10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[oz_mark]

Re: a round one knockout??

Is this the visible face of the pugilistics between the rude roo and the very ethical (+ your adjective.. ) old school amex ??
( queensberry rules meets the pub champion ??).

Many savvy holders will go elsewhere .. but I suspect the vast majority of folks will simply dump their hundreds of thousands of bonus points straight int qff... awwwwww

Your move roo

Unless DJ swing in with a transfer 100,000 points and get a free membership to the lounge promotion again

 

[oz_mark]

Only about as crazy as their promotion with the Woolworths group last year when many of us were buying gift cards to qualify for 10 points per dollar.:mrgreen:

Pretty sure the subject of promotions came up at the AFF meet suggesting we wanted some good ones like the one last year

 

[justin23]

I just got this in the mail too and registered straight away.

also it looks like it is from the beginning of september.

Register for Bonus Points Promotions

Thank You Thank you. You are now registered for the promotion listed below You are now registered to receive 10,000 Membership Rewards™ Bonus Points for every 20 transactions you make each month from 1 September to 31 December 2008, with no limit to the Bonus Points you can earn. To find out all of the places you can be rewarded for using your American Express Card click here [amexnetwork.com.au/merchantmap]

I think making a lot of $1 payments might get their accounts cancelled and points not credited.

However its pretty easy thing to do to buy say $20 of petrol at a time and buy groceries every couple of days and buy lunches coffee etc on AMEX.

I just need to find places willing to accept the AMEX for lunch etc. and many places have $10 minimums, but i see no reason why you couldn't easily earn 100,000+ points without going to too much hassle. After all they do want you to use your card.... This is going to be a fun few months, might change my holiday plans for next year and go to Europe instead

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Delted as found answer.

 

[Febs]

I was able to sign up with my corporate MR account. It's a corporate charge card, but in my name and I have responsibility for paying off the bill each month (not my employer). Does that count?

Doesn't really matter for the time-being anyway - I'm putting heaps of transactions through, all in foreign currencies.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[StevePER]

Another easy way to split transactions into multiple parts is to buy gift cards (with the Amex) and then use Gift Card(s) + Amex as payment.

I used my Amex to buy a drink from the local servo today, and didn't mind paying the $0.11 surcharge.

 

[warrenkole]

What a terrific find!

I just paid my quarterly council rates in $10 increments using my Amex card

Now to find other people's bills that I can pay using my Amex and collect the cash from them

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I was able to sign up with my corporate MR account. It's a corporate charge card, .

The T& C clearly states that Corporate Cards are excluded. So I assume it as actually a private card that you cliam back? Otherwise you might find that the points will never credit despite you registering.

 

[Febs]

The T& C clearly states that Corporate Cards are excluded. So I assume it as actually a private card that you cliam back?

Yeah, as I said it's a "Corporate" card that I'm responsible for paying off.

i.e. It's a green Amex with "Corporate" printed on it, but I pay it off and claim reimbursement from work (it's actually electronically linked with our expense system, which is sooo handy ).

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[simongr]

Well I think we might be facing another one of these threads in a few months if things carry on like this...

 

[QF WP]

Many thanks to matt_r and oz_mark fro their brilliant finds. Very glad I logged in today and checked "today' posts" - not something I'd normally do (and rarely come to Amex Forum). I've signed up for both and will greatefully receive whichever (or both) bonus points Amex want to give me.

JohnK, you did work out that the quoted T&C's were for the 20 transaction bonus offer, but as you signed up for the 10 transaction offer. So not likely that the T&C's would be the same.

Why do people have to think of ways to abuse the system when a great promotion like this comes along? Abuse is part of the reason these types of promotions don't come along that often and may end up spoiling it for everyone else....

It's called greed or avarice.

 

[glass]

Has anyone dared to call AE and ask them about abuse? Cuz I'm sure someone is going to try a 1000x5c on their merchant acc or paying their biils. And I'm sure AE isn't going to stand for that. I would guess they would at least group such together.
Hope they don't cancel the promo due to abuse.

 

[oz_mark]

Has anyone dared to call AE and ask them about abuse? Cuz I'm sure someone is going to try a 1000x5c on their merchant acc or paying their biils. And I'm sure AE isn't going to stand for that. I would guess they would at least group such together.
Hope they don't cancel the promo due to abuse.

