Amex Qantas Ultimate

[Mr_Orange]

I've just realised that the points earning structure on the Amex Qantas Ultimate is going the way of other Amex cards, i.e. to the new 3/2/1/0.5 structure instead of the flat rate 1.5. I'm fairly certain this will work out poorly for me. I called them up yesterday to see what could be done about it and I asked for one of the following:

1. Retain current 1.5 earn rate
2. Waive annual fee ($350 for me as that was what it was when I signed up)
3. Credit 50k bonus points

I was talking to the cancellations department and all three options were discussed but ultimately the answer was 'no'. They tried to up-sell the new scheme and other benefits:

1. 3/$ for restaurant spend - hugely variable spend and not guaranteed to make up for lost points elsewhere.
2. free flight - I just managed to use in time this year, but only available after first spend on QF.
3. insurance - no need as I have annual worldwide cover provided elsewhere and cc insurances are normally woefully lacking (does anyone know if the Ultimate card insurances are good or not). He offered to put me through to insurance agent to compare my product (Amex) with the card product as "it is all in house with Amex", but turns out they are different underwriters so no comparison could be made and I don't have time to read two PDS to determine the differences.
4. bonus partners - ha, what a joke. 4 listed atm and all expired.
5. Amex Selects - I laughed so hard at this since there has never been anything listed for Australia in this scheme and I told them as much - he was surprised by this but confirmed it on his end.

I pointed out that cardholders must be leaving in droves with the change to points structure and agreed they were, so I said well why not offer bonuses to retain customers but he reckoned that sign on rates were good. I'm sure they are for 50k bonus but I wonder how many people keep the card after year 1.

He also offered me another card "more suited to my needs" until I pointed out I couldn't credit to QFF with that card, so he said "you need the Platinum Charge Card". "With a $900 annual fee", I said!!!!

It seems they just don't care. Anyway, what do others think, is it worth retaining the card? My restaurant spend is not guaranteed, unlike fuel, supermarkets and all other day to day purchases which have lost 0.5/$.

I'm thinking of going over to the ANZ Platinum for 1.5/$ flat rate and a 40k sign on bonus.

 

[wxxnxs]

Probably, you have answered the question by yourself.

 

[Natalie_B]

I'm thinking of going over to the ANZ Platinum for 1.5/$ flat rate and a 40k sign on bonus.

There's your answer. Although I think the ANZ AMEX doesn't have a chip or pin if that is important to you.

 

[Buzzard]

I had a similar conversation with Amex re my Qantas Business Gold card and the Amex rep suggested I take the Amex Discovery rather than cancel. Reason given was 1.0/$ flat rate with no annual fee. Downside (?) the card would be in my name without my business name on it. I still have time to think about it but I did sign up for the HSBC Platinum which is in my name and not supposed to be used for business. Other than private cards I also hold an ANZ Business One Visa.

 

[Mr_Orange]

There's your answer. Although I think the ANZ AMEX doesn't have a chip or pin if that is important to you.

Thanks. Chip and PIN - meh, I don't mind. Approximately half of the time I use my Ultimate card I have to sign anyway after having entered the PIN. One Caltex servo told me that Amex charge more to enable chip and PIN so not all retailers have it enabled.

 

[Mr_Orange]

I had a similar conversation with Amex re my Qantas Business Gold card and the Amex rep suggested I take the Amex Discovery rather than cancel. Reason given was 1.0/$ flat rate with no annual fee. Downside (?) the card would be in my name without my business name on it. I still have time to think about it but I did sign up for the HSBC Platinum which is in my name and not supposed to be used for business. Other than private cards I also hold an ANZ Business One Visa.

Yes, I got offered the Discovery Card, but I couldn't see the point (even though it is fee free) since it replicates the 1.0/$ earn rate of my Woolies Qantas Mastercard but is less widely accepted, so why bother carrying two cards, when I would only ever use the Mastercard.

Unfortunately, I only have until the 19th to make my decision, but I suspect the Amex is going.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I recently cancelled my Amex Ultimate card as I wasn't prepared to pay the annual $450.00 fee and not get 1.5 points per dollar spent. They did offer a 50% discount on the fee so it could have only cost me $225.00 but I was happy to cancel. I took them up on this discount the previous year but they ended up crediting me the entire $450.00 & the first year's annual was waived entirely also.

As I was charged the annual fee back in April so they pro-rated the refund so I got 9 months back @ $37.50 per month totalling a refund of AUD337.50.

