Qantas AMEX Ultimate: 100k bonus + new $450 travel credit; ends 2/10/17

[jewles]

Good news everyone! I applied for this card in January this year and used my free return flight in June/July.
On the 1st of November, I made a "purchase" from Qantas Australia which settled in a few days:

And - it came very quickly! Anyone who hasn't used the digital lounge pass before, you can access them by logging in here: Complimentary invitations

They came through with a year and a month expiry. From there you can transfer them to others if necessary:

SO if anyone (like me) applied for the points and was planning on cancelling before the annual fee comes up again - would suggest getting these digital invites first!

I am in the exact same position as you! I have already booked my free flight for December and my annual fee is coming up on the 28th of this month. Does anyone have any hints of how to get some Qantas spend? I saw the option of adding insurance to my December flight but wasn't sure if that would be charged by Qantas Assure rather than Qantas.

 

[HockeyMonkey]

I am in the exact same position as you! I have already booked my free flight for December and my annual fee is coming up on the 28th of this month. Does anyone have any hints of how to get some Qantas spend? I saw the option of adding insurance to my December flight but wasn't sure if that would be charged by Qantas Assure rather than Qantas.

Apparently carbon offsets do the trick https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au

 

[rock86]

Apparently carbon offsets do the trick https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au

Yep, this definitely works

 

[jewles]

Apparently carbon offsets do the trick https://www.qantasfutureplanet.com.au

Thank you! I gave it a go and will report back

 

[TheInsider]

Does anyone know if you refer someone and they already have a low fee amex issues card, that they would still get the bonus points. I know t&c's say no, but just wondering if they still credit in the real world?

 

[exceladdict]

@HockeyMonkey and @jewles you will have success, I did, if it's greater than a dollar. But please don't brag about this lest it be ozbargain'd

 

[exceladdict]

Does anyone know if you refer someone and they already have a low fee amex issues card, that they would still get the bonus points. I know t&c's say no, but just wondering if they still credit in the real world?

Amex are getting very good at policing this. I wouldn't risk it

 

[Deemo77]

@HockeyMonkey and @jewles you will have success, I did, if it's greater than a dollar. But please don't brag about this lest it be ozbargain'd

Thanks for this, just offset an upcoming flight and will let you know outcome.

 

[Deemo77]

Thanks for this, just offset an upcoming flight and will let you know outcome.

Complimentary lounge invites safely in my frequent flyer account, thanks to a couple of dollars spent on carbon offset.
I am constantly amazed at the extent of knowledge and "finer print" details/hacks I have learned from this community.
Thanks again.

 

[Daver6]

How long after the Qantas spend do the lounge passes turn up in your account? Did you receive an email notification of such?

 

[Deemo77]

How long after the Qantas spend do the lounge passes turn up in your account? Did you receive an email notification of such?

Yes I received an email notification from Qantas Frequent Flyer within 3-5 working days of making the purchase. I did see the lounge passes in my account 1 day before receiving the email.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I’ve been booking quite a lot of travel to maximise a DSC offer that I’d recieved.

As a result, I have a $450 credit from this card that will soon expire. Does anyone know if you can make a full flex booking via Amex?

If full flex is possible, does anyone how Amex treat changes after the date the travel credit would otherwise have expired?

Alternatively, is there any way to know which fare bucket a ticket bought via Amex travel will book into?

Finally, does anyone have any bright ideas on how I can avoid wasting the credit, when I have no visibility of my expected 2018 travel?

Happy to accept a PM if there is a method we don’t want Ozbargained.

 

[Trek Uluru]

Hi,

Can the 450 travel credit be used on a QF ticket for someone else, without a ticket for the cardholder in the same purchase ?

Also, did I read somewhere that the travel credit can also be used for car rental etc, as long as it is booked on the Amex portal? T&C's seems to suggest otherwise. Thanks.

 

[NoName]

Hi,

Can the 450 travel credit be used on a QF ticket for someone else, without a ticket for the cardholder in the same purchase ?

