To put it in charge card or not?

[netaddict]

I am making a large purchase later next week, just under $20K.

The merchant, should I put it on my card wants to charge 2.3% of the ammount. AMEX have given approval for it to go on my Platinum Charge card while will earn me 1.5 points per dollar spent.

Is it worth the extra to put it on the card?

 

[Mal]

Should be a simple set of sums.

$20000 x 2.3% = $460

30000 points, so ~1.5c per point. Do you value your FF points at more than 1.5c each?

One of the best use of points is overseas F or J tickets. 30000 points is ~ 1/7 of a F ticket one-way to LHR. So from that point of view ok value.

It is also 5/6th of a return Bne-Perth in Y. That would give it a value of around $420 when you take into account taxes etc.

So it might be good value. Rather than concentrating on the points factor, I'd be looking at the anciliary benefits such as increased insurance for the item, purchase protection etc etc and see if they take it over the line...

 

[infoworks]

I agree...depending on what it is, the extended warranty, extra points, etc would suggest it's worthwhile. There are times I have put it on the card, despite the option, and it gave me better recourse, records and warranty.

Be aware many places, like QF, Telstra, Taxis are already adding fees (I think for QF and certainly for taxis 10%) for credit card transactions.

 

[oz_mark]

I agree...depending on what it is, the extended warranty, extra points, etc would suggest it's worthwhile. There are times I have put it on the card, despite the option, and it gave me better recourse, records and warranty.

Be aware many places, like QF, Telstra, Taxis are already adding fees (I think for QF and certainly for taxis 10%) for credit card transactions.

QF is more like 1%.

 

[aus_flyer]

Business return to Hong Kong from East Coast is 120,000 points. At 1.5c that's only $1800. Pretty good value!

A side note/tip.. My understanding is that only Qantas Holidays charges 1% and only if over the net or phone. If you book it through a Qantas Travel office, they don't charge 1%.

 

[PaulZ]

Booking through Qantas on the web and via the phone, i have never been notified of a charge for paying by credit card. I dont believe they charge a fee for using a credit card, or am i wrong?

 

[aus_flyer]

Booking through Qantas on the web and via the phone, i have never been notified of a charge for paying by credit card. I dont believe they charge a fee for using a credit card, or am i wrong?

Qantas Holidays, not plain Qantas

 

[mbeder]

The following terms come up when completing and on-line booking with Jetstar:

Please enter your credit card information on this page. When you have provided payment details, and are ready to complete your booking, click the 'Pay by Credit Card' button. Please note that credit and charge card payments attract a fee of $2 per passenger, per segment which will be added to the fare when you select a credit card type.

They do not however appear when doing same on Qantas.

 

[JohnK]

Booking through Qantas on the web and via the phone, i have never been notified of a charge for paying by credit card. I dont believe they charge a fee for using a credit card, or am i wrong?

I can't remember where I have seen it, maybe in the e-news for QFF, but Qantas in theory should charge an extra 1% when paying by credit card.

Last year when I booked SYD-BKK-SYD through my old travel agent it was mentioned that if I paid by credit card Qantas will apply a 1% charge to the fare, which they did. I have since changed travel agents, not for this reason, and when I booked SYD-BNE-SIN-BNE-SYD I was told that there is a 1% charge if paying by credit card but the the travel agent waived this charge. Not sure if this comes out of their commission as I didn't ask. Maybe this travel agent is smarter and quoted the fare with the 1% charge already included. Not to worry they were still cheaper then anyone else by heaps.

BTW Dave Noble do you own/manage/work a travel agency?

 

[mbeder]

Some further information.

On-line bookings with Virgin attract a $2 fee per passenger, per segment.

I'm also aware that Flight Centre have a surcharge for Amex payments, but no fees when using Visa/MasterCard. As a bit of a points junkie, I'm more inclined book online (Qantas) and pay with Amex Rewards Maximiser than use an intermediary.

As you're probably all aware, Flight Centre's Amex policy is in line with many other retailers, and is not that surprising given the higher merchant fees for these cards.