I made sure I redeemed my annual FOC QF ticket BNE/ADL/BNE the day prior to cancelling the card & luckily I'd bought a QF ticket between April 19 & when I did the ADL redemption a couple of weeks ago so I'd done my required QF spend. I wonder if purchasing a QF gift voucher would qualify as a QF spend for you?

You can always get more bang for your buck if you book your award ticket ex PER return to either SYD/MEL/ADL but you would need to position to PER then fly home on the first coupon of the Amex ticket then next trip to PER will be the return coupon of the Amex ticket then you position back to the East Coast. Handy if you're planning on more than one trip to PER.

The only advantage I saw with the enhanced Amex was the 3 points per dollar spend on QF, however partner has an Amex Plat charge card and as per the changes about a year ago, in order to be covered by Amex Travel Insurance, all air tickets purchased must go on his card.

I always arm myself with a list of merchants who don't take Amex which let's face it is not too difficult to compile. Doctor, Dentist, Amcal, Chemist Warehouse, Beautician, Hairdresser, Vet, Petstock, Williams Shoes, AHM Health Insurance, Australian Unity Health Insurance, Ebay....skys the limit really.

Then there are merchants who do take Amex however would apply a surcharge if they did accept it where MC & VI no extra to pay.

I also didn't put any spend on Amex the previous month & cancelled direct debit payments to the card so back up the fact I was serious about cancelling the card.

 

[Mr_Orange]

I recently cancelled my Amex Ultimate card as I wasn't prepared to pay the annual $450.00 fee and not get 1.5 points per dollar spent. They did offer a 50% discount on the fee so it could have only cost me $225.00 but I was happy to cancel. I took them up on this discount the previous year but they ended up crediting me the entire $450.00 & the first year's annual was waived entirely also.

As I was charged the annual fee back in April so they pro-rated the refund so I got 9 months back @ $37.50 per month totalling a refund of AUD337.50.

I made sure I redeemed my annual FOC QF ticket BNE/ADL/BNE the day prior to cancelling the card & luckily I'd bought a QF ticket between April 19 & when I did the ADL redemption a couple of weeks ago so I'd done my required QF spend. I wonder if purchasing a QF gift voucher would qualify as a QF spend for you?

You can always get more bang for your buck if you book your award ticket ex PER return to either SYD/MEL/ADL but you would need to position to PER then fly home on the first coupon of the Amex ticket then next trip to PER will be the return coupon of the Amex ticket then you position back to the East Coast. Handy if you're planning on more than one trip to PER.

The only advantage I saw with the enhanced Amex was the 3 points per dollar spend on QF, however partner has an Amex Plat charge card and as per the changes about a year ago, in order to be covered by Amex Travel Insurance, all air tickets purchased must go on his card.

I always arm myself with a list of merchants who don't take Amex which let's face it is not too difficult to compile. Doctor, Dentist, Amcal, Chemist Warehouse, Beautician, Hairdresser, Vet, Petstock, Williams Shoes, AHM Health Insurance, Australian Unity Health Insurance, Ebay....skys the limit really.

Then there are merchants who do take Amex however would apply a surcharge if they did accept it where MC & VI no extra to pay.

I also didn't put any spend on Amex the previous month & cancelled direct debit payments to the card so back up the fact I was serious about cancelling the card.

Thanks Oz. I have already moved by Telstra direct debit across to my MC so as to get 1.0/$ instead of only 0.5 so have partially voted with my 'feet'.

Interesting, that you were offered some movement on the annual fee. Maybe your annual spend was more than mine, or you've been with Amex for a longer period. I wonder what will happen when I next call and say, 'Cancel it'?

I never considered a QF voucher, although it wouldn't surprise me if it was not qualifying spend. My redemption was also BNE-ADL-BNE for Mrs_Orange to go and visit her brother and his family. Ex BNE, that is the best use of the free flight. I wonder if you could book PER-SYD-PER, then ring up and change the date of the return to be before the outbound and then all I'd need is a cheap BNE-SYD-BNE to connect. That said, I have not visited WA yet and although it is on our radar we have no firm plans in place.

3/$ on QF is good, but is only a 0.5/$ improvement on what I was getting and what I could get with ANZ/Westpac/??? so no worth the $350 (in my case). I notice that the Premium card lumps supermarkets and petrol stations under the 2.0/$ along with QF which is actually better than the Ultimate which has supermarkets/servos in the 1.0/$ rate. Talk about a lack of consistency!

