Diners - Jumping on bandwagon

[Hammando]

There is no bpay ability with the Diners/MasterCard unfortunately

 

[albyd]

I'm also looking at DC again for hotel rewards. The airline rewards have a wider selection than bank issued cards but transfer rates are similar (except for the slight edge on velocity at 2pts/$1 on DC & 0.83 on MC.

I'm attracted to the hotel rewards programs. Currently trying to work out the return.

I've looked at Macquarie Hilton card but seems to work out at 1% - not as attractive as J flights.

Are other programs like SPG more worthwhile?

This will tip the scales for me to give DC a go.

Interested in any recent experiences with the fiscal fiend (I understand citi's involvement might rule that out).

 

[Hammando]

Made a payment to the fiscal fiend a couple of months ago and got points.

 

[Deen]

There is no bpay ability with the Diners/MasterCard unfortunately

There is a way.... Pm me and I'll explain.

 

[Deen]

Had a weird experience with my first months points haul as well. Initially posted around 14,000 when I had calculated a haul of 18,000. Called up and logged a complaint and they credited my account with a further 13,000 for no apparent reason. Wasn't complaining.... Immediately transferred 27k to SPG.

 

[albyd]

Thanks for the feedback guys I'm going to go ahead and apply sounds like the MC makes this card with DC being a bonus.

Whilst they have no pre set limit I've read they do have a shadow limit - tho they were cagey about it when I asked. How quickly can you ramp up your spend for them to get comfortable with it? Any do's and don'ts that have cropped up?

 

[Deen]

My shadow limit is currently around $20k. Was told that it will take a while to build up a history with them. Not really a problem though as they still want you to make prepayments for large Canberra payments and call up for preauthorisation. Felt good to have a $37k payment go off in one hit unlike my previous Amex where I split into 4.

 

[albyd]

Good to know. So if I had a large payment, I'd need to spread it over time and different cards?

I can make a prepayment but also don't want to draw unwanted attention.

How quick do they credit the $ to your account if you bpay it?

 

[Deen]

Bpay usually shows up the next day or two.

 

[Deen]

Quick update to my first SPG transfer. Took one week and did it over the phone. No complaints there.

 

[albyd]

Just got my shiny new cards. Activated easily enough but couldn't register for online service to hopefully set my PIN. Told they'll override the system and register me in the next few days. Will be interesting how many merchants still take DC outside of airlines, major department stores and major retailers - Coles & Woolies groups. Cashier at DJS today said she hadn't seen one in ages.

Primarily got DC for the SPG earn. Trying to put my finger on value. Ran a quote for a hotel room at 10K points/night or $US278. On my calculations, that makes a point worth about US2.78c or a rebate of 4.17c on DC spend at 1.5SPG/$A1 or 1.74c on the MC at 0.625SPG/$A. Not as attractive as J flights - especially on VA @ 2:1 on DC or 0.83:1 on MC. Do I have my numbers right or is it more attractive than this?

 

[albyd]

I was on the mydinersclub site this morning. I made a small contribution to the fiscal fiend and Australia Post recently. They're showing up as "Government Services". Has there been any change to points status? I'm not expecting to figure it out until I get another statement given it's done in arrears and I have a larger payment coming up.

 

[Deen]

dont worry about it... those always come up as government services but ive received points every month for my "goverment contributions"... even got points for a top up to my tatts bet account last month

for all their inefficiencies it works the other way as well.... they have no idea whats going on with their systems and dont seem to mind what points they hand out. everytime i complain about missing points, i tend to get handed a few more by accident

 

[albyd]

Thanks Deen. I like the sound of that.

I got a call after my government contribution and asked to prepay in future or they might not take kindly to it. Is this the same as your experience?

 

[Deen]

Yes that happened to me as well. My card actually got blocked (the MC) as I had gone over my soft limit with the ATO payment. Call the direct prepayment authorisation line once your payment into the card clears. 02 8225 0963. Much more helpful than our call centre friends.

 

[dalereardon]

Hi,

A query on the MasterCard (or is it Visa?) that you can get with your Diners Card for an extra fee. Can you do Bpay payments from the MasterCard and importantly do they earn points?

HSBC lets you do Bpay from the credit card and treats as a purchase but doesn't award points. Macquarie gives you points which is great.

Dale.

 

[Deen]

Hi,

A query on the MasterCard (or is it Visa?) that you can get with your Diners Card for an extra fee. Can you do Bpay payments from the MasterCard and importantly do they earn points?

HSBC lets you do Bpay from the credit card and treats as a purchase but doesn't award points. Macquarie gives you points which is great.

Dale.

pm for more info

 

[Keftetha]

How does it work with additional card holders and how their activity appears on your statement? Do they get a separate statement with their transactions? Or are they all moulded into one?

cheers.

 

[albyd]

I don't yet have a supplementary on mine but I think everyone gets their own card number and individual card charges itemized separately on the statement.

 

[Keftetha]

Ok great. Thanks for the quick reply Albyd!