Platinum Card, what will I get for $900

[Sprucegoose]

if you get a black card you get a plat card free yippee and it only cost 4k

And its tax deductible!

 

[Sprucegoose]

It's easy enough to get AMEX to drop the AU fee to be closer to those other countries' fees if you ask nicely. (Maybe not in the first year, but subsequent years).

..but yes, we do pay some pretty ridiculous fees compared to other countries. Then again, fairly consistent with everything in Australia!

Cheers,
- Febs.

Clearly this is the carbon tax........

 

[k3nnis]

is the plat charge tax deductible?

 

[pshepvic]

is the plat charge tax deductible?

Well technically any card fee is tax deductible if the card is used in the course of producing assessable income. But for 100% deduction, you'd have to use the card 100% for work/business purposes.


Sent from my iPad using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[Jim]

I received from AMEX you will only get 1 FF per dollar after 1/10/12 and 0.5 for utilities. With no supplementary insurance is there any reasons besides the free flight to stay with AMEX ?

What's the best card to switch over to???

 

[k3nnis]

Only reason to stay could be if you eat a lot in restaurants on their list and also travel a lot....

 

[11sjw]

I received from AMEX you will only get 1 FF per dollar after 1/10/12 and 0.5 for utilities. With no supplementary insurance is there any reasons besides the free flight to stay with AMEX ?

What's the best card to switch over to???

Cancelled my Charge card (& associated CC) today and have run them through the shredder. The AMEX people were nice enough about it, tried mentioning some lower Gold Card, but could offer no positive resolution to "You've devalued the travel insurance and i want to continue earning 1.5pts/$1."

In the short term I have gone direct to ANZ with their cobranded AMEX Platinum/Visa Platinum combo. It maintains the 1.5 rate for me (with a 32k head start!) and with no personal O/S travel in the short (inside 12 months) term planned the Travel Insurance isn't an issue. Some in here have mentioned (see the "Can you have too many FF pts?" thread) that they prefer not to have direct earn cards. At the moment due to work QF is the only airline I can rack up Status and Points on (PBO flights) hence direct earn seems ok to me for now.

The AMEX Qantas Ultimate card looked OK as it earns 1.5QFF Pts/$1. The free QF flight was definitely of interest, however given the fact that I don't book any of my work flights I'd struggle to book a QF flight in order to "earn" the free one each year.

Oh well, 7 years with AMEX and it's all over!!!

 

[Foreigner]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned previously but ATO charge for using AMEX is 1.45% now.

 

[Foreigner]

I'm not sure if it is this thread that discussed one night free accommodation at selected properties around the world.

The voucher expires at end of September, I think, and I've yet to make booking. Is it possible to book the night over the next 12 months? Or, did the accommodation needed to be taken by end September?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Amex will only see the true effect of the points changes over the next year as more and more people cancel at the time of annual fees.

While I don't discount you point that people will cancel on renewal (as many will procrastinate) , IMO Amex spend is about to drop dramatically come 1 Oct when many items will drop from earning 1.5 to only 0.5 points per $.

There will probably be a bulge in October statements as a number like me will prepay a few items. But from Oct 1 my Amex Plat will go to zero spend.

 

[cove]

The idea of prepaying a quarterly tax bill by about 30 days is interesting but with so many other choices I don't think it would suit many of us.

 

[Flashback]

The idea of prepaying a quarterly tax bill by about 30 days is interesting but with so many other choices I don't think it would suit many of us.

Interest being the key word here!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The idea of prepaying a quarterly tax bill by about 30 days is interesting but with so many other choices I don't think it would suit many of us.

Which is why I will not go overboard.

I have one set of private school fees due next month. So I will pay late Sept.
In my case there is no point going overboard as money can be offsetting my mortgage instead.

This less than point per $ unlike some of the 5-10 Bonii promotions that always got a hammering just prior to the end date.

Speaking of which...has anyone else noticed that there area lot less Amex Promos at present. This used to be a reason in itself to hold an Amex card. But they seem to few and far between now, and not as generous.

 

[greenfrog86]

Speaking of which...has anyone else noticed that there area lot less Amex Promos at present. This used to be a reason in itself to hold an Amex card. But they seem to few and far between now, and not as generous.

I too noticed this and that all Amex bonus point promos seem to end at end Sep this year...

Perhaps there's a link with the points change here?

I will be beside myself if Amex manages to introduce a bonus points mall like they have in the US... Whilst everyday spend doesn't bring heaps of points, there are enough merchant categories that you could easily get truckloads of points by shopping wisely.

Perhaps something like the velocity shop and earn setup? Yes please!!!

 

[Rono]

Greenfrog, what do you mean by "a bonus points mall like they have in the US"??

I too noticed this and that all Amex bonus point promos seem to end at end Sep this year...

Perhaps there's a link with the points change here?

I will be beside myself if Amex manages to introduce a bonus points mall like they have in the US... Whilst everyday spend doesn't bring heaps of points, there are enough merchant categories that you could easily get truckloads of points by shopping wisely.

Perhaps something like the velocity shop and earn setup? Yes please!!!

 

[Rono]

Foreigner,
Could you tell me more about the Amex offer. We did take up an offer previously of one night free at a 5 star resort on the east coast of Spain back in May. Are there other similar deals on offer? I don't recall seeing any?

regards

Rono

I'm not sure if it is this thread that discussed one night free accommodation at selected properties around the world.

The voucher expires at end of September, I think, and I've yet to make booking. Is it possible to book the night over the next 12 months? Or, did the accommodation needed to be taken by end September?

 

[greenfrog86]

Greenfrog, what do you mean by "a bonus points mall like they have in the US"??

After posting this I went to the US site and I think they've removed it, however it was essentially a very large range of bonus points partners with anything from 2x to sometimes 10x bonus points.

I'd REALLY like something like the Virgin Velocity rewards earning program to be setup by Amex... Essentially this has a range of domestic and international merchants that offer bonus points for spend... So if Amex did this then the bonus points would be MR points rather than velocity.

We can only hope...!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

After posting this I went to the US site and I think they've removed it, however it was essentially a very large range of bonus points partners with anything from 2x to sometimes 10x bonus points.

I'd REALLY like something like the Virgin Velocity rewards earning program to be setup by Amex... Essentially this has a range of domestic and international merchants that offer bonus points for spend... So if Amex did this then the bonus points would be MR points rather than velocity.

We can only hope...!

You mean like this?:

Amex Bonus Rewards | PARTNERS

 

[TonyHancock]

You mean like this?:

Amex Bonus Rewards | PARTNERS

I think much better than that, but maybe that is just me.

 

[Foreigner]

Foreigner,
Could you tell me more about the Amex offer. We did take up an offer previously of one night free at a 5 star resort on the east coast of Spain back in May. Are there other similar deals on offer? I don't recall seeing any?

regards

Rono

This is the offer I was thinking off. Maybe you've already taken up the offer. Started beginning of the year and I'm unsure if I've chance of booking. Will check tomorrow with my RM at Amex.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/american-express-rewards/enjoy-night-away-us-amex-36172.html