**New** QFF Diners Card

[Supersonic Swinger]

Yet another data point showing what poor value QFF is.

Spend $10,000 on the QFF Diners, earn 15,000, 1,000 short of a SYD-MEL-SYD return reward before taxes

Spend $10,000 on the regular Diners, earn 30,000 DC points which convert to 30,000 Velocity points, enough for two SYD-MEL-SYD return rewards before taxes, with 2,400 to spare...

 

[greenfrog86]

Yet another data point showing what poor value QFF is.

Spend $10,000 on the QFF Diners, earn 15,000, 1,000 short of a SYD-MEL-SYD return reward before taxes

Spend $10,000 on the regular Diners, earn 30,000 DC points which convert to 30,000 Velocity points, enough for two SYD-MEL-SYD return rewards before taxes, with 2,400 to spare...

I'm certainly coming around to this thinking, along with the option to pool points with Diners (and Amex/Citi if you've got other cards) and then transfer to either Velocity or KrisFlyer depending on destination and points burn etc...

 

[smit0847]

I'm certainly coming around to this thinking, along with the option to pool points with Diners (and Amex/Citi if you've got other cards) and then transfer to either Velocity or KrisFlyer depending on destination and points burn etc...

Where on earth would you use a DC though? I dont even think most petrol stations accept them.

 

[Moopere]

Which with the standard Diners + MC products you get 3 points when spending using Diners, 6 points if spending at bonus partners (eg IHG hotels in Australia) and also points when spending at restaurants etc on Wednesdays...

The MC also earns 1.25 points per $ which is pretty good considering that is one of the highest points earn on a non-amex card for Velocity (and not bad for KrisFlyer) - Select converts at 1.33 and Velocity high flyer card is 1.25 points also.

Yes, I'm not laughing at Diners in general, just their new QFF product which seems to be targeting a really different, but unexplainable market space.

For VFF earn, the standard 'personal' Diners + MC looks pretty interesting.

Supersonic Swinger has an interesting slant by laundering through SPG which could make the Diners combo quite competitive with a ton of choice as to program to push points through (http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rewards/dc-right-for-me-43282.html#post682315)

Almost all FF programs which would convert at 2:1 (or worse) via Diners are better pushed into SPG at 2:1 then back out again in 20K blocks to gain the extra 5K SPG points.

Almost all the supposed added benefits of Diners don't look that interesting to me, Cary Limo's, cellardoor, US shipping, blah blah .... I don't really know what Regus World Gold amounts to in the real world, perhaps its interesting, but outside of that, mostly looks like smoke and mirrors 'benefits' to me.

http://www.dinersclub.com.au/personal_pri_offer.htm

Nevertheless, the earn on Diners at 3:1$ is very good, and the Mastercard, which is only ever a backup to an Amex or the Diners it companions, is not too shabby either.

 

[Moopere]

Where on earth would you use a DC though? I dont even think most petrol stations accept them.

I had formed the impression that most big retail players accept diners. Woolies, Woolies fuel, Bunnings, Telstra,DJ's, blah, blah. Most airlines seem to as well, with the usual surcharge that _all_ cards get charged.

 

[greenfrog86]

I had formed the impression that most big retail players accept diners. Woolies, Woolies fuel, Bunnings, Telstra,DJ's, blah, blah. Most airlines seem to as well, with the usual surcharge that _all_ cards get charged.

That's my understanding...

If you find the new Amex points earn works for you (ie travel and dining out) then Diner's wouldn't be much of an issue as all the majors accept it.

In addition to this Diner's shares many bonus partners with the rest of Citi, so you will get bonus points for things like IHG hotels, Crown hotels etc in Aus which you don't get with Amex.

I was surprised to see that most of the places I frequent that accept Amex also accept Diner's

There's also the MC to remember, and if earning on the standard rewards program you get 1.25 points per $1 which is equivalent to the Virgin High Flyer card. So with one account you could almost get the same acceptance as Amex with the Diner's card and get twice as many points as Amex all the time (ie 3 per dollar) and then use the MC as well for 1.25 (in place of the High Flyer card which you might team with an Amex card)

 

[Diners Club Australia]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thanks for your interest in the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card. Just to let you know, the Diners Club website is now live with the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card information. This should help with some of your questions on the features including the World MasterCard benefits.

Our focus has been on combining a lower annual fee with a strong points earn rate and we believe this is providing great value for our members. We did anticipate that a 7 payment days product may not suit everyone, however our members will have a Direct Debit set up so their balance will be taken care of while travelling.


2012 has been a year where we are relaunching our brand and all our products in market. We are also busy working on increasing our acceptance. The MasterCard can be used for a wide selection of merchants in over 34 million locations around the world.
[/FONT]

 

[Deleted member 18152]

Anyone know if supp gets free lounge access??

 

[NM]

Anyone know if supp gets free lounge access??

I expect it would. When using for lounge access in SIN (and I assume process is similar at other places) they verify name on card matches boarding pass, then swipe the card to ensure its valid (i.e. not a cancelled card) and then write down the card details in their book/register. So I expect that as long as the supp card meets the swipe validity success criteria, lounge access should be granted. The swipe seems to be just like a regular charge transaction, but is $0 and then cancelled so nothing is actually charged to the card and does not show on the statement.

But since I don't have a Supp card, I cannot confirm for certain.

 

[Moopere]

2012 has been a year where we are relaunching our brand and all our products in market. We are also busy working on increasing our acceptance.

