10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[Alanslegal]

D@mn KFC didn't accept AMEX!

Neither would McDonalds accept my AMEX! It's terribly hot here in Sydney today and wanted something to cool me down, and a soft serve cone at $0.30 was the ideal solution.

Thankfully 7/11 accepted my Card twice today - once for chewing gum in the AM and now a can of Coca Cola for the PM.

Also paid a couple of parking meters on my way to the shops today - it was only $0.50 each time but it extended the parking minutes to those who were already parked FOR FREE. Felt I did some good, and like a Gold Coast metre maid

I'm happy to blow $0.50 for 1,000 points

 

[AussieMark]

Ah thanks guys.

The guy I spoke with must have meant per month not per day hah I HOPE.

 

[oz_mark]

I think we are creating a record for post density and rate (i.e. # posts per unit time).

Well, lets face it, it is an awesome promotion

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Sorry to take awhile to reply to this (out shopping with the AMEX!). No, AussieMark, no minimum transactions per day qualification quoted to me.

It states on the post card that you have to exceed 4 transactions per month.

So I would guess that AussieMark mis-heard.

Transaction numbers are re-set to zero each month. any unused ones are lost for that month.

 

[admin]

Luisa Megale, VP for Public Affairs & Communications at American Express asked me to post this note on her behalf...

Hi guys

It's Luisa from American Express here. I've asked admin to post this message on my behalf.

I have been reading with interest the discussion about our bonus points offer. I'm happy to confirm that it is a legitimate offer. As it has been rightly pointed out, the intent of the offer is to encourage our Cardmembers to get out and use their Cards. Particularly in the thousands of new businesses we have signed this year.

I just wanted to let you know that the offer will be restricted to Cardmembers who received the invitation in the mail; and Cardmembers who are currently enrolled, even if the offer was not intended for them.

We will be reviewing all Cardmembers who registered multiple times and limiting their enrolment to the original offer, or the offer they would have been eligible for had they been invited to participate.

It's great to see you are so excited about the benefits of using your American Express Card, but unfortunately there are limits. I have been disappointed to read some of the posts suggesting abuse of the offer. We will be reviewing all spend activity related to the offer to identify cases of suspected abuse. Cardmembers who are found to have acted inappropriately risk forfeiting any points earned .

Sorry to end on a low note. But we love how enthusiastic you guys are about your American Express Cards and encourage you to get out there and spend. While I will continue to read - or is the right term lurk - with interest, I'm not planning popping up here regularly.

Luisa

 

[beardoc]

I got the MYREWARD postcard. Still thinking of how to stretch the card to get as many transactions as required. I'm thinking (although ego isn't important) about how peeved someone at Coles might be if I get a $3 item and put it on the card.

No one really gets worried if you use a credit card at a supermarket anymore, no matter how much it is.

 

[cowtown]

yer surely they *expect* people to use it more...

that's the whole point of the promotion..

but 100 mars bars at coles probably a red flag...

 

[beardoc]

Luisa Megale, VP for Public Affairs & Communications at American Express asked me to post this note on her behalf...

Luisa:

As I can't reply directly to you, I hope that you're monitoring this. I think it's fair to say that not all people using the transactions for small amounts are necessarily abusing the promotion. For me, I tended to do a lot of smaller transactions (like parking meters, coffees and snacks) with cash, but now that there's a very generous bonus points promotion going on, I am now going to the extra effort of asking companies if they will accept American Express, and then using it if they will, or moving to another company (particularly cafes) that will accept American Express. I did a run around doing administrative stuff in the city today, and ended up stopping and paying for parking meters and lunch and a few other items with Amex that I wouldn't have normally (I would have used cash, which is quicker and often easier for these small amounts - especially given several City of Sydney parking meters wouldn't read my card and I had to walk to another parking meter to pay by Amex!)

I just bought a $1950 rug on Amex as well today, so it balances out somewhat. The decision to use Amex would normally be a difficult one as they did surcharge me, but with the promotion on I didn't worry so much and just used the card (surcharge and all).

Just wanted to make the point that just because people now are having lots of transactions where they didn't previously doesn't mean that they're deliberately abusing the promotion - I'd argue that for some of them, it's actually inducing the change in behaviours that I figured you were trying to achieve with the promotion originally - to encourage people to think to use it all the time, and to ask every business that they attend whether they will accept Amex.

Finally, thank you for a fantastic promotion - it has certainly increased my enthusiasm both with Amex itself and my decision to get a Platinum card.

 

[Alanslegal]

Funnily, I have always advocated to my family & friends that I "try" and pay everything on a credit card regardless of the amount, purely for points earning basis. However the one thing that has stopped me from putting $1.20 on the card previously is 1) I feel bad for the person/s behind me and 2) The hassle it is for the merchant to process & wait for the transaction to proceed especially if it is an amount under $5.00.

BUT what this promo has done for me abliet temporarily is a) encourage me to put everything on card regardless of the amount b) spend more frequently that I usually do and c) walk away from a merchant because they refused to take my Amex.

In my example, if I put through my Amex a cup of coffee every day for the remainder of the year - and trust me - I do drink coffee daily, then this IMO should not be seen as abuse or fraud. Just because I am now paying via Amex rather than cash previously, it does not substantiate as abuse of the promo. It is that I have changed my spending habits temporarily - to match the requirements of the promo.

