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

[SOPOOR]

Im really sorry to post question after question but I just wanted to speak another credit card specialist today, and I did,

im on Qantas Direct, the one where your points are automatically credited into your QFF account.

I got told by the awards specialist that any Amex points earnt at 3:1, if they are earnt in January, then since they get credited basically in early feb, and since the ratio is 2:1, then essentially, a $100 purchase that is made between 1st jan and 31st jan is worth 150 QFF points, as opposed to a $100 purhcase made today is worth 300 points!!!!

is this seriously correct????

if this is the case, then there is absolutely no incentive to use the card from Jan 1st at all, so all big purchases must be made NOW for the next 3 weeks or so....

I haven't got much good news today, is there any chance the CBA specialist was wrong????

 

[MAX_1]

if this is the case, then there is absolutely no incentive to use the card from Jan 1st at all, so all big purchases must be made NOW for the next 3 weeks or so....

Very clearly in a link earlier that I posted it reads.

All purchases with Platinum card until end of January 2010 will be 3:1 and convert to 3 QFF points
All purchases from 1st Feb 2010 will be 3:1 and will convert to 1.5 QFF points.

Now the bit that becomes technical.
I am a retailer and take all credit cards ( except Diners ). Each card provider cuts off transactions at a particular time of the night.

So , imo , a purchase made on Sat 30 Jan and Sun 31 Jan will not get to the card supplier until the night of Feb 1 and hence these purchases, will probably be at the rate for after 1 feb

 

[SOPOOR]

Very clearly in a link earlier that I posted it reads.

All purchases with Platinum card until end of January 2010 will be 3:1 and convert to 3 QFF points
All purchases from 1st Feb 2010 will be 3:1 and will convert to 1.5 QFF points.

Now the bit that becomes technical.
I am a retailer and take all credit cards ( except Diners ). Each card provider cuts off transactions at a particular time of the night.

So , imo , a purchase made on Sat 30 Jan and Sun 31 Jan will not get to the card supplier until the night of Feb 1 and hence these purchases, will probably be at the rate for after 1 feb

thats exactly what I thought and is the most reasonable explanation,

but I specifically asked the specialist from the bank and she said any purchases made in Jan, will be transferred into QFF direct at the start of Feb hence would be at the half rate...

this is what really annoys me, she is supposed to be an expert, and can't even get one basic fact correct........GRRRR

Ive just reread the link again,

it does say "Currently and until 1 February 2010" and "$1 is equivalent to 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point"

However, couldn't they get sneaky as usual and say "well, you did make the purhcase in Jan but the points get credited in Feb so bad luck mate?"

 

[sparoy]

thats exactly what I thought and is the most reasonable explanation,

but I specifically asked the specialist from the bank and she said any purchases made in Jan, will be transferred into QFF direct at the start of Feb hence would be at the half rate...

this is what really annoys me, she is supposed to be an expert, and can't even get one basic fact correct........GRRRR

Ive just reread the link again,

it does say "Currently and until 1 February 2010" and "$1 is equivalent to 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point"

However, couldn't they get sneaky as usual and say "well, you did make the purhcase in Jan but the points get credited in Feb so bad luck mate?"

I think I will not risk it.

In my situation I will start using my Amex RM again in Jan and by 11 Jan 2010 the Amex RM will become Amex mini Plat and earns 1.5 pts/$1.

I'll just have to try to minimise spending between 1 Jan to 10 Jan.

Amex MR points is worth a lot more than CBA Amex points to me.

 

[wxxnxs]

thats exactly what I thought and is the most reasonable explanation,

but I specifically asked the specialist from the bank and she said any purchases made in Jan, will be transferred into QFF direct at the start of Feb hence would be at the half rate...

this is what really annoys me, she is supposed to be an expert, and can't even get one basic fact correct........GRRRR

Ive just reread the link again,

it does say "Currently and until 1 February 2010" and "$1 is equivalent to 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point"

However, couldn't they get sneaky as usual and say "well, you did make the purhcase in Jan but the points get credited in Feb so bad luck mate?"

The comm awards program is hopeless, I never get any bonus points from its partners. Has anyone here got any luck with that? Also, for the bouns points that signed up with new AMEX, how long will it take to credit in your account?

 

[SOPOOR]

The comm awards program is hopeless, I never get any bonus points from its partners. Has anyone here got any luck with that? Also, for the bouns points that signed up with new AMEX, how long will it take to credit in your account?

I just got my first lot today, it might be my last if they shaft me and don't give me any for januarys purhchses,

basicalyl you will get them a few days after your statement date

 

[Diesellife]

Please note that the points are managed by the CBA Award.

They don't calculate the points by adding up each transactions per se, so the transaction date is irrelevant. At the end of the BILLING PERIOD... The final accumulated total is calculated and transfer to QFF...So any transfer happens AFTER Feb 1, the new rate applies.

