Qantas Cash's Current Points Offer

[Renato1]

We're going to the USA next week and I got Qantas Cash's email advising that if I loaded $5000 I'd get 10,000 FF points.

Currently they are offering approx US 69 cents to our dollar. The VISA exchange rate is 72.5 cents to our dollar.

So, if I value a FF point at one A$ cent a point, that means with the two points per dollar on loading, plus the 1 point a dollar on spending, the locked in exchange rate is 69+ (3X.725)= 71.2 cents to our dollar. Which I suppose isn't too bad a deal for locking in the exchange rate, though I'm losing 1.3 cents per dollar relative to today's rate.

If I valued the Qantas FF points somewhat higher, then it would be a no-brainer to take the Qantas cash offer, relative to using my international fee-free cards.

Anyhow, that's my analysis. Can anyone spot a flaw?
Regards,
Renato

 

[opusman]

Anyhow, that's my analysis. Can anyone spot a flaw?

I'm sure the inveterate QC haters will come up with something

 

[harvyk]

That exchange rate of AU$1 = US$0.725 looks to be the mid-market rate, if you can actually find anyone to do that transaction (inc all fees) let us know.
At a rate of AU$1 = US$0.69 that seems to be pretty much what I've found looking at both QC and other sources (after fees), so this does seem to be a good deal.

Of course, all the usual disclaimers and "but I only spent 30 seconds actually researching this" warnings apply.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

We're going to the USA next week and I got Qantas Cash's email advising that if I loaded $5000 I'd get 10,000 FF points.

Currently they are offering approx US 69 cents to our dollar. The VISA exchange rate is 72.5 cents to our dollar.

So, if I value a FF point at one A$ cent a point, that means with the two points per dollar on loading, plus the 1 point a dollar on spending, the locked in exchange rate is 69+ (3X.725)= 71.2 cents to our dollar. Which I suppose isn't too bad a deal for locking in the exchange rate, though I'm losing 1.3 cents per dollar relative to today's rate.

If I valued the Qantas FF points somewhat higher, then it would be a no-brainer to take the Qantas cash offer, relative to using my international fee-free cards.

Anyhow, that's my analysis. Can anyone spot a flaw?
Regards,
Renato

is the exchange rate after the 1% instant load fee? 5K means a $50 load fee

The withdrawal fees could add up too

AUD 1.95; USD 1.95; GBP 1.25; EUR 1.50; THB 70; NZD 2.50; SGD 2.50; HKD 15.00; CAD 2.00; JPY 160; AED 6.50^

 

[TomVexille]

is the exchange rate after the 1% instant load fee? 5K means a $50 load fee

The withdrawal fees could add up too

AUD 1.95; USD 1.95; GBP 1.25; EUR 1.50; THB 70; NZD 2.50; SGD 2.50; HKD 15.00; CAD 2.00; JPY 160; AED 6.50^

Instant load fee only applies if you use a debit card to load your account. Bank transfers and bpay are still free.

 

[cove]

It is about 5% of your money!

 

[basso]

That exchange rate of AU$1 = US$0.725 looks to be the mid-market rate, if you can actually find anyone to do that transaction (inc all fees) let us know.

It's the Visa rate

Australian Dollar to United States Dollar May 23, 2016 1 AUD = 0.725327 USD

 

[drewbles]

When I used my Citibank debit card in the USA I get almost bang on the mid-market rate when I take cash out from one of their ATM's.

Likewise when i've taken GBP's out in the UK, the rate has been within .5% of the mid-market rate.

There's just not enough value in Qantas Cash for me to justify the points.

 

[opusman]

Here we go again...

It's really boring guys. We know you don't like QC. Build a bridge and get over it.

 

[TomVexille]

Here we go again...

It's really boring guys. We know you don't like QC. Build a bridge and get over it.

I think it has it's place. With the right promo it's worth using. I just don't use it much as I don't tend to take out much cash overseas and citi are better for that purpose.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

When I used my Citibank debit card in the USA I get almost bang on the mid-market rate when I take cash out from one of their ATM's.

Likewise when i've taken GBP's out in the UK, the rate has been within .5% of the mid-market rate.

There's just not enough value in Qantas Cash for me to justify the points.

With a likely falling dollar i can see the value of locking in current rates, though whether buyign cash is a better option is debatable - some will like the security of a card being easily replaces where cash is not.

With the bonus on offer that in some way helps to ameliorate the fees to get your cash out overseas and the lower initial rate to load the card.

 

[markir]

Here we go again...

It's really boring guys. We know you don't like QC. Build a bridge and get over it.

I just loaded QC with 500 EUR The rest I take in cash. To tell the truth I never know if QC is a good deal or not. I found the remark from opusman quite funny. What is wrong with QC?
markir

 

[TomVexille]

I just loaded QC with 500 EUR The rest I take in cash. To tell the truth I never know if QC is a good deal or not. I found the remark from opusman quite funny. What is wrong with QC?
markir

Generally you pay in the range of 3% in FX fees (which is very similar to many credit cards) on QC as opposed to certain other products that give close to the mid market rate.

 

[burmans]

I'm sure the inveterate QC haters will come up with something

The analysis shows it's a bad deal, you'd need to be a QF lover to want to argue with it!

 

[NoName]

Don't find their rates to be good enough to justify loading any FX on there even for a bonus offer. If they have another bonus offer for loading AUD and making some kind of spend count me in though.

 

[Mattg]

The analysis shows it's a bad deal, you'd need to be a QF lover to want to argue with it!

In my experience, it's poor value compared to (say) the Citibank debit card. However, it's still a better product than nearly all of the bank-issued travel money cards, and they don't award points. So, if you're in the market for a prepaid travel card, I don't think it's actually a bad option.

 

[opusman]

As I've said before, I have approx. $5000 USD on my QC that I bought at .96. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[CaptJCool]

If only I had $5000 to stick away at that time at that rate! Near a third gain by now?

 

[Renato1]

I'm sure the inveterate QC haters will come up with something

The only thing that I wish Qantas Cash had was a small over draft facility for the occasional time I forget to load it. Because of this I can't really use it as a reliable card that I can set up direct debits on, without leaving lots of cash there to cover all circumstances. Otherwise, at an earning rate of half an FF point a dollar it matches up very well with many non-Amex credit cards.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

That exchange rate of AU$1 = US$0.725 looks to be the mid-market rate, if you can actually find anyone to do that transaction (inc all fees) let us know.

Getting that rate exclusive of fees is pretty easy - just use the Citibank Visa debit card. Last year in Europe when getting Euros out of the ATM, or buying something with my 28 Degree Mastercard, the exchange rate I was charged was always very close to that day's XE.com rate - about 0.4 Eurocents lower, which was better than Qantas Cash's several cents lower.
Regards,
Renato