DC right for me?

[snailstail]

Hey everyone. I've just stumbled across the Diners Club + MasterCard combo and it seems really good compared to the other offerings. Besides the limited acceptance, I'm curious if there's any other reason why not many people have it. Do Diners Club usually offer sign-on bonus points? I rang up and harassed them for points but they wouldn't budge. I'm also interested to know how likely I'm able to get a waiver for the annual fee repeatedly/for life? Thanks in advance.

 

[Newk]

I have a DC long term through a professional association. Very rarely used until I recently signed up for the DC/MC combo. I am pretty sure my annual fee is diminished a bit because of the professional association. And I cannot comment anyway on fee waiver. I have not seen any sign on bonuses offered.
What I can say is that the customer service people are extremely pleasant, well trained but totally protocol driven and robotic. Hence it is very unlikely that you'll get anywhere off the beaten track with them.

Pros of the card:
some lounge access...not certain I'll use but might. Small value
3 points per dollar for the DC
1.25 ppd for the MC
(note that it gets complex here and these points transfer to different FF programs at different rates. I think Velocity is good at 1:1..so it depends on where you see the points going)
you can store the points until needed
many claimed advantages of the world mastercard
Diners taken at supermarkets

Cons:
Diners taken in fewer places than other cards. Especially not taken by the ATO payment site
Dog's breakfast web site. It has been upgraded in the last few days but good luck finding what you want.
The robotic protocol-driven customer service people
The likely illusory nature of the claimed benefits of the World MC

I recently tried to claim one of the World MC add ons. Four nights for the price of three at a certain hotel group's properties if booked through the hotel group. The Australian rep knew nothing about it and rang the hotel concerned who we then found "didn't participate" in that promotion. So I asked for a list of properties that did. Asked both the rep and Diners phone help. I have no answer about two weeks later. I eventually phoned the property directly and they have a 4 for 3 stay promotion anyway! Shrugs shoulders.
I have found that many of the great lists of benefits that all credit cards tout amount to very little in real life.

So it boils down to what you want to do with the points, and where you can use the cards, especially the DC which gives a good earn rate for some FF programs.

I am a bit new to this but my gold standard is becoming any Amex that gives 1.5 ppd across the board and a MC/Visa that gives 1 or more ppd. There are of course variations and it depends on how many cards you want.
I am unsure how the DC/MC combo fits in my long term plans. I am willing to give it a go for a year or so to see.

A game changer for me may be the mooted direct earn Qantas card and I await details

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

I have recently transitioned across to the Diners+MC combo and the advantages for me are:

- even though Diners is accepted by less merchants, if you're after Virgin points, with 1.25 on the MC and 3 on the Diners, depending on your merchant mix you'll probably earn more per dollar on average than on the Amex Velocity Platinum, for a similar fee ($389 vs $349 for the Amex). Plus you can warehouse the points with Diners and wait for transfer bonuses which Virgin periodically offers.

- I like Starwood Preferred Guest points, this gives you the best earn to that program in Australia (0.625 for the MC and 1.5 for the Diners) - which if transferring in 20,000 lots to most of their airline partners (https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html), amounts to 0.78125 for the MC and 1.875 for the Diners in most of those programs

- although the lounge program doesn't include any in Australia or New Zealand, the lounges elsewhere cover a fairly comprehensive list of airports and terminals so I don't need to chase status to get lounge access when travelling overseas

- the travel insurance included is pretty comprehensive and (I think but not sure?) is now better than the Amex Platinum after the recent changes Amex made

- it's not a "forced earn" Qantas card!!!

 

[k3nnis]

Sounds good. I am thinking about diners too but not sure which retailers etc accept it with no surcharge??

I suppose coles/woolworths accepts it with no surcharge? Any other mainstream retailers?

I have recently transitioned across to the Diners+MC combo and the advantages for me are:

- even though Diners is accepted by less merchants, if you're after Virgin points, with 1.25 on the MC and 3 on the Diners, depending on your merchant mix you'll probably earn more per dollar on average than on the Amex Velocity Platinum, for a similar fee ($389 vs $349 for the Amex). Plus you can warehouse the points with Diners and wait for transfer bonuses which Virgin periodically offers.

