AMEX not accepted or surcharge

[lovestotravel]

The rewards I earn on my Amex Plat are valued (to me) at 9% of purchase value, my Amex Gold at 6%, and my two MasterCards at 3%.. so I would much rather the chance to pay a few % more on the invoice and earn triple the points... (although, not having a surcharge at all would be much better of course )

Yep that's my thoughts!!!!

As we always say on here, companies think that customers will pay by another means if they can't use Amex.

I remember getting my home cinema installed 3 years ago, before I was Amex point crazy"

They let me pay the deposit via Amex but wanted any other method for payment on the day on installation. They wouldn't budge on this or let me pay a surcharge to use Amex :shock:

I ended up paying 1/2 by cheque and 1/2 on Visa, just to be annoying.

They were far from impressed with the cheque but still took it over accepting Amex.

 

[hummel]

Hired a car through Redspot at Sydney airport on Saturday. 5% Amex surcharge!! Paid by visa instead.

Surely it doesn't cost them 5%!

 

[WA flyer]

The West Australian ran an article today claiming that a large number of companies are using cc surcharges to add profit.

They stated that the average real cost is around 0.8% for Visa/MC and 1.5 for Amex/Diners!

 

[lovestotravel]

The West Australian ran an article today claiming that a large number of companies are using cc surcharges to add profit.

They stated that the average real cost is around 0.8% for Visa/MC and 1.5 for Amex/Diners!

Correct!!!!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

As has been discussed here many times, airlines are a prime example (particularly for short hops, where credit card fees can easily add 10% to a sale fare)... not as much for long-haul, as the QF fee turned out to be about 1% of the booking value (and on my QFF Amex that gets bonus points for QF txns and free travel insurance, I'm happy to pay it).

... As an aside, my recent start-up business (well not so recent anymore - probably 6 months ago) was able to get 0.98% for basic Visa/MC (ranging up to 2.27% for int'l cards), 1.95% for Amex, and 2.73% for Diners... and of course, the larger companies pay considerably less than that, unless they're in a 'high risk' industry for CC fraud.

 

[GBK06]

Parking today in the Melbourne CBD (SecurePark Flinders Lane) was the first time I had seen 2% surcharge for every other card except Amex. Thought it might have been a misprint but sure enough no surcharge was added, a pleasant surprise!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Which Stamford are you talking about, stamford hotels for which property? I work for that group and haven't heard any information about the surchage has been reduced, the staff must be new and doesn't know exactly how much should charge. This kinda of surchage has became a very important part in our Year end auditing report. I think the head office people must care about this very much.

Even though this is relating to a post from a couple of months ago, I thought I should follow-up, as I now know why the surcharge was reduced - the rate I stayed on was an advance purchase saver (where apparently no surcharge applies), but as I stay at the property quite often, and the reservation was made over the phone to include my Senators discount, they said they trusted me to pay, and did not pre-charge my card. Instead, they simply charged the room fees on checkout with my incidental charges - but maintained the 'no surcharge' rule do to it being an AP rate (and therefore the reduced surcharge amount only applied to incidental charges).

Since finding this out, I've also discovered that despite surcharge information posted all over their websites, both Hilton and Rydges don't surcharge for AP rates either... I'll definitely keep this in mind for all future hotel stays - as the AP rate is always the cheapest anyway, and my dates never need changing.

 

[Flashback]

Even though this is relating to a post from a couple of months ago, I thought I should follow-up, as I now know why the surcharge was reduced - the rate I stayed on was an advance purchase saver (where apparently no surcharge applies), but as I stay at the property quite often, and the reservation was made over the phone to include my Senators discount, they said they trusted me to pay, and did not pre-charge my card. Instead, they simply charged the room fees on checkout with my incidental charges - but maintained the 'no surcharge' rule do to it being an AP rate (and therefore the reduced surcharge amount only applied to incidental charges).

Since finding this out, I've also discovered that despite surcharge information posted all over their websites, both Hilton and Rydges don't surcharge for AP rates either... I'll definitely keep this in mind for all future hotel stays - as the AP rate is always the cheapest anyway, and my dates never need changing.

Never say never ;-)

 

[ChrisFlyer]

True - although if they ever did need changing, it would be too late to change even if I wasn't on an AP rate - so I would still end up paying it anyway... Has never happened yet because I have my calendar fully planned months in advance haha!

Also:

I agree with you.

The problem is one of list maintenance. If we just list stuff that works post after post, we end up with a 400 page thread which no-one can usefully get anything out of. Need a wiki or a benevolent poster who is willing to continually update their first post with new information as it comes up.

