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

[SOPOOR]

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

interesting.... is this the same for the coles gift cards, as a friend has oked me into buying $500 coles gift cards for her, but she is asking about frequent flyer card points which I know nothing about, ie at the point of redeeming she has to show her card, rather then when I buy the gift card?

 

[SOPOOR]

I was wondering, I am probably either going to cancel the amex card or both amex and MC cards when feb comes due to the increase in annual fees and silly points ratio

ive got roughly 200,000 points left on my cap,

what are methods that people are using to get as many points to take advantage of the 3:1 ratio

Ive obviously tried to pay every bill by amex, everytime I go shopping I take out the amex, most of the times its rejected but every now and again its accepted.

ive bought $500 gift vouchers for family members, and Ill probably buy a 6 month supply of them in mid jan, since you have 12 months to use it.

i used to have overseas student friends who paid big $$$ for school fees, I a few times paid it on my card and got them to pay it back, but I don't have these kind of friends any more....

does anybody have any other bright ideas, I thought about reselling gift vouchers on ebay etc, but it works out that you end up spending more then what you pay for them...

 

[fly by wire]

I signed up for the gold cba mastercard+amex today. The guy told me that the points earn is 1.5 points/$1 on amex and 1:1 on mastercard, he also said its 1rewardpoint:1frequent flier point, is this correct?

 

[basic]

I signed up for the gold cba mastercard+amex today. The guy told me that the points earn is 1.5 points/$1 on amex and 1:1 on mastercard, he also said its 1rewardpoint:1frequent flier point, is this correct?

No.

For new gold members:

Earn 2 Awards points for every dollar you spend on your Commonwealth Bank Gold Awards American Express® Card

1 point for every dollar you spend with your MasterCard®

It's 2 Awards points for 1 Frequent Flyer point. So, it's 1 frequent flyer point per dollar when spending on the Amex, 0.5 frequent flyer points per dollar when spending on the MasterCard.

Of course, you must have the Qantas Frequent Flyer link to earn Qantas points, you can redeem for Virgin Blue points at the same rate with 3,600+ Awards Points without having to pay additional fees.

-Me

 

[fly by wire]

So, pretty much nothing of what he said to me was correct..... Wonder where I stand with this.

How much is it to transfer your points accross to QFF?

 

[MAX_1]

So, pretty much nothing of what he said to me was correct..... Wonder where I stand with this.

How much is it to transfer your points accross to QFF?

"Customers wanting to transfer their points to Qantas Frequent Flyer must opt-in to Qantas Frequent Flyer Direct. Once you have opted in then all points earned will be automatically transferred across to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account each month. There is a $10 annual fee to opt in to Qantas Frequent Flyer Direct."

This means you must also be a member of QFF.

 

[zig]

I was wondering, I am probably either going to cancel the amex card or both amex and MC cards when feb comes due to the increase in annual fees and silly points ratio

ive got roughly 200,000 points left on my cap,

what are methods that people are using to get as many points to take advantage of the 3:1 ratio

Ive obviously tried to pay every bill by amex, everytime I go shopping I take out the amex, most of the times its rejected but every now and again its accepted.

ive bought $500 gift vouchers for family members, and Ill probably buy a 6 month supply of them in mid jan, since you have 12 months to use it.

i used to have overseas student friends who paid big $$$ for school fees, I a few times paid it on my card and got them to pay it back, but I don't have these kind of friends any more....

does anybody have any other bright ideas, I thought about reselling gift vouchers on ebay etc, but it works out that you end up spending more then what you pay for them...

You might want to check on the terms of the promotion. The small print on the information CBA sent to me stated "Maximum bonus points available during this promotion are capped at 3000" So I wouldn't get too carried away with the spending. If I read it correctly 3000 points equates to $1000 spent. Not a particularly generous promotion!

SOPOOR since my posting above I have read some of your previous posts, and perhaps you have different information or bonus cap to me. You do seem to have had some conflicting information about about points earning etc and it all seems a bit confused. However even if it is not what I have posted above, I would caution about 'overspending' just to get points, particularly if the T&Cs aren't clear. Good luck with it.

 

[WOLF13]

I've been sent 57,000 points to my QFF account from the AMEX (on my first months spend) so the 3000 you're referring I dont think's referring to that. (thank god)

 

[basic]

I've been sent 57,000 points to my QFF account from the AMEX (on my first months spend) so the 3000 you're referring I dont think's referring to that. (thank god)

Whoops. Quoted the wrong post. Either way.

Bonus points are limited:
5,000 for Platinum
3,000 for Gold
1,500 for Standard

That's the bonus points limit. All standard points are not included. So, let's say I'm on a Gold card. I earn my 2 points per dollar as per normal. I earn 1 bonus point per dollar. My bonus points will stop accruing after I spend $3,000.

