AMEX Ultimate Travel Credit?

[Wanderlust_tim]

Hi all,
I have the AMEX Ultimate Qantas card and was wondering, how do I access the $450 travel credit?

I haven't been sent anything and have already met my spend requirements.

Grateful for your advice everyone.

 

[Quattro]

Hi,

Check "membership" in the app to see if it has been posted.

You can access your travel credit through the Amex travel portal. It will appear in the tip right corner.

I have charge card, I'd assume it's the same system.

You don't get sent or notified.

 

[Manuka]

Hi, to view and book the travel credit on the Ultimate card you can do the following;

From the Amex homepage (before logging in) hit the travel tab up the top> book travel online> and filter to show QF flights and to use the travel credit.

If you have already logged in hit the blue menu button>travel>book travel online> and filter to show QF flights.

To redeem the travel credit select the booking, and at the checkout page it will allow you to use the credit and deduct from the total booking amount. Keep in mind if the flight is say $300, the remaining credit would be forfeited so best to use for a bigger trip if possible to get the most value.

 

[WeeWillyWonka]

While on this topic (and I think it may have already been answered), does a hotel booking with the AMEX travel credit still incur reward points while a flight does not, or is it the other way around?

 

[Manuka]

You can link your QFF number to the booking at the end so yeah you will be able to receive points for the flight, not sure about hotels though as have a QF card myself

 

[JohnM]

Back in the early days of the Ultimate, earning SCs and points on the 'free' return flight between the designated city pair options was listed in the Ts&Cs as excluded. But there was an easy way around that.

Since the advent of the $450 credit, there is no need to play games with regard to earning SCs and points because you are simply buying a normal flight and applying the credit towards the cost.

 

[winfred]

The prices for both flights and hotels are significantly more expensive than almost all other booking methods. The $400 credit is not worth $400.

 

[33kft]

The prices for both flights and hotels are significantly more expensive than almost all other booking methods.

This is not true:

1. Several forum members have done this analysis before and shown a negligible difference between the same fare class costs.
2. The $450 travel credit being referenced in this thread is for Qantas flights only and does not include hotels

 

[JohnM]

The price for a flight using the Amex Ultimate credit cannot be any more than normal. It is simply a credit against any chosen flight.

Originally, when it was a ‘free’ flight if unspecified value, and you had to phone Amex to book, it booked into a highly discounted fare bucket. If that wasn’t available on the desired flights, you could opt to pay some additional amount to have it booked into another fare bucket. So, in effect, it could be used as a credit even back then. I did that several times.

 

[oz_mark]

Back in the early days of the Ultimate, earning SCs and points on the 'free' return flight between the designated city pair options was listed in the Ts&Cs as excluded. But there was an easy way around that.

I know what the T&Cs said, but the flights always posted just fine for me.

 

[winfred]

I get a $400 credit per year. It is Amex travel that is expensive. For flights, they don't have some of the cheaper class seats. For example, I am looking at KUL-SIN return flights, I was only offered SQ & MH. Cheapest is MH at A$250. Airasia & JetStar not available on Amex. I can get MH on MH's own website for A$160.

For hotel, sites such as Agoda, Expedia almost always better. For example, I'm looking at end of July for the following hotels:
Grand Hyatt - Amex $394.88 Agoda $308 Hotels.com $325
Marina Mandarin - Amex $339.67 Agoda $262 hotels.com $268

 

[JohnM]

I get a $400 credit per year. It is Amex travel that is expensive. For flights, they don't have some of the cheaper class seats. For example, I am looking at KUL-SIN return flights, I was only offered SQ & MH. Cheapest is MH at A$250. Airasia & JetStar not available on Amex. I can get MH on MH's own website for A$160.

For hotel, sites such as Agoda, Expedia almost always better. For example, I'm looking at end of July for the following hotels:
Grand Hyatt - Amex $394.88 Agoda $308 Hotels.com $325
Marina Mandarin - Amex $339.67 Agoda $262 hotels.com $268

I think you are referring to a different Amex card. This thread is about the Amex Ultimate card which is directly linked to Qantas and that is where the travel credit is used.

 

[auriga]

I get a $400 credit per year. It is Amex travel that is expensive. For flights, they don't have some of the cheaper class seats. For example, I am looking at KUL-SIN return flights, I was only offered SQ & MH. Cheapest is MH at A$250. Airasia & JetStar not available on Amex. I can get MH on MH's own website for A$160.