I have my own web server on which I could install wiki software - and just restrict editing to registered users... if a few people are interested in contributing I could easily set this up - so long as some people would actually use it from time to time - otherwise there wouldn't be much point haha! It would be extremely easy to have different sections for national chain stores, hotels, etc etc, as well as localised areas on the site for major cities with details of restaurants, bars, independent shops etc etc that accept AMEX, as well as any surcharging information if relevant, and any known ways of avoiding a CC/AX surcharge at that particular merchant (eg. AP rates for hotels, using Zuji for booking flights with DJ, etc etc)... anyone else keen to see this happen?

 

[Diesellife]

I have my own web server on which I could install wiki software - and just restrict editing to registered users... if a few people are interested in contributing I could easily set this up - so long as some people would actually use it from time to time -

Count me in if you set it up.

 

[serfty]

In a street close to where I live there are two fuel stations across from each other.

Their advertised fuel prices match very closely. One charges a 2.2% levy for ALL CC purchases - that effectively adds 3¢ per l to the fuel cost.

No prizes for guessing which one gets my business.

 

[pointsjunkie]

Parking today in the Melbourne CBD (SecurePark Flinders Lane) was the first time I had seen 2% surcharge for every other card except Amex. Thought it might have been a misprint but sure enough no surcharge was added, a pleasant surprise!

And they offer Bonus Points too!

 

[pointsjunkie]

Has anyone else taken up the 10x Bonus Point offer with AAMI?? I paid all my insurance the other day and even transferred some across from NRMA cause I was so annoyed that they no longer take AMEX... came to about $2800 in total and I got a massive 28,000 Bonus Points - on top of my standard 1.5 points per dollar. Gotta love that just for paying some bills! Wonder if offers like this will make NRMA think twice about not accepting...

 

[hgwells01]

yup I got the 10X bonus points, posted reply in other thread here regarding bonus points, and that was after several ph calls that said I wouldn't get them as they were renewals not new policys. Now I swapped one to GIO as it was cheaper, that one didn't get the 10x points and I thought as it was new business it would, either way i'm 30,000 points better off so am not complaining.

 

[SOPOOR]

oh oh oh....what is the deal aplease??

 

[hgwells01]

head to the AMEX site and click on the links (if they are still there) to register before you pay your bill with AAMI or GIO for 10x bonus points. They had a range of points up for offer on there but you have to register for all the promotions before you pay the bill.

 

[RB]

Has anyone else taken up the 10x Bonus Point offer with AAMI?? I paid all my insurance the other day and even transferred some across from NRMA cause I was so annoyed that they no longer take AMEX... came to about $2800 in total and I got a massive 28,000 Bonus Points - on top of my standard 1.5 points per dollar. Gotta love that just for paying some bills! Wonder if offers like this will make NRMA think twice about not accepting...

I'm all for bonuses where it all makes it worthwhile.
I can't see where you live in Aust nor the type of covers involved but I note NRMA offer flood cover for house & contents in some states where AAMI don't. To me this sort of detail is more important than Amex acceptance- obviously not for some people though or maybe the covers you changed had better wordings?

 

[hgwells01]

my points were for 2 lots of car insurance plus landlords insurance on some properties, so not just for normal house or contents insurance, lots of different types of policies out there, and not all properties need flood insurance but they all qualify for points if paid for on your AMEX

 

[lovestotravel]

Well, one of my local butchers now accepts Amex.

I walk past twice a week and also look for the little Visa/Mastercard/EFTPOS sign and chuckle and go to the other butcher that accepts Amex & Diners.

Walked past today and a nice new little sign.... AND...... the blue Amex symbol!

So I go and talk to the owner and ask why the sudden change.... as previously he outright refused to accept it.....

He has realised that with Coles, Woolworths and another butcher all within 25 metres of him, he was losing customers to all three of his competitors.

He is now on a level playing field, no surcharge and no min spend, but prefers $10+.

Seems that some people do wake up after a while and realise that to compete with others they need to accept Amex

:mrgreen::mrgreen:

Now just need to find a chicken shop that accepts Amex... That is a big struggle as Leonards and all of them do not accept Amex.

 

[Mal]

Here's a bit of a strange one.

Kingsley's (the steak/crab restaurant) in Brisbane charges a 0.77% service fee for all credit card transactions (incl. Mastercard/Visa & Amex).

Now think about this for a second...
The average meal cost (for 2 people) would range between $140 and $300. So the surcharge is somewhere between $1.07 and $2.31.

It really seems strange for a restaurant to surcharge such a little amount...