Westpac dumps AMEX - changes points earn on MC

[alien]

They seem to have changed the link.

Try through the Altitude Reward site:
Airport Lounge Priority Pass - Altitude - Westpac

That was the link I used.

 

[gizzard]

That was the link i used.

...but it's working for me. They've just changed it from "\altitudeblack" to "\westpacblack".
Priority Pass Membership

 

[bernardblack]

From my existing Altitude Black (Altitude Rewards) account, I applied last Wednesday, was approved after answering their follow-up call on Thursday, and am hoping to receive the cards shortly.

Has anyone established yet (over and above what's stated in the marketing material)...

...whether there are any special restrictions on spend for the signing bonus?

...whether you need to somehow link it to your existing Altitude account or it just works automatically?

...how quickly regular points post?

...how quickly the bonus points post after hitting the minimum spend?

...whether it's enabled for Local Champion?

...whether there are any special welcome Amex Offers?

...whether the existing Westpac-issued card remains active until the appointed date in (I think) April, and can be leveraged for existing benefits (lounge passes, say) in addition to those on the new card?

Results (based on my own experiences) so far:

• Signing bonus came through fine, with spend including overseas transactions (SPG points purchase).
• Regular points post in a day or two (to the temporary Amex bucket), just like Membership Rewards points (although somewhat later in the day).
• The bonus points came in at the same time as the regular points for the transaction that took me over the spend threshold.
• As mentioned previously, Local Champion is available (although there are few circumstances where it would be beneficial over the Platinum Edge and Explorer, unless they're maxed out) and I got a couple of special Amex Offers.
• As I think was true of the Velocity Escape (when I used to have it) points seem to round to nearest dollar rather than down. So for very small transactions this might be advantageous over the Explorer.
• The points go into a separate bucket in the Amex portal; I imagine they get funneled to Westpac monthly, as did the Velocity points when I had the Escape.
• Since I haven't had a transfer to Altitude yet, I can't confirm whether any special setup is required, but I wasn't given any paperwork so hopefully they use the referral code to link that stuff transparently.

 

[Pushka]

I got this one as well. The tacked on after thought group

I have had Westpac Black card for years and have put quite some money through it. But the offer received today is pathetic. 10,000 points. $3000 spend. Trashed.
I took out the Amex direct offer last year.

 

[DaveB]

Currently with the Altitude Business Amex, advised today no offers will be made to business card holders though did receive full refund of the $295 annual fee paid late November.
Timely to receive a QF offer last week for 40% more QF points for transfers made in March.
Explorer makes the most sense for me now.with the 100K sign on and most of my Amex spend being general purchases.

 

[coolstepslg]

anyone with the gold/plat business amex card get any amex offers? i just got a letter in the mail today saying that i cant use the amex companion card from april 4th. if they dont give me an offer soon ill be cancelling my biz westpac card since they charged me the annual fee last month i hope i can still get it refunded or prorated?.

if someone has both a wbc personal black and gold/ plat wbc amex can they apply for both the new amex offers?

 

[lonewolf]

Results (based on my own experiences) so far:

• Signing bonus came through fine, with spend including overseas transactions (SPG points purchase).
• Regular points post in a day or two (to the temporary Amex bucket), just like Membership Rewards points (although somewhat later in the day).
• The bonus points came in at the same time as the regular points for the transaction that took me over the spend threshold.
• As mentioned previously, Local Champion is available (although there are few circumstances where it would be beneficial over the Platinum Edge and Explorer, unless they're maxed out) and I got a couple of special Amex Offers.
• As I think was true of the Velocity Escape (when I used to have it) points seem to round to nearest dollar rather than down. So for very small transactions this might be advantageous over the Explorer.
• The points go into a separate bucket in the Amex portal; I imagine they get funneled to Westpac monthly, as did the Velocity points when I had the Escape.
• Since I haven't had a transfer to Altitude yet, I can't confirm whether any special setup is required, but I wasn't given any paperwork so hopefully they use the referral code to link that stuff transparently.

So you can buy points to use up some of the 3k spend required?

What is local champion?

I recently got the Amex Explorer with the bonus points deal as everyone kept talking about it. I need to spend 3k to get the bonus points for it in the next 3 months. I presume i can still get this Westpac / Amex card as well and still be eligible for the bonus points as this card doesnt seem to state the bonus points only for someone without Amex cards or anything but rather for being a westpac Altitude Amex member right?

Also i noticed that there are different links for both the new black and new platinum card. I presume even if i got the link for the platinum sent to me, i can still apply for the black card with the bonus points deal ? they dont seem to be restricted to each customer or have a special link. its a generic link.

 

[bernardblack]

So you can buy points to use up some of the 3k spend required?

What is local champion?

Well, you can shop at Points.com and it seems to work.

And: Earn easy bonus Amex points by using Local Champion game

 

[lonewolf]

Bah, Both Westpac and AMEX dont know what is going on basically. I just spent an hour going back and forth, spoke to 3 different westpac people and 2 different Amex people. And all the westpac people tell me is that Amex is who i need to speak to if i want to get a Black card instead of a Platinum card while Amex told me that its up to Westpac as they are the ones with the database and the eligibility requirements as well as the ones who send out the links. That Amex can only do anything once we have applied but not before as they have no information on us.

I am wondering if i was sent a platinum Amex due to the fact that initially i had been on a Altitude Platinum card as that was what was available back when i joined in 2007, only later on did they bring out the Black cards at which point i upgraded to a black card when they asked me if i wanted to....