- I like Starwood Preferred Guest points, this gives you the best earn to that program in Australia (0.625 for the MC and 1.5 for the Diners) - which if transferring in 20,000 lots to most of their airline partners (https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html), amounts to 0.78125 for the MC and 1.875 for the Diners in most of those programs

- although the lounge program doesn't include any in Australia or New Zealand, the lounges elsewhere cover a fairly comprehensive list of airports and terminals so I don't need to chase status to get lounge access when travelling overseas

- the travel insurance included is pretty comprehensive and (I think but not sure?) is now better than the Amex Platinum after the recent changes Amex made

- it's not a "forced earn" Qantas card!!!

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Sounds good. I am thinking about diners too but not sure which retailers etc accept it with no surcharge??

I suppose coles/woolworths accepts it with no surcharge? Any other mainstream retailers?

David Jones, Myer, Target, petrol stations, Liquorland, Qantas and Virgin for the same surcharge amount they charge for using a Visa or MC. You can search for merchant acceptance here - https://merchant.dinersclub.com.au/

 

[k3nnis]

Thanks for the URL.

 

[drron]

I have had DC for years but it is a fee free card through a now defunct scheme.
It was very useful in my quest for LTP with AA-sadly CC points no longer qualify for that.
Not much difference with acceptance compared with Amex.Usually the surcharge is the same as Amex-occasionaly higher but surprisingly also occasionally lower.
I dont use it much now as a couple of years ago when they changed their computer system they totally stuffed up my rewards points.

 

[greenfrog86]

I have recently transitioned across to the Diners+MC combo and the advantages for me are:

- even though Diners is accepted by less merchants, if you're after Virgin points, with 1.25 on the MC and 3 on the Diners, depending on your merchant mix you'll probably earn more per dollar on average than on the Amex Velocity Platinum, for a similar fee ($389 vs $349 for the Amex). Plus you can warehouse the points with Diners and wait for transfer bonuses which Virgin periodically offers.

- I like Starwood Preferred Guest points, this gives you the best earn to that program in Australia (0.625 for the MC and 1.5 for the Diners) - which if transferring in 20,000 lots to most of their airline partners (https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html), amounts to 0.78125 for the MC and 1.875 for the Diners in most of those programs

- although the lounge program doesn't include any in Australia or New Zealand, the lounges elsewhere cover a fairly comprehensive list of airports and terminals so I don't need to chase status to get lounge access when travelling overseas

- the travel insurance included is pretty comprehensive and (I think but not sure?) is now better than the Amex Platinum after the recent changes Amex made

- it's not a "forced earn" Qantas card!!!

To clarify... there is a direct earn QFF option, however if you don't choose that then you get the options above but not Qantas points?

I note that there is a much greater range of airline FF options with Diners than any other Australian card... According to the rewards section you can even redeem for AA points!!

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

To clarify... there is a direct earn QFF option, however if you don't choose that then you get the options above but not Qantas points?

I note that there is a much greater range of airline FF options with Diners than any other Australian card... According to the rewards section you can even redeem for AA points!!

On your first point, yes, QFF in their infinite "wisdom" have decided that except for the American Express Platinum Card (annual fee $900), you can't have credit cards which earn points which can go either to Qantas or other airlines. It's either QFF or nothing, they call it "direct earn", you could call it "forced earn".

As for the airline transfer partners, partners like AA and Delta transfer at a 2:1 ratio, and you're actually better off going via SPG. 40,000 Diners points convert to 20,000 AA or DL miles, if you transfer 40,000 Diners points into 20,000 SPG points, you can then transfer them to AA or DL for 25,000 because of the 25% transfer bonus SPG gives you for each 20,000 transferred.

