Qantas Points Club Discussion

[SYD]

The public at large? Doubt it!

I didn’t say the “public at large”. But those in the know also know that some of the better points earning (uncapped) come from an AMEX.

AMEX isn't accepted at many places and the places it is accepted it attracts a larger service fee.

AMEX is widely accepted, even Coles and Woolies with no service fee. Yes, as mentioned earlier some places don’t take AMEX because of legacy setups.

The broader passing on of CC surcharges is a whole other matter….

 

[Lynda2475]

AMEX isn't accepted at many places and the places it is accepted it attracts a larger service fee

Inaccurate - Amex is quite widely accepted and the major retailers (Coles, Woolworths, Myer, David Jones etc) do NOT charge any fee for paying with Amex. Amex acceptance has increased loads in last few years, even my local independent coffee shop takes Amex, and the 20c CC fee is the same no matter whether you use Amex, Visa or Mastercard - happy to pay the 20c for the loads of extra points I get and for the convenience.

Take out the AmEx Qantas Ultimate card where you'll pay a 2% fee every time you book a Qantas flight with it."

Again incorrect, the fee for Amex is 0.89% which is lower than Visa which is 1.01% and fees have caps.



Now I agree that it is rude for QF to charge card fees especially on co-branded cards but it is what it is. The bonus points and trigger of lounge passes to gift to friends/family offsets the extra $2-5 here and there.

Amex Travel does NOT charge a credit card surcharge.

Correct, but you dont get the Qantas spend bonus points using them.

 

[VPS]

! AMEX isn't accepted at many places and the places it is accepted it attracts a larger service fee. And riddle me this, Qantas and Virgin both have several credit cards they issue through AmEx and others. But if you try using those credit cards to book a flight on their own site that attracts a service fee. What a way to incentivize travellers to use your card. "Take out the AmEx Qantas Ultimate card where you'll pay a 2% fee every time you book a Qantas flight with it."

I don't know why people persist on this thing of Amex not being accepted. Supermarkets, petrol stations, department stores and a lot of smaller shops. The ones that charge a surcharge for Amex are usually the ones that have a surcharge for Visa and MC. Even the local milk stand at the Adelaide central market lets me put $3 on my Amex for no fee. I just checked my latest Amex bill - also Chemist Warehouse, Tony and marks - big fruit and veg chain in Adelaide, Bunnings Amazon, Apple, my Physio and where I do Pilates, Uber, DiDI etc etc

 

[elanshin]

I don't know why people persist on this thing of Amex not being accepted. Supermarkets, petrol stations, department stores and a lot of smaller shops. The ones that charge a surcharge for Amex are usually the ones that have a surcharge for Visa and MC. Even the local milk stand at the Adelaide central market lets me put $3 on my Amex for no fee. I just checked my latest Amex bill - also Chemist Warehouse, Tony and marks - big fruit and veg chain in Adelaide, Bunnings Amazon, Apple, my Physio and where I do Pilates, Uber, DiDI etc etc

Legacy notion.

But realistically id say it was about 2018/2019 that AMEX started a concerted effort sending reps to small stores to educate everyone that AMEX fees are no longer stupidly expensive.

Also newer businesses that setup with things like Square terminals don't turn AMEX off because it's the same cost now.

 

[Flyingwombat]

I don't know why people persist on this thing of Amex not being accepted. Supermarkets, petrol stations, department stores and a lot of smaller shops. The ones that charge a surcharge for Amex are usually the ones that have a surcharge for Visa and MC. Even the local milk stand at the Adelaide central market lets me put $3 on my Amex for no fee. I just checked my latest Amex bill - also Chemist Warehouse, Tony and marks - big fruit and veg chain in Adelaide, Bunnings Amazon, Apple, my Physio and where I do Pilates, Uber, DiDI etc etc

So true - Chemist Warehouse and Reject shop are recent good additions. All major supermarkets. Even the little IGA in my rural town accepts it and so does the roadside stall with a Square reader set up in the shed! And I am happy to use it when I book Qantas as I get a bonus point on top of my 1.25 pts plus activate insurance. All for a fee of 0.89%. And I get to defer payment for a month or so depending on when I book earning a bit extra interest.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Again incorrect, the fee for Amex is 0.89% which is lower than Visa which is 1.01% and fees have caps.

Per the table provided, they have the highest fee amongst charge cards that I'm aware of.

Now I agree that it is rude for QF to charge card fees especially on co-branded cards but it is what it is.

