ANZ QFF card earn rates enhanced™

[opusman]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

So if you cancel your card you arent covered for travel at a later date.

But once it's activated it's activated. It's activated when all of the criteria are satisfied. If one of the criteria becomes unsatisfied later on it doesn't retrospectively de-activate the cover.

 

[grounded]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

My annual fee is due in a couple of months so I've just applied for a Coles Mastercard to replace ANZ Black as my daily use personal card. In recent times I've been mostly redeeming velocity anyway.

 

[coco50]

"Many members are understandably considering cancelling their cards."

Although I got rid of my ANZ card more than 10 years ago, changes in the CC markets which make one consider cancelling a card have an impact on the retired. When I retired more than 10 years ago I was earning much more than $100K pa. Now that I am retired and finally own my own home I have a superannuation pension and a part age pension. I applied for and got a JQ credit card but only with a $4000 limit. Not nearly enough for my needs. I got this card to avoid surcharges when booking flights from my home port (BNK). I applied for a limit increase and was advised that I did not meet the criteria for an increased limit because of my financial circumstances. Thank goodness I have two other CCs with a combined limit of $48 000. My advice to the retired is not to cancel your CC unless you don't really need it. CC providers will ditch you like a used Kleenex if you look elsewhere!

 

[Musongman]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Well, that's me done then, as all my cards are ANZ and the source of all my point spending/earning. I've got some big accounts with ANZ but I doubt if that will be of any help! Billion dollar profits but still unsatisfied!

 

[psi999]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

You've really got to wonder with such a low interchange earn, probability that a higher percentage of rewards cards are not revolvers & cost of administering a rewards scheme that ANZ just didn't walk away from rewards based cards entirely.

I guess that's why annual fee's have remained the same (and b.s. rewards fee for supplementary cards) - taking a punt regular joe will never pull enough value to be in front and possibility to up-sell other services (personal/investment lending / advising / superannuation etc).

In recent times I've been mostly redeeming velocity anyway.

Ditto. Although i'm currently holding an AMEX explorer i'm still charging up both the AMEX / VISA on the rewards black in the hope ANZ continue its 35% VFF bonus transfers (15% bonus transfer + 15% bonus match + 5% auto transfer). If this continues (unlikely) i'll probably hang onto the rewards black until next renewal otherwise titanium scissors & back to free for life citi signature and explorer (& platinum edge).

 

[Greg555]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

So, I've done the numbers and on my ANZ Black FF Visa/Amex spend - around $67k for last 12 mths - I would in fact have earned +320 MORE points if it was a Visa only card at 1pt per $ !!!!
This result is because of unavoidable Visa only spend at non-Amex establishments. So bring it on ANZ I say! (It also helps that my annual Black fee is grandfathered at $150 per yr rather than $425).

Of course the catch here is the $7500 limit per mth at the full 1pt per $. If your spending has peaks you are in trouble.

That is where a separate Amex comes in. My recently acquired Qantas Amex Ultimate (with 122,500 point sign on bonuses) only has 1pt per $, however from June 1st 2017 this will be going to 1.5 points.
(New cards on offer are already the 1.5pts).

I didn't intend to keep my Qantas Amex & still may churn it for the next best bonus point offer, but things don't look as bad as I first thought when I read we were losing our ANZ amex.....

 

[opusman]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

$150/yr fine; $425/yr, not so much.

 

[Danger]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

As long as you meet the criteria to activate the policy in the first place, then once the policy is activated it remains active whether you're a card holder or not.

https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/premium-cards-insurances.pdf

2a says "a current participating card holder" followed later down the bottem by "If you have satisfied all of the above criteria then you will be automatically considered to have activated cover"


So if you cancel your card you arent covered for travel at a later date.

But once it's activated it's activated. It's activated when all of the criteria are satisfied. If one of the criteria becomes unsatisfied later on it doesn't retrospectively de-activate the cover.

Sdtravel is on the money. Having made a few claims under their travel insurance policy over the years - most recently this past January - one of the things QBE asks for is your most recent credit card statement. You definitely must be holding the card when you make a claim.

 

[opusman]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Sdtravel is on the money. Having made a few claims under their travel insurance policy over the years - most recently this past January - one of the things QBE asks for is your most recent credit card statement. You definitely must be holding the card when you make a claim.

I've claimed twice and both times they wanted to see the statement with the $250 spend on it (i.e. the spend that activates the policy).