 

[Newk]

Thanks to the other posters here. I have learnt a lot and will keep working away at understanding and using the DC/MC combo

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Besides the limited acceptance,

The other point on the limited acceptance of the DC card is why they introduced the MC combo, which means you can earn 1.25 points in places where Diners or Amex isn't accepted but MC is which is pretty much everywhere (looking through ATO payments thread, the MC might be one of the most useful for this). Based on my recent month spending mix on the cards, I got an average 1.7 points per dollar, or 1.7 Velocity points (before any transfer bonuses), 0.85 SPG points or 1.0625 miles in one of SPG's 1:1 transfer partners.

Bear in mind that both the DC and the MC are charge cards, not credit cards - you will need to pay off your monthly balance in full a couple of weeks after your statement date.

 

[k3nnis]

Does anyone know what is the minimum income requirement to get the diners club+mastercard combo?

 

[Newk]

Does anyone know what is the minimum income requirement to get the diners club+mastercard combo?

sorry I don't know

I simply rang up and said "I have this long existing and rarely used DC, may I have a MC too?" and they sent me one

Interestingly as per an old thread here somewhere I was promised not once, but twice, that there would be a way to wash points through SPG to Qantas. Wider heads here told me "no-way"

They were of course correct

 

[k3nnis]

I just called up, and the call was diverted to India I believe. Anyways they checked and it was $35000 annually. Seems very low to me..

 

[Moopere]

I've been vacillating on this myself. The annual fee is pretty big given that they hand you nothing as bennies, no sign-up points, no free flight to anywhere, no nothing really. Amex does a better job of tilting you over the line by offering sweeteners

But, I'm getting closer to a decision I think. The MC at 1.25 DC rewards transferable to VFF at 1:1 sounds pretty nice as an ATO earner. Amex is a little too expensive with the ATO now and I hate running the gauntlet with the EDR MC.

Anyone know much about the "Regal BusinessWorld Gold" membership? What about the fabled Wednesday night dining? I can't find any information about Wednesday dining anywhere.... but there is urban legend that it exists.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Anyone know much about the "Regal BusinessWorld Gold" membership? What about the fabled Wednesday night dining? I can't find any information about Wednesday dining anywhere.... but there is urban legend that it exists.

Regus info here - Regus and Diners Australia Activation

Wednesday dining just means eating at a restaurant or cafe that accepts Diners on a Wednesday to get 5 DC points - or 8 if they are one of the Bonus Partners - Diners Club Australia Have read reports that the posting of them can be spotty...

 

[drron]

Wednesday night dining does exist as said.And yes extra points dont always post.

 

[serfty]

...

Interestingly as per an old thread here somewhere I was promised not once, but twice, that there would be a way to wash points through SPG to Qantas. Wider heads here told me "no-way"

They were of course correct

Qantas canned SPG as a partner just over 4 years ago. This was shortly they also canned most ad hoc rewards crediting the QFF - going almost entirely "direct sweep" or bust.


http://www.australianfrequentflyer....cussion/spg-to-qff-points-transfer-13164.html

 

[sparoy]

I’m seriously thinking of getting this combo to replace my Amex Plat Charge.
With the upcoming Amex MR devaluations, even 1.25 points/$1 for MC is better than 1 point/$1 for Amex for the majority of my use and even better with 3 points/$1 for DC wherever it is accepted.
Most of my Amex MR points -> SPG -> AA, so there’s no difference there with DC.

Does DC have CDW for car rental as Amex Plat Charge?

 

[Moopere]

I’m seriously thinking of getting this combo to replace my Amex Plat Charge.
With the upcoming Amex MR devaluations, even 1.25 points/$1 for MC is better than 1 point/$1 for Amex for the majority of my use and even better with 3 points/$1 for DC wherever it is accepted.
Most of my Amex MR points -> SPG -> AA, so there’s no difference there with DC.

Does DC have CDW for car rental as Amex Plat Charge?

SPG and Velocity seem to be at good conversion rates. Most of the other partners are not so lucky. Hilton at 2:1 is awful, Krisflyer at 2:1 is not good either compared to a 1.5:1$ earning Amex.