Latitude 28 Degrees $8 per month starting September 2024

[mel-world]

Unfortunately, the life-admin work that will be required every single month to stay on top of that just to cancel out and negate the $8 monthly fee, will be way too much to bear for all but the most time-rich people with no hobbies and no other interests to bother with.

I can assure you that, while I am now more time-rich than I was when I was working, I certainly have plenty of hobbies and other interests (like travel) so do see the value in this card, even at $96 a year.

I have, over more than a decade, put almost all overseas flights, accommodation and car-hire etc. thru this card and have never paid a dollar of interest to Latitude by paying in full every month - I'm a bit Scottish so never like paying interest. A couple of times over the years, Latitude has warned me by checking on a transaction if it looks a bit suspicious. (Some would call this a hassle: I call it good business).

So I have made very little for Latitude as their exchange rates do not seem much worse than any other card, I'm now simply paying for a service. I might even avail myself of the e-gift card (not sure how that gets lost in the mail) and any card protection is better than nothing.

Just my opinion.

 

[Legoman]

They’ll say ‘thank you’ for the $70 card handling fee paid by the merchant. Which of course is passed on via higher charges or a surcharge to the customer

No surcharges in this case. Amount payable exactly the same whether paid by card, BPay or EFT

Or, like me, you could not worry about any of that. I spend $1000 a month on the card, so I’ll prolly get the choice of gift cards.

If I don’t make the spend one month and have to pay $8, well so be it, but i almost always do.

So $10 a month for woollies gift cards, totals $120 a year. Spend $96 on fees. Figure i’m in front

As long as you don't value your time to keep track of the admin, and as long as you don't ever make a mistake or get tripped up by Latitude in what is or is not included in their ever shifting and changing definitions of weasel words like "eligible", "qualifying", "participating" and "excluded".

Get tripped up or fail to make the spend (as determined by Latitude in their sole discretion) just 3 times in a year and you're at break even. A fourth time and you're behind.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can assure you that, while I am now more time-rich than I was when I was working, I certainly have plenty of hobbies and other interests (like travel) so do see the value in this card, even at $96 a year.

I have, over more than a decade, put almost all overseas flights, accommodation and car-hire etc. thru this card and have never paid a dollar of interest to Latitude by paying in full every month - I'm a bit Scottish so never like paying interest. A couple of times over the years, Latitude has warned me by checking on a transaction if it looks a bit suspicious. (Some would call this a hassle: I call it good business).

So I have made very little for Latitude as their exchange rates do not seem much worse than any other card, I'm now simply paying for a service. I might even avail myself of the e-gift card (not sure how that gets lost in the mail) and any card protection is better than nothing.

Just my opinion.

Agree. How many years since the original Wizard card? I’ve saved thousands over the years. And quite possibly will come out in front, still, with the new gift card system!

 

[Legoman]

I have, over more than a decade, put almost all overseas flights, accommodation and car-hire etc. thru this card

Why? Why on Earth would you pay for all those big ticket items on a non-rewards earning credit card if you are, as you say, a bit Scottish? You would have earned a shed-full of points on a rewards card paying for those things. Probably enough to have gotten some of them for free!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No surcharges in this case. Amount payable exactly the same whether paid by card, BPay or EFT


As long as you don't value your time to keep track of the admin, and as long as you don't ever make a mistake or get tripped up by Latitude in what is or is not included in their ever shifting and changing definitions of weasel words like "eligible", "qualifying", "participating" and "excluded".

Get tripped up or fail to make the spend (as determined by Latitude in their sole discretion) just 3 times in a year and you're at break even. A fourth time and you're behind.

You might not have paid a direct surcharge, but someone has. And if someone has, we, as consumers, ultimately pay for it.

I’m not worried about the admin. I don’t use the card for rates, government transactions, cash-like transactions. So very little that’s likely to be excluded.

Seems pretty easy to me.

And as per my post above… even if I don’t get a gift card for a month - or even 6 months! - the benefits I’ve had from the card have been exceptional over the years.

And - touch wood!!! - the card has always been reliable overseas. That’s worth quite a lot.

 

[Cynicor]

Why? Why on Earth would you pay for all those big ticket items on a non-rewards earning credit card if you are, as you say, a bit Scottish? You would have earned a shed-full of points on a rewards card paying for those things. Probably enough to have gotten some of them for free!

There haven’t been many on the market with 0FX fees and points. Over the years the only consistent one was Coles, which is gone.
Bankwest then appeared with a QF card but the earn wasn’t particularly good so you still had to spend enough to justify the annual fee on the points, otherwise you’re back to square one.

