AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[ozstamps]

ive just got my amex card from CBA which has 4:1 ratio for 2 months only,

can people suggest the best way to get as MANY points as possible,

ive tried paying most utilities on Amex, only 1 was accepted,

Coles or Woolies had a deal where you could buy a few $100 of gift vouchers and they sold them at a few % off as I recall?

And you could pay with cards.

You'll buy a lot of baked beans to make much use of that!

I am a stamp dealer, and accept all cards .... I sell $1000 of mint Australian postage stamps that you, or your boss, or your friends, can use on their mail and parcels for just $800 via your Amex.

www.glenstephens.com/postage.html

You buy stamps you can use on mail, for $200 less than the PO sells them for ... and get the 4 Amex points or whatever on the $800.

Or buy $2000 of stamps for $1600 on Amex etc.

I never bother with ebay but theyy have a category for postage supplies and I have little doubt you'd break even or make money popping them on there. :idea:

Glen

 

[SOPOOR]

Coles or Woolies had a deal where you could buy a few $100 of gift vouchers and they sold them at a few % off as I recall?

ive seen heaps of ads for 5% off these vouchers but none seem to accept amex, eg the entertainment book is 5% off with only visa/mc

I can naturally go to the coles/woolies and buy them over the counter with amex but no 5% discount....... or is there?

 

[StevePER]

ive seen heaps of ads for 5% off these vouchers but none seem to accept amex, eg the entertainment book is 5% off with only visa/mc

I can naturally go to the coles/woolies and buy them over the counter with amex but no 5% discount....... or is there?

RAC members in WA can buy Essentials cards (ie Woolies) at 5% off and they accept Amex. But you can only buy them at an RAC office, and there's a maximum purchase of $300.

 

[Alanslegal]

I changed it to $USD and completed the order on Amex - and it just so happens that it worked out to be about 4% cheaper on the statement than it would have been if charging directly in $AUD, even after taking into account the currency conversion/international transaction fees etc...

So, in a way, a discount for paying by Amex (as I wouldn't have tried this otherwise) - I was very happy haha

Some vendors / retailers give you the choice in which currency you would like to billed in, however just be wary that if you do not choose the currency of origin, their in-house conversion rates are often designed to make a "small profit" from your transaction.

 

[docjames]

If you purchase a woolworths gift card, then use it for purchasing goods, do you earn everyday rewards points when you purchase said goods with the gift card?

 

[BlueAU]

If you purchase a woolworths gift card, then use it for purchasing goods, do you earn everyday rewards points when you purchase said goods with the gift card?

Yes, you should be able to, as you don't/shouldn't be able to accrue points when purchasing it.

 

[Mal]

Although I have tried before and failed, I did find an automated ticket machine today in a train station in London which accepts non-chipped Amex's. This was one of the machines at Waterloo. No pin was required.

 

[Flashback]

Although I have tried before and failed, I did find an automated ticket machine today in a train station in London which accepts non-chipped Amex's. This was one of the machines at Waterloo.

When I was in Florence I bought a new jacket and paid with my Citibank Visa which does have a chip on it, but I didn't know what the pin was. She said "ah this probably won't work if you only want to sign for it", anyway it ended up working fine without me using a pin and just a signature.

 

[Dave Noble]

Although I have tried before and failed, I did find an automated ticket machine today in a train station in London which accepts non-chipped Amex's. This was one of the machines at Waterloo. No pin was required.

IIRC, it depends on the TOC who owns the machine on whether it will permit non chip/pin transactions. iirc South Eastern do not allow it but South West Trains do as examples

Dave

 

[SOPOOR]

RAC members in WA can buy Essentials cards (ie Woolies) at 5% off and they accept Amex. But you can only buy them at an RAC office, and there's a maximum purchase of $300.

id love to buy them there, but a $300 airfare might make it slightly uneconimical to buy them like that

is there any other way maybe you can order them over the internet or on the East side of Australia?

 

[SOPOOR]

Yes, you should be able to, as you don't/shouldn't be able to accrue points when purchasing it.

are you sure about that,

I just bought a gift card and showed my membership card, and it was credited, I assume the transaction occurs when you buy the card, and when you use the card is just a redemption, like movie prepaid tickets, you don't get points/membership benefits when you get some movie tickets for your birthday??

 

[StevePER]

is there any other way maybe you can order them over the internet or on the East side of Australia?

I looked into online orders (because the offices are not convenient) but they don't allow it. And this is a members-only special, I'm guessing you're not an RAC WA member.

 

[SOPOOR]

I looked into online orders (because the offices are not convenient) but they don't allow it. And this is a members-only special, I'm guessing you're not an RAC WA member.

unforutnately not, wrong state anyway....

if you do a google search, heaps come up for 5% discount, but none of them accept amex, (as far as I can tell)

ive got the entertainment book=5% off, free postage but only MC/Visa

 

[ChrisFlyer]

unforutnately not, wrong state anyway....

if you do a google search, heaps come up for 5% discount, but none of them accept amex, (as far as I can tell)

ive got the entertainment book=5% off, free postage but only MC/Visa

The Entertainment Book people actually accept Amex for book/shopping voucher orders if you call and ask nicely, but the surcharge is 3%... Either way, you get Amex points and still save 2% on your shopping etc

 

[SOPOOR]

The Entertainment Book people actually accept Amex for book/shopping voucher orders if you call and ask nicely, but the surcharge is 3%... Either way, you get Amex points and still save 2% on your shopping etc

really??

Im pretty sure when i opened my book for the section for gift vouchers it said no amex,

are you ordering from the book company directly or through an agent or something

as 5% discount with 3% surcharge is roughly 2% discount, fine by me!!!!!!!!

btw. is it only coles vouchers, I was really hoping woolworths vouchers instead??

 

[StevePER]

Here are the details of the RAC offer. My recent purchase just snuck in under the new Amex promo, so $300 worth of gift cards cost $285 and received 998 membership rewards points.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

really??

Im pretty sure when i opened my book for the section for gift vouchers it said no amex,

are you ordering from the book company directly or through an agent or something

as 5% discount with 3% surcharge is roughly 2% discount, fine by me!!!!!!!!

btw. is it only coles vouchers, I was really hoping woolworths vouchers instead??

Ordering from "Entertainment Publications of Australia & New Zealand Ltd" - they don't openly advertise it because it'd be a bit of a hassle getting the customer to correctly calculate the $ value of surcharge and sign for the correct charge amount on the paper.

But if you call and ask nicely enough... The phone number can be found in the book or on their details page in the Amex directory - American Express: Business Directory - AU Business Profile

And it is unfortunately only Coles vouchers (not Woolies)... and they don't work for Myer (like the "Coles Group & Myer ones do), Coles Express etc...

 

[lovestotravel]

Costco appear to accept Amex now!

Went to look at their membership card and you can now pay via Amex for that. A few months ago you could not do that!

Also they are listed many times on the Amex Merchant Map, again months ago they were not listed at all.

Will head down there in the next few days to have a good look around, I need a new lawnmower and I am sick of supporting Bunnings!

 

[cove]

Costco is really good fun.It is a win for Amex.

 

[BlueAU]

Costco appear to accept Amex now!

Went to look at their membership card and you can now pay via Amex for that. A few months ago you could not do that!

Also they are listed many times on the Amex Merchant Map, again months ago they were not listed at all.

Will head down there in the next few days to have a good look around, I need a new lawnmower and I am sick of supporting Bunnings!

Costco in Canada once I went there, you needed a Costco AMEX card or cash. Couldn't use VISA, MasterCard, DiscoverCard, Diners etc. Let's hope for that here!