Latest information about 28 degrees card

[OZDUCK]

We also had no trouble in a month in Germany/Czech Republic. The need for a PIN because of the value of the transaction was a bit all over the place. Interestingly every time the option of Dynamic Conversion came up the hotel/restaurant said not to use it - of course I wasn't going to but it was good to see them do the right thing by their customer.

 

[moa999]

of course I wasn't going to but it was good to see them do the right thing by their customer.

I always pre-prompt. Charge in EUR/USD etc as I hand the card over.

 

[RB]

We also had no trouble in a month in Germany/Czech Republic. The need for a PIN because of the value of the transaction was a bit all over the place. Interestingly every time the option of Dynamic Conversion came up the hotel/restaurant said not to use it - of course I wasn't going to but it was good to see them do the right thing by their customer.

Yes the need for the pin was quite fluid. The discussion never arose about dynamic conversion for us in the 70 odd transactions, so we both must have been dealing with the right folk

 

[mel-world]

I have recently used this card exclusively, except for cash withdrawals, during a month in Canada. It did not really like tap and go on the phone but not an issue at all with tap and go with the physical card, except for 2 establishments that still wanted a signature.

I agree though that sometimes pending amounts stay active for too long, even after the real charge appears, especially if the amounts differ significantly. For instance, I needed to urgently book two airfares on AC, since cancelled. The original amounts - 2 separate transactions for me and my partner appear, as do the deposits for the refund, but the original authorisation is still there affecting my overall spending limit.

 

[Anna]

I'm going to cancel this card. Maybe it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for. What I got:

- Latitude system incapable of identifying hotel final payments as near duplicates of hotel preauthorisations, and thus leaving the preauthorisations on the card resulting in effectively halving the credit limit (this does NOT happen on my other credit cards, where the systems are apparently better capable of identifying the final payments and cancelling the preauthorisations more quickly)

- phone agent informing me that the preauthorisations I could see hanging around for 2 weeks after checkout were actually approved amounts, I'd been double charged by the hotels and I should lodge disputes

- Latitude took 2 more weeks to even address the dispute that I lodged online as told to do by the phone agent, by which time all the preauthorisations had of course finally dropped off

- when I lodged a complaint about all this, Latitude again took ages to respond, then kept trying to put the onus back on me to do things before they would even look at the substance of the complaint, then finally blamed the merchants. Even though the common denominator in all the problems was Latitude The hotels were unrelated to each other and I have never had a similar issue before so I just do not believe it is the merchants, it is Latitude's inept systems and even more inept customer service.

Life is too short.

 

[ellen10]

Hoping to test out my new Latitude card in singapore in 3 weeks time.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm going to cancel this card. Maybe it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for. What I got:

- Latitude system incapable of identifying hotel final payments as near duplicates of hotel preauthorisations, and thus leaving the preauthorisations on the card resulting in effectively halving the credit limit (this does NOT happen on my other credit cards, where the systems are apparently better capable of identifying the final payments and cancelling the preauthorisations more quickly)

- phone agent informing me that the preauthorisations I could see hanging around for 2 weeks after checkout were actually approved amounts, I'd been double charged by the hotels and I should lodge disputes

- Latitude took 2 more weeks to even address the dispute that I lodged online as told to do by the phone agent, by which time all the preauthorisations had of course finally dropped off

- when I lodged a complaint about all this, Latitude again took ages to respond, then kept trying to put the onus back on me to do things before they would even look at the substance of the complaint, then finally blamed the merchants. Even though the common denominator in all the problems was Latitude The hotels were unrelated to each other and I have never had a similar issue before so I just do not believe it is the merchants, it is Latitude's inept systems and even more inept customer service.

Life is too short.

Sorry to hear that

Did the online account summary show the charges as pending (greyed), or as final? Not good advice from the call centre to tell you to lodge a complaint if the charges were pending as there’s nothing that can really be done.

The mismatch between authorisations/pending amounts is rare, but it does happen (I worked at a credit card call centre while going to uni!) They can take a while to drop off in that case, as you discovered.

I’ve had the card since something like 2006, maybe even earlier. Back the. they were quite keen to hand out credit limit increases which I took advantage of so have a bit of a buffer when things like this happen.

 

[mel-world]

Latitude system incapable of identifying hotel final payments as near duplicates of hotel preauthorisations, and thus leaving the preauthorisations on the card resulting in effectively halving the credit limit (this does NOT happen on my other credit cards, where the systems are apparently better capable of identifying the final payments and cancelling the preauthorisations more quickly)

As you said, you get what you pay for. For me, except for one Air Canada pre-authorazation, where the amount billed was quite different from the authorized amount, I have had no issues with delays at all over many trips.

I have used this card almost exclusively overseas and have only had a positive experience with this card. The fees many other cards add to every overseas transaction soon add up.

I have had a few calls from their fraud department over the years about some on-line transactions, but would rather have a call than a scam withdrawal.

Other options are available.

 

[asterix]

As you said, you get what you pay for. For me, except for one Air Canada pre-authorazation, where the amount billed was quite different from the authorized amount, I have had no issues with delays at all over many trips.

I have used this card almost exclusively overseas and have only had a positive experience with this card. The fees many other cards add to every overseas transaction soon add up.

I have had a few calls from their fraud department over the years about some on-line transactions, but would rather have a call than a scam withdrawal.

Other options are available.

I'm going to be doing some travelling in December and was planning to use my AMEX Platinum Charge for the check-in security charge and then use either my 28 Degrees card or Coles Platinum Mastercard if there is anything to pay on checkout. I haven't had a problem swapping the payment card on checkout in the past so hope this will continue.

 

[JohnK]

@Anna I'm seriously reconsidering use of this card.

