Amex D-Day Approaching (14/4/19)!

[SOPOOR]

You mean 1.45% for the ATO, right?

The problem is, I can't think of a merchant whose Amex surcharge is 0.8%.

But even that aside, it's impossible to know whether a merchant is charging a certain surcharge because that was the best deal they got, or whether because they chose to absorb some of the shortfall. So that 0.8% might still be 1.45% behind the scenes.

The rule is you can't profit from surchargeing
My point was that these huge companies should have the cheapest surcharges by far
If the local busienss can do 1.5% , then 2.2% from JBHiFi is 0.7% profit at a bare minimum , it would be safe to assume thay they have negotiated a far far better deal with amex

Yes 1.45%, typo

 

[Saltywings]

The rule is you can't profit from surchargeing
My point was that these huge companies should have the cheapest surcharges by far
If the local busienss can do 1.5% , then 2.2% from JBHiFi is 0.7% profit at a bare minimum , it would be safe to assume thay they have negotiated a far far better deal with amex

Yes 1.45%, typo

Oh fair point. Totally agree there!

Then again, ATO's flows must be truly gargantuan even compared to behemoth retailers.

 

[MathNerd]

It's April 1. Apart from it being that all-important April Fool's Day, it also marks a very important occasion:
Only 2 weeks to go for the devaluation.
So, spend up big everyone (within your cashflow limits, of course), pay others' bills, pre-pay registration, rates, whatever you can get your hands on, to make these last 14 days count.
Your life depends on it.

 

[daft009]

It's April 1. Apart from it being that all-important April Fool's Day, it also marks a very important occasion:
Only 2 weeks to go for the devaluation.
So, spend up big everyone (within your cashflow limits, of course), pay others' bills, pre-pay registration, rates, whatever you can get your hands on, to make these last 14 days count.
Your life depends on it.

should stand on George St/Flinders st in the city with a sign "will pay your bills for cash and a little discount"

 

[carls888]

Bummer. Just checked and Medibank Private does not take Amex...

 

[JFi]

Bummer. Just checked and Medibank Private does not take Amex...

Is this for your annual premium? You can pay with Amex using PayPal through Post Billpay.

 

[ferni]

If any established members on here need to pay bills that don’t take credit card (or amex) there’s an option at 1.95%. Up to you if that’s worth it or not.

 

[MsTee]

If you do the sums, what's the surcharge cutoff for making a payment for points worthwhile - say, for redeeming the average flight - would it be around 2%, or more? (I know it's not worthwhile if you don't travel and just use points for retail cards or shopping.)

If the boss or client is reimbursing you for expenses paid, there's no cutoff

 

[daft009]

Explorer/edge 2% is equal to 1c per point

 

[lilkid28]

If you do the sums, what's the surcharge cutoff for making a payment for points worthwhile - say, for redeeming the average flight - would it be around 2%, or more? (I know it's not worthwhile if you don't travel and just use points for retail cards or shopping.)

If the boss or client is reimbursing you for expenses paid, there's no cutoff

Will they be reimbursing you the surcharge? IF yes, then there is no cutoff

 

[Kevin Chan]

You can make payments to Energy Australia using Amex, and then ask for a refund. The website says they will refund on the card first and if that doesn't work, then they will send the extra credit to a bank account you provided. I suppose you can cancel the card and then request a refund.

 

[Kevin Chan]

Wouldn't it be better to hold off ATO payments? Take the Explorer card, after deval date, you get 1 pt/$ compared to 0.5.

So $1000 payment

Before 15/4: $1000 at ATO => 500 MR => 375 KrisFlyer
After 15/4: $1000 at ATO => 1000 MR => 500 KrisFlyer

 

[Saltywings]

Wouldn't it be better to hold off ATO payments? Take the Explorer card, after deval date, you get 1 pt/$ compared to 0.5.

So $1000 payment

Before 15/4: $1000 at ATO => 500 MR => 375 KrisFlyer
After 15/4: $1000 at ATO => 1000 MR => 500 KrisFlyer

Nobody is currently paying the ATO meaningful volumes with the Explorer directly. They're using RewardPay, B2BPay or @ferni's method, and they're probably doing it while earning into Ascent, not Gateway.

 

[Gold Member]

You can make payments to Energy Australia using Amex, and then ask for a refund. The website says they will refund on the card first and if that doesn't work, then they will send the extra credit to a bank account you provided. I suppose you can cancel the card and then request a refund.

Same with Lumo Energy. They allow CC payment of account into credit and then pay the credit balance to bank account. I’m manufacturing ~$50k MR points in these final days.

 

[Kevin Chan]

Same with Lumo Energy. They allow CC payment of account into credit and then pay the credit balance to bank account. I’m manufacturing ~$50k MR points in these final days.

Woah.... go easy on the golden goose GM!

 

[Kevin Chan]

Nobody is currently paying the ATO meaningful volumes with the Explorer directly. They're using RewardPay, B2BPay or @ferni's method, and they're probably doing it while earning into Ascent, not Gateway.

I used to put ATO payments on the Westpac KrisFlyer Amex - since its demise I have not had to pay ATO. I have a small 1k bill coming up for business tax. Looks like time to do some homework here for me.

 

[SOPOOR]

I reckon I could almost cancel all my credit cards with the amount of prepaying ive done for utilites, services and only1 visa cards!

ive even annoyed friends and relatives to see if I can prepay some of their stuff!

 

[andye]

I'm sure his bank manager (and mother) are less convinced he's a loser

 

[SOPOOR]

just confirming if the points have to be OUT Of your account by deval day or the entire transfer process complete? which means better safe to do it a few days earlier

 

[albyd]

If you've made the decision to transfer out and aren't expecting a further large addition from last minute spending, I'd move them out early to be safe rather than sorry in case there is some sort of system problem. Whilst this is different to what happened with SPG last year where the gate was arbitrarily closed, it's quite possible for there to be system issues and you don't want to be arguing for Amex to make good on it later.

Whilst AFF doesn't necessarily represent the broader Amex member base, it certainly represents the views of more engaged MR customers. Likely the bulk of points will flow to KF. Some have been holding out for a KF offer - you never know but they're likely going to get the bulk of MR points so they don't need to entice us in the same way as QF and VA have given their businesses are more addicted to the FF point hit for profitability (my 2 cents worth anyway).