If Qantas waived the fee for their cards I think that would be a unique selling point for the card, since to my knowledge it would be the only ones offering it.

Correct, but you dont get the Qantas spend bonus points using them.

Seems kind of dumb from AmEx's side to penalize customers using their own travel portal. Then again, you do have to use their portal to take advantage of the annual Qantas travel credit. I suppose the other issue with AmEx travel is whether they list all available fare options, or like AmEx travel Canada just lists the more pricier fare options.

So true - Chemist Warehouse and Reject shop are recent good additions. All major supermarkets. Even the little IGA in my rural town accepts it and so does the roadside stall with a Square reader set up in the shed!

It's good to see that more retailers are accepting AmEx cards. And certainly for IGA that is unexpected, considering in Canada, many IGA stores won't accept AmEx.

And I am happy to use it when I book Qantas as I get a bonus point on top of my 1.25 pts plus activate insurance. All for a fee of 0.89%. And I get to defer payment for a month or so depending on when I book earning a bit extra interest.

I think the key benefit would be the extra Qantas point. Presumably insurance and deferring payment for a month you would get booking with AmEx travel.

-RooFlyer88

 

[33kft]

By the look of these numbers, a lot of people use cards but only ~40% at best would be getting any reward points for them.

 

[SYD]

I think the key benefit would be the extra Qantas point. Presumably insurance and deferring payment for a month you would get booking with AmEx travel.

…occasional cash back offers but there’s also regular cash back booking direct with airlines. Hotels, car rentals, shops, restaurants and purveyors of shoes (in joke over in the Amex thread).

 

[SYD]

By the look of these numbers, a lot of people use cards but only ~40% at best would be getting any reward points for them.

OT but Debit cards have all but replaced cash. But some merchants have the audacity to charge you to take your cash directly…

I’d rather get the points!

 

[33kft]

Debit cards have all but replaced cash.

There was an infection point around 2017 as shown below.

For those who were using credit cards in the 90s (seems plenty here were) you might be interested to see the somewhat of an exclusive club you were a part of.

 

[Lynda2475]

Per the table provided, they have the highest fee amongst charge cards that I'm aware of.

These days Amex is more often a credit card 'rather than a charge card, my current Amex is a rewards credit card. if you look at the table Diners (which is also a charge card has a higher fee).

Even companies that used to issue staff with the old green Amex charge cards, have in many cases moved to the credit version. Although other businesses prefer to keep the charge card.

you do have to use their portal to take advantage of the annual Qantas travel credit

Which is why I use it precisely once per year.

It's good to see that more retailers are accepting AmEx cards. And certainly for IGA that is unexpected, considering in Canada, many IGA stores won't accept AmEx.

Not sure why IGA acceptance is unexpected, I've been able to use amex at the two IGAs i frequent most often fee free since 1997! Though since they all have different owners maybe some were late t the party?

The supermarkets and large retailers have the bargaining power to negotiate really low fees compared with smaller businesses, so small they can easily absorb and not penalize customers.

For those who were using credit cards in the 90s (seems plenty here were) you might be interested to see the somewhat of an exclusive club you were a part of.

A shame that chart doesnt separate out charge cards (which had to be paid in full each month so different from credit cards).

In 1997 when I got my first credit and charge cards it was a personal visa credit card (that had Ansett rewards) and two corporate charge cards (a diners that earned Ansett points, and an Amex that earned Qantas points).

Although the charge cards were work provided to cover work expenses like taxis to client sites, back then it was permitted to also use for personal use, provided you paid off all personal use each month. I was probably doing 50% of purchased on charge/credit, 25% Eftpos and 25% cash.

Diners used to have higher points earn than Amex so was my favoured and I used personal Visa card if Diners wasnt accepted. I had earned a heap of Ansett points after needing to do minor renovations (floorboards, air con) and furnishing my first home and redeemed the *A OWA equivalent in J back in 2001 a couple of week before the Ansett collapse. But even though none of the flights were on Ansett, it was not honoured as it hadn't been ticketed, back then it was those carbon tickets (1 page for each leg) and used to take weeks to receive. will never forgive Air NZ, they will never earn a personal $ from me.

Had I preferenced Amex over Diners during 97-01 (and got a QFF rather than Ansett visa), I would have had approx 25% fewer QFF points, but not lost out.

After Ansert collapse I switched to cards that earn bank rewards points for a while, until eventually coming back to Qantas earning cards when I was able to qualify for the black/platinum ones and was flying a lot of QF SYD-MEL for work.