That $3,000 spend will get me:
3,000 * 2 = 6,000 standard points
3,000 * 1 = 3,000 bonus points (credited within 6 weeks of the promotional period ending)

For a total of 9,000 points.

In wolf13's case. If on Plat (Which I imagine you are with that spend...) then the number of points earned is (in awards points) 114,000 points. Which have already transferred as 57,000 QFF points. At the end of the promotion another 5,000 awards points will be credit to the account. Meaning 2,500 bonus QFF points.


Hope that clears it up a bit?

-Me

 

[zig]

That $3,000 spend will get me:
3,000 * 2 = 6,000 standard points
3,000 * 1 = 3,000 bonus points (credited within 6 weeks of the promotional period ending)

For a total of 9,000 points.


Hope that clears it up a bit?

I hadn't considered it that way, and whilst I follow your logic I'm not 100% confident that this is how CBA will apply the points, however I guess time will tell. Either way the bonus points are capped, and I think many people have missed that detail in the fine print.

 

[SOPOOR]

You might want to check on the terms of the promotion. The small print on the information CBA sent to me stated "Maximum bonus points available during this promotion are capped at 3000" So I wouldn't get too carried away with the spending. If I read it correctly 3000 points equates to $1000 spent. Not a particularly generous promotion!

SOPOOR since my posting above I have read some of your previous posts, and perhaps you have different information or bonus cap to me. You do seem to have had some conflicting information about about points earning etc and it all seems a bit confused. However even if it is not what I have posted above, I would caution about 'overspending' just to get points, particularly if the T&Cs aren't clear. Good luck with it.

thnaks for that,

well my dilemma is this, it seems that its accepted that its 4:1 for the first 5,000 points acrruced (not $5000), 3:1 for the next lot until you hit your cap for 2009, ALL until End of Jan/Start of Feb 2010,

What do you suggest I do?

When I spoke to the self proclaimed credit card specialist over the phone,

he said he had all the info in front of him, and he said the promo was until end of Jan, however, my letter said 2 months from the date of the letter which is mid nov to mid jan, he also said he had never heard of this 4:1 bonus up to 5000 points AND he said since I was on the MC plat my cap was 250,000,

i just don't want to earn all of these points eg prepurchasing gift cards and turns out to be a waste of time all because some guy gave me the wrong info,

should I keep a copy of hte terms and conditions in pdf format and if my points are not credited due to being misinformed to chuck up a BIG stink?

 

[flymehome]

The terms and conditions are clearly outlined on the CBA website:

Terms and Conditions: 1 bonus Commonwealth Awards point will be credited on all eligible transactions in accordance with the Commonwealth Awards Program Terms and Conditions available at [commbank website]. The promotion period is 2 months from the date of the letter that accompanied your new cards. Cardholders eligible for the promotion must be existing Commonwealth Awards cardholders with an account open prior to October 23rd 2009. The bonus points will be credited to the primary cardholder account as a lump sum within 6 weeks from the end of the promotion period. Once credited to the primary cardholder account, the bonus points will appear on the Commonwealth Awards website and the following Credit Card statement. You will be ineligible for the bonus points if the primary cardholder account is closed, transferred or in default at any time prior to the points being credited to the account. Maximum bonus points available during this promotion are capped at 5,000 (Platinum), 3,000 (Gold), 1,500 (Awards).

This is at the bottom of the commbank/expectmore page

 

[SOPOOR]

The terms and conditions are clearly outlined on the CBA website:

Terms and Conditions: 1 bonus Commonwealth Awards point will be credited on all eligible transactions in accordance with the Commonwealth Awards Program Terms and Conditions available at [commbank website]. The promotion period is 2 months from the date of the letter that accompanied your new cards. Cardholders eligible for the promotion must be existing Commonwealth Awards cardholders with an account open prior to October 23rd 2009. The bonus points will be credited to the primary cardholder account as a lump sum within 6 weeks from the end of the promotion period. Once credited to the primary cardholder account, the bonus points will appear on the Commonwealth Awards website and the following Credit Card statement. You will be ineligible for the bonus points if the primary cardholder account is closed, transferred or in default at any time prior to the points being credited to the account. Maximum bonus points available during this promotion are capped at 5,000 (Platinum), 3,000 (Gold), 1,500 (Awards).

This is at the bottom of the commbank/expectmore page

hmm thats interesting, then how come everyone else here is saying until feb?

so the credit card specilist over the phone, basically got everything completely wrong, he had no idea about the 5000 bonus points and he insisted it was until February,

I must also find the terms for my cap for points as well

 

[MAX_1]

hmm thats interesting, then how come everyone else here is saying until feb?

so the credit card specilist over the phone, basically got everything completely wrong, he had no idea about the 5000 bonus points and he insisted it was until February,

I must also find the terms for my cap for points as well

Here is a good information link.

