Comm Bank to issue AMEX... changes to QF/Velocity point earning

[SOPOOR]

I feel like stranging someone at the moment,


so I decide to go and buy a $500 woolworths gift card for myself, I can get the amex 4:1 points and the EDR points,

First place I go to, they simply said, no credit cards for vouchers above $100 after some discussion amongst the staff, I knew that this was complete BS,

so I went to another shop, got told they ahve to get their manager to approve such a big one, 20 minutes later (yes 20 mins later) they manager comes up and says they are on the phone to amex to approve it....another 5 mins later, got told its fine, but I needed to show ID, then here comes the next thing, the young guy says do you have any id that has all your names in full and not your initial like your credit card, so I pull out 3 cards, and a medicare and a drivers license and all have just one initial and one name (in both combinations) so after a few curses, i didn't get it...

go to the third place, had to wait 15 mins for a manager who obviously had her ear plugs in, after a few 'hmmm..how do i put this through" type of comments, i finally get the ok, she then says, oops I forgot to put your EDR card through, I cant reverse it.....sorry.......after 5 attempts, on the amex, umm sorry our credit card online system is down, I can't do it today.........

FRUSTRATED!
P.S I am also thinking of buying a westfield gift card for myself, so that any chrsitmas purchases can be used for it!

 

[basic]

The young guy says do you have any id that has all your names in full and not your initial like your credit card, so I pull out 3 cards, and a medicare and a drivers license and all have just one initial and one name (in both combinations) so after a few curses, i didn't get it...

wtf? The only ID I have that has my full name on it is my passport... Why would they need your full name?

This is pretty bad.

 

[Mal]

An EDR card is useless when purchasing Gift Cards, so no need to worry about that... unless things have changed!

 

[SOPOOR]

Update: well today I went to another woolworths, got asked ID,
3 mins later, walked out happy, no questions, no waiting for managers, just a simple transaction, they it should be!!

also, I ve got vouchers etc. that give you 5% off for woolworths and coles gift cards, but all only accept Visa/MC, does anybody know of a place that does them 5% off with acceptance of Amex??

 

[Joshua]

Did you try signing it instead?

Yeah, the third time I signed. No problems. Just presumed it would be no different to home in NZ.

I think the confusion on the dates for QFF Points ratio really shouldn't be hard for them to answer. I'm assuming the worst

 

[SOPOOR]

sorry for the question , I saw it answered before but I can't find it now,

there is debate as to whether the 4:1 ratio promo is either 2 months since the date while some say its end of Jan, anyway, my letter says 2 months from Nov 15, so Jan 15th,

is this correct?

is it for the first 5000 points you get 4:1, or is it $5,000 in spending, and is the cap for 3:1 for the subsequent $50,000 in spending or 50,000 worth of bonus points, I believe its 1.5:1 after Feb or when you reach your cap so you currently get 1.5 extra points, so is 50,000/1.5=33,333 dollars worth of spending,

im still quite confused! (btw I have amex plat)

thanks everyone

EDIT: Ive reread everything from the start, so you get 4 points per dollar for the first $5000 spend, so 5000 points bonus, after that its 3 points per dollar until start of Feb or end of Jan,

however, is there a cap for this???? is it 150,000, if it is 150,000 does that mean (exlcuding the 5000 bonus points for arguments sake), you only can spend $50,000 to get 150,000 points and then you have reached your cap?

if the above is true, it might be a good idea to prepay $5000 worth of gift cards just to get the bonus points as you'll probably never get such a good ratio of 3:1, and try your best to reach 150,000 points before the ratio changes to 1.5:1.

have I got this right???

P.S also if you have the everyday rewards card, if you purchased a $500 woolworths card on the amex, that means you will get 470 points + 3 amex points per dollar (1500 pts), seems like a really reallly sweet deal!

 

[Diesellife]

however, is there a cap for this???? is it 150,000, if it is 150,000 does that mean (exlcuding the 5000 bonus points for arguments sake), you only can spend $50,000 to get 150,000 points and then you have reached your cap?

(Yes there is a cap. Bonus points are always excluded and not count towards the cap.)

if the above is true, it might be a good idea to prepay $5000 worth of gift cards just to get the bonus points as you'll probably never get such a good ratio of 3:1, and try your best to reach 150,000 points before the ratio changes to 1.5:1.

have I got this right???

(This is right but reaching 150000 isnt hard at all and most likely the existing customers will only have less than 150k to go)

P.S also if you have the everyday rewards card, if you purchased a $500 woolworths card on the amex, that means you will get 470 points + 3 amex points per dollar (1500 pts), seems like a really reallly sweet deal!

(No, you don't get points via EDR for alcohol, cigi, gift cards...)

 

[SOPOOR]

(Yes there is a cap. Bonus points are always excluded and not count towards the cap.)

hmm im a bit confused now,

i am one of those people that will probably either cancel both the CBA and amex card once the Promo in Feb or 2 months from the letter expires (can't believe that CBA are giving out soo much conflicting info across the boards....anyway)

so exclduing the 5000 bonus points,

before I get capped or before Feb 2010 comes, can I spend $150,000 to get 450,000 points OR spend $50,000 to get 150,000 points?

 

[Diesellife]

so exclduing the 5000 bonus points,

before I get capped or before Feb 2010 comes, can I spend $150,000 to get 450,000 points OR spend $50,000 to get 150,000 points?

So in theory, you spend 50000 and get 150000 + 5000 bonus.
Limitation:
you don't start up with 0 cap, so in real terms, you would have accumulated points in 2009 and thus reaching you cap much sooner.

Provided that all your points are credited before 1st of Feb. Eg. Janurary's transaction will most likely to be credited after Feb.

