2447

Indeed it is, but it's not what we're comparing here.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

19 Mar 2014

Total posts 567

Velocity Global Wallet is a great product. It's a shame velocity points are useless save more domestic triangle redemptions.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

13 Jan 2015

Total posts 584

how are they useless??

29 Jan 2018

Total posts 2

Points or convenience DO NOT come close to compensating for the terrible exchange rate on the Velocity Global Wallet card. Close to a scam if you ask me, certainly not a "benefit" of the program - at least not a benefit to a member.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

27 Apr 2017

Total posts 5

I have a Global Wallet card. I've never had any problems using it. My main reason for having the card is to keep an eye on my car and travel expenses. I never use BP as it's just as expensive as Coles Express & Caltex/Woolworths. So much cheaper to go up the road to a reputable local fuel station and get better than the other's discounts.

The only drawback I see for the card is the maximum limit of $25,000. You can request an increase to the limit, but you have to go through so much drivel just to be able to have the increased limit.

I've also had the Qantas one, but found the online interface very frustrating.


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