St George Rewards Signature KrisFlyer Devaluation

[lovetravellingoz]

( acknowledging the 3% forex conversion charges) ?

.

Avoiding this is why I use the ANZ Traveller Card when I am overseas instead of STG or Amex Cards. Earns less points, but saves the 3%.

 

[knagelli]

Avoiding this is why I use the ANZ Traveller Card when I am overseas instead of STG or Amex Cards. Earns less points, but saves the 3%.

I generally use the Coles MC which does not charge forex conversion fee but weighing the option of using my signature card to earn more points but trying to understand if 3% charge is justified compared to points earned.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

St G for intl trans also PITA as the seperate the merchant charge and their own CC charge whereas AMEX do not - month end recos with 100’s of transactions is PITA recording all the separately listed CC fees

 

[lovetravellingoz]

trying to understand if 3% charge is justified compared to points earned.

Well for me that is a no. The ANZ still earns some points, and so the difference in points gained for my circumstances does not offset the 3%.
For myself this is all spending on private and not business related travel.

Though I also use the same card for my occasional non-travel related international purchases

 

[Dr Ev]

Not sure where to vent, so I'll do it here.
The credit card rewards programs are now nothing more than a scam.

Way too many points chasing way too few available seats.
Added to that is constant devaluation of points/miles value.
Plus ATO easy points are long gone.

Its incredible to remember when the Westpac Krisflyer Amex came out in 2009, I got 3 Krisflyer miles for every dollar spend for first 6 months. Spend was not capped and ATO spend was no questions asked.
Plus redemption seats were cheaper, and actually available.
Ahhhhhh memories........

 

[levelnine]

Way too many points chasing way too few available seats.
Added to that is constant devaluation of points/miles value.
Plus ATO easy points are long gone.

This reminds me of the old adage that you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic (ie you are part of the reason for these devaluations — you were exploiting points earning and burning capabilities as much as, if not more than, most other people).

 

[Dr Ev]

This reminds me of the old adage that you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic (ie you are part of the reason for these devaluations — you were exploiting points earning and burning capabilities as much as, if not more than, most other people).

My humble apologies for being so selfish

 

[daft009]

Not sure where to vent, so I'll do it here.
The credit card rewards programs are now nothing more than a scam.

Way too many points chasing way too few available seats.
Added to that is constant devaluation of points/miles value.
Plus ATO easy points are long gone.

Its incredible to remember when the Westpac Krisflyer Amex came out in 2009, I got 3 Krisflyer miles for every dollar spend for first 6 months. Spend was not capped and ATO spend was no questions asked.
Plus redemption seats were cheaper, and actually available.
Ahhhhhh memories........

The rules are constantly changing

 

[levelnine]

My humble apologies for being so selfish

It's not about apologising. Everyone here does it. And so we should. The airlines and banks create games that we are encouraged to play.

But we also have to realise that we are the least profitable customers for the airlines and banks. We are the reason they devalue. A family of four who shops all year at Woolworths only to redeem their Qantas points for a toaster are not the reason they devalue.

Think of it like an all you can eat buffet. We are the 200kg football players who clean the place out. If everyone were like us, they'd go bust in a month. The business model relies on most people not being like us. And we should not be surprised or even saddened when the buffet imposes a maximum seating time of 1 hour, limiting our ability to stuff our faces.

 

[Dr Ev]

It's not about apologising. Everyone here does it. And so we should. The airlines and banks create games that we are encouraged to play.

But we also have to realise that we are the least profitable customers for the airlines and banks. We are the reason they devalue. A family of four who shops all year at Woolworths only to redeem their Qantas points for a toaster are not the reason they devalue.

Think of it like an all you can eat buffet. We are the 200kg football players who clean the place out. If everyone were like us, they'd go bust in a month. The business model relies on most people not being like us. And we should not be surprised or even saddened when the buffet imposes a maximum seating time of 1 hour, limiting our ability to stuff our faces.

I take your point levelnine.
I realise the game has massively changed and it's just business. For most (even high income earners like yours truly), it's just not worth the bother any more. I'll survive, I'm just venting.

But what I really take exception to is the fantasy created by the banks and credit card companies, that for a few dollars, a world of cheap travel awaits. It's simply not the case any more and people on modest incomes are simply being scammed. That annoys me.

 

[levelnine]

But what I really take exception to is the fantasy created by the banks and credit card companies, that for a few dollars, a world of cheap travel awaits. It's simply not the case any more and people on modest incomes are simply being scammed. That annoys me.

Fair enough. I think even for people with modest incomes it is possible to get some fairly good value, but they need to be exclusively churning non-Qantas cards. It's still fairly easy to redeem Velocity points for business class awards on Qatar/Singapore/Etihad. Will they be able to fly J return to Europe four times per year? No. But they should be able to get enough for at least 1 J return to Europe for two people every second year or so.

 

[MooTime]

That for a few dollars, a world of cheap travel awaits. It's simply not the case any more and people on modest incomes are simply being scammed. That annoys me.

A lot of things aren't as good / value as they were in the past, simple as that really. Houses, shares to a large degree etc etc.

Life still worth living as are points to collect.

 

[Franko Costa]

Remember that the people on this forum are a very small percentage of the population.

I was catching with two different people over the last week, not of which knew about the free points from citi payall and they thought they chased points.

There is enough points for all of us

 

[knagelli]

Can someone please suggest how soon are the amplify points posted in your account after the transaction has been out of the pending transactions lists. My outstanding balance and the points balance don't seem to be proportional ( points accumulated ~~ 1.5 times $ spend). Not sure if there is any delay or am I missing something. ta