When I asked if i can apply through the black card link, they werent sure what will happen but they felt it probably will still result in not going through or maybe still receiving a platinum card due to the fact that thats the code i have been sent and its a unique code....

 

[Aus ATC]

I took the bait - it was easy enough. Card arrived about 3 days after applying.

Effectively an 8500 points bonus to put $3000 through this new card as it only pays 1QFF point per $, vs 1.5 Velocity points on my AMEX Explorer (10000 bonus points - 1500 foregone). This new AMEX card will be surrendered once the bonus points have posted. And I may as well cancel my existing Altitude (Platinum) now as well.

 

[comphelp]

I've been a member here for 13 years but haven't posted for many years. I previously had the standard Altitude card and when Westpac did the previous round of point revisions and introduced points caps they were quite detrimental to me. They sent me a letter at the time and offered me an Altitude Black card for the same fee I was paying ($100pa). It was quite a good deal so I went with it. Because of this, my annual fee is now going up from $100 to $195 (plus the AmEx fee, if I accept their offer).

I've copied all my transactions (for the past 12 months) across to spreadsheets to work out my spend and potential implications for me. In simple terms I spend about $4K on MasterCard and $2K on AmEx each month. I don't claim FF points so for the purpose of my analysis I've converted points to gift vouchers (using their $500 voucher as a benchmark) to work out their value. Based on this, my analysis for my situation is as follows:

Current Scheme ($100 Altitude Black with AmEx):
Annual earn after card fees: $407

New Scheme (if I accept the AmEx card):
Annual earn after card fees: $163

New Scheme (if I decline the AmEx card):
Annual earn after card fees: $187

Downgrade to Altitude Platinum ($150 fee):
Annual earn after card fees: $155

Downgrade to Altitude ($100 fee, 5K points cap):
Annual earn after card fees: $153

As you can see, when redeeming for rewards and spending about $2K pm on AmEx, it's just not worth me accepting the new card. The killer for me is the massive increase in fees ($100 to about $400 combined). It looks like I'll stay with the black card and dump AmEx.

 

[comphelp]

I should add to my above post that I found another combination that better suits me.

They have an AmEx Platinum card with a $49pa fee. It earns less points (2 per dollar) than the black ($3 per dollar) but the lower annual fee is a better result me.

With the Westpac Altitude Black and the AmEx Platium (comnined fee $244pa), my earnings after fees are $213.

However, I have applied for the AmEx Black card anyway because I get a 40,000 point bonus (for spending $3K over 3 months) and the first year is fee free. Once I get the card, I'm going to make a note in my diary to drop to the platinum card before the next fee is due. I might as well have a year of extra points and the larger bonus points.

 

[kpc]

Just dumped (cancelled) my Amex / MC Earth Black today...no Qs asked. Dumped my Amex / MC Altitude last year as well. Was my perfect Amex combination (for QF and non QF pts) at one point....things change I guess!

 

[cove]

It was goodbye to Qudos for me as it is wrongly priced for what it offers today.

 

[Hvr]

Rang up today to ask if there was an offer for me. Was told that I could get an Amex for $49 per annum with a point per $1 spend. Oh and if I spent $3,000 in three months I would get a 10,000 QF point bonus.

Too stunned to laugh out loud and said I would review it. Haven't used the card since early February when I got my Qantas MC with the same earnings and a 75,000 point bonus which I've already received.

I'll ring up and cancel when I get the formal offer in the mail. The annual fee isn't due until August so no need for immediate action.

 

[FrankC]

Anyone has a screenshot of the Westpac Amex Platinum card with the bonus points?
I applied for the Platinum one and the welcome letter with the card has no mentioned of the bonus points
I called Amex, they said they can't see any bonus points on my (new) account, and call Westpac as it is a Westpac thing, and when I called Westpac, they said it is an Amex thing
I know it is not a lot of bonus QFF, but felt cheated. I'll try again later in the week and if I can't get any bonus points, at least I haven't spent on it yet

 

[blackcat20]

Anyone has a screenshot of the Westpac Amex Platinum card with the bonus points?
I applied for the Platinum one and the welcome letter with the card has no mentioned of the bonus points
I called Amex, they said they can't see any bonus points on my (new) account, and call Westpac as it is a Westpac thing, and when I called Westpac, they said it is an Amex thing
I know it is not a lot of bonus QFF, but felt cheated. I'll try again later in the week and if I can't get any bonus points, at least I haven't spent on it yet

The offer email should be in your online banking inbox.

 

[lonewolf]

oh cough really? I didnt check my letter, i thought it was guaranteed that we will get the bonus points!

 

[blackcat20]

Different people got different points offers, so if your letter didnt have one then maybe theres no bonus for you.

 

[Lynda2475]

Different people got different points offers, so if your letter didnt have one then maybe theres no bonus for you.

The offer seems to have offered anywhere from 0 to 10k to 20k or 30k in bonus points and some got platinum and others got black cards.

A friend of mine never received an offer at all despite having had a black altitude for years, significant monthly spend that was always paid off on time. Westpac kept telling her she needed to call Amex, Amex said the offer had to come from Westpac. She finally got a code and it didn't work, again Westpac wouldn't help.

So the result was she took all her loans (mortgage and investment) and transaction accounts elsewhere. Westpac lost significant business and she will be cancelling her cards as soon as she has redeemed her current points before the annual fee is due.

I'll be interested to see what offers they have in 12 months time trying to woo all the customers they lost back, because of the poor offer for replacement direct issued Amex.