3,000 QFF Points Qantas Cash offer (until 1 December 2015)

[k_sheep]

I didn't realise this was an emotional topic. Apologies for any offense caused :shock:

*backs away slowly*

 

[opusman]

I didn't realise this was an emotional topic. Apologies for any offense caused :shock:

*backs away slowly*

There was no offence, it's just tiring seeing the same old inaccurate arguments being trotted out endlessly

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There was no offence, it's just tiring seeing the same old inaccurate arguments being trotted out endlessly

It all depends how far in advance you're going to lock in your rates. Certainly at the beginning of the year, and up until early July of this year, locking in rates for travel now would have given you a benefit.

But in almost all other cases, using the chart on xe.com, the movement hasn't really been enough to warrant locking in rates say one-two months before travel.

 

[OATEK]

I took advantage of this today. Offer came via email. A QFF member but hadn't activated Qcash before. Checked the USD currency exchange rate and found it comparable to Commbank, so decided to give the product a go. I guess that's the whole point of the offer...

P.S. Welcome aboard HappyLogic!

 

[opusman]

It all depends how far in advance you're going to lock in your rates. Certainly at the beginning of the year, and up until early July of this year, locking in rates for travel now would have given you a benefit.

Obviously whether it pays off or not can vary, the point is you can lock in your rates, something the Citi/28Deg products don't offer. Stop pretending it's irrelevant.

As for me, I still have about USD $5K purchased in the high 90's, so am quite happy with my choice.

 

[Cynicor]

The set rates do offer a benefit, and a distinction, but it is often worth highlighting in these threads because many people don't realise how poor the rates can be, relative to what you may be able to access as a spot rate.

Being more than 3% off spot, you have to be quite bearish for this card to work in the short term. Over the longer term you need to also account for opportunity cost of the cash too.

At 3000 points the offer may be worthwhile to some people, given the current fx rate.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The set rates do offer a benefit, and a distinction, but it is often worth highlighting in these threads because many people don't realise how poor the rates can be, relative to what you may be able to access as a spot rate.

Being more than 3% off spot, you have to be quite bearish for this card to work in the short term. Over the longer term you need to also account for opportunity cost of the cash too.

At 3000 points the offer may be worthwhile to some people, given the current fx rate.

Today, the QF cash rate is 5% different to that being offered by 28 degrees or citi. That's throwing away $5 in every hundred you spend. Locking in rates is almost irrelevant unless you buy at the peak of the AUD->USD cycle, which could be months in advance of when you're going to travel. I suspect many people would load cash fairly close to departure?

 

[Cynicor]

Today, the QF cash rate is 5% different to that being offered by 28 degrees or citi. That's throwing away $5 in every hundred you spend. Locking in rates is almost irrelevant unless you buy at the peak of the AUD->USD cycle, which could be months in advance of when you're going to travel. I suspect many people would load cash fairly close to departure?

Absolutely agree. This card is mostly a scam for people bad at maths, with some possible benefits.

 

[opusman]

Today, the QF cash rate is 5% different to that being offered by 28 degrees or citi. That's throwing away $5 in every hundred you spend. Locking in rates is almost irrelevant unless you buy at the peak of the AUD->USD cycle, which could be months in advance of when you're going to travel. I suspect many people would load cash fairly close to departure?

Someone mentioned being bad at maths? At the moment, $1000 AUD would get you $687 on QC vs $716 at the spot rate. So $3 instead of $5 per hundred. Take off whatever you value QFF points at and the gap narrows some more.

And you're still (willfully) ignoring the fact that many people put a value on being able to lock the exchange rate in.

 

[JohnK]

A few accounts received this offer.

I cannot see any value in the offer. I am assuming the loss on exchange rates/fees on AUD1000 loaded to Qantas cash would be ~4%-5%? There is no way I would value 3,000 QFF points that high.

At best the value could be considered break even but even then I don't want to buy QFF points.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And you're still (willfully) ignoring the fact that many people put a value on being able to lock the exchange rate in.

But that 'value' is mistaken or non-existent. If it's a false value it has to be appropriately discounted?

 

[Katy]

At the moment, $1000 AUD would get you $687 on QC vs $716 at the spot rate. .

I get a $723 conversion rate from xe.com

 

[opusman]

But that 'value' is mistaken or non-existent. If it's a false value it has to be appropriately discounted?

Just because you don't value it doesn't mean others don't. The AUD can certainly vary by 2% over a day let alone the length of a longer trip, and when you take the value of QFF points out 2% is really all we're talking about.

 

[opusman]

I get a $723 spot rate from xe.com

I was going off the official Mastercard rates which I believe are slightly lower (but as I said, the rate changes all the time anyway).

