"Enhancements" to MR earn on Platinum Card, Reserve & Centurian

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Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Are TG Burn rates anygood compared to KF?
In general TG burn rates are not good however you can use some fantastic quirks of the program:
50000 flown miles gets you *G for 2 years which gives you the following
a round trip 1 class upgrade which can be used for a return AU - Europe
1 half price round trip award per year (115000 miles for F return to Europe)

So I use the program in this way over a 2 year cycle:
1 paid J class to Europe (upgraded to F with gold upgrade)
Credit a few SQ flights to get to the 50000 mark then credit all other *G flying to SQ (or BD previously)
Transfer 170000 MR points at 1:1 into TG ROP and I have a further 2 round trips to Europe in F.

Add to this TG F award availability is good, they treat elites very well and the SYD ROP staff are fantastic, all in all a worthwhile exercise!

anyway back on topic...
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

TG have a good set of routes flying into Australia and once you are at BKK you can fly just about anywhere with them. I've also read that they look after their FFlyers well with good availability of awards.

My only lament: no TG F class on their MEL flights :( I hate having to connect through SYD.

We're off tomorrow flying TG to Europe using *A awards.
 
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Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Off topic but I cant resist. TG redemptions are best done with US Dividend miles. There is so much availability traveling PER/SYD/MEL - BKK - FRA/ZUR/CDG in J and F. Buy some points during the bonus 100% periods, transfer Amex --> SPG --> US Dividend for the rest, and you're getting return J tix to europe for under 2k each!
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Interestingly enough they have left the Platinum Business Charge card alone. So for a $1200 annual fee, you retain the 1.5 points/dollar earn, and have the same travel insurance cover before the "enhancement".

Coincidentally, I just asked Amex whether the Platinum Business Charge Card is getting the same treatment... I will post back the answer I receive.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Coincidentally, I just asked Amex whether the Platinum Business Charge Card is getting the same treatment... I will post back the answer I receive.

Will be very interesting to hear what they say about the bus card. As an SQ lovin' dude who gets most of his points from ATO bills, I've been trying to work out the best replacement - anyone used Westpac Krisflyer Amex for ATO bills? I'm a bit nervous about Plat Bus Charge and Centurion in case of further "enhancements" and can't use Citibank Select as this is my personal card (work related stuff needs to be separate as it is paid off by a business loan). In the meantime trying not to get too emotional as the coughs have taken away the 3 main things I use the card for (points, travel insurance and free westfield valet parking).
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

I am relieved as this makes the decision to drop the AMEX Plat Card for me a no brainer. I was kind of playing with the thought after the insurance changes but not 100% committed. This change now seals the deal and AMEX is going to go in August on my renewal.

For all of you looking for alternatives I have applied for the Citi Select three weeks ago online. Had one call from them to verify a few things and application status changed to approved within 5 business days. Card arrived in nice packaging 5 days later. PINs took another 2 days. 80,000 bonus points posted 3 days after first use. Points redemption value seems a little less than AMEX but then again you earn 2:1. They don't put on as much air about their "special" service, it's just a credit card with special features.

And, I should have a drum roll for this ..... it's accepted everywhere without a surcharge! Hurray!!!!
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Hi aschmid,

Did citi ask for your salary details? i.e. more than >120k annually?

Is there a URL that shows the redemption rates for the citi select?

Thanks,
K.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Hi aschmid,

Did citi ask for your salary details? i.e. more than >120k annually?

Is there a URL that shows the redemption rates for the citi select?

Thanks,
K.

Yes they did. Suggest you have a read here what's required: https://www.citibank.com.au/AUGCB/A...=Loans&path=/promo/det/cards_how_to_apply.htm

I have no URL to show redemption rates but a Myer $100 gift card is 17,200 points with Citi, AMEX is 13,500.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Ok thanks for the tip.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

I rang yesterday to cancel my Platinum charge, as my annual fee was charged this month. Interestingly I got absolutely no effort from the call centre staff to retain the card, and they weren't really interested in hearing my reasons for wanting to cancel it. As I'm going to keep the Platinum Edge (for now) they are changing my Platinum charge over to a Gold charge (fee free). I don't think there is any particular value in having the Gold charge, but as they were offering it at no charge I decided to take it for now.
 
Apologies for the laziness but couldn't find the answer in the past 4 pages...

Are these changes affecting association cards? I've got a platinum reserve and a gold c/c and haven't received anything as yet.
 
Apologies for the laziness but couldn't find the answer in the past 4 pages...

Are these changes affecting association cards? I've got a platinum reserve and a gold c/c and haven't received anything as yet.

Yes, it affects, association cards also use MR program, there is no difference between others. The only difference is discount annual fee from your association.
 
Hi - interested in the Access to the lounge for my wife when she isn't traveling with me (she will lose her access later this year) - does that mean she can use her Amex card to gain access - what do they mean by Basic card member (is this refering to main card holder v sup holder, or something else) . Sorry tend to get a bit lost by Amex's generally poor comms.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.......
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Will be very interesting to hear what they say about the bus card.

