Qantas American Express Ultimate Card - now 50,000 bonus points

[drewbles]

$450.00 per annum - shirley they can't be serious???

This is sheer greed by Amex IMHO. No wonder they don't have as many merchants as visa and mastercard. Their merchant fees are much higher then they take a lot longer to pay their merchants at end of month.

My axe to grind with them is on overseas transactions eg when paying a deposit to a Las Vegas hotel they charge an overseas transaction fee. That particular hotel I cancelled and when the refund of deposit came through Amex again charge an overseas transaction fee on the refunded amount too!!!

In a similar case involving a refund on a hotel deposit paid on a GE Go Mastercard, they recredited the overseas transaction fee. What's good for the goose should be good for the gander.

It's worth noting that the "free" ticket ex PER you can travel to the east coast however if you live on the east coast you can't travel to PER.

So if you live in SYD your "free" ticket is to ADL/BNE/MEL. There's plenty of times throughout the year when a return ticket to these cities is less than $450.00.

Am I missing something here with regards your return on investment? What do you really get for your money & how do Amex justify what some might call highway robbery???

Most credit card companies offer "free" insurance for trips purchased on the applicable card so that's not a big deal really. I would certainly be reading the fine print on the PDS as to what they won't pay or insure. You may have to take out a travel insurance policy to cover the additional things not covered in the "free" insurance.

Sounds like an offer I will file under the category of "being promised the world and given an atlas"!

If you don't like it you can always get another card, as the story goes.

You also get travel insurance into the bargain, which may or may not, be suitable for your requirements. You also get the ability to earn 1.5 FF points per dollar, which very few cards offer.

If you think that's expensive, look at the Platinum Charge for $900/year, or the Centurion which goes into the many thousands a year.

If you spend enough on the card, they'll reduce or waive the fee altogether, and they target these at people who have the income (over $65kPA to be considered for a Platinum CC/Ultimate card).

 

[Techie]

Am I missing something here with regards your return on investment? What do you really get for your money & how do Amex justify what some might call highway robbery???

For my money, it's as good as 50K bonus points. Otherwise, just an ordinary card.

 

[wassie]

Does holding a current supplementary card mean that the person is no longer a "new" applicant?

Would also be keen to know the answer to this as the wife is a supplementary card holder on my card. We travel a bit over east so $450 ex Perth to Syd is good value for spend we would make anyhow. Not so good for eastcoasters tho - one of the very few times we get a good deal from Perth!

 

[medhead]

Would also be keen to know the answer to this as the wife is a supplementary card holder on my card. We travel a bit over east so $450 ex Perth to Syd is good value for spend we would make anyhow. Not so good for eastcoasters tho - one of the very few times we get a good deal from Perth!

I would guess that a supplementary card holder would be a new applicant because they have never applied for a card in their own right. The primary card holder applies for the supplementary card.

But perhaps I'm completely wrong.

Have you rang AMEX or check the T&C on their website?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Bear in mind too that you could still be an Amex card holder eg Gold card which is not considered a "Qantas American Express card" and be eligible to apply for this offer.

Had to call Amex earlier in the week for something (Tel: 1 300 363 687) and I can't tell you how good it is to hear "hello this is Lyn in Melbourne". She asked me how the card was going & wanted feedback - which I gave her about not being able to use the card for certain things such as PayPal. She certainly is a credit to her employer and you couldn't ask for better service.

To be able to speak to someone that knows the lingo and how things work particularly when it comes to financial matters is great.

I'm not knocking any particular country's call centre but you just don't want to hear scripted replies to your questions then have to be put on hold each time while they ask another person the answer to your question.

 

[drewbles]

Bear in mind too that you could still be an Amex card holder eg Gold card which is not considered a "Qantas American Express card" and be eligible to apply for this offer.

It's an Amex administered card, so if you have a Gold card, you would not be eligible for any 'new amex card' promotion including this one.

I'm still in the process of changing from one card to the QF Ultimate card. Amex are handling it all and term it as a 'brand change'. It's all still Amex though, unlike the Earth/ANZ/CBA/etc Amex cards which are issued by the institutions themselves using Amex as a clearing house only.

 

[WA flyer]

For those of us west of the Nullabor, this is worthwhile. The $450 should be covered with a PER/SYD or PER/MEL with the 50K points probably worth about $1000 on a long haul.
I think i'll take take this up for a year and see if I can negotiate the $450 in future.

 

[sampson]

Re a post saying Amex charges merchants more tham m/c or visa, merchants should haggle. In the lead up to, and after, the 5k/5t promo, Amex was luring new merchants by matching m/c and visa. Amex was also paying merchants overnight. Amex was also very keen to be nice to those who wwaived Surcharges.

As for $450 for 50k of points, Velocity gives 100k if you roll certain points (eg CBA Awards) into V ..and win. (Meh). Personally I's like 50k of qff points because that'll get me to the US for $450.

 

[2muchplastic]

.....As for $450 for 50k of points, Velocity gives 100k if you roll certain points (eg CBA Awards) into V ..and win. (Meh). Personally I's like 50k of qff points because that'll get me to the US for $450.

I'm thinking along the same lines - if me and SWMBO both have a go, then we've got all but 14k points needed (each) to get to the UK, for $450. PLUS a free BNE-SYD/MEL return too!

I'm thinking that's not a terrible deal!