 

[SOPOOR]

So in theory, you spend 50000 and get 150000 + 5000 bonus.
Limitation:
you don't start up with 0 cap, so in real terms, you would have accumulated points in 2009 and thus reaching you cap much sooner.

Provided that all your points are credited before 1st of Feb. Eg. Janurary's transaction will most likely to be credited after Feb.

Wait a minute!!!

are you saying that all of the points you accumulated in 2009, would come off this $50,000 spend on your CBA MC?????????!?!!?

so if you basically spent more then $4000 per month from Jan 09 to Dec 09, then you will get NO bonus points since you've gone over $50,000 in spending for 09?!?!?!!

I hope NOT!

Provided that all your points are credited before 1st of Feb. Eg. Janurary's transaction will most likely to be credited after Feb.

is this more bad news for me?, are you also saying that any purchases made between 1 jan to 31 jan won't 3:1 or 4:1 since the crediting date is february???

 

[Diesellife]

Well you don't get the full "150000" cap if you have used up some in the same year. At least there is no reason for them to do so...

Try give them a call and they will tell you how many points you can get until you reach the cap.

And for January statement, you can change your statement date to maximise your earning.

 

[basic]

(No, you don't get points via EDR for alcohol, cigi, gift cards...)

You do, however, get points for when you're redeeming your gift card. So, the earn ratio isn't as good as if you got your points on the $500 in one go, but you still get some points as you redeem it. I guess if you use it for your big shops you can probably get it down to 3 or 2 lots of the $30 so you're looking at about 410 FF points from your $500.

You might want to check about whether you earn points when redeeming WISH gift cards, because then you could maybe buy something from Big W etc. and still get your 470 points by using the whole voucher in one go.

-Me

 

[basic]

From the Everyday Rewards website:

28. Do I get Qantas Frequent Flyer points when I use a WISH Gift Card to make a purchase in a Woolworths or Safeway Supermarket or BIG W store?

Yes. You will earn 1 point per dollar over $30* spent in one transaction at Woolworths/Safeway Supermarkets and BWS stores (excluding Tasmania) and BIG W stores.

-Me

 

[SOPOOR]

Well you don't get the full "150000" cap if you have used up some in the same year. At least there is no reason for them to do so...

Try give them a call and they will tell you how many points you can get until you reach the cap.

And for January statement, you can change your statement date to maximise your earning.

ill find out, because if I count EVERY point since Jan 09, then ive spent/earnt $49500 points, so i will be quite annoyed if if ve only got another 500 points,

also, how does this changing statement date thing work???? I think my statement date is the 1st or the 31st of the month, as it says

Previous statement closing balance 01/12/2009
on my account

 

[SOPOOR]

Since ive got conflicting info regarding dates and caps etc, I thought I would call up the CBA directly and ask them,

well, I spoke to a CC specialist and this is what Ive been told,

although my letter does say 2 months from mid novemeber, the promotion is until the 1st of Feb (1st contradiction) according to the info he has,

its 3:1 Ratio for the amex plat, and there is no mention of a 4:1 ratio for the first 5000 points or $5000 (2nd contradiction) despite the fact the letter I recall saying 4:1 for the first 5000 points or so

the cap is per calendar year, so basically will reset on 1st Jan, the cap is the same as the MC attached to it, so my MC is a plat so I have 250,000 points.

in my opinion, the guy has no credibility, because there is so much contradicting info...... which/what is correct I have NO IDEA!

 

[Diesellife]

From the Everyday Rewards website:

28. Do I get Qantas Frequent Flyer points when I use a WISH Gift Card to make a purchase in a Woolworths or Safeway Supermarket or BIG W store?

Yes. You will earn 1 point per dollar over $30* spent in one transaction at Woolworths/Safeway Supermarkets and BWS stores (excluding Tasmania) and BIG W stores.

-Me

What we are referring here is to earn double points. This means you don't earn extra points per se...
So using credit card to buy gift card has no meaning (Apart from the credit card points).

 

[straitman]

This is all getting too hard :!:

I think I'll just revert back to using my regular Amex credit card and accept the 3.5 points per $ spend until the end of January.

 

[lovestotravel]

This is all getting too hard :!:

I think I'll just revert back to using my regular Amex credit card and accept the 3.5 points per $ spend until the end of January.

It is quite simple for me to understand, I just have ignored the last 20 or so posts on here.

Yes well the 3.5 points on the regular Amex card would be nice if I had that option.

:evil:

 

[SOPOOR]

What we are referring here is to earn double points. This means you don't earn extra points per se...
So using credit card to buy gift card has no meaning (Apart from the credit card points).

alright im confused now,

so if i buy a $500 gift card from the woolworths counter, and I show my EDR card, and use my amex, then ill get the 3 x 500 points, but I won't get the fuel voucher and 470 points above $30 purchase, is this right??

and i actually get the EDR points when I actually redeem the voucher when I go shopping, which means that I have to try and redeem above $30 to get any points?????

 

[serfty]

... so if i buy a $500 gift card from the woolworths counter, and I show my EDR card, and use my amex, then ill get the 3 x 500 points, but I won't get the fuel voucher and 470 points above $30 purchase, is this right??
...

No fuel voucher or EDR if the "total purchase price" less "tobacco cost" less "Wish card cost" comes to less then $30.

i.e. Get a $500 wish card, spend $100 on carton of ciggies and $40 on bread for a total of $640 in the one transaction - you get 10 EDR on that $40 and a fuel voucher. You also get any CC points for $640.

Spend $10 rather than $40 on bread and get just CC points on $610.

... and i actually get the EDR points when I actually redeem the voucher when I go shopping, which means that I have to try and redeem above $30 to get any points?????

Absolutely - redeem 5 times for $100 each time and earn 70 per purchase for 350 points.