ANZ Rewards Travel Adventure Card

[MattA]

Just got the AFFF email about this change of losing the flights. I managed to ring up and rather than $130 they're saying the $170 fee for the flights if i forfeit could be refunded? So not sure the discrepancy. Unlike the AFFF email mail out that quoted someone getting their entire annua lfee waived, I was told the $55reward fee was not refundable unless i gaveback the points earned?

That wasn’t my experience. I got the full $225 fee refunded for this year. I didn’t take the lounge passes or flights this year (although I did last year), but I definitely got to keep all the points earned this year (and have since transferred them all out to Krisflyer in anticipation of imminently closing the ANZ card account).

 

[GSP]

They charge for change of destination.

I called up earlier today. The advice I was given was there was a $123 charge for change of flight regardless of destination (i.e same charge with change of dates). I remain a bit skeptical as last year I do recall a little more flexibility in it only being the fare cost difference. He may have not known what he was talking about but he mentioned a few times Virgin policy, so perhaps something has changed.

Separately, I asked about my rewards points. If I cancel the card, I have 90 days before they are forfeited, however within those 90 days I have to go through an operator for redemption (i.e take me through the online stuff I can do now). So it appears I better redeem them now which sucks a bit as I can't transfer them to Virgin. Asia Miles, Krisflyer and Airpoints. I do not have a decent stash to make this worthwhile, so it looks like a poor return of gift cards. And given either transferring to airline points or gift cards there is going to be some residual that is lost. Not much, but does hurt an opportunist.

 

[GordonJ]

Any suggestions how to handle the now stranded reward points? I had a Rewards Travel card to earn VFF points. Somewhere along the way ANZ stopped the auto redemption to VFF without any notice. I now I have 10k+ points and apparently no way to redeem them Any suggestions?.

 

[GSP]

Any suggestions how to handle the now stranded reward points? I had a Rewards Travel card to earn VFF points. Somewhere along the way ANZ stopped the auto redemption to VFF without any notice. I now I have 10k+ points and apparently no way to redeem them Any suggestions?.

If you have not closed your account, then Gift Cards are probably the best (if you have around 11k you could get a $50 voucher). There are other purchase options of course. If you have closed your count and it was less than 90 days ago, then you have to ring the rewards number and they do it for you. If it is after 90 days they are gone.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

There's also the option of converting those points into Asia Miles or KrisFlyer miles, depending on your (future) travel plans. Just be mindful of the expiry rules in these programs, and also note the conversion rate isn't as generous as for Velocity (3:1 for Asia Miles/SQ, vs 2:1 with VFF - and often even better when a transfer bonus is running).

Separately, I've received the written update from ANZ re: the card changes. The letter confirms my card anniversary date, and as it's prior to December 1, also confirms in writing that between that anniversary date and November 30, I'll be able to book one more 'free' flight (for the next membership year), provided the booking is made by the end of November. I'd suspected that would be the case, but good to have it in writing.

 

[carls888]

Just called up and got the full annual fee, paid in March, of $170 refunded. They wouldn't budge on the $55 points fee though. They are not sure if Velocity transfers will open up again though. It's all pending. But thanks MattA for sharing this as $170 in my pocket is better than nothing! I do have 44,000 points sitting there though. Not a lot, but I'll transfer the points across to KF first I think before doing anything else.

 

[klm597]

Just called up and got the full annual fee, paid in March, of $170 refunded. They wouldn't budge on the $55 points fee though.

My experience was the same as the above. I called up ANZ and asked for my annual fee to be reviewed prior to transitioning to another ANZ card. The person on the phone was very helpful and essentially said they would refund the $170 part of the travel rewards annual fee no questions asked, despite my review date being way back in October. I was happy enough with this and didn't push for the $55 rewards bit of the fee. Apparently the $55 will be taken forward and used for the annual fee on the new card anyway so not the end of the world.

I really didn't get any value out of the card since October last year, other than the points earn, but at least this outcome minimises my current expenditure as much as possible right now which I'm happy with. I'm not in a situation to be planning any domestic trips at the moment sadly.

 

[MattA]

My experience was the same as the above. I called up ANZ and asked for my annual fee to be reviewed prior to transitioning to another ANZ card. The person on the phone was very helpful and essentially said they would refund the $170 part of the travel rewards annual fee no questions asked, despite my review date being way back in October. I was happy enough with this and didn't push for the $55 rewards bit of the fee. Apparently the $55 will be taken forward and used for the annual fee on the new card anyway so not the end of the world.

I must have got lucky then! I didn't even have to push on it -- she just straight up said that the full $225 was being refunded, and it was. Maybe it was just because I used the magic words "I'm in Victoria" and they felt sorry for me...

 

[GSP]

My experience was the same as the above. I called up ANZ and asked for my annual fee to be reviewed prior to transitioning to another ANZ card. The person on the phone was very helpful and essentially said they would refund the $170 part of the travel rewards annual fee no questions asked, despite my review date being way back in October. I was happy enough with this and didn't push for the $55 rewards bit of the fee. Apparently the $55 will be taken forward and used for the annual fee on the new card anyway so not the end of the world.

