New Option for Plat Credit Card - Free Hotel night

[turtlemichael]

Just got approved for my Plat AMEX, yay

There goes the neighbourhood!

If Luisa is reading, why not apply to non-capital city flights? The benefit to me in Cns of paying to fly to Syd and then using the Amex benefit to fly to Bne, Adl, or Mel is minimal compared with buying a red -e deal for the full trip.

If that would create an expensive rush of pax wanting to fly say to Cns from Syd, why not impose a Per like restriction of having to originate and reside in the non-capital city port?

There aren't many disadvantages to living in Cairns but this is one!

 

[jandk]

ok got a little bit of info for this one...

they reeled off a whole bunch of hotel names over the phone, seems like most peppers hotels, citigate hotels and a few sebels (no, not the good one in sydney )

they also said that some may require more than one night stay, so one free night and you pay for one.

 

[JohnK]

As per our discussion last night with the lovely lady from AMEX, uptake of the free flight offer is only a mere 11%; so this is the reason for offering hotels as well, they're hoping that by offering more flexibility in what you can redeem there would be a higher uptake.

Am I reading this statement correctly that 89% of Platinum card holders are not redeeming their free flight? Why? Wouldn't it be better for Amex if less people took up the free flight offer or are they thinking that by offering more redemption options this will entice more people to apply for the Platinum card?

18% is the number of Oz Amex card holders who have no other credit/charge card - Simply preferring not to utilize institutions that do not take Amex!

It would be interesting to find out the source of this statistic. I have never been surveyed by anyone on how many credit cards I have in my possession.

 

[oz_mark]

Am I reading this statement correctly that 89% of Platinum card holders are not redeeming their free flight? Why? Wouldn't it be better for Amex if less people took up the free flight offer or are they thinking that by offering more redemption options this will entice more people to apply for the Platinum card?

The issue is probably about encouraging them to keep their cards. If they are not redeeming (for whatever reason), then they may not see the value and cancel.

 

[oz_mark]

It would be interesting to find out the source of this statistic. I have never been surveyed by anyone on how many credit cards I have in my possession.

Surveys are done of a sample, which can be surpsingly small number. This means there may be errors in the statistic, and they usually report a margin of error based on the sample size.

 

[serfty]

... It would be interesting to find out the source of this statistic. I have never been surveyed by anyone on how many credit cards I have in my possession.

As per this thread it was spoken about by Luisa as fact.

I guess AMex have a reasonable idea about their CC holders, especially those with titanium.

 

[JohnK]

As per this thread it was spoken about by Luisa as fact.

A lot of statistics are speculation not fact.

 

[serfty]

A lot of statistics are speculation not fact.

Given Luisa Megale is Vice President Public Affairs and Communications of American Express Australia, there's would be very little speculation in her statement.

 

[straitman]

Given Luisa Megale is Vice President Public Affairs and Communications of American Express Australia, there's would be very little speculation in her statement.

Luisa was very open with what she could talk about and very closed when necessary.

I/we did invite her (and/or her team) to post here so thought they might have done so already.

 

[JohnK]

Given Luisa Megale is Vice President Public Affairs and Communications of American Express Australia, there's would be very little speculation in her statement.

Obviously every statement released by governments, financial institutions and insurance companies has to be fact....

 

[Flashback]

Obviously every statement released by governments, financial institutions and insurance companies has to be fact....

You're pushing a moot point. Luisa took time out of her own weekend to come and have dinner with us, and if you don't agree with the statistics been given then so be it; but no need to keep going on about it.

Do you really want to scare off these nice people who have actually gone out of their way to help us?

 

[JohnK]

Do you really want to scare off these nice people who have actually gone out of their way to help us?

That is the last thing I want to do. I apologise if that is how you feel. Anyway I didn't think the opinion of one individual would influence their decision to provide information to AFF in the future....

 

[Flashback]

That is the last thing I want to do. I apologise if that is how you feel. Anyway I didn't think the opinion of one individual would influence their decision to provide information to AFF in the future....

I think that would depend on how sensitive said person is

 

[Evan]

The fact that 18% of Amex card holders is there only card or only card they use regually this suprised me a little.
Also the fact only 11% redeemed flights was un-expected but when you put some thought into it i could understand how it could happen. Its just like me not using free night hotel vouchers... no time, not matched to my needs at the time etc... it happens.

I actually decided to try a platinum charge card and see what value i get from it over my current gold card. It costs a lot in my opinion but i can see how i and other would see it good value so i will give it a go.

E

 

[Mal]

Has anyone seen the new PDS for the Plat card, or any other information in written form about the hotels? Still can't find an updated PDS on the Amex site, and they seem to be stopping publishing them online as well (ie removed all links to PDS's and suggest calling instead). I'm not sure I like that idea - as the benefits of the card are important to me and online PDS's allow me to study the cards without harassing call centre staff, and keep up to date with the rules around insurance etc.

The old PDS for the Platinum Credit Card is located here: http://www.americanexpress.com/australia/pdfs/platcredit_insuranceflightbooklet.pdf

 

[Evan]

I had a PDS from my application but did not check if it had the hotel parts, i was more interested in the insurance etc. Sorry its home in AU.
E

 

[oz_mark]

A lot of statistics are speculation not fact.

I would expect that there would be a degree of science behind these numbers.

 

[Flashback]

I had a PDS from my application but did not check if it had the hotel parts, i was more interested in the insurance etc. Sorry its home in AU.
E

I just got my Plat AMEX 2 days ago, yay I'll dig it out of my car and check for you.

 

[JohnK]

I would expect that there would be a degree of science behind these numbers.

Possibly but short of offending any more people on this this thread I will leave it alone. I have a fair idea of how statistics work and how the margin of error is set in calculations.

I can't say too much but it is very interesting working for an insurance company. A lot of the behind scenes decision making, and what some people may perceive to be fact, is actually more about trial and error rather than actual figures.

 

[straitman]

Possibly but short of offending any more people on this this thread I will leave it alone. I have a fair idea of how statistics work and how the margin of error is set in calculations.

I can't say too much but it is very interesting working for an insurance company. A lot of the behind scenes decision making, and what some people may perceive to be fact, is actually more about trial and error rather than actual figures.

JohnK,

I'm sure a lot of people here have some degree of understanding of what you are saying.

On the other hand you have to believe people who tell you these stats to some degree or other and Luisa was very believable.