Reduced AMEX earn rates from April 2019

[andye]

It is a bit like you putting money into a bank account and they announce that from mid April your deposit is worth 50% less.

...if you choose not to withdraw it in the next 4 months. The 'old Amex bank account' was offering the best 'interest rates' though

 

[odysseus]

I would not put it that way.

It would be more like, you bought something, you got a cash back, but you are not claiming your cashback immediately, you just want to let it sit for the next 10 years.

Companies hate that, and accountants hate that 100%, because provisions affect your balance sheet and P/L, it is just annoying, anyone who works in finance would use words like "just claim it or write it off FFS".

Points are regarded as a form of currency, so a bank balance is more apt.

You can both accrue deposits, and redemptions, like a bank account, and they wouldn't have 100,000+ point reward redemptions as offered in most programs unless people used them like bank accounts, to save them up. For the majority, they wouldn't even get any benefit from them if they couldn't operate like a bank account, since the minimum redemption (withdrawal) is greater than most people's monthly spending.

Hence, a bank account analogy is more apt than a one-off cash back redemption.

 

[stux]

That's some really unattractive changes that will probably put some people off. It's a huge hit to how valuable their gateway membership rewards/Ascent/Ascent premium program is

Just got my letter re Platinum Edge. To say I’m ropeable is an understatement.

Everything has been reduced by 50-33% and they tried to dress it up as an “increase in earning rates”

Now I have to cash out all my MR points by April and find an alternative when the entire reason I comittted to MR was to run a flexible point bank.

Super pissed off.

Anyone got any suggestions for alternatives with high ffp earns on everyday/petrol/groceries etc

 

[kpc]

Anyone got any suggestions for alternatives with high ffp earns on everyday/petrol/groceries etc

I'm planning to buy 5K worth of Wish GCs (already have 2K worth at home) prior to devaluation

 

[Chicken]

Hence, a bank account analogy is more apt than a one-off cash back redemption.

My experience in a few FMCG companies operating this type of thing, is this would be run as cash provision, not how you described.

What I'm saying is, what you think it looks like, may not be what it actually is in reality. Finance and treasury are not planet earth, they are different planets.

Anyone here who works in finance or treasury care to comment?

Super pissed off.

Anyone got any suggestions for alternatives with high ffp earns on everyday/petrol/groceries etc

There isn't one, see my last post.

This offer from AMEX has been too good to be true for far too long. People need to wake up and be realistic.

 

[60spud]

Can anyone explain the benefit of buying Wish Gift Cards now for me please.
1. Do you get 3 points per dollar
2. Do you get a discount on purchase.
3. Can you only buy them online.
4.If you do get 3 points per dollar now won't they only be worth 1.5 points after April 15th if you don't redeem them prior

 

[Chicken]

Can anyone explain the benefit of buying Wish Gift Cards now for me please.
1. Do you get 3 points per dollar
2. Do you get a discount on purchase.
3. Can you only buy them online.
4.If you do get 3 points per dollar now won't they only be worth 1.5 points after April 15th if you don't redeem them prior

1 Yep
2 Yep 5%
3 Yep
4 Yep

 

[kpc]

Can anyone explain the benefit of buying Wish Gift Cards now for me please.
1. Do you get 3 points per dollar
2. Do you get a discount on purchase.
3. Can you only buy them online.
4.If you do get 3 points per dollar now won't they only be worth 1.5 points after April 15th if you don't redeem them prior

You can buy Wish GCs from various places e.g. automobile associations for 5% off, get 3 pts per $ if you pay with an Edge card, and then TF the points to your fav FF program b4 the devaluation (or if you have a Charge card the points will be doubled post devaluation). As the Wish GCs has no expiry date, you have plenty of time to use them. The Wish GCs can be used for Opal TopUp, petrol, groceries, buying other GCs etc. Of course, you will be tying up your cash for a while...

 

[foggy]

Has anyone noticed the savings tab?
I've just gone through my AMEX cards and its supplementary and the figures are quite interesting. I'm in the positive of at least $13740 as I haven't included travel credits, only statement credits.

 

[albyd]

Thanks for finding this extra reporting tool foggy. How do we get to it? Assuming you’ve logged into Amex online services. Where to from there?

 

[andye]

Has anyone noticed the savings tab?
I've just gone through my AMEX cards and its supplementary and the figures are quite interesting. I'm in the positive of at least $13740 as I haven't included travel credits, only statement credits.
View attachment 145859 View attachment 145860 View attachment 145861

nice portfolio

 

[benjy]

Thanks for finding this extra reporting tool foggy. How do we get to it? Assuming you’ve logged into Amex online services. Where to from there?

If you've logged into the Amex Online Services on a computer, scroll down and you'll see the Savings tab.

 

[albyd]

Thanks. Found it. Thought I'd saved more than it's showing

 

[foggy]

Thanks. Found it. Thought I'd saved more than it's showing

don't forget to check the supplementary card holders too

 

[Mr_Orange]

Thanks. Found it. Thought I'd saved more than it's showing

And if you have had a new card issued, the total savings does not include those from the old card number.

 

[Captain Halliday]

1 Yep
2 Yep 5%
3 Yep
4 Yep

Yep 100%

 

[k_sheep]

I have the explorer, so it's getting halved.

Before this devaluation was announced, I'd JUST applied for the Edge, with plans to get points transferred over to make use of the better exchange rate. But I've heard a few stories that Amex is now not allowing the transfer of Gateway points into Ascent. Don't suppose anyone has had this experience?

I'll call tomorrow anyway - I haven't actually activated the Edge yet, just in case I want to turf it (or threaten to as a bargaining tool).

 

[michael65]

Here is my take on the 1st page of the letter most off us have received by now


American Express say
American Express is making changes to its Membership Rewards Program. These changes will come into effect from 15 April 2019. It’s important to us that you’re across these changes and continue to get great value from your membership.

What they mean
American Express is downgrading its Membership Rewards Program. We really hope you do not notice as it is a significant downgrade especially if you hold a large balance of Membership Rewards points.

American Express say
WHAT’S CHANGING
The average earn rate of the Platinum Edge Credit card is increasing. You can see how all of your Membership Rewards earn rates are changing in the table below

What they mean
WHAT’s CHANGING
We are increasing the average earn rate slightly in the hope you will not notice that it s really a DECREASE in the effective earn rate as the number of Membership Rewards point required for redemptions is increasing by 100% in most cases (from 1:1 to 2:1).

American Express say
We are also making changes to your redemption rates. When you using your Membership Rewards they will convert at the following rates:-

What they mean
We are significantly decreasing your benefits, but hope you do not notice as we are being a bit sneaky by slightly increasing the earn rates while substantially reducing your benefits.

 

[theblank]

I'm planning to buy 5K worth of Wish GCs (already have 2K worth at home) prior to devaluation

How much will this save you?

after allowing for the points difference and the interest cost of prepaying expenses (for me thats 4.2%) its just too little gain for me to bother. YMMV of course.

 

[andye]

How much will this save you?

after allowing for the points difference and the interest cost of prepaying expenses (for me thats 4.2%) its just too little gain for me to bother. YMMV of course.

The lost net interest is an important consideration but it only gets to the full 4.2 % if you prepay over a year's worth