Also, did I read somewhere that the travel credit can also be used for car rental etc, as long as it is booked on the Amex portal? T&C's seems to suggest otherwise. Thanks.

My experience is the the travel credit for this particular card can only be used on flights with a QF number. If you try to make any other sort of booking you won’t be able to pay with the credit.

 

[Captain Halliday]

A friendly reminder to check that your QF points are being correctly credited with QF Amex cards.

Mrs H received her monthly statement today. The total was ~$2,500 including a $100 QF spend. However, they’ve only credited:

Base points 150
QF bonus 100
Spend bonus 200 (I’m not sure what this is)
Total 450

Mrs H is also currently working her way through an offer of an extra 2 points per dollar up to a maximum of 10,000 points.

So by my rough calculation they’ve shortchanged her by ~4,500 points.

Check your statements AFFers.

 

[exceladdict]

A friendly reminder to check that your QF points are being correctly credited with QF Amex cards.

Mrs H received her monthly statement today. The total was ~$2,500 including a $100 QF spend. However, they’ve only credited:

Base points 150
QF bonus 100
Spend bonus 200 (I’m not sure what this is)
Total 450

Mrs H is also currently working her way through an offer of an extra 2 points per dollar up to a maximum of 10,000 points.

So by my rough calculation they’ve shortchanged her by ~4,500 points.

Check your statements AFFers.

You may find that sometimes amex do two transfers, one for normal points and one for all bonus points. This happened multiple times last year, though they were typically received to QFF on the same date.

 

[Captain Halliday]

A friendly reminder to check that your QF points are being correctly credited with QF Amex cards.

Mrs H received her monthly statement today. The total was ~$2,500 including a $100 QF spend. However, they’ve only credited:

Base points 150
QF bonus 100
Spend bonus 200 (I’m not sure what this is)
Total 450

Mrs H is also currently working her way through an offer of an extra 2 points per dollar up to a maximum of 10,000 points.

So by my rough calculation they’ve shortchanged her by ~4,500 points.

Check your statements AFFers.

You may find that sometimes amex do two transfers, one for normal points and one for all bonus points. This happened multiple times last year, though they were typically received to QFF on the same date.

An update on this issue.

After speaking with Amex they have explained that the points cycle lags the statement cycle by ~7 days.

So in my case the statement cycle is 25 Dec to 22 Jan... but the points summary covers 18 Dec to 15 Jan.

It just means I'll have to check next months statement for the points due from the final week of this cycle.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I would appreciate advice from the brains trust on how best to follow up missing bonus point in my circumstances.

I met the minimum spend criteria and following the "wait eight to ten weeks for points to post"... the 100k bonus points should have posted on or before 28 February.

Due to work travel I didn't follow up quick enough when that date passed.

My last statement was 19 Feb with payment due 5 Mar. However, a typo when entering BPay details meant the payment didn't process and by the time I realised my error, my payment was 4 days late. I've now payed off the card entirely just to be safe.

To pursue the missing bonus points should I:
1. Wait until my next statement is generated on 19 Mar and hope the bonus points appear.
2. Phone to explain they were due by 28 Feb and ask for them to be manually processed.
3. Use the @Dr Ralph method with a letter alleging breach of contract and asking for both the bonus points and a fee waiver.
4. Another options?

Normally I'd take option 3. However, I'm slightly concerned they'll claim my late payment means that my account wasn't in good standing. I'd then have to argue the account was in good standing on 28 Feb - the date of their breach. I'd rather be 100% squeaky clean if taking this approach.

Given the late payment was my fault I'm inclined to seek a friendly rather than legal solution in the first instance.

How do you think I should play it?

 

[I love to travel]

Quick question regarding the amex lounge access. Is this only Amex lounges in Australia or does it cover centurian lounges overseas. Thanks

 

[Daver6]

I'd phone as the first step and play the naive card. Something along the lines of you were expecting the points in this statement and were curious why they hadn't posted. Take it from there.