It will probably set off the suspicious transaction detector and get the card cancelled

 

[JohnK]

JohnK, you did work out that the quoted T&C's were for the 20 transaction bonus offer, but as you signed up for the 10 transaction offer. So not likely that the T&C's would be the same.

It was the same message when I signed up for both. Promotion valid from the 1st September 2008 through to 31st December 2008.

It's called greed or avarice.

Greed is the right word. I don't expect to be getting much out of this promotion as I feel it may get knocked on the head. All the smart alecs have come out of the woodwork paying sizeable bills in $10 increments. Do these people seriously think these companies do not have systems in place to monitor what is happening?

Don't be stupid and spoil it for everyone else. I am seriously thinking about calling Amex daily to tell them there are people abusing the promotion. I hope all the abusers get caught....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I would suggest that anyone looking to scam first read ALL the Terms and Conditions of the Membership Awards Program as it says on the postcard that this promotion is subject to them.


I have not read it...but I would imagine that somewhere in there there would be wording about reasonable use etc....and I would imagine that splitting up one payment into many small transactions is going to be in breech of that.

Remember too that it says that points will not be awarded till 8-10 weeks AFTERWARDS. So lots of time for AMEX to put through all claims through software to look for anomalies.

Odd usage behaviour will be there in black and white in your usage history...so would be hard to defend.

So I would suggest that bending it for lots of small genuine transactions is fine...but that say taking a $1000 bill and paying in in $10 lots may find you being excluded. Do you want to wait 8-10 weeks to find out if your scam has been detected or not?

 

[Andyc]

Anyone planning to head to the movies should remember that Hoyts doesn't have AMEX surcharges. So don't forget to buy tickets for the whole family in separate transactions.

Then head to the candy bar and buy pick'n'mix lollies... but in lots of bags!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Terms and Conditions

14.4 Fraud and abuse relating to the earning of points in the program or redemption of
rewards, including transfer of points to participating frequent traveller programs,​

may result in forfeiture of points as well as cancellation of the program account.


I am no lawyer.....but the practices that some on this thread have said that they have already done I think will be deemed to either be abuse....or fraud.

 

[JohnK]

So I would suggest that bending it for lots of small genuine transactions is fine...but that say taking a $1000 bill and paying in in $10 lots may find you being excluded.

I could not care less if the abusers get excluded from the promotion. What worries me is the thread about Citibank simongr referenced where everyone was inconvenienced because some people decided to abuse the promotion. Why can't people just be grateful for what is offered? Always wanting more....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yes that is my concern too..

This is agenerous program....one that we do n ot want stopped.

Hopefully it will be repeated.

 

[futaris]

Got the flyer in the mail today.

Don't forget that last year's 10x bonus had similar terms and conditions. There were a number of users that bought multiple gift cards, some spending $4000+.

Also interesting that there are multiple Terms & Conditions for Membership Rewards, depending on when you enrolled.

4. Points Accrual

Except for promotional offers, certain Cards are subject to clause 2.6 and the exclusions in clause 5 – if enrolled in the program you will accrue one point for every one Australian dollar (AUD1) spent on goods and services which are charged to the account or any linked account.

5. Points Accrual – Exclusions

5.1 You will not accrue points for:
(a) charges processed, billed or prepaid prior to the enrolment date;
(b) cash advances, Corporate Cash, Express Cash or any other cash services or transactions;
(c) American Express Travellers Cheque and Gift Cheque purchases;
(d) charges for dishonoured payments;
(e) interest charges – including Line of Credit charges and American Express Credit Card account finance charges;
(f) fees and charges, including joining fees, annual Card fees and Membership Rewards program fees;
(g) late payment charges;
(h) charges for the pay portion of a Points + Pay Membership Rewards redemption;
(i) charges in relation to promotional offers which we exclude from points accrual;
(j) charges for which we do not receive payment in full for any reason;
(k) balances transferred from other credit card accounts; or
(l) any credits that are posted to your primary account or any linked accounts - including those arising from returned goods or services or from billing disputes. Any points accrued in your program account will be reduced to reflect the amount credited.

5.2 We reserve the right to change these exclusions at any time, for example - we may offer points on balance transfer amounts as part of specific promotions and subject to any conditions we think fit.

5.3 Points accrued in your program account have no monetary value.

5.4 Points accrued in your program account for any given year will only be carried forward on the anniversary of your enrolment date if conditions set out in this agreement have been met.