 

[Katy]

I was going off the official Mastercard rates which I believe are slightly lower (but as I said, the rate changes all the time anyway).

Fair enough. I've never used the 28 Degrees card but do use the Citibank one which has given me rates in line with xe.com before.

 

[Aus ATC]

I am considering the offer for some EUR for a trip next year. Having already loaded some EUR (taking up the earlier 2000 bonus point offer) at the time the AUD was diving, as luck would have it the EUR has now nosedived even more, so I'm thinking of locking is some more (at a better rate than previously!).

(When is the best time to buy foreign currency? Anytime other than when Aus ATC does!)

Given I value 1 QFF at around 1 cent (with redemptions of any more than that good value - like U Class fares), the 3000 points is like 3% and makes up for the poor exchange rate + I will get points at the other end when I use the funds for purchases.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I suggest caution when comparing rates from XE and loading funds. Just loaded some currency on my card and for reference, AUD$1000 returns US$687 on QC and US$691 for Australia Post foreign cash. The QC rate seems quite fair to me especially since you've locked in the currency as you do when you obtain cash, plus one gets QFF points as well.

Whether you want to lock in the exchange rate is the issue with QC. Personally I prefer to do this then I can budget for the trip in local currency rather than have varied rate son 28 Degrees. Plus cash withdrawals from QC are just at a fixed fee per transaction rather than fee plus % and interest as with some other cards.

Whether you will or lose on the currency is in the luck of the Gods no matter which decision you make.

Also important to use card for direct payment only and not at hotel check in deposits or car hire deposit since this deposit will drop your balance and can take a while to reappear. I use 28 Degrees or Amex for deposits, but then you can win or lose if the exchange rate has changed significantly when monies are restored. (Lost $150 on £1500 deposit from Avis on 10 day car hire!)

We've put some $20K through QC over the last six months in various currencies in UK and Europe and had no issues, save for the many attempted MasterCard scams of wanting to charge in AUD rather than local currencies. Seems important to me to not have an AUD balance on the QC card but stick to the currency (€ or £) so no conversion can be done.

Note same scam applies to 28 Degrees so one has to be very insistent that the local currency is used. Spain seemed worse for currency conversion than we've seen in other countries but I suspect MasterCard is rolling out the scam as fast as they can everywhere.

 

[ferntree]

... save for the many attempted MasterCard scams of wanting to charge in AUD rather than local currencies. Seems important to me to not have an AUD balance on the QC card but stick to the currency (€ or £) so no conversion can be done....

Thank you for this advice. Financial matters are often a bit of a mystery to me, I didn't realise it makes a difference whether you choose local or Oz, though for some instinctive reason I usually choose local. Now I'll know always to do that!

 

[opusman]

Seems important to me to not have an AUD balance on the QC card but stick to the currency (€ or £) so no conversion can be done.

Actually I would disagree with this

If they do charge you in AUD the charge will still go through, but it will come out of one of your other currencies. E.g. if you have only EUR on the card, and some dodgy waiter puts the charge through in AUD using DCC, the funds will come out of your EUR balance. You lose out three times in that case - in the bad DCC exchange rate, in the exchange rate converting your EUR balance back to AUD, and you also lose the 3% you originally paid to buy the EUR in the first place.

Since being caught out once I always keep a small AUD balance (enough to cover a restaurant bill, say) just in case.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Actually I would disagree with this

If they do charge you in AUD the charge will still go through, but it will come out of one of your other currencies. E.g. if you have only EUR on the card, and some dodgy waiter puts the charge through in AUD using DCC, the funds will come out of your EUR balance. You lose out three times in that case - in the bad DCC exchange rate, in the exchange rate converting your EUR balance back to AUD, and you also lose the 3% you originally paid to buy the EUR in the first place.

Since being caught out once I always keep a small AUD balance (enough to cover a restaurant bill, say) just in case.

YMMV

Yes I also believed that that would be the result but this didn't happen in our recent experience in Spain. The AUD charge didn't go through and the charge(s) were in Euro. There were two of these and only Euro available. No conversion charges were recorded on the QC card.

But I still don't trust it. I'll check it at Xmas and run a test on a €10 charge to see actually what happens next time.

But better to be very proactive and ensure charges are definitely in local currency.

UPDATE: my financial controller has fact checked my answer and found it wanting! Actually we WERE charged different amounts than on the original bill. QC in their strive for transparency do not tell you this, just charge you in local currency with hidden conversion fees. Very naughty. I don't like it but it's my mistake but they should still show the actual financial transactions on the statement. Possibly this is more example of the world wide MasterCard conspiracy.