Welcome to AFF Diners Club Australia, always great to have another company rep onboard getting direct feedback on their product and helping/clarifying where they can.

I'll look forward to continuing product roll-out and acceptance from merchants

 

[Deleted member 18152]

There's no problem if you buy Diners Club Travel Insurance separately if you're by your card anyway??? They have a really good top tier option.

 

[greenfrog86]

Thanks for your interest in the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card. Just to let you know, the Diners Club website is now live with the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card information. This should help with some of your questions on the features including the World MasterCard benefits.

Our focus has been on combining a lower annual fee with a strong points earn rate and we believe this is providing great value for our members. We did anticipate that a 7 payment days product may not suit everyone, however our members will have a Direct Debit set up so their balance will be taken care of while travelling.


2012 has been a year where we are relaunching our brand and all our products in market. We are also busy working on increasing our acceptance. The MasterCard can be used for a wide selection of merchants in over 34 million locations around the world.

Thanks for your response, and welcome to AFF!

On a related topic, are there plans to change the existing Diners + MC product? As you can see from the discussion here there is also a level of interest in this product, especially due to its exceptional earn rate that can be converted directly to Velocity points...

Is this other card staying with a longer payment period, and without a mandatory direct debit?

Are you able to confirm whether the QFF card is eligible to earn any bonus points at any merchant other than Qantas? Such as the Wednesday dining and/or the general selection of bonus partners?

 

[greenfrog86]

Thanks for your interest in the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card. Just to let you know, the Diners Club website is now live with the new Frequent Flyer Diners Club card information. This should help with some of your questions on the features including the World MasterCard benefits.

Our focus has been on combining a lower annual fee with a strong points earn rate and we believe this is providing great value for our members. We did anticipate that a 7 payment days product may not suit everyone, however our members will have a Direct Debit set up so their balance will be taken care of while travelling.


2012 has been a year where we are relaunching our brand and all our products in market. We are also busy working on increasing our acceptance. The MasterCard can be used for a wide selection of merchants in over 34 million locations around the world.

I can't just leave it there...

Please explain why the QFF card requires direct debit and 7 days to pay when a MasterCard is added, however a straight Diner's card does not require this?

Why is this only a requirement for the QFF card and not the other card with MC option?

 

[serfty]

..

Why is this only a requirement for the QFF card and not the other card with MC option?

I would postulate an internal contract between QFF and DC.

 

[greenfrog86]

I would postulate an internal contract between QFF and DC.

Why would Qantas care if you have 7 or 14 days to pay??

I've noticed that the Direct Debit requirement applies to ANY account with a MC... If you have a standalone card you can choose how you pay, however you will be charged a fee for Aus Post (pretty standard now) and also a fee for BPAY which seems a bit rich.

So the normal Diners plus MC is direct debit only and 14 days, but the QFF card with MC is 7 days plus direct debit...

 

[Moopere]

So the normal Diners plus MC is direct debit only and 14 days, but the QFF card with MC is 7 days plus direct debit...

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm sure I've not read that before, went off to the website and there it is:

Pay Your Account

If you have a Diners Club Card with companion World MasterCard Card Direct Debit is mandatory and will be set-up on account activation.

Oh well - that makes my task of choosing the next card a lot easier. Was about to push the button on this combo but wouldn't touch an auto DD with a barge pole.

 

[Diners Club Australia]

Thanks for your welcome! We appreciate the discussion on the board, find it valuable and genuinely appreciate your interest.

Reading through the discussion there may be some confusion between our two personal products.

Whilst both have World MasterCards, one is linked directly to Qantas and the other is linked to Diners Club Rewards. Diners Club Rewards supports 13 different airline loyalty programmes including Velocity. Diners Club Rewards also has an extensive Bonus Rewards programme that includes two extra points earned per $1 spent on our 'Dine Out Wednesday' benefit.

Earlier in the year we launched the Personal Diners Club with our World MasterCard product. This product earns three points per $1 spent on the Diners Club card and 1.25 points per $1 on the WorldMasterCard. This product is also linked to Diners Club Rewards and comes with 14 day payment terms.

Yesterday we launched Frequent Flyer Diners Club with World MasterCard, which is linked directly to QFF. The bonus programme for this product is with Qantas spend only. Our website covers all the information on all our products.

Many of our current Diners Club only FFDC members already have Direct Debits set up on their account, and/or pay their account as soon as they receive their statement. By making this a 7 payment days product we were able to offer a much lower annual fee when compared to other frequent flyer products (above Platinum level), whilst also offering a high points earn.

We do appreciate your feedback, however, and are keen to guage whether the lower annual fee with higher points holds enough value to you to offset payment days.

We noted there was also a question around whether supplementary Diners Club cards get lounge access and the answer is they do.

Thanks again for the welcome!

 

[serfty]

Why would Qantas care if you have 7 or 14 days to pay??... ...

7 days increases chances of 'breakage' and hence increased revenue, hence DC hope to be able to pay QFF a higher premium for points than is the norm for the industry.

 

[greenfrog86]

7 days increases chances of 'breakage' and hence increased revenue, hence DC hope to be able to pay QFF a higher premium for points than is the norm for the industry.

by 'breakage', you mean liquidated damages? QF doesn't get any of this...

They are not offering any more points than Amex cards, so I don't see why they would need to tighten up their credit controls because of this.

This seems to be a ploy by Diner's to ensure payment (the DD) and quickly (7 days) and the DD applies to both types of card with a MasterCard, so is not specific to just the QF one as originally thought.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

More importantly - sign-on bonus?