Amex Local Champion Reset or Uncapped for 2018 ?

[blacksultan]

first time local championer (attempting to)

how long after the trans does it register to be Local Champ?
- whats the highest number of trans people have seen to become local champ? Ive seen 14 as max
- is local champ literally just one person who gets the title? would assume that for supermarkets there will be healthy competiion

theoretically one person at a time. I have seen upto 23 transactions at coles/ww.

 

[SOPOOR]

theoretically one person at a time. I have seen upto 23 transactions at coles/ww.

ahh thanks,
im trying to become LC for my local shop, put through multiple $1 , how long does it take to register?

 

[blacksultan]

ahh thanks,
im trying to become LC for my local shop, put through multiple $1 , how long does it take to register?

its a bit iffy. can take a minute or so sometimes. However over the weekend I became LC , then made a large purchase to notice after that i was no longer LC!

 

[SOPOOR]

its a bit iffy. can take a minute or so sometimes. However over the weekend I became LC , then made a large purchase to notice after that i was no longer LC!

a minute!!!???

im on 24 hours
the trans havent showed up as confiremd on my amex account yet though

 

[Mr_Orange]

I see the benefits in becoming LC at a supermarket but it seems to me that competition is rife and there is a high chance of being dethroned when you blink.

I have tended to target smaller businesses that I do use frequently along with random opportunities. An example of the latter: TAG Heuer in Sydney. Not the boutique on the high street but the online payment portal for accessories and parts. They no longer operate this and you pay in store for such items but when it existed that was quite lucrative as it only took one purchase and I kept it for ages.

 

[andye]

LC can be mysterious

IME not all same-day Amex transactions count and I stopped doing multiple low value transactions as so few would register (at one stage I thought there was a $30 threshold but have since had lower ones register) and it would be easy to be disqualified under the T&Cs covering gaming. I tried using different types of checkout in the same store with inconsistent results.

On the plus side, if you do make LC, all your transactions that day seem to count. This could result in 2+ people being LC on a particular day.

At one stage both I and mrs andye were showing as LC at our local Coles but looking back this was after I had passed 10k for the year so was no longer earning.

If you have more than one Coles nearby (I have 4) I'd target the least-impressive one as you will have less competition

 

[andye]

....If you have more than one Coles nearby (I have 4) I'd target the least-impressive one as you will have less competition

Of course you can always buy CG&M cards in your LC store to spend at the more salubrious ones if you like their range better

 

[albyd]

I was trying to become LC at my local Big W split up my transactions to get over the line on one day. Didn’t become LC nothwithstanding my number of transactions was about 5 more than the then published LC tally. Having said that, outside of the old Only 1 cards which are now defunct for ATO, hardly ever shop at Big W now.

 

[SOPOOR]

interesting! my 13 x $1 trans at woolworths didnt register for LC, was hoping to take advantage of the gift card purchase at woolies

 

[blacksultan]

as a data point only woolworths are showing as LC options on our new explorer and platinum edge.

 

[SOPOOR]

LC can be mysterious

IME not all same-day Amex transactions count and I stopped doing multiple low value transactions as so few would register (at one stage I thought there was a $30 threshold but have since had lower ones register) and it would be easy to be disqualified under the T&Cs covering gaming. I tried using different types of checkout in the same store with inconsistent results.

On the plus side, if you do make LC, all your transactions that day seem to count. This could result in 2+ people being LC on a particular day.

At one stage both I and mrs andye were showing as LC at our local Coles but looking back this was after I had passed 10k for the year so was no longer earning.

If you have more than one Coles nearby (I have 4) I'd target the least-impressive one as you will have less competition

If i did half the trans today and half tomorrow. Would I likely to get the points for today? If i qualify tomorrow?

My $50 trans didnt register!!!

Only $100+

That's harsh

 

[Mr He]

So far as I'm concerned, there has always been a cap in place. As you can see from the screenshot attached, there was a cap of 10,000 in 2018, and it is still capped at 10,000 in 2019. A bit early to reach the cap this year on my Platinum Charge card, lol.

Playing the Local Champion game is fun, and I will take advantage of it on all my cards this year (including Edge, Velocity, Reserve, etc). It seems that Local Champion is only available in Australia; I've talked with friends in Hong Kong and the U.S and they've never heard of it. How lucky we're Down Under!

 

[StevePER]

My Woolworths and Coles transactions aren't showing up on local champion, but my Bunnings transactions are. I can't understand their system at all.

 

[blacksultan]

only multiple ww options available. not a single coles.

 

[andye]

My Woolworths and Coles transactions aren't showing up on local champion, but my Bunnings transactions are. I can't understand their system at all.

I try to use Bunnings GCs bought in Coles. With an Edge you get 3MR (+ 1MR for LC) as well as a Flybuy.
Never had the patience.to work out if Bunnings GCs count towards VA status credits

 

[benjy]

I'm finding that I can't add businesses to Local Champion that I've recently shopped at using Amex, not even available via the Local Businesses selection.

Anyone know if Local Champion option is business dependant, as a possible explanation as to whether the business is not visible on Local Champion?

 

[StevePER]

I try to use Bunnings GCs bought in Coles. With an Edge you get 3MR (+ 1MR for LC) as well as a Flybuy.

Good tip, I'm trying to stock up on gift cards prior to the devaluation but would like to get local champion first if I can. I'll give them a call tomorrow because it's clearly not working.

 

[StevePER]

Called Amex today and they couldn't really give any reasons why Local Champion isn't working for me. I think I'll have to give up on getting 4 points per dollar on my gift card purchases prior to the devaluation.

 

[andye]

Good tip, I'm trying to stock up on gift cards prior to the devaluation but would like to get local champion first if I can. I'll give them a call tomorrow because it's clearly not working.

A fiddly thing is Bunnings will only give you up to $9.95 in cash as change on a purchase. All increments of $10 are in GCs. The cash change does increase your points yield a smidge.
Refunds on GC purchases are hit and miss-anything substantial (and often trivial) tends to be given as a credit note

 

[StevePER]

So I have given up on being local champion at Coles and spent $700 on gift cards today... and this transaction shows up in the local champion app. So there must be a minimum spend required.

Bunnings refund policy doesn't bother me, I go there often enough.