But thank you to Louisa VP Amex to reiterate the unacceptable abuse of the promo - and thus I infer that it is wrong to pay your Council rates in $1.00 increments.

 

[Andym]

Well, lets face it, it is an awesome promotion

Yes but unfortunately, one that is being heavily abused... I just hope it doesn't spell bad news for us who are just continuing with our normal spending and not rorting it with $0.50 transactions... Also, does anyone feel a little jibbed that others who did not receive the offer in the mail can sign up to? Kind of makes the offer less 'exclusive'

I received the 5,000 points for every 5 transactions postcard in the mail on Tuesday this week and signed up ASAP - have completed 3 transactions over the past 2 days.... Plat Charge Card Customer

I'm not trying to preach, nor am I trying to be a saint, but just expressing my views

Oh yer, long time lurker, first time poster

 

[simongr]

Luisa:

Finally, thank you for a fantastic promotion - it has certainly increased my enthusiasm both with Amex itself and my decision to get a Platinum card.

I would concur with this. I have instructed mrssimongr that all purchases should be sent to the Amex card - in fact I push as much through Amex as I can (just wish you could get an alignment with American Airlines).

 

[beardoc]

Yes but unfortunately, one that is being heavily abused... I just hope it doesn't spell bad news for us who are just continuing with our normal spending and not rorting it with $0.50 transactions...

50c transactions do not necessarily mean rorting. It possibly means that people are moving the transactions that they would have spent with cash over to paying with Amex. I did this - today, I would normally run around Sydney City with a number of dollar coins and put them in various meters near the places I was trying to go - today, instead, I used my Amex card.

 

[oz_mark]

What Beardoc and Alanslegal said, although it does seem strange to be basing my decision on which fast food outlet to go to based on whether they take Amex or not! Certainly I would expect that my transaction count will ratchet up, and I will be going to the ATM less often over the course of this promotion.

I do think, however, to some extent that it was the point of the promotion, although I had not made the connection to the recent mail out of all the new merchants accepting Amex in my area!

To my mind, the real abuse was people paying Telstra bills $1 a time and things like that (even if the thing that stopped me was the thought of wading through a 37 page Amex statement and 75 page Telstra account checking that it was correct ). I have certainly started putting many smaller transaction through, but the merchants are varied, and I would have paid cash otherwise,

I did sign up for two promotions - the first that popped up on the board, and the second one when I got home to find a postcard - I hope it is the second one that sticks. Lesson learned - wait till you see what you get offered, even if you don't think there will be different versions around!

In the end, I thank Amex for a great promotion and I hope it achieves what they set out to achieve, there is not too much abuse, and I have a healthy point balance at the end.

(Now if they can just organise fee club membership for transferring 100,000 points to Velocity again.....)

 

[simongr]

50c transactions do not necessarily mean rorting. It possibly means that people are moving the transactions that they would have spent with cash over to paying with Amex. I did this - today, I would normally run around Sydney City with a number of dollar coins and put them in various meters near the places I was trying to go - today, instead, I used my Amex card.

[ot]

WTF? Seriously why do you do this? If you have spare coins drop them into the RSPCA rather than some guy's meter...

[/ot]

 

[Andym]

Thank you to the VP of Amex for the response.

It's always good to know that someone from a large company can take the time to read every day forums

Beardoc, imo that is rorting... well not rorting, but 'taking advantage' o the promotion, which some will see as bad, and some will see as good.

Each to thier own and I am not trying to argue with anyone here - please understand this

 

[beardoc]

Just checking again, because it might have been missed above - are people having their transactions appear in the MR online statement for 18th September yet? Transactions have posted in my online statement transaction listing, but not in my MR account yet. Is this the same for everyone, or just me?

 

[Andym]

To my mind, the real abuse was people paying Telstra bills $1 a time and things like that

In the end, I thank Amex for a great promotion and I hope it achieves what they set out to achieve, there is not too much abuse, and I have a healthy point balance at the end.

HERE HERE - my sentiments exactly

 

[Alanslegal]

50c transactions do not necessarily mean rorting. It possibly means that people are moving the transactions that they would have spent with cash over to paying with Amex.

Agree. I have always paid parking meters using credit card - because I have been burnt once in which I paid $9 in coins only to not receive my ticket I did report it too, & had a reference, I then placed a note on my dashboard only to SEE a fine on my windscreen upon my return. It came down to my word versus the parking officer's word and he said the machine was "working" when he checked.

So now I pay via card and in the event I get fined, I at least statement evidence that I really paid.

 

[beardoc]

[ot]

WTF? Seriously why do you do this? If you have spare coins drop them into the RSPCA rather than some guy's meter...

[/ot]

I'm not talking about the other person in the thread that was running up other people's meters. I was making the point that 50c or $1 transactions are valid - I drive to various points around Sydney city and park for just a few minutes each place to go to particular businesses, so I have dollar coins that I normally use for these situations. Today, I used Amex. These are my normal spending habit, just that today it was on Amex rather than with cash. The point of it being that not all $1 transactions are necessarily fraudulent.

 

[oz_mark]

Agree. I have always paid parking meters using credit card

Been a while since I used a parking meter then. Didn't even know they took credit cards!