The response was "at this point no changes have been made to that card [Platinum Business]". That being said, the following paragraph was a somewhat-cryptic statement about notifying me of any further changes if they occur so that I have "best options" available to me, followed by a "stay tuned". That leads me to think that changes are in the works - maybe (hopefully) positive ones, given what was inferred about upcoming changes I would like during the original Platinum-points-are-changing phone call (as per my earlier post).

As an SQ lovin' dude who gets most of his points from ATO bills, I've been trying to work out the best replacement - anyone used Westpac Krisflyer Amex for ATO bills?

The owner of the company I work for makes extensive use of a Westpac KrisFlyer Amex for paying tax bills - no issues so far, and I believe the earn rate is good (1.5pts per $1 spent?).

I'm a bit nervous about Plat Bus Charge and Centurion in case of further "enhancements" and can't use Citibank Select as this is my personal card (work related stuff needs to be separate as it is paid off by a business loan).

Do you have a partner who you could sign up for a Select card, and then get yourself a supp card on the their account to use for your business charges maybe? At the very least it's probably worth considering your relative personal vs business spend and evaluating whether you should switch Select to being the business card and get something else for personal.

Points redemption value seems a little less than AMEX but then again you earn 2:1.

Depends on your annual spend. Select will earn you 1.33 SQ/DJ points per $1 spent no matter how much you spend per annum, whereas Plat Charge (under the old scheme) will earn you 1.5 SQ/DJ points per $1 spent for the first $150k per annum, and only one 1 SQ/DJ point per $1 spent thereafter. The crossover point is about $250k per annum - any less than that and Plat Charge has a better overall earn rate, any more and Select has a better overall earn rate. Obviously Select doesn't offer the flexibility of Membership Rewards though.

They don't put on as much air about their "special" service, it's just a credit card with special features.

It's worth noting that the Select service is better though - most of the time when I call I get a local CSR rather than someone in Manilla, and they have generally been more efficient and competent than the "regular" Citibank CSRs.

Hi - interested in the Access to the lounge for my wife when she isn't traveling with me (she will lose her access later this year) - does that mean she can use her Amex card to gain access - what do they mean by Basic card member (is this refering to main card holder v sup holder, or something else) . Sorry tend to get a bit lost by Amex's generally poor comms.

"Basic card member" is Amex-speak for primary cardholder. Assuming the DJ lounge access offer is only for the "Basic card member" (is it? anyone know?) your wife will get access if she is the primary cardholder, otherwise if she's only a supplementary cardholder then she won't.

Is there a URL that shows the redemption rates for the citi select?

Dunno if there's a publicly-accessible URL, but they are as follows:

First, you earn CitiRewards points:
- Every $1 spent in AUD earns 2 CitiRewards (CR) points
- Every $1 spent in a foreign currency earns 5 CitiRewards points (this is niiiice when travelling)

You then redeem these with SQ (KrisFlyer)/DJ (Velocity)/CX (AsiaMiles):
- 3 CR points for 2 SQ points (effective 1.33 SQ points per $1 spent in AUD)
- 3 CR points for 2 DJ points (effective 1.33 DJ points per $1 spent in AUD)
- 2 CR points for 1 CX point (effective 1 CX point per $1 spent in AUD)
 
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That was my thought. Depends on whether the swipe the card/record the details etc. also, my card on has 1 initial and my surname. If your names were similar enough, she could potentially hold yours (if they checked boarding passes too, then your initials would need to be the same.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

The advantage of Westpac platinum Amex over the Westpac Kris Flyer Platinum is you can warehouse the points to stop the 3 year clock starting to tick.
Both of these Amex cards produce a 1.5 points per dollar result and if you are a Westpac customer you can cash a large cheque into either credit card the start paying the ATO minutes later.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Disenhancements to the Platinum charge are official: now appearing on the Plat charge page of the amex website.

The Platinum Card | American Express Australia

Click on the Platinum Rewards tab.

You can now purchase points for FF programs at $25 per 1,000.

Big whoop. Amex gives you a way to top up all the points you will miss out on when the changes take effect in October.

Interestingly, in May I asked for a fee reduction in light of the insurance changes, and it was no deal. In fact even asked me "shall we cancel your card now?"

Amex has lost the plot completely. I've put through a lot on my Amex from back when I was a mere green. There's no love for me from Amex. Will drop to Edge to warehouse the points and use Citi or Altitude.
 
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Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

You can now purchase points for FF programs at $25 per 1,000.

Big whoop.

Is there a limit in how many you can buy?

If not, that's actually a good deal if youre short on points and redeem them "correctly". e.g. MEL-xKUL-CDG return on MH is approx 110k points in J IIRC, which equates to $2,750 + YQ. Pretty damn good deal if your only other option is paying $2,000 for Y. Very good availability of award seats in MH too.
 
Re: "Enhancements" to Membership Rewards scheme for Platinum Card / Platinum Reserve

Is there a limit in how many you can buy?

If not, that's actually a good deal if youre short on points and redeem them "correctly". e.g. MEL-xKUL-CDG return on MH is approx 110k points in J IIRC, which equates to $2,750 + YQ. Pretty damn good deal if your only other option is paying $2,000 for Y. Very good availability of award seats in MH too.

YQ is also very expense lol. I think is almost half of the ticket's price.
 
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