 

[melaus]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

I've claimed twice and both times they wanted to see the statement with the $250 spend on it (i.e. the spend that activates the policy).

Happened to me as well! All good.

 

[cmon0005]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

I shall be promptly cancelling my black once the point changes come into effect. Not worth the annual fee without amex in my opinion.

 

[nutwood]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

It's fascinating that the bank cites the RBA as the reason for their changes. First the removal of tax payments, now removing the Amex and capping the Visa.
As I understood it, it was felt that the banks were ripping customers off with their high fee, high charges, premium cards. Interesting that the banks response has been to remove the benefits of the premium cards whilst continuing to charge the same for them. Now they've capped the Black card, they should allow Tax Office payments on it. No reason not to, but will they?

 

[Nutcase]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

It's fascinating that the bank cites the RBA as the reason for their changes. First the removal of tax payments, now removing the Amex and capping the Visa.
As I understood it, it was felt that the banks were ripping customers off with their high fee, high charges, premium cards. Interesting that the banks response has been to remove the benefits of the premium cards whilst continuing to charge the same for them. Now they've capped the Black card, they should allow Tax Office payments on it. No reason not to, but will they?

The RBA is the reason for the change.

If you read back through the posts you will see references to "interchange revenue" which is the semi-opaque fee that the acquirer (Bank for the merchant) pays the issuer (the issuer of your card). This is the revenue bucket that Frequent flyer points (and Applepay) are paid from. As has been explained previously, the RBA has capped this fee at 0.80% with a wholeseale weighted average of 0.50%. For the first time, AMEX companion cards are included in this cap which means that the playing field is level for both Visa/MC and AMEX Bank issued cards.

Currently your black ANZ card has an interchange of about 2%. As of September that will drop to 0.80% which is why rewards are being cut.

The Maths is simple on this. Qantas charge about $0.01 per point to ANZ. You cant pay for points out of other revenue buckets on a transaction driven product like a card.

On a $100 transaction, ANZ earn $0.80 but pay away $1.00 in Points on a 1:1 points earn. AMEX companion cards are the same now.

Banks are not ripping off card customers. The issue is the opaque interchange fee and how that affects the costs to merchants who are viewed as subsidising rewards cards at the expense of cheaper alternative cards.

Your real issue is with Qantas loyalty and how much they are charging the Banks for points.


As for ATO payments, this will not change. The ATO is one of the biggest merchants in the country now (this happened almost overnight when they accepted card payments) and given that it is a government body, it has a different interchange rate applicable which means that banks lose money by paying away points on these transactions. Government interchange over rules card interchange.

The cards business is not as simple as people like to think. Interchange is complex and opaque and not widely understood outside of cards businesses within Banks and even then it can be challenging. Trying to explain what a "wholesale weighted average interchange" is and how it is calculated will bore most people to tears.

With all that said, Banks are not stupid, they are not victimising customers. If you hadn't noticed, the card products are all pretty much the same. There is a reason for this. The revenue and costs drivers are all pretty much the same. They all move in lock step for that reason. Qantas, MC and Visa all charge Banks the same amount and interchange is standard across all institutions.

 

[nutwood]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Thanks for the explanation Nutcase, it does make sense however there are a few other factors there.
Firstly, as the consumer, the benefit I receive from my card has reduced. The ANZ originally sold the Black card to me based on it's uncapped earning ability. That was their justification for the quite high annual fee for the card.
Secondly, most businesses I deal with will charge an extra fee if I use the Amex card. Presumably this is meant to cover the higher interchange fee? When I used my Amex to pay the ATO, I was charged a higher fee, again, presumably to cover the interchange fee?
Following the maths through, if Qantas charges $0.01/point to the ANZ and currently the ANZ are "selling" these points to me at 1 point per $1.50 on my Visa card, for which they receive $0.012 (0.80% x $1.50) in revenue, that's still a 20% return to them. You then add in the occasional time when I stuff up or cash flow takes a hit and they get to slug me nearly 20% interest on the balance; I can't see that they were doing too badly out of it!
I don't begrudge them a profit, I expect to pay for what I get, but with earnings capped, the reason for having a ANZ Black card disappears.

