First time considering gift vouchers (for self)

[jpp42]

I realised that I forgot to spend much on my Qantas Money Premier Platinum credit card last month (as I was using primarily another one due to being overseas the whole month), and have until the end of the day today before my billing period ends, to spend approx $1400. This is in order to reach the $1500/month minimum that my card requires in order to get 20,000 bonus points. I don't have anything else I need to buy that I can think of, so am considering buying Qantas vouchers to ensure I don't miss out on the 20,000 points. I will certainly have enough self-funded Qantas travel in the next 3 years to be able to spend these, so while there is some opportunity cost lost by having the money tied up this way, it seems worth it to spend this now to avoid missing out on the 20,000 points.

Any gotchas I should be aware of ? Should I buy just one voucher or several smaller ones? It's likely that the bookings I'll ultimately spend these on will be for myself solely, but they could be for myself and a friend - since I haven't actually planned any trips yet I'm unsure of this.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[VPS]

I'm not sure about vouchers but consider a full refundable business class fare somewhere that you can cancel when you know your spend will be over for that month

 

[CaptainCurtis]

What about discounted Woolworths vouchers?

 

[jpp42]

I'm not sure about vouchers but consider a full refundable business class fare somewhere that you can cancel when you know your spend will be over for that month

I feel a bit slimy doing this. I don't really want to do something that may look shady later if it was audited.

This brings up an additional consideration though, as my spend for this month is actually negative as I had a refund for something else (Airbnb) in December, that was purchased a while back. I wonder if that counts against me here, in other words do I need the "net spend" for the month to be over $1500 counting refunds/credits as negative? I'll see if I can figure that out in the terms and conditions.

What about discounted Woolworths vouchers?

I don't typically spend much at Woolworths, but might check into this - do you have a link to more information about this?

 

[CaptainCurtis]

I don't typically spend much at Woolworths, but might check into this - do you have a link to more information about this?

You can get 5% off Woolworths gift cards through Cash Rewards here. Note that his is an immediate discount on the face value (i.e. $100 gift card for $95), instead of waiting for a 5% cash back to come through later. These can be redeemed at Woolworths, BWS, Dan Murphys, Big W, Cellarmasters and Caltex Woolworths petrol stations.

 

[jpp42]

This brings up an additional consideration though, as my spend for this month is actually negative as I had a refund for something else (Airbnb) in December, that was purchased a while back. I wonder if that counts against me here, in other words do I need the "net spend" for the month to be over $1500 counting refunds/credits as negative? I'll see if I can figure that out in the terms and conditions.

Replying to myself, the T&C's say:

"20,000 Qantas Points will be awarded each statement period when $1,500 or more is spent on eligible purchases that month. This offer is only available for the first 6 months from account approval. Eligible purchases do not include; Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, Refunds, Chargebacks and Special Promotions. "

A straight reading of this to me implies that refunds will not be counted in any way when determining the eligible purchases - hopefully I'm correct here.

 

[JohnK]

Buy a $1500 Qantas gift voucher and use hift voucher as you need flights and a residual gift voucher will be issued for the balance.

 

[TomVexille]

QF vouchers can only be used for the number of pax that they are originally purchased for. They do come with the added benefit of not paying the cc surcharge on the flight booking.

If you buy one voucher, the residual from a booking is issued as a new PNR, so if you go with one, make sure you write that down as the email doesn't always come through automatically.

 

[jpp42]

Buy a $1500 Qantas gift voucher and use hift voucher as you need flights and a residual gift voucher will be issued for the balance.

Thanks, that's what I was considering.

 

[jpp42]

QF vouchers can only be used for the number of pax that they are originally purchased for. They do come with the added benefit of not paying the cc surcharge on the flight booking.

Okay, so if I just say it's one passenger, I can't input two passengers on the PNR when I go to spend the voucher? This seems like an odd restriction, but I guess I can probably deal live with this, as I can just buy the second passenger's ticket separately, yes? I just forfeit any benefits of being on the same PNR such as automatic adjacent seating?

 

[woodborer]

I feel a bit slimy doing this. I don't really want to do something that may look shady later if it was audited.

Audited by who?

Okay, so if I just say it's one passenger, I can't input two passengers on the PNR when I go to spend the voucher? This seems like an odd restriction,

The way Qantas have created vouchers is a bit odd in that they are more of less shells of bookings holding a credit. That brings with it some restrictions.

 

[TomVexille]

Okay, so if I just say it's one passenger, I can't input two passengers on the PNR when I go to spend the voucher? This seems like an odd restriction, but I guess I can probably deal live with this, as I can just buy the second passenger's ticket separately, yes? I just forfeit any benefits of being on the same PNR such as automatic adjacent seating?

Correct. And if you buy a two pax voucher, you can't use it for one person.

As pointed out up thread, if you don't want to put too much into QF, buy some other vouchers for places you already spend at, or pay some of your phone/insurance/other bill in advance

 

[jpp42]

The way Qantas have created vouchers is a bit odd in that they are more of less shells of bookings holding a credit. That brings with it some restrictions.

Ah, that makes sense now with the way people previously used this as a loophole for double status credits. I never really understood why that worked but it's all making sense now...

Thanks all for the suggestions. I've gone ahead and purchased a combination of Woolworths e-gift cards (thanks for the discount link!), and a Qantas voucher. Assuming there's no issues with these posting in time for my statement end date, I should be good to go.

 

[Aus ATC]

and have until the end of the day today before my billing period ends

I suspect the problem for you will be that the transaction today will initially be "pending", and won't actually post till next billing cycle. Hope this is not the case for you.

 

[jpp42]

I suspect the problem for you will be that the transaction today will initially be "pending", and won't actually post till next billing cycle. Hope this is not the case for you.

The billing cycle actually restarts on Monday the 6th but I was hoping with transactions on the previous business day they will post in time - I was allowing for that slightly. We'll see - crossing fingers

 

[blacksultan]

You can. Bu Westfield eftpos gift cards that you can use for eftpos purchases