American Express Ultimate Card 30,000 bonus points

[Danger]

Danger - I called Amex again this morning. I actually got someone quite knowledgeable today- she was 100% certain that I could apply for this card and get the bonus points, without cancelling the Classic, as long as I went through the right marketing channels (i.e. the Qantas website).

Fantastic, newformula. That leads me to consider taking up the offer after all.

Although, in reading the fine print on the Qantas page:

"^ To be eligible for all or part of the 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points offer, you must be a new Card applicant only who does not currently hold any of the Qantas American Express Card products, "

 

[newformula]

I've sold the flight on ebay the last couple of years for $355 and $294.
Perth residents grab them.

Good stuff. Any tips on this? How do you caveat the redemption method, change fees etc in the ebay auction?

 

[newformula]

Although, in reading the fine print on the Qantas page:

"^ To be eligible for all or part of the 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points offer, you must be a new Card applicant only who does not currently hold any of the Qantas American Express Card products, "

Awesome. So we've not got a hope in hell of knowing if Amex aren't sure themselves...

 

[lovestotravel]

IMHO, $450 is great value for 30K points. I value my points at 3c pp which makes these points worth ~$900. [/quote]

I value 30K of points at $2300 when used for J redemption

 

[Flying Fox]

Yes I would do it except as per the T&Cs I think that Amex would exclude me from the points as I already have a QF Amex card.

 

[kamchatsky]

IMHO, $450 is great value for 30K points. I value my points at 3c pp which makes these points worth ~$900.

I value 30K of points at $2300 when used for J redemption[/quote]

Well I value 30K points less than $2300 on J. This is only because I never believe J/F should be the prices that way over the top. But then I am probably a cheap skate, especially amongst the group of elite flyers here.

 

[dannyjak]

Knock yourself out.

IMHO, $450 is great value for 30K points. I value my points at 3c pp which makes these points worth ~$900. And as others have said, the flights are probably worth about $250 and after the first year you should be able to secure a $0 fee if you negotiate/threaten to cancel.

I tried to do that, no luck at all. Maybe I wasnt a big enough spender or perhaps they needed to charge something to at least make back the cost of the flights

 

[newformula]

Update on this - was approved by Amex late last week. Apparently once the cards have been issued I can check on the status of the promotion, and whether the 30k points will go through successfully - figure 7-10 days. Will let you know how I get on...

 

[STS88]

I applied to upgrade my Qantas Amex Premium card to the Ultimate card the other week and got it a week later. On the day I recieved my new card I noticed the advertised special for NEW Amex customers. Today I called up to see if I could become part of the promotion but the offer is only open to NEW customers who apply through Qantas. I threatened to cancel my card and reapply through Qantas which didn't go down very well. I was told by the cancelations department if I did cancel I would loose 6 years of Amex privliges (which I guess is my bargaining power). The end result, I didn't get the 22500 points for $750 spend in the first 3 months but my annual fee waived for a year.

 

[Gold Member]

I tried to do that, no luck at all. Maybe I wasnt a big enough spender or perhaps they needed to charge something to at least make back the cost of the flights

I recall a thread some time back that claimed a minimum $32K annual spend on the card for no annual fee. However, in the last year or so I would have to assume that figure has dropped to $20-30K based on the GFC and average card spend.

In either case, assuming you've put somewhat close to that number through on your card, you should be able to negotiate a reduced annual fee.

 

[newformula]

Just to confirm on this - the card arrived in the post yesterday; I called to check on the offer status and activate the card if the offer had been applied successfully. It hadn't, due to the fact I'm an existing card holder; the guy at the other end of the call was polite but firm and insisted that while he would be happy to push it up the chain for querying, he was pretty certain it would be rejected.

So there we go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - as many suspected, if you already have a Qantas Amex, this offer is a no-go.

 

[fly by wire]

what if I cancelled my existing card, waited two weeks then applied?

 

[yo yo ma]

what if I cancelled my existing card, waited two weeks then applied?

When I cancelled my Amex card a few years ago, they told me I could renew within 6 months by just phoning them up. I assume you will have to wait 6 months?

 

[jbc]

Has anybody who had an Amex card and signed up for the Ultimate card received the bonus points, i.e. the 2500 and 5000.

 

[drewbles]

Has anybody who had an Amex card and signed up for the Ultimate card received the bonus points, i.e. the 2500 and 5000.

I'm in the process of moving from a Platinum CC to the Ultimate card via targeted offer that gives the 2500+5000 bonus points. According to the T&C's it states "Please allow 6 to 8 weeks after you have made an eligible spend for the points to be credited to your account."

So that's 6-8 weeks for first spend and first eligible QF spend.

 

[greenfrog86]

As discussed people might have issues getting points if they have more than one Qantas Amex product, however it might also be useful for people to know that (unless it has recently been lifted) last year Amex was imposing a 'two credit card per person' limit on their products.

I applied for an Amex Gold CC when I already had Qantas Classic and DJ's Amex... Was told I had to get rid of one of them to take up the Amex Gold.

So if they do allow you to have two Qantas products, you may also get snagged on this issue...

I believe they allow a charge card product on top of the two CC products though