Qantas American Express Premium Card - month of Qantas points lost if cancelled?

[qwsoftware]

Hello everyone,

I have an Qantas American Express Premium Card that I have had for 3 years now, been happy having it annual fee free but I dont want to pay the $195 annual fee as not accepted everywhere (also have a citibank free for life card with Qantas reward points).

I have got it annual fee free every year when called to cancel but last year they said that would be the last time and would not do it again.

My question is I am about to put some big purchases on it (including Qantas flights) but if I payoff and cancel in 2 weeks time (approx 7th Feb) to avoid the annual fee, do you think I will I still get my Qantas reward point as the transfer to my Qantas account usually occurs in 4 weeks time (22 Feb)? This time the card will be cancelled

Dont want to risk looking approx 7000-8000 Qantas points:shock:

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hold off putting the big spend on the Amex card until you call them by 07 Feb and say you want to cancel your account. They generally transfer you to the "cancellations" section who do all to negotiate with you so you'll stay.

Tell them your reason for cancelling ie don't want to pay $195.00 per annum (& possibly another $80.00 for membership rewards too?) plus your Citibank Visa or Mastercard is more widely accepted etc etc and see what they say.

If they won't waive the annual fee, tell them to jam it, go ahead and cancel Amex card then put the big spend on your Citibank card instead which still earn some degree of QF fflyer points.

I think it's stretching the friendship to cancel the card by 07 Feb and still have the points transfer go ahead around 22 Feb. Amex aren't known for letting their cardholders have their cake and eat it too.

Cheers

Oz

 

[holrs514]

Ring them up and tell them you are going to cancel. I am sure they will offer you another year fee free. There is a lot of pressure not to lose customers.

 

[warbrook]

I tend to agree with holrs514: the competition is very stiff. Also, I know that the reward points associated with my credit card are preserved only as long as the card is current or is transferred to a similar card with the same institution. Perhaps you can transfer to a cheaper Amex card and retain the points. Don't ditch your provider until it's to your own advantage.

 

[Flying Fox]

You've got nothing to lose. At worst you can say, I think about it and hang up.

Alternatively ask for an extension of your renewal date for at least 1 mth. Then once your points transfer to your QF account, cancel the card.

 

[Mal]

I believe that with normal Amex's, if you terminate your final card that credits to Membership Rewards (or terminate your Membership Rewards membership), you have 30 days to determine how you want to use your points before they expire.

Not 100% sure how they handle the transfers to Qantas though. Best you check with Amex as there is a lot at stake if you get the answer wrong!

 

[Natt]

Call the cards section and tell them you are considering cancelling

It will help if you have a viable alternative, so they know you have done your research.

They should waive the fee.

I had an Earth card I was ready to cancel, and they waived the fee. It was much simpler than making other arrangements.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I got a QF AMEX card fee free for life awhile back - along with 7500 bonus points.

Maybe if u ask to be "downgraded" with no annual fee they might do that for u.

I tend to use this card for online purchases and when dealing direct with QF to get the bonus point, otherwise I'm pretty happy with my Citibusiness gold card.

 

[whoistheg]

I have gotten a refund each year of the annual fee $195

Just ring up and say you want to cancel as your not happy with fee.

If you have a spend over 15k a year they should do it without blinking
an eye..

 

[qwsoftware]

Thanks for your posts.

I have paid off and rewards have gone through - see if they will let me get another year fee free on Monday otherwise I will cancel and put all large purchases on Citibank Plat (fee free for life)

I dont spend over 15K a year on Amex that is a shame - only because most of my general expenses don't take it - but will not be doing lots of travel for work in the next 6 months so home fee free for another year 1.25 point per dollar is better than 1
Matt

On a different topic, my amex Premium card doesn't have a chip, can this be used ok in UK? Do most places in UK take amex?

 

[Dave Noble]

On a different topic, my amex Premium card doesn't have a chip, can this be used ok in UK? Do most places in UK take amex?

Places should accept it but you may find some that refuse to accept cards without a chip

Buying from machines ( such as some train companies ticket machines ) may not work depending on the company. Some will only permit purchases using chip and pin

If you have a card with a chip, then this will be the easiest to use but do make sure that you have a pin set on your chip before you go

Dave

 

[Natt]

Thanks for your posts.
On a different topic, my amex Premium card doesn't have a chip, can this be used ok in UK? Do most places in UK take amex?

Pretty sure you wold know this but did you know CC will usually charge a foreign currency conversion fee of 2-3%.

Also the rate they use for conversion is pretty low

I am a huge fan of the Wizard Clear Advantage card

I suspect their customer service is comparable with Citibank (ie cough) - but for they are awesome for foreign transactions

I recently purchased a fare a 1 AUD = .5627 GBP - with no fees

worth getting IMHO

 

[qwsoftware]

Pretty sure you wold know this but did you know CC will usually charge a foreign currency conversion fee of 2-3%.

Also the rate they use for conversion is pretty low

I am a huge fan of the Wizard Clear Advantage card

I suspect their customer service is comparable with Citibank (ie cough) - but for they are awesome for foreign transactions

I recently purchased a fare a 1 AUD = .5627 GBP - with no fees

worth getting IMHO

Wow - clear advantage sound good. I use to have a Virgin credit card and buy putting it in credit, I could draw cash from an ATM overseas for only $2.50 charge and no fee!!! Not sure if this still applies now Westpac taken over it.

This will be for business so sure the few % will be ok with the boss


OK, I spoke to Amex and got the fee waived for another year!
Asked for fee free for life and they said wont do this as depends if pay bill off in time/amount put on it.
It is funny, they really try and call your bluff, ok I am putting you through to cancellations, are you sure you want to cancel this amex today? Yes!
Ok, then cancellations said ok good customer - fee free waived if ok.

So time to set my phones alarm to alarm in another year to ring up again...

Just against annual fees on credit cards, originally from the UK and an annual fee on credit card was hardly heard of (except Barclaycard from memory was 10 pound per year ($20)). No bank fees neither, they pay you to borrow your money!

Thanks guys

 

[Dave Noble]

Just against annual fees on credit cards, originally from the UK and an annual fee on credit card was hardly heard of (except Barclaycard from memory was 10 pound per year ($20)). No bank fees neither, they pay you to borrow your money!

Yeah well.. people in Australia seem to be happy to pay fees for credit cards so banks charge em

I just phoned AMEX to cancel a corporate card. that was nice n easy and yay once more no debt cards ( even corporate ) in my name

Dave

 

[burmans]

I don't think it's a matter of calling your bluff. More that the general card guys have no authority to do this and the cancellation people do.

Last time I went through this exercise the guy I got was quite helpful, basically he told me that I need to threaten to cancel before they will consider, that I should write a letter and basically it would be more likely to work if I specifically threatened to cancel. This did indeed work beautifully!

This year it will be easier I think, just need to say you get an Amex as part of a package fee-free which has a reasonable possibility of being true (it is for me) given most banks now offer Amex as part of two for one deal to just about veryone. They don't know if you have a package but given the way the banks have been throwing them around Amex would think the chnaces are good this is true!