Reduced AMEX earn rates from April 2019

[amaroo]

AMEX should gear their point earn reward / transfer rate to actual spending .... a bit like how airlines and hotels couple spend / status.

 

[andye]

AMEX should gear their point earn reward / transfer rate to actual spending .... a bit like how airlines couple spend / status.

Where's the fun in that?
The thing that keeps me hooked is the potential for a disproportionate reward. If its all tied to revenue, you might as well have a discount

 

[potm]

Agree with others that adjusting the transfer rates is a dog move that is not justified. They should have just adjusted the earn rates.
So much for that advertising campaign a while back about how their points got your further.

My prediction for the next devaluation is St George Amplify.

 

[IMOA]

Gotta say that Amex is trying really hard to get me to ditch my charge card. This announcement has me looking into the options since I’ll get hit hard by the point earn changes (most of my transactions are international, travel related and restaurants/bars) and will get slaughtered by the point burn changes (100% of my 20 year membership rewards redemptions have been to airline programs). On top of that not only did I have to swallow the $1450 fee on the 13th but they also hit me up for a $205 late payment fee because I paid the bill on the 1st, 3 days after the official due date but 13 days before the statement reset date. I always understood the reset date to be the real due date on charge cards (and have been told that by Amex representatives) so it looks like they’re also cracking down on the unofficial benefits that platinum charge card members have had in the past. And that’s on the back of the massive fee hike last year.

I don’t need wider acceptance, I just need value for money and right now when I look at cards like 28 degrees who give international fee free for $0 or bankwest world with international fee free and LoungeKey for $270 it’s getting really hard to justify being an Amex customer.

 

[Cynicor]

Agree with others that adjusting the transfer rates is a dog move that is not justified. They should have just adjusted the earn rates.
So much for that advertising campaign a while back about how their points got your further.

My prediction for the next devaluation is St George Amplify.

Only cos we'll all be spending mega$ through them! Hoping to get more than a year or 18 months out of it, still.

 

[Saltywings]

AMEX should gear their point earn reward / transfer rate to actual spending .... a bit like how airlines and hotels couple spend / status.

If you do that, with points earn becoming a linear function of spend, points hacking would stop being a thing. And, people like you and Cove who have legitimate zillions to push through their cards will win. The rich getting richer: solid capitalist play? (I say this all with a slightly facetious tone, but the underlying statement is a pithy truth)

Of course, churn/burn & other strategies notwithstanding.

Where's the fun in that?
The thing that keeps me hooked is the potential for a disproportionate reward. If its all tied to revenue, you might as well have a discount

And those who have less financial means but otherwise points-gaming savvy would lose out, and the community would be all the less rich!

 

[amaroo]

Just about everything else in this world is user pays.... why not Amex points?

 

[ninja-tim]

My prediction for the next devaluation is St George Amplify.

Don't jinx it. Let us deal with this current upset first

 

[SOPOOR]

Im not going to try and understand or validate these changes however,
For people like myself who have little business or ato spend, im assuming that most people currently transfer to airlinrs of some sort.

These changes means that paying a surcharge for points will make no sense

Since my explorer is 2ppd, cut that in half and its the same as other visa cards at 1ppd

The onky benefit i can possibly i can think of my situation is to use plat edge for supermarket spend which ends up to be 1.5 ppd

I cant think of a use for explorer except for statement credits and shop small

 

[chk123]

as others have called out here, contact amex and let them know your thoughts, woolies tried ditching qantas altogether ... until they heard the uproar that caused ....

 

[zenyattamondatta]

disaster....

After April 2019, better convert MR points to SPG as the rate is 3:2, then SPG to airlines with 1:1

Since this post now has seven "Likes" and one "Agree", could someone please explain to me how to convert SPG points to airlines 1:1 without a time machine?

 

[Bell21]

I posted a follow-up comment (sorry can't remember why in the thread) indicating I believed this is incorrect - the maths doesn't work

Pity we can't use a time machine as I miss the old amex-spg-marriott transfer rates!

 

[Bell21]

I posted a follow-up comment (sorry can't remember why in the thread) indicating I believed this is incorrect - the maths doesn't work

Pity we can't use a time machine as I miss the old amex-spg-marriott transfer rates!