The only workaround is to change your statement date (Which Ive already done) to 28 Jan, so the points are transferred before Feb.

The reason why CBA advertises the special for 2 months only is because of that reason. Most of the card members received the card in Nov, so 2 billing periods before FEB.

 

[SOPOOR]

Please note that the points are managed by the CBA Award.

They don't calculate the points by adding up each transactions per se, so the transaction date is irrelevant. At the end of the BILLING PERIOD... The final accumulated total is calculated and transfer to QFF...So any transfer happens AFTER Feb 1, the new rate applies.

The only workaround is to change your statement date (Which Ive already done) to 28 Jan, so the points are transferred before Feb.

The reason why CBA advertises the special for 2 months only is because of that reason. Most of the card members received the card in Nov, so 2 billing periods before FEB.

ok, so it is correct, then basically any transaction made in Jan will be at the HALF rate then.......

so dodgy CBA!!

so if my statement period ends on Dec 8th, what does that mean, does it mean that i have to make my purchases before the 7th Dec, are you reocmmending that i change my statement date to Late Jan???

 

[Diesellife]

ok, so it is correct, then basically any transaction made in Jan will be at the HALF rate then.......

so dodgy CBA!!

so if my statement period ends on Dec 8th, what does that mean, does it mean that i have to make my purchases before the 7th Dec, are you reocmmending that i change my statement date to Late Jan???

Your next statement will be issued on Jan 8th, so you can put all the transactions before then.

I won't advise anything here because different individual has different way to manage their finance. Since I pay off my card every month, I could careless when the statement date is. So I changed the date from the 4th to 27th... I have received the new set of cards and need to activate it on 27th Dec.

Cheers

 

[SOPOOR]

Your next statement will be issued on Jan 8th, so you can put all the transactions before then.

I won't advise anything here because different individual has different way to manage their finance. Since I pay off my card every month, I could careless when the statement date is. So I changed the date from the 4th to 27th... I have received the new set of cards and need to activate it on 27th Dec.

Cheers

well, Im one of those that pays it off every month, however, due to the amex promo, ive been spending and buying up big, and my next payment is due on 4th Jan, so If I change my date, will I be required to pay the next payment upfront or something??

 

[Diesellife]

well, Im one of those that pays it off every month, however, due to the amex promo, ive been spending and buying up big, and my next payment is due on 4th Jan, so If I change my date, will I be required to pay the next payment upfront or something??

Yes if you want to clear your balance... eg... by 27 Dec

 

[WOLF13]

I've just confirmed this as well on the phone to a 'card specialist'

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Jan, you get the 3:1

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Feb, you get the new lower transfer rate.

This is regardless of if the purchases were made in Jan. The burn rate to Qantas is reflective of the day the points transfer over, not of when the original purhcases were made.

My statement date is the 19th. Which means, purchases from up to around the 15th of Jan are counted.

I'll just have to go bananas in spending up until the 15th. Probably not worth changing my statement date.

In saying that, your points cap resets on Jan 1st. So you'll have another 150,000 available if you can reach it.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

This post is in regard to the BONUS AMEX POINTS (not changes in earn rates as many of you are discussing).

I currently have a CBA (standard) Awards Amex/Visa, and have already reached the cap of 1500 bonus points during the startup promotion (equating to 750QFF points). These points have not yet been credited to my QFF account. I'm interested in migrating to Gold Awards, and just called to clarify whether these points would still come through after the account was migrated, or whether I'd have to wait until they appeared before submitting the request (as the promo fine print says "you will be ineligible for the bonus points if your account is (...) transferred (...), at any time prior to the points being credited to the account").

After checking with her supervisor, the CSR confirmed that any uncredited bonus points earned with the Awards card would still be credited at the appropriate time if migrating to Gold Awards.

... just in case anyone else was considering switching products, and was worried about this (I'd assume it would also be the case for Gold->Platinum or Platinum->Awards etc, but probably best to check anyway)

PS: Also discovered that even if you have an Awards (classic, Gold or Platinum) Amex/Visa account and you migrate to a different type of Awards, you must switch to an Amex/MC account - as apparently "CBA no longer issues (new) Visa (card numbers)" (as Gold and Platinum card numbers are slightly different to classic)... not too sure what would happen if someone reported a lost/stolen Visa though - they may have to settle for a new MasterCard!

 

[SOPOOR]

I've just confirmed this as well on the phone to a 'card specialist'

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Jan, you get the 3:1

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Feb, you get the new lower transfer rate.

This is regardless of if the purchases were made in Jan. The burn rate to Qantas is reflective of the day the points transfer over, not of when the original purhcases were made.

My statement date is the 19th. Which means, purchases from up to around the 15th of Jan are counted.

I'll just have to go bananas in spending up until the 15th. Probably not worth changing my statement date.