I first got it to pay for overseas transactions not cash withdrawals overseas.

I used Virgin Money card the other day to pay for Nok Air flight (for some reason can't use this card) in Thai baht and the exchange rate used was the exchange rate quoted on Google at that time with no other fees.

 

[SYD]

Posted here:

eSims, what is your experience.

Hubby is currently using flexiroam in Argentina and Uruguay. Was very painful to set up, requiring multiple chats from helpdesk - and he's an IT nerd by trade. So I shudder to think how most people manage. Do you know if it was an issue setting up the eSIM or getting it to roam? Something like...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

…basically 28° MC now offering free global Flexiroam roaming data (15 days / 3GB) and/or 15% discount on other Flexiroam plans. However, the free and unlimited Boingo wifi access has been “enhanced” (out).

 

[SYD]

Both SYD+1 and I received similar but different Webjet e-Gift offers. Spend $2000 AUD equivalent for $150 voucher (me) or $3000 for a $250 voucher. Register by 18 Feb, spend between 01 Dec 22 and 28 Feb 23. There could be other variations on this?

Annoying that it’s mid / late Jan already but I’ve already meet my spend threshold….

Oh, there’s also the chance to win a trip to Hawaii thrown in but whoever wins those sorts of things…?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Both SYD+1 and I received similar but different Webjet e-Gift offers. Spend $2000 AUD equivalent for $150 voucher (me) or $3000 for a $250 voucher. Register by 18 Feb, spend between 01 Dec 22 and 28 Feb 23. There could be other variations on this?

Annoying that it’s mid / late Jan already but I’ve already meet my spend threshold….

Oh, there’s also the chance to win a trip to Hawaii thrown in but whoever wins those sorts of things…?

I suppose the cash back covers Webjet’s fees and charges like their compulsory ‘fare lock guarantee’ (which i don’t understand, or even know if compulsory ‘insurance’ is legal?)

 

[SYD]

I suppose the cash back covers Webjet’s fees and charges like their compulsory ‘fare lock guarantee’ (which i don’t understand, or even know if compulsory ‘insurance’ is legal?)

I’m not familiar with it. I don’t think I’ve ever used Webjet (prefer to deal direct with airlines where possible).

But if they’re doing “3rd line enforcing” (or some sort of exclusive arrangement) then that could be dodgy. But I doubt it.

Exclusive dealing

It can be illegal to restrict a customer or supplier’s freedom to choose what it buys or sells, who it does business with or where it trades.

www.accc.gov.au

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I’m not familiar with it. I don’t think I’ve ever used Webjet (prefer to deal direct with airlines where possible).

But if they’re doing “3rd line enforcing” (or some sort of exclusive arrangement) then that could be dodgy. But I doubt it.

Exclusive dealing

It can be illegal to restrict a customer or supplier’s freedom to choose what it buys or sells, who it does business with or where it trades.

www.accc.gov.au

Webjet charges a compulsory ‘fare lock guarantee’ which ‘guarantees’ the price they are offering on line against any price increases between the time you pay and when they issue the ticket (instantly I suspect).

You cannot escape this charge and it covers up to $1000. I believe they self-fund this. But it’s an expensive charge… $49 per booking I believe?

 

[Scarlett]

Posted here:

eSims, what is your experience.

Hubby is currently using flexiroam in Argentina and Uruguay. Was very painful to set up, requiring multiple chats from helpdesk - and he's an IT nerd by trade. So I shudder to think how most people manage. Do you know if it was an issue setting up the eSIM or getting it to roam? Something like...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

…basically 28° MC now offering free global Flexiroam roaming data (15 days / 3GB) and/or 15% discount on other Flexiroam plans. However, the free and unlimited Boingo wifi access has been “enhanced” (out).

@SYD is this enhancement a one off activation of the 3GB/15 days Flexiroam Starter (effectively a try before you buy from Flexiroam rather than being offered by 28deg), or is 28deg offering a regular (annual, monthly?) access when travelling overseas? I’ve had a look at both websites and looks like the former, which really is an ‘enhancement’ worthy of QFs abuse of the term.

 

[Rich]

I suppose the cash back covers Webjet’s fees and charges like their compulsory ‘fare lock guarantee’ (which i don’t understand, or ev I still don't know. en know if compulsory ‘insurance’ is legal?)

I have used Webjet in the past to compare airfares but then used it once to go ahead and book. In that case, by the time I went to the airline website and looked, i.e. 1-2 minutes, airfares had jumped significantly. This was due to a footy final schedule being announced.
Whether Webjet had locked the lower price or whether this was the 1 in 10000+ bookings they took a hit, I still don't know.

 

[SYD]

@SYD is this enhancement a one off activation of the 3GB/15 days Flexiroam Starter (effectively a try before you buy from Flexiroam rather than being offered by 28deg), or is 28deg offering a regular (annual, monthly?) access when travelling overseas? I’ve had a look at both websites and looks like the former, which really is an ‘enhancement’ worthy of QFs abuse of the term.

It’s a once a year freebie (from MC of which 28° counts). Plus the 15% discount but IMHO, the rack rate Flexiroam fees are not great value. But they do routinely have 70-90% Off sales.

If you were a regular Boingo user then that going will be unfortunate for some. Although I didn’t use it once last year. My app is showing my account has exprired.

 

[Mattg]

Oh, I didn't realise they'd got rid of the Boingo wifi access. That was the only reason I kept my 28 Degrees open. Thanks for giving me a good reason to cancel this card!

 

[SYD]

Oh, I didn't realise they'd got rid of the Boingo wifi access. That was the only reason I kept my 28 Degrees open. Thanks for giving me a good reason to cancel this card!

What card are you using for Int Tx fee free?