Altitude Black Annual Fee Reduction

[Duffa]

Just wondering if any NON-Westpac customers had any luck getting the $395 fee waived or reduced.
Not keen on waiting 45 mins to talk to someone so thought I'd try here!!

 

[stux]

Just wondering if any NON-Westpac customers had any luck getting the $395 fee waived or reduced.
Not keen on waiting 45 mins to talk to someone so thought I'd try here!!

i haven't yet, but I was considering applying and asking for the same deal I get from CBA to switch my spend ( Black/Diamond for Platinum rate for life)

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Just wondering if any NON-Westpac customers had any luck getting the $395 fee waived or reduced.
Not keen on waiting 45 mins to talk to someone so thought I'd try here!!

Just get the ANZ Black for free at present then...and worry about Westpac again in another 11 months time.

 

[stux]

Just checked into the ANZ black

On the face of it it looks great

3 Pts per dollar Amex and 2 Pts for visa!

BUT it's 3:1 for KF miles and 2.25 for VA

The CBA diamond and Westpac Black are both 3/1.25 Amex/MC and are both 2:1 for VA and KF (except CBA does not offer KF)

So Anz VA earn is

1.33/0.889 ff / $ Amex/visa

And SQ

1/0.666 ff / $ Amex/visa

Westpac

1.5/0.625 ff / $ Amex/mc

For both VA and SQ. (Etc)

The ANZ va visa earn is slightly interesting, but I am personally looking for SQ earn, or I would stay with CBA

 

[cove]

Now that the double points for 3 months offer is over on Black Altitude you might just go for the cheaper Westpac Platinum Kris Flyer card. I just put 50K on one of these this morning for a definite 75k points to recover the 68k points my son used to go on a J Saver on SQ from LAX to Singapore. His book the cook orders were impressive.
Two downsides are no warehousing of points and 0.5 points per dollar on Visa.

 

[stux]

Wish I had looked into it a month ago

But warehousing is critical, I don't do enough Asia/Europe to deal with KF expiry, and I use the black cards because I hit the platinum caps otherwise

 

[cove]

Yes warehousing points is the greatest feature of Black Altitude as you can have so many options as to where you transfer those points.

 

[mghinoz]

Just wondering if any NON-Westpac customers had any luck getting the $395 fee waived or reduced.
Not keen on waiting 45 mins to talk to someone so thought I'd try here!!

My annual fee was due this week.
I called to tell them I was cancelling the card due to the fee.
The lady on the phone said they didn't want to lose my business, and she would speak to the relevant department to see if she could get the fee reduced or waived. She seemed confident of getting it waived completely.

While I was waiting on hold, I was browsing around the Altitude Rewards website and found that you can use points to pay for the annual card fee (Categories - Financial Services and donations - Card Fees).

When the operator came back on the line she was very apologetic and said that they tried to waive the fee completely but "the system" would not let them. She said that they best they could do was offer a $200 discount down to $195.

I asked if I could then use points to pay the $195. She said that was fine, I just had to wait for the $395 fee to hit the card, and then call back to get the $200 discount applied, and use points to pay the remainder.

I think it will be around 33k points to pay the $195. No doubt this may represent bad redemption value, but it suits my needs for now.

Hope this helps.

 

[Duffa]

Got the fee reduced to $150 for the next two years. A fair deal IMHO as it matches the NAB Plat rate. Happy with that.

 

[deka2]

I'm a non Westpac Customer, with an Altitude Black Credit card
This card is definitely my go to card at the moment.
I rang up and asked for a fee reduction or waiver.
I didn't threaten to close the card
The operator said he would have a look at my account.
After a 5 minute wait came back online and granted a full waiver of the Annual Fee
I logged onto my account the next day just to double check that I had heard him correctly, and the reversal was there.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

I'm a non Westpac Customer, with an Altitude Black Credit card
This card is definitely my go to card at the moment.
I rang up and asked for a fee reduction or waiver.
I didn't threaten to close the card
The operator said he would have a look at my account.
After a 5 minute wait came back online and granted a full waiver of the Annual Fee
I logged onto my account the next day just to double check that I had heard him correctly, and the reversal was there.

Hi Guys,

Any updates on fee waivers?
I called today, but was told that they are not doing any fee reductions / waivers or bonus points.

 

[mmikeemike]

The just finished a 3 month promo in June for first year free...

 

[Sora]

First year is fine, however, you need to think about subsequent years. It pays to know people who work in the bank, if the bank can see you are a "BIG" spender then you've more chance of getting the fee waived or reduced to a lesser value. It comes down to the bank and what they make from you individually, so if you make the bank $5 a year based on your spending + interest and charges for example, then they are more inclined to decline that offer.

If you make the bank $50k a year based on spending, fees, charges, interest, etc then they'd be more in a position to work with you to negotiate a deal a reduced figure or a waiver.

Banks are fickle and it all comes down to the bottom dollar - sure threaten to close your card should you deem it appropriate but some banks will be happy to see you go, so I'd say either pay up should you need to because at the end of the day you are the one who committed to the contractual agreement between yourself and the lender + all costs and associated fees and charges that go along with the offer you applied for

Good luck - I'll also post back if I have any success over the years as I am expecting my card to arrive shortly with the first year waived.

 

[kallinch]

I called up today for my Altitude Qantas Platinum (small spend ~14-20k p.a) was offered a $75 fee reduction. So half price annual fee for the next year!

He suggested I call up this time next year and try again. After calling number on the back of the card ask to be redirected to the card cancellation department and imply you are reviewing your finances...considering better competitors options.

 

[kreuky]

called up to cancel, offered $195 annual fee on Altitude Black (50% off). Declined the offer and cancelled.

 

[burmans]

called up to cancel, offered $195 annual fee on Altitude Black (50% off). Declined the offer and cancelled.

Would be interested to hear recent experiences. Have the WBC Krysflyer can and considering move to this but seem able to get 50% discounts with regularity of the Krysflyer, am wondering if same will apply here. First year fee free is an attraction but not if I will get stung later on.

 

[BillytheFIsh]

My annual fee on my Altitude Black was coming up this month, so I called a few weeks ago, said I was contemplating cancelling and was offered a reduction to $195 pretty much straight away.

Pushed for a waiver but no luck. I have a warehouse in altitude and use the card a lot, so was never going to actually cancel, but I got the feeling they would have let me without offering anything more.

 

[mmikeemike]

No luck with reduction or waiver here. I think my fee is due tomorrow and the wait on the phone is long.

Stupid rookie mistake, should have transferred the points out and cancelled


UPDATE: I called today and closed the card, I was offered a $195 reduced fee but opted to close it anyway. 90 days to transfer or spend Altitude points (I've sent them through to Asia Miles).

 

[albyd]

Just called them up to ask for fee waiver - never even put up a fight. This time, first guy I spoke to out me through to their back office which processes applications who then put me back through to the IVR where I had to re-enter my details.
Apparently since I've previously had a fee waiver, unless I have a home loan with them, they won't give me any more waivers. I still owe a substantial sum at 0% for another 12 months so I'll suck it up. Looks like they're no longer discounting their "prestige" credit card offering. Might downgrade to a cheaper card at the end of the BT to keep the credit limit available if I need it.

 

[burmans]

They are discounting for new cards! So I got the Altitude Black (non Qantas version) for free. And then cancelled my existing Altitude Qantas card. You could probably keep on doing this every year if they have promos!