In saying that, your points cap resets on Jan 1st. So you'll have another 150,000 available if you can reach it.

well, im annoyed..yet again, my statement date is the 8th of Jan, so I tried to get it chagned to 28th of Jan, got told its not possible unless I close the account and reapply = up to 1 month without the credit card,

so basically I ve got make all my purhcases by about the 6th of Jan, since any other purhcase since 8th Jan to end of Jan will be at 1.5 QFF points to $1.....


sigh....first they tell me I can't do paypal chargebacks even though every other bank seems to do so, I have a platinum card as well, which should make it better or premium, and still a no, and an annual fee rise of $250 or $280 on top of this and now this.......

my patience with CBA is wearing very thin........

 

[lovestotravel]

I've just confirmed this as well on the phone to a 'card specialist'

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Jan, you get the 3:1

If your QF transfer (statement) date falls in Feb, you get the new lower transfer rate.

This is regardless of if the purchases were made in Jan. The burn rate to Qantas is reflective of the day the points transfer over, not of when the original purhcases were made.

My statement date is the 19th. Which means, purchases from up to around the 15th of Jan are counted.

I'll just have to go bananas in spending up until the 15th. Probably not worth changing my statement date.

In saying that, your points cap resets on Jan 1st. So you'll have another 150,000 available if you can reach it.

That is cough, if that is indeed true

For me on my Qantas statement

07 DEC 09 COMMONWEALTH AWARDS 04DEC09 - - -


So I only have until the 4th of Jan to spend up

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

As far as I am concerned as per the website

"Currently and until 1 February 2010 Platinum Awards customers require 1 Awards point to earn 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point or Velocity Point:"

Either way I'll spend up big in the next 2 weeks

 

[SOPOOR]

That is cough, if that is indeed true

For me on my Qantas statement

07 DEC 09 COMMONWEALTH AWARDS 04DEC09 - - -


So I only have until the 4th of Jan to spend up

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

As far as I am concerned as per the website

"Currently and until 1 February 2010 Platinum Awards customers require 1 Awards point to earn 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer point or Velocity Point:"

Either way I'll spend up big in the next 2 weeks

yep, it certainly is cough, but thats what I think is the reality..... I did speak to a credit card specialist and got told that, I thought they were full of it, but a few people on the site seemd have confiremd it

Diesellife: you said that you changed statement date, I assumed for some reason that you might be with another bank, but this Amex thing is with the CBA only, how did you manage to change your statement date???

 

[lovestotravel]

yep, it certainly is cough, but thats what I think is the reality.....

I rarely believe anything that I get told over the phone.

Printed material is much more important as is the T&C's

I shredded the paperwork that came with this offer, so can anyone who has the T&C's of the offering read the fine print.

That is far more important that what a phone monkey says and jumping up and down about it

 

[SOPOOR]

I rarely believe anything that I get told over the phone.

Printed material is much more important as is the T&C's

I shredded the paperwork that came with this offer, so can anyone who has the T&C's of the offering read the fine print.

That is far more important that what a phone monkey says and jumping up and down about it

I agree with you completely,

however, I just thought of this, you might earn your award points in Jan for any purchases made until 31st of jan, so you'll get your 3 points, (actually isn;'t it 3 AWARD points per dollar for ever), but the conversion rate changes from 1:1 to 0.5:1 in Feb,

so I guess they are being sneaky and will say, well you did earn 3 AWARD points per $1 but the conversion rate changed from Feb and since your statement date is the 7th of Feb, BAD LUCK!

thats my opinion

 

[lovestotravel]

Found http://www.commbank.com.au/personal/apply-online/download-printed-forms/CommonwealthAwards.pdf online.

Does NOT mention anywhere that your statement date needs to be before the 1st of Feb for transfer

I am going off this Personal - Credit cards - Expect more - Help centre - Frequent flyers - Commonwealth Bank Group

If CBA do no provide the points as per the documentation provided to me and available online which is Personal - Credit cards - Expect more - Help centre - Frequent flyers - Commonwealth Bank Group then I will ring them and complain.

If they do not resolve the matter as per the T&C's I will raise a case with the Financial Ombudsmen.

 

[Diesellife]

Hi, I have managed to change my statement date by CBA.
All you need to tell them is your paid day is xx_X and therefore the due date should be xx_XX.

They sent me a new set of cards and ask me to activate on the desire due date. (In my case, Dec 27 2009). So SOPOOR, what they told you were cough! Try again!

lovestotravel: don't think your complain will work. Because the following:
The letter stated that promotion period as 2 months (Nov + Dec) Jan is intentionally left out because of the due date requirement.
Points are effectively calculated and transferred after the statement date and thus the new transfer rate applies after Feb.

-Notes CBA Award Cluase 27 page 8 - states that points are updated monthly
- CBA Award Clause 5 page 19 - states that QFF points are transferred at the end of statement period