 

[Nutcase]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Thanks for the explanation Nutcase, it does make sense however there are a few other factors there.
Firstly, as the consumer, the benefit I receive from my card has reduced. The ANZ originally sold the Black card to me based on it's uncapped earning ability. That was their justification for the quite high annual fee for the card.
Secondly, most businesses I deal with will charge an extra fee if I use the Amex card. Presumably this is meant to cover the higher interchange fee? When I used my Amex to pay the ATO, I was charged a higher fee, again, presumably to cover the interchange fee?
Following the maths through, if Qantas charges $0.01/point to the ANZ and currently the ANZ are "selling" these points to me at 1 point per $1.50 on my Visa card, for which they receive $0.012 (0.80% x $1.50) in revenue, that's still a 20% return to them. You then add in the occasional time when I stuff up or cash flow takes a hit and they get to slug me nearly 20% interest on the balance; I can't see that they were doing too badly out of it!
I don't begrudge them a profit, I expect to pay for what I get, but with earnings capped, the reason for having a ANZ Black card disappears.

ANZ dont have to justify their fee. You, as a customer need to work out if its worth it. At $425 the card breaks even at about $38k spend.

AMEX doesn't have interchange. They have a direct relationship with the customer which is why they can pay awards points at a higher rate. The merchant fee is made up of a number of things. Keep in mind that interchange adds no value to the transaction at all. Its a fee that the acquirer pays the issuer for Visa and MC.

The ANZ QFF card is 1:1 points earn so $100 earns ANZ $.80 and they pay away $1.

If you are "stuffing up" and revolving a balance at 20% then this product is not for you. Revolving a balance or paying ancillary fees erodes the value to zero immediately. My suggestion is to organise a direct debit for the entire balance every month.

The reasons for having a black card are basically zero now. I wouldn't bother. Stick to AMEX/Diners.

 

[aussiejohn]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Does anyone have any thoughts about how I might approach Amex to get a new card of some sort, to replace ANZ?

I am now retired, and unfortunately, only get around $30k a year from my part pension, and small fortnightly super payment. I supplement spending where necessary with my savings. Managing ok, though if interest rates on savings accounts don't start improving soon, things are going to be tight down the road.

It would appear that even the lowest Amex card wants around $35k annual salary.

I used to have an Amex Gold Card years ago, and was a good customer, never missing payments etc. But maybe too long ago now to trade on that. Currently have an ANZ Platinum FF card (Amex and Visa) with a credit limit of $19k. Always been a good customer and paid in full on time. Guess that's why they kept increasing my credit limit over the years. Have no bad credit history etc, so to all intents and purposes I am a good customer.

I want to dump ANZ now. The Visa card is useless. I never use it, only the Amex for the 1.5 points. I have the Woolworths Visa for the places that don't take Amex. But I fear Woolworths/Macquarie are going to go down the same path very soon also. Woolworths have hinted often enough about "enhancements" to their cards, and they will have the same RBA pressures to deal with.

My thoughts are just to email Amex and state my case. But I suspect they will be inundated with higher net worth individuals seeking to replace their ANZ cards, so they can afford to ignore me.

Maybe it is now time to stop playing the FF game, and just buy fares as and when I need them. Reward flights are now too difficult, and you have no flexibility if you have to try and book 12 months out for limited seats in premium cabins.

I've been trying to save enough points for my partner and I to go to London in Premium Economy in a year or two. I need 380k points for the two of us, and currently have about 355K. Now I won't be able to earn enough points, it's London to a brick on that QF will "enhance" QFF again soon, and the impossibility of getting seats anyway, puts my goal out of contention.

 

[Nutcase]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

Does anyone have any thoughts about how I might approach Amex to get a new card of some sort, to replace ANZ?

I am now retired, and unfortunately, only get around $30k a year from my part pension, and small fortnightly super payment. I supplement spending where necessary with my savings. Managing ok, though if interest rates on savings accounts don't start improving soon, things are going to be tight down the road.

It would appear that even the lowest Amex card wants around $35k annual salary.

I used to have an Amex Gold Card years ago, and was a good customer, never missing payments etc. But maybe too long ago now to trade on that. Currently have an ANZ Platinum FF card (Amex and Visa) with a credit limit of $19k. Always been a good customer and paid in full on time. Guess that's why they kept increasing my credit limit over the years. Have no bad credit history etc, so to all intents and purposes I am a good customer.

I want to dump ANZ now. The Visa card is useless. I never use it, only the Amex for the 1.5 points. I have the Woolworths Visa for the places that don't take Amex. But I fear Woolworths/Macquarie are going to go down the same path very soon also. Woolworths have hinted often enough about "enhancements" to their cards, and they will have the same RBA pressures to deal with.

My thoughts are just to email Amex and state my case. But I suspect they will be inundated with higher net worth individuals seeking to replace their ANZ cards, so they can afford to ignore me.