Now CBA has a couple and NAB too but the spend needs to be monthly and even higher.

And paying an FX fee to earn points is a mugs game.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Why? Why on Earth would you pay for all those big ticket items on a non-rewards earning credit card if you are, as you say, a bit Scottish? You would have earned a shed-full of points on a rewards card paying for those things. Probably enough to have gotten some of them for free!

Many rewards cards have an annual.

can’t answer for mel-world, but for me, many of my travel expenses are booked direct with hotels, airlines and car hire companies overseas, charging in local currency. So 3-3.5% saving in transactions fees makes up for any points I’d earn. All my aeroplan purchases and associated costs are in CAD for example.

 

[Legoman]

You might not have paid a direct surcharge, but someone has. And if someone has, we, as consumers, ultimately pay for it.

That's obviously true of course, but it's also true of every credit card and every scheme payment system and in fact every single payment method that isn't cash. Arguably, it's even true of cash as well because there is a cost element to the handling, securing, depositing and record-keeping of cash too, just as there is with any other payment method. So the argument you're trying to make doesn't hold water. This thread is specifically about the pros + cons of specificially the 28° card post-fee charging where before there was no fee.

If you wish to discuss the merits of payment schemes in general terms and how they add to inflation by virtue of their existence at all, then this would belong in another thread entirely.

 

[Legoman]

the card has always been reliable overseas. That’s worth quite a lot.

I rather think you have selective memory here. I've had the card since 2009 too when it was a Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard and that was well and truly before chips+PIN and before PayPass/PayWave/NFT. The card back then as you will well remember was orange and had no chip, no NFT, raised embossed numbers and a signature strip on the back that you actually had to sign because it was the only way of endorsing purchases. That card very definitely was NOT reliable overseas. It was in fact, in Europe at least, almost completely worthless and unuseable overseas.

I got laughed at in the UK when I produced that card to buy something and said I need to sign. They couldn't accommodate me and I had to pay cash instead. It was an embarrassment, frankly. After that, I only used it online. So no, this card has not always been reliable overseas. Not even close to it.

Things only marginally improved in the GE Money days when it grew chips+PIN and eventually NFT PayPass/PayWave too. Unfortunately back then it was actually ahead of the payment processors overseas by having all this new tech on it and would again be unreliable and rejected, because the overseas readers had never encountered a card with whatever the Australian standard was for chip+PIN reading back then. I had my card routinely rejected in Venice and throughout Italy for being unable to be read despite Mastercard being very familiar. When I got back I had to get replacement cards issued. It was apparent that GE Money knew about the incompatibility problem and even ran a replacement card programme to all their card holders because they knew damn well the card was failing regularly in it's one and only USP being a card for travellers.

 

[Flashback]

I rather think you have selective memory here. I've had the card since 2009 too when it was a Wizard Advantage Everyday Card and that was well and truly before chips+PIN and before PayPass/PayWave/NFT. The card back then as you will well remember was orange and had no chip, no NFT, raised embossed numbers and a signature strip on the back that you actually had to sign because it was the only way of endorsing purchases. That card very definitely was NOT reliable overseas. It was in fact, in Europe at least, almost completely worthless and unuseable overseas.

I got laughed at in the UK when I produced that card to buy something and said I need to sign. They couldn't accommodate me and I had to pay cash instead. It was an embarrassment, frankly. After that, I only used it online. So no, this card has not always been reliable overseas. Not even close to it.

Strange, I used it in 10 European countries when it was first available and never had any issues including the UK. They simply commented on the need to sign, but wasn't uncommon as a lot of American cards also didn't have chip and pin. YMMV as ever!

 

[Cynicor]

Man, some people have bad luck. I, too, used it over multiple European trips in the Wizard days, 2010-2014 and never had an issue.

 

[serfty]

Why? Why on Earth would you pay for all those big ticket items on a non-rewards earning credit card if you are, as you say, a bit Scottish? You would have earned a shed-full of points on a rewards card paying for those things. Probably enough to have gotten some of them for free!

It depends on what you value a reward point at. And how much to earn that point on overseas spend.

For me it's 1½ cents per $ spend at best these days. At a cost of 3% or worse on most points earning cards my $5k spend over the last year using my 28⁰ has me at least $75 in front.

 

[Legoman]

Man, some people have bad luck. I, too, used it over multiple European trips in the Wizard days, 2010-2014 and never had an issue.