(Meant 'where in the thread)

 

[yoyo]

Given that so many of us are going to be cancelling our cards with the new changes, Amex should at least throw us a bone to make it a bit more palatable. My suggestions would be improving the currently useless travel insurance, eliminating foreign exchange fees and changing the travel credit to an automatic credit on the account like my US Chase sapphire reserve card. Then I would keep it.

 

[theblank]

... and a free toaster per annum. I cant beleive they dont give out toasters any more.

 

[luxury-lizard]

Good grief - this is essentially the worst 'airline devaluation' ever. Will certainly be transferring all my AmEx points to KrisFlyer before April ..... was great while it lasted. Certainly less incentive to use AmEx particularly when there's a merchant surcharge.

 

[Jeff.francis]

I think public opinion is that thousands of MX card holders will be cancelling their cards!!

Now is the time to write to MX and tell them to reassess their decision or move to Mastercard and visa, who have equally good programs, without the huge card costs!!!

 

[Kremmen]

In the 3 minutes of googling, I was quickly impressed by the gold card in America, 4 points in restaurants/supermarkets, rose gold colored card, $120 restaurant credits & $100 travel credit for $250 fee, the agent didnt have much to say after that.

In the thread about the Marriott/SPG changes, I wondered why they decided to screw over Australian cardholders on Marriott transfers. (Comparing to Canada, where they get 1000 MR->1200 Marriott instead of our 1000 MR->667 Marriott.)

Sadly, it seems the answer is now clear. They were about to screw us over on *all* transfers, but because of the timing of the Marriott/SPG merger, they decided to implement that one early.

 

[Pleb Status]

When I first read about this devaluation earlier in the week, I was ready to cut up all of my various Amex cards as their AF become due next year.

Upon reflection, if you are not a member of the Qcult, the 'revised' earning rates are still far better than most other products in the Australian marketplace.

From recent redemption experiences, KF miles are worth approximately twice the value of QFF points. For example, PER-HKG J return is 65,000 KF miles or 130,000 QFF points on CX or PER-LHR J return is 190,000 KF miles or 224,000 QFF points + ~$1020 additional charges on EK. KF J award availability is far better also.

Although I am very unhappy about the devaluation, I will still be far better off staying with Amex for most of my spend rather than earning QFF points on my 'free' NAB QF Signature or grandfathered BW QF World (excluding FX).

I currently have the Charge/Reserve and Edge combination at a net cost of $299pa as ex PA cards. At the current earning rates, I am making an absolute killing as most of my spend is in the bonus categories and I am local champion at my local Coles and Woolworths. I also 'earn' enough statement credits throughout the year to offset the net annual fee.

Post April 2019, I will still earn 1.125 KF miles/$ generally and 1.5 KF miles/$ (or 2.0 KF miles/$ when LC) spent at supermarkets, all uncapped. This is compared to 1.0 QFF point/$ on my NAB QF Signature with monthly capping. With KF miles being far more valuable than QFF points, the case for retaining the Amex combo is pretty clear (excluding any merchant surcharge issues etc).

I see that the main changes moving forward will be shifting all my FX spend back to the BW World and all of my telecommunications and insurance spend back to the Charge. Along with earning far less points in general....

 

[Spizz]

I have the Edge/Explorer combo.

This will change in April for me to effectively-

- Supermarket/Petrol 1.5 Points per $1 (was 3 points)
- Everyday spend 1 Point per $1 (was 2 points)

I already have a Qantas Premier Platinum Credit Card which earns me 1 point per $ for QF, and I also have the ANZ Travel Adventures card which effectively gives me 0.75 points per $ for VA during promo times. I use the this card for overseas spend, and the free flight every year covers the Annual fee.

I am sad to see my Amex Points which I have warehoused get cut in half, and am weighing up my options. Moving them to SQ and having a 3 year time limit is not an option. I am hoping Amex will double existing Points that are warehoused. Wishful thinking? The Amex combo will still provide the best SQ/Asia Miles/ earning combo for me. The other only other options is the St. George Amplify Signature Visa which will give 0.825 points per $. Less than the Amex combo and without the added flexibility to move to Asia Miles. Also the Amex travel credits can be used to offset the yearly fee whereas the $275 for the St George Signature card, is what it is. Maybe Amex will reduce their yearly fees since they are cutting value from their program.

As for churning and burning this has become much harder with the new Comprehensive Credit Reporting brought in a few months ago. A look in the credit card promotions thread shows how much harder banks are making to get a new credit card from a variety of banks now.