For hotel, sites such as Agoda, Expedia almost always better. For example, I'm looking at end of July for the following hotels:
Grand Hyatt - Amex $394.88 Agoda $308 Hotels.com $325
Marina Mandarin - Amex $339.67 Agoda $262 hotels.com $268

You are right... Amex travel definitely has fewer options and is almost never the cheapest for any given hotel.
*I realise this may not apply to this particular card which is only for Qantas travel

 

[Lynda2475]

I always search on Qantas.com first to find the flights I want, then book to use the credit via Amex travel. The price on Qantas Flights on Amex travel is always the same as it is on Qantas.com, so you do get the full $450 value (unless you book a flight that costs less than $450).

 

[winfred]

I think you are referring to a different Amex card. This thread is about the Amex Ultimate card which is directly linked to Qantas and that is where the travel credit is used.

It may be a different card but the idea is the same that I would be given a certain amount of credit to be used on the Amex travel platform. It is the pricing of that platform that I claim is expensive.

 

[Ric Willmot]

This is not true:

1. Several forum members have done this analysis before and shown a negligible difference between the same fare class costs.
2. The $450 travel credit being referenced in this thread is for Qantas flights only and does not include hotels

I disagree. It won't let you book Red-E deals and so the difference in ticket price is extravagant and I think this is nothing more than a price rort. I have the screen shots to prove it.

 

[33kft]

I disagree. It won't let you book Red-E deals and so the difference in ticket price is extravagant and I think this is nothing more than a price rort. I have the screen shots to prove it.

It's both known and acknowledged that the AMEX Travel site does not offer all fares, in particular sale fares. This was not under debate. The debate was that tickets for the same class, when compared to Qantas direct bookings, do not differ significantly in cost.

The suggestion that this is a rort is not really worth debating with you. They are different fare categories with different rules.

If your entire annual flight credit spend hinges on getting a sale fare on a particular day on a QF domestic fare, I'd highly recommend against the AMEX card. If you intend to use it to offset a flight you were going to book anyway, you will not be significantly penalised for using the AMEX travel credit, as long as the fare is available via the AMEX Travel portal.

I can only lead a horse to water. If people can't work out how to use the $450 travel credit to offset $450 of their booking costs within a year to effectively zero out the cost of the card I can't do a lot more than suggest it is perhaps not the card for them, but for me it literally costs me $0.

 

[Ric Willmot]

I'm not a horse. And, I can work out how to overspend on a booking fare.
I'm making the point that people like me who are willing to fly Red-E Deal are totally disadvantaged by the fact that Amex does not allow us to use that fare. I could have argued further that we should be allowed access to Jetstar. But it is a Qantas Ultimate card. I doubt an objective person could disagree that Amex should allow us to access Red-E fares.

 

[33kft]

I doubt an objective person could disagree that Amex should allow us to access Red-E fares.

Here's the problem:

1. We don't know that this is the case - Amex may only have access to "external" inventory for red e-deals, keep in mind that these are discount tickets and only a set quota of them exist, and QF may choose to hold the rest for themselves. Given you've searched a very particular itinerary, I can't even establish if this is the case.
2. Even if it is the case, not everybody books these tickets. I don't - because I don't always fly domestic and when I do, I almost always book a class that I can upgrade with points, and red e-deal does not allow that. It's a personal thing and others may not agree, so be it and who cares, by doing this I spend $0 with Amex annually after accounting for the travel credit which is the exact reason it is being defended against a lot of low post count visitors coming in here and claiming variously that they are overcharged when they are either using a different card than the one in the title of the thread or misunderstanding that it is for the same fare class and not just the same flight.
3. What is fair differs between people. Objectively I have never had an issue with the Amex offering as I find it a very generous fee of $0 for the highest point earning card in the category with the most benefits (insurance, etc) when I just go about doing what I normally do anyway - booking flights.

I could understand that others may run into difficulties if their entire annual spend consists of domestic red e-deals in the event that Amex does not offer them (and I am still not yet convinced this is the case, but I also don't have a horse in the race so it is neither here nor there).

Again, perhaps it's not the card for you? But to say that Amex Travel overcharges for bookings is demonstrably false, as I could just do the reverse of what you did and show that for a fare that is available in Amex Travel's portal (and I have yet to find one I couldn't book so far), it is the same price as the QF website. Truth is though I won't, since it won't stop the misconception in this thread that there is some sort of overcharging going on, and I'm not sure how many times this convo will swing back and forward between these two points.

As for access to Jetstar - go ahead and argue it? It's a different airline with common corporate structure. If Jetstar is not paying Amex for the product, why on earth would Amex be compelled to offer discounts on Jetstar fares?

 

[knagelli]

I haven't been sent anything and have already met my spend requirements.

Is the posting of travel credits linked to spend requirements?