The Explorer Credit Card (New AMEX Card!)

Irishbazz said:
Just made the call 10:30pm (Perth) to request re-linking of my account to Ascent and was explained to me that it wasn't possible! Different award programs, earn rates etc. American CSR too!

Will try again tomorrow day time
Click to expand...

Finally, remembered to phone back and card linked into Ascent today at noon WA time. Used the line of two MR accounts being too hard!! Changed without question, put on hold for five, confirmation that the 120k gateway points will transfer across within 3-5 days. Logged online and points no longer showing in the explorer page, replaced with comment refer to Ascent for points total. Will confirm 1:1 transfer rate once completed.
 
implsv said:
Used my explorer card today... at second shop my card declined.

Contacted Amex and got told flagged for fraud concerns and team I need to speak to not available until Monday.

Anyone else had this? Seems a bit of a joke to not have 24 hours support?
Click to expand...

I'm surprised there is not 24 hour support in the fraud area since fraudulent activity can happen on cards anywhere in the world, in any time zones.

I received our Explorer cards on Wednesday last week. We went to Woolworths that evening and made small purchases on both my card and my Wifes' Supplementary cards to be sure they had activated correctly. The next day my Wife purchased something at K Mart for around $30 that went through without any problems and she then went to Woolworths and the purchase of around $150 was declined. I phoned Amex and when I keyed in my card number I was connected straight through to the Fraud Detection department. After I gave them ID information I was told that the card would now be ok to use and that they had had problems with some cards being taken from letter boxes, particularly supplementary cards. I told them that both cards had arrived together and that I had called up to activate my wife's card and answered ID questions then too. I was told that the problem was only with my Wife's card and that there were no problems with mine. I mentioned that I would be paying an electricity bill the next day for over $2000 on my card.

On the next day I called to add the Explorer card details for Direct Debit for future bills and to pay the current Electricity bill on my card and it was declined! On phoning Amex I was again connected straight through to Fraud Detection and after answering ID questions the card was cleared to be used and I was told that there would be no more problems.

This week the additional supplementary cards arrived for myself and my Wife and we have been able to use them without any problems.

I've never had this happen before with Amex cards, or any others either. It seems that this is happening to a few others as well so I don't know what's happening with their systems - something doesn't seem right for cards to be flagged so frequently in their systems lately.
 
Ken1 said:
I'm surprised there is not 24 hour support in the fraud area since fraudulent activity can happen on cards anywhere in the world, in any time zones.

I received our Explorer cards on Wednesday last week. We went to Woolworths that evening and made small purchases on both my card and my Wifes' Supplementary cards to be sure they had activated correctly. The next day my Wife purchased something at K Mart for around $30 that went through without any problems and she then went to Woolworths and the purchase of around $150 was declined. I phoned Amex and when I keyed in my card number I was connected straight through to the Fraud Detection department. After I gave them ID information I was told that the card would now be ok to use and that they had had problems with some cards being taken from letter boxes, particularly supplementary cards. I told them that both cards had arrived together and that I had called up to activate my wife's card and answered ID questions then too. I was told that the problem was only with my Wife's card and that there were no problems with mine. I mentioned that I would be paying an electricity bill the next day for over $2000 on my card.

On the next day I called to add the Explorer card details for Direct Debit for future bills and to pay the current Electricity bill on my card and it was declined! On phoning Amex I was again connected straight through to Fraud Detection and after answering ID questions the card was cleared to be used and I was told that there would be no more problems.

This week the additional supplementary cards arrived for myself and my Wife and we have been able to use them without any problems.

I've never had this happen before with Amex cards, or any others either. It seems that this is happening to a few others as well so I don't know what's happening with their systems - something doesn't seem right for cards to be flagged so frequently in their systems lately.
Click to expand...

What's annoying with Amex too is they insist on mailing to fixed addresses. We actually do have a bit of a mail theft problem so I use a PO Box, but Amex won't accept that for some reason
 
I am applying for this card for myself and wife over the next two weeks (applying for mine after hers arrives for referral bonus). I already hold a PE, my wife will be applying for a PE after Explorer sign on bonus points post. Will be interesting to see if any difference in having accounts linked (or relinked for me) based on which card was held first.
 
I phoned the Membership Rewards number just before 6am this morning (Sunday) and spoke to someone in the U.S. office. I asked to have the Gateway and Ascent Premium programs combined to make it easier with one program and he said that you normally can't combine the two programs because the points are worth more in the Ascent program but that he will file a case to request this with the back end team and that they will take 3 - 5 working days to review the case and they will then let me know.

I'm worried now as I only de-linked them 5 days ago and the bonus 110K came through a couple of days ago so if they look closely they would see that. When he said he'll file a case to request it I probably should have said don't worry and tried again another time but I just have to be patient and see what happens.
 
Bought a car yesterday, thinking to finance or use explorer card. Amex surcharge 2.55% ( 2PPD ) $83,000 amount , worth it ?
 
bbqwer said:
Bought a car yesterday, thinking to finance or use explorer card. Amex surcharge 2.55% ( 2PPD ) $83,000 amount , worth it ?
Click to expand...

Could you register for local champ and buy a car cleaning kit or something to become local champ for 3 pts per dollar?
 
bbqwer said:
Bought a car yesterday, thinking to finance or use explorer card. Amex surcharge 2.55% ( 2PPD ) $83,000 amount , worth it ?
Click to expand...

Is your Explorer linked to a Gateway or an Ascent account? If Gateway I personally wouldn't. If Ascent, I'd think about it, particularly if I needed the points relatively soon. Effective purchase rate is the. 1.275c per FF point.

However, I'd also consider applying for the Platinum Charge if I needed an AMEX points boost and take 100,000 points for $1200 with the additional perks.

If you could somehow make the surcharge tax deductible the I would say go for it.
 
Has anyone used their travel credits yet ?
If so, how extensive is AMEX Travel's accommodation choices ? (Domestic and overseas)
And are their prices competitive compared to Agoda, Hotel.com etc ?
 
desafinado74 said:
Has anyone used their travel credits yet ?
If so, how extensive is AMEX Travel's accommodation choices ? (Domestic and overseas)
And are their prices competitive compared to Agoda, Hotel.com etc ?
Click to expand...
Not as many options as places like hotels.com But if you have a good look you can get equivalent value.
 
Sounds like they might be starting to looking at the linking of accounts, people should probably be quick and get them done before they close the gates.

It's amusing to me that after all these years they still don't seem to have an IT solution in place to manage people with multiple types of MR accounts - in the past you used to have to pay a fee per 1,000 points to combine MR accounts of different types to stop people from accruing points in the lower/cheaper MR program then just opening a new account and redeeming them in Ascent...
 
Sponsored Post

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?

Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.

Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

adame said:
Can someone send me a referral link for the American Express Explorer Card?
Click to expand...

Adame you dont need a PM. All the referrals for this card are listed here (including mine in message #69):

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....can-express-explorer-referrals-now-79058.html

Once you get the card you can then add your own referral to the same thread if you wish.

But hurry as the offer ends in 2 weeks time.

And for the future it may be worth noting this link to other referral offers:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/referral-offers/
 
Last edited:
my card was approved on tuesday on the phone,

mailman has come, no card :(

btw, does the promo expiry date apply to application date or approval date?
 

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..

Recent Posts

Currently Active Users

... and 22 more.
Total: 1,115 (members: 72, guests: 1,043)
Back
Top