I never really minded the surcharge levied by some retailers as it was generally a small amount and I still earnt 1.5/$ on the surcharge. That was a small trade-off in my book. Not so now, where the earn rate will more than likely fall in the 1.0/$.

 

[whatmeworry]

Yes, I got offered the Discovery Card, but I couldn't see the point (even though it is fee free) since it replicates the 1.0/$ earn rate of my Woolies Qantas Mastercard but is less widely accepted, so why bother carrying two cards, when I would only ever use the Mastercard.

Unfortunately, I only have until the 19th to make my decision, but I suspect the Amex is going.

You can get upto 7,500 bonus points with the discovery card.

 

[Mr_Orange]

You can get upto 7,500 bonus points with the discovery card.

New customers only. I wouldn't qualify.

 

[Nizar]

Hi all,

Tempted to cancel as I have no need for the card. Applied back in May purely for the bonus points which were credited last month.

Just a few questions please:

Are they likely to give me any trouble over the phone ? i.e, should I be ready for a battle lol. Do I need to have a reason, to convince them, etc of why I want to cancel ?
Can they claim their bonus points back or anything like that ? i.e, Is there anything in the terms and conditions specifically designed to prevent attempts to sign on just for the bonus?
And am I entitled to a pro-rata refund of the annual fee ? Or do they just offer this at their discretion ?

Thanks

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Have you redeemed your annual FOC QF ticket yet? If not, you'll need to make a QF purchase first in order to redeem your freebie.

Are they likely to give me any trouble over the phone ? i.e, should I be ready for a battle lol. Do I need to have a reason, to convince them, etc of why I want to cancel ?

The only reason that I would be keeping the card is if I was going to put a lot of QF airfares on the card as you'd get 3 points per dollar spent. Always be prepared for battle & have a list of merchants who either don't accept the card or if they do accept Amex but with a surcharge (see post #7 in this thread).

You can also tell them you'd prefer to just have one card (ie Visa/Mastercard) that you know will be accepted everywhere.

Can they claim their bonus points back or anything like that ? i.e, Is there anything in the terms and conditions specifically designed to prevent attempts to sign on just for the bonus?

I don't think so as AFAIK there's nothing in the terms and conditions that says you must hold the card for X amount of years in order to keep the sign on bonus. I wouldn't even mention the bonus sign up points at all.

And am I entitled to a pro-rata refund of the annual fee ? Or do they just offer this at their discretion ?

They should give you a pro-rata refund of the annual which will depend on how many months you've had the card so if you got the card in May you should get 9 to 10 months back.

 

[Nizar]

Thanks for your response.

Yeh wasn't going to mention the bonus points at all.

I was going to say that I just had my annual chat to my accountant who was amazed at the new number of credit card accounts I have opened and advised me to close of all of them starting with the most expensive. I will also say that he told me that I am entitled to a pro-rate refund of the Annual fee.
Pretty solid reason I would think :mrgreen:
Nope didn't go for the annual free flight as it wasn't a factor in signing up and I've done enough flying this year and haven't really got the time.

 

[cove]

I would love to give these guys at Amex Ultimate a scare by calling to cancel but at the moment each card has a 90 something balance that I pay off every 3/4 days. Should I pay next months BAS before July21st?

 

[Nizar]

Also are you able to cancel if you still have a balance owing or do you pay it off first then call to cancel ?

 

[cove]

They transfer points monthly so you have to wait until after that has occurred.

 

[gwynne]

Make sure you've booked the free flight too.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Unfortunately, I only have until the 19th to make my decision, but I suspect the Amex is going.

I've canned this card now and decided to go with ANZ for the flat 1.5/$ earn rate. Oddly, I ended up speaking to the same agent in cancellations so other than the perfunctory "we're sorry you're leaving" there was no final incentive offered to stay.

 

[amaroo]

For those of us that have kept this card - I've noticed that the point payout for QF bookings is not what it should be. Spoke to an agent today and she tried to convince me that the QF ratio is 2/$ however, the letter I got back in Apr states 3/$.

The agent has gone away to investigate & call me back Monday with the answer.

FWIW I'm happy to retain this card as the payout for restaurants/hotels/QF/foreign spend - is better than most.

 

[Natalie_B]

For those of us that have kept this card - I've noticed that the point payout for QF bookings is not what it should be. Spoke to an agent today and she tried to convince me that the QF ratio is 2/$ however, the letter I got back in Apr states 3/$.

The agent has gone away to investigate & call me back Monday with the answer.

interested to hear the outcome. I've kept the card, but haven't used it post change.