Point Collectors Anonymous

[tizey]

Point Loss Anxiety is real, my husband refused a reward F (went with J instead) so he could keep a stash of points for just in case.

You gotta take those F opportunities that arise! Earn em and burn em! Theres always another way to earn more points, but there may not be an F award when you want one!

 

[Denali]

Well our flights are next week and yeah, really wishing I burned them on F but oh well, the pot will be full enough to start thinking about 2019 (maybe Iceland).

 

[Toula92122]

Time to confess my points stash regularly dominate my thoughts. The thought of not having enough points for a F redemption gives me palpatations. My plan is to ride the F redemptions until they are no more as I figure I can always buy a J class seat.

 

[debgow]

And here I thought I was the only one doing this. I will use my credit card to buy a can of coke. My hubby moans about this but is happy for me to use the points on business class fares. Some people just don’t get it!

 

[flyingfan]

You're not alone but I selfishly benefit from not quite everyone doing it - a totally unscientific scan of people around me shows that few are into this points collection business, with many of my acquaintances paying with cash, debit cards or non-points earning cards.

The smallest thing I've managed to pay for is a single photo print at Kmart, ten cents. That's going on the Amex. The biggest is a car, that's going on the MC (because Amex wasn't accepted). And everything in between, as long as the surcharge isn't too punishing. I don't have $200k business expenses to put through sadly.

Just booked my latest J and F redemptions - so to me it's totally worth it

 

[SOPOOR]

It's particularly disturbing when your friend or family says "I've got this big bill coming"

And your next thought is, "I wonder if I can use my credit card and they pay me cash

 

[daft009]

Yeah I've paid quite a few bills for my parents.

Also bought a car 100% on Amex recently at 1c/point effective surcharge

 

[cove]

Now I feel I have a group who understands my behaviour.
Today my SIL saw my Kris Miles stash as we booked her to get home from LAX. Of course I was relieved that First Saver was available on the date she wanted to fly.
It has been more than 8 years since I have paid an ATO bill by electronic funds transfer thanks to a post by js.
I have both US and Australian credit cards.
Just work on the basis that we are the “normal ones”.

 

[snabbu]

Yeah I've paid quite a few bills for my parents.

Also bought a car 100% on Amex recently at 1c/point effective surcharge

Last year I bought our car on a mix of Amex and Visa with zero surcharge at 1.5 ppd. Contributed nicely to the JL/CX J trip booked for this year.

 

[cove]

How is your PCA and PLA this morning?
PCA is Point Collectors Anonymous.
PLA is Point Loss Anxiety.

 

[SOPOOR]

Yeah I've paid quite a few bills for my parents.

Also bought a car 100% on Amex recently at 1c/point effective surcharge

You guys must have some awesome bargaining skills

Years ago when we bought our 26k car. They only allowed us to put 1k or 2k deposit on the card

 

[daft009]

How is your PCA and PLA this morning?
PCA is Point Collectors Anonymous.
PLA is Point Loss Anxiety.

PCA currently high therfore PLA currently low.

You guys must have some awesome bargaining skills

Years ago when we bought our 26k car. They only allowed us to put 1k or 2k deposit on the card

Yeah mine asked for $300 deposit surcharge free, with a max being $3k, after which 2% on any card was their standard T&Cs. So I wrote $3k and they didn't take any deposit lol.
Just paid 2% on the entire amount, which at 2ppd worked out to be 1cpp

 

[cove]

Tonight I replaced the miles I used getting SIL home from LAX. Lucky it was only 150,000 Kris Miles on Saver.
Thursday is our turn to fly.

 

[cove]

Was in our local Ralph’s supermarket in Marina del Rey CA and a fellow asked me if I wanted the new Ralph’s credit card. It was more of a cash back style of CC and because I have the Costco one that does this I don’t really need another non points earning card. I have a Costco voucher from our last years Costco purchases so it won’t be long before we get there.
Our Australian credit cards will get a rest while we are working in the US. Mrscove needs a 2017 tax assessment to complete her St George Amplify credit card application.The $139 offer for 45,000 Kris Miles is great but the application needs ATO assessment that is less than 18 months old.

 

[TAK]

I feel sad when I have a huge point balance and programmes increase redemptions rates - burn em!

 

[Chicken]

Where does one draw the line...

Always pay by AmEx or EFTPOS, even for thousands dollor worth of strata and council. The line is when I can get a free bottle of wine by paying with Citibank credit card.

 

[Le Clair]

I now spend nearly $1,000,000 per year on AmEx (and earn 1,500,000 points on those transactions alone). OK, I have a business and like all businesses, spend a lot with suppliers. All you have to do is ask them to take AmEx. They waffle on about "too expensive" so I ask, "how much do they charge?" Guess what, no-one ACTUALLY knows. Imagine stating categorically that something is too expensive but having no actual clue what the cost is - try it at the next store that doesn't accept AmEx. It's really hilarious.
Anyway, the actual cost is 1.4% which I ask the merchant to include in the price of the goods. Presto, 1,500,000 QFF points per year for $14,000, that's 0.933c per point or round the world more than 5 times in J.
And to answer your first question, it ALL about points, you don't draw the line anywhere and EFT is best treated like a plague.

 

[cove]

Our business Amex rate is a tad higher than 1.4% so we do prefer Visa and Mastercard as it is 1.0% for us.
Seeing we are in the US today I have run up some AA Miles and some Kris Miles into a warehouse on two different CCs.

 

[cove]

I do find Kris Miles are so much easier to use than QFF points for international runs. Availability is what our family loves.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Ahem, my name is Daft and I have a problem. I can't stop collecting points...

Where does one draw the line...

I cannot stop collecting points either, BUT mentally I assess every opportunity with respect cost in TIME, EFFORT & $$$$$ to gain points.

Some are not worth it with respect to one or more of these criteria.
ie I will not take advantage of some Westfield deals if the points to be gained are not large as the nearest location for me to access some of these deals is 30 minutes away in each direction. So to use up say 90 minutes of my time it has to be healthy.

Privacy: I pass on some opportunities for minor points awarded for deals if I think I will be spammed, and/or my privacy is compromised.

In addition in my case all FF points are not created equal., and so for me the line is different for points that only can go to certain FF programs.

• My main earns will end up at KF, VA or QFF.
• I would value a KF point at about say double that of a QFF point. QFF and VA are probably about equal. Though if it was a choice of one to put points to I would go VA.

Surcharges that I am willing to pay will depend on the points to be earnt for that card, the type of points, and also whether that surcharge is tax deductible or not.

For example $100,000 earnt on Amex at 2 MR nets me 200,000 KF points. Surcharges are:
1% $1000 = winner
2% $2000 = still good
4% $4000 = you can start getting paid deals in J for that and so this is probably break even. With Lifemiles etc you can do better.

So if not tax deductible anything above 2% will see the Amex not used. especially if the VISA is fee free.

• For other cards at different earns to different programs the surcharge line will be different.

Line on Overseas spend: I currently use my ANZ Traveller as while points gain is low, being free of overseas transaction fees is a real winner, and so the line is do not use my other point earning cards.


Accommodation Line: I mainly shun points as I find my preferred accommodation is mainly at places that do not award points. My AirBnB bo0kings do now gain QFF points though.

PS

Ahem, my name is Daft and I have a problem. I can't stop collecting points...

I do not have a problem, for as with my alcohol consumption, I have learnt when to stop

I have also learnt to be careful with whom I discuss this hobby/part-time job for most people will either get bored or envious.