Personal - Credit cards - Expect more - Help centre - Frequent flyers - Commonwealth Bank Group

Once open, click on "capping" as well.

If you are spending in excess of the capping, in my opinion the NAB Qantas Platinum card is the best. Here is the link for info

NAB - NAB Qantas Platinum Credit Card

No capping and better earn rate than all the others.

 

[SOPOOR]

Here is a good information link.

Personal - Credit cards - Expect more - Help centre - Frequent flyers - Commonwealth Bank Group

Once open, click on "capping" as well.

beautiful link!

I ve read it and now I think ive got it,

since there is no mention of the 5000 bonus points thus effectively making it 4:1, I assume that my letter 2 months from the letter date only applies for the bonus points, and thereafter its until Feb 2010 where I get 3:1

I still cannot believe them cutting down on this ratio, its quite disgusting,

I have always based my points based on a trip to thaild/asia,

it used to be 50,000 points, then it increased to 72,000

now since Amex is not accepted in most places, and since the ratio is 2:1 from feb,

I must spend $144,000 just to get one flight, all up from $50,000 or $72,000, just to get one of these flights

EDIT: IN ADDITION, ive had another look, I CANNOT also believe that basically for Plat MC/Visa, from Feb, you only get $1 for 0.5 points which is identical rate for the Gold and standard!! why on earth would anybody still have the Plat/Gold, I have no idea.......absolutely flabberghasted!!

 

[MAX_1]

EDIT: IN ADDITION, ive had another look, I CANNOT also believe that basically for Plat MC/Visa, from Feb, you only get $1 for 0.5 points which is identical rate for the Gold and standard!! why on earth would anybody still have the Plat/Gold, I have no idea.......absolutely flabberghasted!!

SOPOOR,
It all depends on your spend ability.

Up until now,to maximize my spend I have been using CBA Plat M/Card ,CBA Plat Visa and also Amex Gold. This has meant 3 lots of annual fees. ( and since Oct both Visa and M/card are not earning any points due to the cap).

My intention is to close all of these down and move to the uncapped NAB Qantas Plat card and for an annual fee of $290 I get a better result than if I stay with the capped CBA offer.

 

[SOPOOR]

SOPOOR,
It all depends on your spend ability.

Up until now,to maximize my spend I have been using CBA Plat M/Card ,CBA Plat Visa and also Amex Gold. This has meant 3 lots of annual fees. ( and since Oct both Visa and M/card are not earning any points due to the cap).

My intention is to close all of these down and move to the uncapped NAB Qantas Plat card and for an annual fee of $290 I get a better result than if I stay with the capped CBA offer.

fair enough,

to be honest, my spending is anywhere between 30,000 to 130,000 points pa, so in my situation, I wouldn't need 3 cards to consolidate like yours..........

but my guess would be that there would be more people under say 250,000 points then more so for these people, these new ratios are both ridiculous and ludicrous and seems to be no incentive to even have a plat or gold card to pay the extra fee when the ratio is the same across the board pretty much

 

[freofan]

I've held a CBA Gold Visa for some years now but am yet to receive the AMEX/Visa QF cards. Is anyone else still waiting for said cards?

 

[zig]

I've held a CBA Gold Visa for some years now but am yet to receive the AMEX/Visa QF cards. Is anyone else still waiting for said cards?

You should have received some promotional information from CBA about the cards, and then you had to ring and request them, they don't get automatically sent out. If you use Netbank you can also request the cards by clicking on a link in Netbank (that's what I did). If you have requested the cards and they havent arrived give them a call to follow up as mine arrived very quickly.

 

[SOPOOR]

can somebody just clarify my understanding, I ve read the brochure a few times and Im confused, I called CBA up, and spoke to 2 different people and both said completely different things, while self proclaiming that they are credit card specialists.

After Feb 2010
Plat: Amex 1.5points per dollar
Gold: Amex 1 points per dollar
Standard: Amex 0.75 points per dollar

Plat/Gold/Standard: MC/Visa: 0.5points per dollar

so if you aren't accepting/don't want to use the amex since it is not accepted much anyway, then you will be getting 0.5 points per dollar regardless of standard/gold/plat, why on earth would anybody have the plat card and pay the ridiculous fees??

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.

sorry diesellife, are you saying that any transaction that I actually make in Jan will be credited after feb hence the 3:1 is not applicable for purchases in Jan????????????? My head hurts from all of this talk about points. I wish i was a bit smarter or it was easier to understand.