These days most corporate issued charge cards exclude points earn for the individual, so better to pay on your own card and then seek reimbursement where that is an option. Obviously if you own your own business then you can benefit from QBR.

I've always minimised my cash usage and maximised points earning card usage. I have not taken any AUD cash out since 2019 and even then cash probably accounted for less than 3% of my purchases. Now it would be less than 1%, as sometimes Im gifted birthday cash.

I try not to spend anything if its not earning me points.

 

[SYD]

These days most corporate issued charge cards exclude points earn for the individual, so better to pay on your own card and then seek reimbursement where that is an option.

I’d be surprised if Corporate charge cards are still popular - weren’t they on the company books? No idea but the Corporate Amex CCs are the responsibility of the card holder, so companies love them - all that credit limit (potential debt) is off the books. Early on in my corporate career, the credit limit my corporate Visa card (on company books) would constantly be wound back without being told until you’d check into a hotel and the card‘s rejected because the rental car at the airport has already maxed it out….

Obviously if you own your own business then you can benefit from QBR.

I had a corporate Amex CC for years at a large multi-National - earned a shedload of points along the way!

My own company Amex QF Small Biz card (pre dates the QBR card) is a winner! Alas, I’m not spending as much now as I’d like.

 

[blaz]

Why not allow points club plus members who already have access to Qantas lounges the ability to upgrade to a first or business class lounge?

 

[ozflier]

Why not allow points club plus members who already have access to Qantas lounges the ability to upgrade to a first or business class lounge?

I agree with this suggestion but would go more for additional lounge invitations in lieu the Qantas Club membership!

 

[Lynda2475]

I imagine that a good portion PC+ members who already have lounge access are WP/P1 and already have access to J/F lounges.

Probably better to offer choice of Qantas Club membership or if already have lounge access ability to gift it to someone else.

 

[Mark3000]

For all of the points club plus members who are Platinum or P1, the benefits are really wasted.
The 100 Status credit rollover is of no benefit to P1's and if they wanted to make P1's appreciate Points Club Plus more, they could remove that silly rule
Offering up lounge passes to be gifted to others just adds to lounge overcrowding which is already a problem.
I would rather a points bonus

 

[elanshin]

For all of the points club plus members who are Platinum or P1, the benefits are really wasted.
The 100 Status credit rollover is of no benefit to P1's and if they wanted to make P1's appreciate Points Club Plus more, they could remove that silly rule
Offering up lounge passes to be gifted to others just adds to lounge overcrowding which is already a problem.
I would rather a points bonus

I feel like if you're P1, you're probably in a different category of customer as points club target. While it would be nice to have benefits, let's be real the overlap here is tiny and the program is designed more for the masses, especially Bronze / Silver.

100 SC rollover for WP/Gold is actually reasonably relevant. Thats 1/12 of the way to requal on platinum.

 

[Danger]

Why not allow points club plus members who already have access to Qantas lounges the ability to upgrade to a first or business class lounge?

For all of the points club plus members who are Platinum or P1, the benefits are really wasted.
The 100 Status credit rollover is of no benefit to P1's and if they wanted to make P1's appreciate Points Club Plus more, they could remove that silly rule
Offering up lounge passes to be gifted to others just adds to lounge overcrowding which is already a problem.
I would rather a points bonus

Members who are already gold or platinum are not the target market of Points Club.

 

[Daver6]

Members who are already gold or platinum are not the target market of Points Club.

QF think otherwise. They actively target SGs and WPs with emails....or just another QF IT failure

 

[RichardMEL]

QF think otherwise. They actively target SGs and WPs with emails....or just another QF IT failure

More really that they target *everyone* when it comes to PC. Status is irrelevant in this context, but spend? spend is GOOD (as long as it's in their ecosystem of course!). So it's in their best interests to try to increase the spend that earns for them. It's an added bonus that the higher tiers are more likely to be spending not only directly with QF for flights, but probably tied into the ecosystem more than most due to the handcuffs, points earnings etc.

As P1, I've never had a direct communication from QF regarding PC or PC+ that links to my status in particular - apart from retaining PC that is - but it's quite separate in my view.

And let's not forget the discussions some months back following the series of sessions with invited elites and others regarding ideas of providing P1 status for 1 million (either spend or points earn unclear) and possibly other incentives potentially linking the two forms of "status" together a bit more. Of course we have no idea if that talk was pie in the sky or potentially part of any changes allegedly to be announced soon to QFF.