Bonus Points - Cunning Plan

[oz_mark]

Hmmmm... I wonder what happens if the refund is made to a card such as ANZ's new balance visa card - (where you accrue points for paying off debt, not for accruing the debt in the first place...) Is that double dipping?

It would look like this:
1) Book a $5,000 ticket, say with AA MEL-LAX, business class (fully refundable tciket) on a credit card
2) move those points once in place from credit card to QFF program
3) close credit card and balance transfer $5,000 debt to a new ANZ balance visa card
4) cancel $5,000 ticket and request refund of $5,000 to ANZ card,
5) ANZ give you 5,000 pointsfor paying off your balance
6) Transfer points to QFF program.

Voila - 10,000 points for spending nothing. Or have I missed something???
I haven't done a balance transfer before, so I am not sure if you accrue points for balances that have been transferred out, and whether the ANZ's card would confer points for a re-credit of an amount from a retailer, rather than paying off the card in the usual way via my bank.

Any thoughts?

You have a couple of issues.

1) There is a fee of 1% for Balance Transfers on the ANZ Balance Card

2) This clause may get you (my emphasis):

You will not earn Reward Points on any payment to your card account:

> as a result of redeeming Reward Points (including Cashback);

> that is subsequently dishonoured; or

> as a result of any refund, reimbursement for charges previously incurred
(for example for returned merchandise) or chargeback.​

Your points record will be adjusted to reflect any of the circumstances referred to in this clause 6.

 

[bobbyjo_sing]

You have a couple of issues.

1) There is a fee of 1% for Balance Transfers on the ANZ Balance Card

2) This clause may get you (my emphasis):

There you go, if something looks too good to be true it's usually too good to be true, lets face it, clever it may be but one way or another it's fraud. Banking institutions (or loan sharks as I prefer to call them) spend millions of dollars protecting the income of their billions of dollars.

 

[medhead]

you will have incurred, or foregone that amount in interest.
That, plus all the phone calls and time wasted make it no no for me.

Besides the moral issue. This plan dies just on the interest factor alone. Usually they don't credit the points until the end of the month, so you have to hold the card at least of the the interest free period before you can transfer the points to FF. If you don't pay the full amount by that time, which you're not as you plan to balance transfer, you then start to accure interest from the date of purchase. Once you balance transfer, besides the 1%, interest is charged immediately.

So you're up for 1 or 2 months of interest minimum = $50 to $100 @18%. (Of course, it looks more dodgy if you act that quickly.) Plus you're up for the transfer fee of $50.

Not worth it.

Better off cycling all purchases via the card for the first 11 months to try and get the full 30000 points (3x $10000).

 

[mick]

and I doubt they would credit back to a different card. If the card no longer exists then I expect they will want to issue you a cheque and that could take some time to process.

Its certainly not a plan I would be willing to undertake myself.

Indeed NM! I redeemed a QF SYD/JFK/SYD award ticket a few years ago and paid for the taxes, etc. on my ANZ FF Visa card. It was booked nearly a year ahead of travel and my plans changed so dramatically closer to time that I asked to have the award ticket cancelled, refunding my points minus the 5,000 points cancellation fee. QF said they would refund the taxes into the ANZ credit card, but I had since cancelled the card. QF wanted proof of card account closure and the signing of a statutory declaration to back up my claim. They also needed another credit card to which to credit the refund. Fair enough.

I followed all their instructions but, at the end of the day, QF still refunded the amount straight back into the closed ANZ credit card - a dead account. Thankfully, I still had a savings account with ANZ and they were happy to move the funds to that account, but what a palaver!!! The whole process took months to complete.

To the OP: don't bother - your plan is not so cunning...

 

[Alanslegal]

To the OP:
Just purchase $10K worth of gift cards eg. Wish Gift Cards if you really want to earn 30K points quickly and legitimately.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

To the OP:
Just purchase $10K worth of gift cards eg. Wish Gift Cards if you really want to earn 30K points quickly and legitimately.

Is there another bonus promotion on...as that is 3 points per $1?

 

[simongr]

A credit card I use has me signed up on a deal offering me 3 FF points per dollar up to the first $10,000 that I spend.

@lovetravellingoz It is what started this whole farcical thread.

 

[JohnK]

Is there another bonus promotion on...as that is 3 points per $1?

Not a general promotion as far as I am aware. The OP has been offered a deal of 3 points per dollar for the next $10,000 spent. The credit card or the credit card company has not been revealed.

 

[Smithy789]

The promotion is with Diners Club - not everyone's favourite card, but certainly mine.

The promotion is with their business card - for which you need to have a registered business name and also to be registered with the ATO. Formally, the offer expired at the end of January 2008, but there is still a link that works. If anyone would like it, let me know and I'll dig it out. DC had to reactivate the offer on my account - requiring a few phone calls and a fax - so it is a bit of hassle.

The reason that you may want to have your own business name and business card etc is due to this financial year's special tax treatment for small businesses with a turnover of less than $75,000. You can obtain up to $12,500 in tax back if, like me you are a PAYE employee but also have a small business on the side that generates its own turnover. I am not an accountant, but that's my reading of it if you have a look at the ATO website.

Thank you to those who contributed to my original query. There was probably as much heat as light generated in the ensuing discussion. As a lawyer (albeit no longer practising, and not a criminal lawyer) I sincerely doubt that the cunning plan was fraudelent, complying as I think it did with the terms of business. Nevertheless, I am not looking to pursue morally dubious courses of action, so I passed up on pursuing my 'cunning plan'. (It's the first of May today, so my three months are up, reverting to 1:1).

Always interested in those who have thought up plans that maximise points and minimise costs.

 

[ANstar]

. QF wanted proof of card account closure and the signing of a statutory declaration to back up my claim.

I had a similar issue with QF, whereby my UK Amex had expired and a new card was issued. They requested a letter from Amex saying the card had simply been replaced, but once received they still weren't happy and I had to do a stat dec.

Riciculous if you ask me.