Maybe it is now time to stop playing the FF game, and just buy fares as and when I need them. Reward flights are now too difficult, and you have no flexibility if you have to try and book 12 months out for limited seats in premium cabins.

I've been trying to save enough points for my partner and I to go to London in Premium Economy in a year or two. I need 380k points for the two of us, and currently have about 355K. Now I won't be able to earn enough points, it's London to a brick on that QF will "enhance" QFF again soon, and the impossibility of getting seats anyway, puts my goal out of contention.

Your spend and income is far too low to justify a FF card plus you also have no status with the airline so will struggle to get a seat even if you do get the points let alone 2 seats together when you want to fly.

There is a free AMEX QF card if you feel inclined. You can apply and see what happens. They aren't as difficult to get as you would think. If in doubt, get a free credit report.

Why don't you just book the flight now on "points plus pay" and be done with it?

 

[Archphoto]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

If I can find a card that lets me earn on AsiaMiles, I'll happily swap!

Only reason that I kept the ANZ card after switching from the QF version was that it was a seamless exercise, no need to go through all the hassles of re-applying and I was able to get a Platinum upgrade.

I'm now in the hunt for a new card, have an Amex QF card but I need a VISA or MC version for those times Amex isn't accepted (especially OS). I'm actually wondering if I should swap my AsiaMiles earning to an Amex and get a Visa as a QF earner. Could be an easier alternative for me.

So many cards, so many QF/Virgin branded, so little time.

 

[Nutcase]

Re: ANZ QFF/Rewards card earn rates enhanced™

If I can find a card that lets me earn on AsiaMiles, I'll happily swap!

Only reason that I kept the ANZ card after switching from the QF version was that it was a seamless exercise, no need to go through all the hassles of re-applying and I was able to get a Platinum upgrade.

I'm now in the hunt for a new card, have an Amex QF card but I need a VISA or MC version for those times Amex isn't accepted (especially OS). I'm actually wondering if I should swap my AsiaMiles earning to an Amex and get a Visa as a QF earner. Could be an easier alternative for me.

You are wasting your time now with Visa and MC when it comes to rewards points. Its over. The annual fees will outweigh the benefit given your low spend.

Best option is to use the pre paid QF or Virgin card and hope the leave their points earn where it is. I dont like your chances.

The party is over.

 

[carltonman]

Hi Everyone,
I’m new to frequent flying. This is my second post (first on was in the introductions). Firstly, I would thank Australian Frequent flyer and everyone for their contributions and hopefully I can provide some help in the future.


My biggest concern is ANZ Bonus Point Mall and a pending purchase through a Hotel Booking with Wotif. I think this applies to ANZ rewards point customers and not QFF. (My main focus is Virgin points) There are 10 bonus ANZ Reward Points per dollar through Wotif.
In mid-February 2017, I made a $5500 (approximate figure for this discussion) Wotif hotel booking for this December with ANZ AMEX platinum and the hotel separately charged a $200 deposit (as-per the Terms and Conditions, and this hotel had the “Book now pay later” option). The good news is that in the ANZ Bonus Mall Shopping history it shows a pending $5500 purchase and 55000 pending reward points.

However the bad news is that I can’t use my ANZ AMEX this December upon hotel check-in (Due to AMEX removal this August).


I contacted ANZ rewards to find out if they would honour the pending purchase. What I got out of the telephone conversation:


1) Pay the remaining balance before the August cut-off date and therefore take advantage of the full AMEX points and out-rightly satisfy all of the T&C of payment. (I will choose this option)
2) Use the new VISA card in December and hopefully the Bank system will automatically recognise the purchase. (Bounded by the new 2K cap and reduced points).
3) Do an on-line enquiry if the bonus points do not show up.


Another question what people think of the ANZ Bonus Points Mall. I’ve used once for Wotif and a few purchases from Dan Murphy’s, but disappointed to get some Bonds pyjamas (No large sizes in stock) and limited stock availability with David Jones.
Is it good idea to keep the platinum card ($90 fee) and use ANZ primarily with their Bonus Point Mall?
I was going to upgrade to black ($375 fee) but AMEX platinum edge ($195 fee) and $250 fee a year of prepaid supermarket Visa / Mastercards @ $5.95 each for my needs is Ok in my opinion for most Utilities. (Maybe AMEX Explorer (Large initial sign up bonus and 1.5 VFF through paypal) then Platinum edge or both.


Cheers
Carltonman