I really didn't get any value out of the card since October last year, other than the points earn, but at least this outcome minimises my current expenditure as much as possible right now which I'm happy with. I'm not in a situation to be planning any domestic trips at the moment sadly.

I should have went that strategy. I rushed booking a flight rather than "losing it" as my anniversary is next week. I would have preferred the $170 (or $225 if playing the Victoria card as MattA may have done) than booking a flight for the heck of it.

 

[N860CR]

Annoyingly, I see the Coles MC is adding a $3000 pm points earning cap. Getting harder to find a decent international fee free card for Velocity/Kris

 

[Stealthflyer]

I should have went that strategy. I rushed booking a flight rather than "losing it" as my anniversary is next week. I would have preferred the $170 (or $225 if playing the Victoria card as MattA may have done) than booking a flight for the heck of it.

I regret booking my flight too. I didn’t think of asking for a refund. I’m unlikely to be able to use the flights. They’ve already been cancelled and pushed back twice. It’s impossible to plan ahead at the moment and the prospect of interstate travel isn’t exactly appealing.

 

[Coops1]

$170 refunded of the original $225 fee. Took an hour on the phone which was ridiculous. The refund bounced from $70 to $130 on one call 2 weeks ago, before they just offered $170 yesterday! $55 for 75k in points is good value. Hopefully the Qantas platinum for 60k is approved before we need to cancel this card.

 

[Happy Dude]

I called up earlier today. The advice I was given was there was a $123 charge for change of flight regardless of destination (i.e same charge with change of dates). I remain a bit skeptical as last year I do recall a little more flexibility in it only being the fare cost difference. He may have not known what he was talking about but he mentioned a few times Virgin policy, so perhaps something has changed.

I was also told just now that any date changes will cost $123, irrespective of the current VA booking policy:



Note that when you click the "Find out more" link, you get taken to a page that lists the date of travel as "up to 31 October 2020":



So WTF to do? Can the booking via ANZ be changed by calling VA direct?

This means that I now must decide to receive a refund of the annual fee or roll the dice on the CBR-BNE airfare which is worth more than $430.

 

[carls888]

Well, there is more to the story for the refund of $179...
I am meant to fly out tomorrow on a non-existing flight so called up and asked them to change the date a few days ago and had not received confirmation of this so called back today. As I have had a (partial) refund of the annual fee the bank has asked the travel agent arm to cancel all and any bookings made from this credit card. Even though the flight was booked before my due date cut off. I am displeased and will be calling them up again tomorrow. If this is the case I will cancel the card on the spot so will be transferring any and all points out to KF. What a circus!

 

[glasszon]

Well, there is more to the story for the refund of $179...
I am meant to fly out tomorrow on a non-existing flight so called up and asked them to change the date a few days ago and had not received confirmation of this so called back today. As I have had a (partial) refund of the annual fee the bank has asked the travel agent arm to cancel all and any bookings made from this credit card. Even though the flight was booked before my due date cut off. I am displeased and will be calling them up again tomorrow. If this is the case I will cancel the card on the spot so will be transferring any and all points out to KF. What a circus!

So you got a refund for the annual fee for this year, but they cancelled the flight you booked the year before?

 

[Ozliz]

Anyone understand how ANZ are allowed to make these changes to something we’ve already paid for? I understand that they can change the card package of benefits from 1 December but not how they can change the conditions on those of us who already paid our annual fee. Surely we should be able to book the flight and redeem the lounge vouchers (worth a lot more than $170) until the expiry of this offer set at the time we last paid the fee, ie 12 months, and then lose it for next year. I was supposed to have another 6 months to book and while they’ve offered to refund $170, I feel like that leaves me tricked into spending $55 on a rewards program I never would have signed up for in the first place.

 

[Thibault]

I am having a very hard time with ANZ to get my fee refunded.

They won't budge and only refund $56 as I used the card for the past 8 months, but haven't used the flights or the lounge passes.

Quite hard to deal with them.
Have lodged a complaint to get the $170 at least... the $55 would be the Rewards program fee that I cannot use as transfers to Velocity are still locked.

I always thought ANZ was a premium bank to deal with but the CC service is awful.
Hopefully, I will get the fee refunded.

 

[wxxnxs]

I always thought ANZ was a premium bank to deal with

Why would you think ANZ is a premium bank to deal with? Is that because they charge extra $55 rewards fee per card on their CC products which none of other banks in Australia does the same thing.

 

[Thibault]

Why would you think ANZ is a premium bank to deal with? Is that because they charge extra $55 rewards fee per card on their CC products which none of other banks in Australia does the same thing.

As a foreigner arriving in Australia two years ago, I always found the customer service quite good and staff all very knowledgeable and happy to help when i opened my bank accounts with the big banks here.

It's clearly a different world from Europe, and France particularly, where the banking sector is terrible (no services, nothing, no instantaneous payments and etc whereas here it's the basic minimum that's expected).

My French bank, one of the largest in Europe and Africa, is seen as a premium bank however it's best to not expect anything from them.

Anyway - I filed a complaint with ANZ and the consultant called me back one hour ago refunding me $170. Better than nothing I guess.

 

[daft009]

Bucking the trend and I'll hang onto mine.
Can't see anything better without Forex fees with some points earn, for KF/VFF

It's my "free" card with my mortgage