I wasn't unique by any means. GE Money had a batch of useless non-working cards just after NFT became a thing and they were one of the first to add it to their cards. I well remember the blanket roll-out card replacement they had to do because so many people were complaining the cards couldn't be processed via any chip validation method at all. The only thing that remained working was the mag-stripe, but that wasn't a reliable workaround either because as chip+PIN was gaining ground and being normalised, vendors were starting to refuse swiping as a payment method altogether. The pitfalls of being an early adopter were self-evident and GE suffered the consequences by introducing NFT before reading standards had been agreed and before the dust had settled.

It depends on what you value a reward point at. And how much to earn that point on overseas spend.

It really doesn't. We're in Australia. To go anywhere that's not Australia when you live on a island requires you to buy a plane ticket here in Australia using AUD most likely from an Australian-aligned airline who accepts and processes payment here in Australia in AUD. That in no way is classified as an overseas spend and does not required the use of a nil-Forex card.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Strange, I used it in 10 European countries when it was first available and never had any issues including the UK. They simply commented on the need to sign, but wasn't uncommon as a lot of American cards also didn't have chip and pin. YMMV as ever!

Arrived in uk one trip having booked all accommodation etc on 28 degrees card. Problem, in Dubai received sns from them saying card had been compromised and was cancelled and new card sent to my Australian address in 5 days. Great!

So used MrsTMA’s card and had to sign. Card in her name, no one ever checked the name or signature.

 

[serfty]

...
It really doesn't. We're in Australia. To go anywhere that's not Australia when you live on a island requires you to buy a plane ticket here in Australia using AUD most likely from an Australian-aligned airline who accepts and processes payment here in Australia in AUD. That in no way is classified as an overseas spend and does not required the use of a nil-Forex card.

You have missed the point (literally points); I was referring specially to overseas spend. e.g. last month I spent MYR309 for a KUL-SIN fare on MH; it came through in the statement as $98. If I'd used an Amex i would have earned 122 Qantas points at a cost of $2.94. I value those Qantas points at $1.83. I am $1.11 ahead.

FWIW, I also earn approx. 250k points per year from various cards on spend.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It really doesn't. We're in Australia. To go anywhere that's not Australia when you live on a island requires you to buy a plane ticket here in Australia using AUD most likely from an Australian-aligned airline who accepts and processes payment here in Australia in AUD. That in no way is classified as an overseas spend and does not required the use of a nil-Forex card.

that’s an incorrect foundation.

AA redemptions, issued in USA. Lifemiles redemptions issued in Columbia. Aeroplan redemptions issued in Canada. Alaska Airlines redemptions issued in USA.

Before aeroplan was Lifemiles. Before Lifemiles was US airways.

I’d have put through in excess of $100k through those programs in the last ten years alone. Using 28degrees, no fees or charges. Using an Aussie points earning card could have earned me 100k points, but would have cost me upwards of $3000 in transaction fees.

100k points gets me Qantas business class one way to the USA, plus carrier charges. My $3000 plus carrier charges gets me *return* business class to the USA on Aeroplan (or its predecessors)

 

[Legoman]

i was referring specially to overseas spend

You were yes, but the original point was made here and I was referring to that by keeping the subject on topic and not skewing off into irrelevency-land.

The cold hard truth is that this is by virtue of its name, an Australian forum, that discusses a subject relevent to people who by and large live in Australia the majority of the time. If you live in Australia and you want to travel outside of Australia, then paying someone to do such a thing in a foreign currency, just so you can use a nil-Forex card to justify to yourself doing so, would be exceedingly difficult, expensive and probably draw attention to you that you really don't want by the AFP and AUSTRAC

 

[serfty]

You were yes, but the original point was made here and I was referring to that by keeping the subject on topic and not skewing off into irrelevency-land

This was not irrelevance. As per your original comment in that link:

Why? Why on Earth would you pay for all those big ticket items on a non-rewards earning credit card if you are, as you say, a bit Scottish? You would have earned a shed-full of points on a rewards card paying for those things. Probably enough to have gotten some of them for free!

My only reason for considering retaining the card is to avoid those 3% or more fees rather that earning shed-fulls.

 

[SYD]

My only reason for considering retaining the card is to avoid those 3% or more fees rather that earning shed-fulls.

I have a friend (we probably all do) that is adamant that putting all their foreign spend on their AMEX (at 3%) is good value because they’re earning points…

 

[clifford]

I have a friend (we probably all do) that is adamant that putting all their foreign spend on their AMEX (at 3%) is good value because they’re earning points…

Yes, I sometimes do this too.

Each transaction merits its own consideration. We have a toolbox that we can draw the appropriate tool from.