 

[sinophile888]

I am also planning to apply for the 50 000 point promotion. Living in Perth makes the PER-MEL-PER free flight appealing. What is the cheapest way to spend on Qantas to become eligible for the free flight? Would it need to be a flight or could it be something cheap from the Qantas shop? If a cheap flight, would it need to be actually flown or just purchased? If the flight had to be flown, it would better me to buy a ticket for my son in Melbourne rather than for me in Perth. I am off to China soon and plan to go to Europe with Emirates over the Christmas holidays. So not thinking of any Qantas flights in the near future except to use the free one.

 

[JohnK]

It's an Amex administered card, so if you have a Gold card, you would not be eligible for any 'new amex card' promotion including this one.

When did Amex change the rules? I had a Gold card and applied for a Qantas Amex premium card, got the points, keep getting the 2 Qantas Club passes each year, the annual fee is waived and and as far as Amex were concerned I was a "new" customer. Still have the Gold card....

 

[medhead]

When did Amex change the rules? I had a Gold card and applied for a Qantas Amex premium card, got the points, keep getting the 2 Qantas Club passes each year, the annual fee is waived and and as far as Amex were concerned I was a "new" customer. Still have the Gold card....

That's what I thought. When I got the bonus when moving from Standard QF AMEX to middle qantas AMEX, the requirement was to be a new applicant not a new customer.

 

[DrAndyC]

To quote the T&Cs "To be eligible for all or part of the 50,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points offer, you must be a new Card applicant only who does not currently hold any of the Qantas American Express Card products"

My understanding of this, is that as long as you are not a qantas amex holder you should be okay (ie - different gold/platinum amex cc holders should be okay). I am going to call them tomorrow to clarify....as i am going to ditch my others

 

[ozbeachbabe]

My understanding of this, is that as long as you are not a qantas amex holder you should be okay (ie - different gold/platinum amex cc holders should be okay). I am going to call them tomorrow to clarify....as i am going to ditch my others

That is my understanding also so I will ditch the Amex Gold card.

Not 100% convinced that this new one is worth $450.00 considering the difficulty in redeeming the points for flights so might use that aspect as a bargaining tool but not holding my breath.

Then there's the matter of having to spend $4K without spending it on cough that I wouldn't have bought anyway which would defeat the purpose of the exercise. I may as well have just gone and spent that money direct on an airfare that I would've got on points if I'd spent the $4K on the card.

 

[Lonely Flyer]

$450.00 per annum - shirley they can't be serious???

This is sheer greed by Amex IMHO. No wonder they don't have as many merchants as visa and mastercard. Their merchant fees are much higher then they take a lot longer to pay their merchants at end of month.

My axe to grind with them is on overseas transactions eg when paying a deposit to a Las Vegas hotel they charge an overseas transaction fee. That particular hotel I cancelled and when the refund of deposit came through Amex again charge an overseas transaction fee on the refunded amount too!!!

In a similar case involving a refund on a hotel deposit paid on a GE Go Mastercard, they recredited the overseas transaction fee. What's good for the goose should be good for the gander.

It's worth noting that the "free" ticket ex PER you can travel to the east coast however if you live on the east coast you can't travel to PER.

So if you live in SYD your "free" ticket is to ADL/BNE/MEL. There's plenty of times throughout the year when a return ticket to these cities is less than $450.00.

Am I missing something here with regards your return on investment? What do you really get for your money & how do Amex justify what some might call highway robbery???

Most credit card companies offer "free" insurance for trips purchased on the applicable card so that's not a big deal really. I would certainly be reading the fine print on the PDS as to what they won't pay or insure. You may have to take out a travel insurance policy to cover the additional things not covered in the "free" insurance.

Sounds like an offer I will file under the category of "being promised the world and given an atlas"!

Well I figure it this way

BNE-MEL return later in the year would cost $300

So I am paying $150 for 42500 points which I think is a deal and get 1.5 per $ and I would spend at least $4000 on my cards in 3 months. Cancel before annual fee due.

 

[Sector3]

When does the first $450 Annual Fee get charged?

Can I earn and be credited the 50,000 points and then cancel the card without paying a fee?

If a QANTAS flight isn't taken during the first year of holding the card, can two flights be taken in the second year?

 

[kamchatsky]

When does the first $450 Annual Fee get charged?

Can I earn and be credited the 50,000 points and then cancel the card without paying a fee?

If a QANTAS flight isn't taken during the first year of holding the card, can two flights be taken in the second year?

Nope. It is charge the first time you use it. Even though after a year you may "threaten" to to cancel and avoid the annual fee. It is on another thread.

I don't think those flights are coughulative. Use it or lose it, I believe.

 

[Sector3]

Nope. It is charge the first time you use it. Even though after a year you may "threaten" to to cancel and avoid the annual fee. It is on another thread.

I don't think those flights are coughulative. Use it or lose it, I believe.

Well, they charged me the $450 Annual Fee the day the application was approved....a week before even receiving the card in the mail!

I also discovered from the fine print that the 'free' airfare must be claimed each year, and can't be carried over.

 

[supersizeme]

Sorry can someone clarify - is this a $4000 spend over several transactions over 3 months, or a one off purchase worth $4000+ within the first 3 months?

 

[djfuzz]

Sorry can someone clarify - is this a $4000 spend over several transactions over 3 months, or a one off purchase worth $4000+ within the first 3 months?

$4000 in total purchases in the first three months - not a single purchase (would make the promo just a bit misleading if it were).

FWIW, first batch of points (for QF spend and initial purchase) have posted to our account, just waiting for the 42,500 balance for the $4000 in purchases to post in a couple of weeks.