Qantas ult upgrade loophole (mini SUB) for plat holders + benefits

[burneracc]

Collating some useful info for people on here as a result of a conversation in a different thread.

I had been doing some trawling and came across the following link: The American Express Qantas Ultimate Card®

> Receive 20,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply to upgrade, are approved, and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases on your 
new Card in the first 3 months

So from what i can tell, you can apply for the fee free Qantas card and immediately upgrade for a 20k “SUB”. You can also wait for a targeted offer which historically has been far higher than 20k Qantas points, although this is targeted so YMMV. For anyone thinking about adding this card as a companion to the plat but unsure of the benefits, keep reading.

Why would you want to do this? / what are the benefits?

• Double earn on QF direct spend vs the plat. If you were booking QF anyway, you will likely be in the Qantas ecosystem so it makes sense to get double the points.
• Also marginally higher day to day earn on spend if you are happy to earn points in the QFF program.
• Separate referral pool / cap. If you hit the 200k/yr ascent premium referral cap, good news - the caps are per card, not per individual. I confirmed this directly with a rep. This one is important to me as some of the best value from Amex is their referral scheme and I’d hit the cap.
• It’s also essentially $0 annual fee after doing the travel credit redemption thing
• Duplicated offers / statement credits. AEDMO for example.
• Goodwill from gifting the QP invites to family / friends

 

[Bell21]

Collating some useful info for people on here as a result of a conversation in a different thread.

I had been doing some trawling and came across the following link: https://www.americanexpress.com/au/credit-cards/upgrade/qantas-ultimate.html

> Receive 20,000 bonus Qantas Points when you apply to upgrade, are approved, and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases on your 
new Card in the first 3 months

So from what i can tell, you can apply for the fee free Qantas card and immediately upgrade for a 20k “SUB”. You can also wait for a targeted offer which historically has been far higher than 20k Qantas points, although this is targeted so YMMV. For anyone thinking about adding this card as a companion to the plat but unsure of the benefits, keep reading.

Why would you want to do this? / what are the benefits?

• Double earn on QF direct spend vs the plat. If you were booking QF anyway, you will likely be in the Qantas ecosystem so it makes sense to get double the points.
• Also marginally higher day to day earn on spend if you are happy to earn points in the QFF program.
• Separate referral pool / cap. If you hit the 200k/yr ascent premium referral cap, good news - the caps are per card, not per individual. I confirmed this directly with a rep. This one is important to me as some of the best value from Amex is their referral scheme and I’d hit the cap.
• It’s also essentially $0 annual fee after doing the travel credit redemption thing
• Duplicated offers / statement credits. AEDMO for example.
• Goodwill from gifting the QP invites to family / friends

Thanks for this - I think the link might be broken?

 

[burneracc]

Thanks for this - I think the link might be broken?

The American Express Qantas Ultimate Card®

Qantas Ultimate Upgrade Page.

www.americanexpress.com

Fixed

 

[Mr_Orange]

I had been doing some trawling and came across the following link: https://www.americanexpress.com/au/credit-cards/upgrade/qantas-ultimate.html

 

[SYD]

The American Express Qantas Ultimate Card®

Qantas Ultimate Upgrade Page.

www.americanexpress.com

Fixed

Oh, wow. I used to get that offer for years on a legacy Gold CC. But when I went to upgrade, no offers…. So haven’t bothered for several years.

I’ll probably try and see if this works. If it does, I’ll report back.

 

[burneracc]

Oh, wow. I used to get that offer for years on a legacy Gold CC. But when I went to upgrade, no offers…. So haven’t bothered for several years.

I’ll probably try and see if this works. If it does, I’ll report back.

I’ve seen reports of 50k + $200 back and other variants if you get a targeted offer. Good luck though!

 

[SYD]

I’ve seen reports of 50k + $200 back and other variants if you get a targeted offer. Good luck though!

As per earlier, I used to get those offers via snail mail at least twice a year and then online up until around Covid times but then nothing for 3+ years (maybe that coincided with the banking/CC reforms??).

I was going to call about upgrading anyway. Maybe I should to see what personalised offer (if any) is available!