Updated Bonus Partners - 1 January 2013 - 31 March 2013

[lovetravellingoz]

And after clicking on the link to HotelClub I see "Earn 5 bonus points for every $1 spent" splattered all over page.

Not good....

If you following your link and then click throuh to the next booking page it shows 10 points.
Hotels

 

[JohnK]

So which is it? 5 bonus points per $1 spent or 10 bonus points per $1 spent?

 

[sparoz]

I think the issue is the bonus partners need to think it is worthwhile to continue. Of course Amex would love to have more, but it is only if the merchant is willing to pay.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

I think the issue is the bonus partners need to think it is worthwhile to continue. Of course Amex would love to have more, but it is only if the merchant is willing to pay.

sums it up and the insurance promos for the Suncorp group were obviously too successful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wafliron]

MS Society are back too - 5,000 points for a $150 donation is not a bad "buy points" rate, when you take into account the fact that the donation is tax deductible.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Win/ win.....;.........

 

[kyle]

MS Society are back too - 5,000 points for a $150 donation is not a bad "buy points" rate, when you take into account the fact that the donation is tax deductible.

I wonder which promotion end date is correct. Amex page says 31 March 2013, MS page says 30 June 2013.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

I wonder which promotion end date is correct. Amex page says 31 March 2013, MS page says 30 June 2013.

i would rely on the AMEX page

 

[burmans]

i would rely on the AMEX page

I think they only load 3 months worth at a time, have seen this a few time that the small bonus partners just roll over when they load the next set of partners but like sumthinfornuthin I'd be trusting the AMEX page.

 

[wafliron]

I wonder which promotion end date is correct. Amex page says 31 March 2013, MS page says 30 June 2013.

MS page also says start date of 1 July 2012. I'd suggest they probably have a deal with Amex for the full FY13, but Amex are breaking it up into quarterly promos for marketing purposes. As others have said, the safe option is to be guided by what Amex's page says though.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Shame the MS offer isn't also available on the QF cards...

 

[wafliron]

FYI, there exists amongst the current bonus partners an opportunity to "buy" MR points for $0.01605 to $0.03 per point. The clue is in the fact that the "cost" varies from individual-to-individual based on your personal financial circumstances - and it's been discussed already in this thread

What makes things interesting is that this opportunity is not "limited" to a relatively small number of points, as it first appears - while I haven't yet tested it personally, my Amex RM confirmed in writing that the bonus offer it relies upon can be obtained as many times as you like.

I did some basic sums, and if you can buy your MR points for $0.01605 per point it equates to about $1,750 + taxes for MH J return to Europe, or about $2,500 + taxes on SQ J. Not the best deal around, but not bad - a bit like LifeMiles or USDM promos perhaps, where the value is good if your balance is low or you have a fairly short-term plan to redeem the points, but not so good that it's worth stocking up just for the hell of it.

 

[flycop]

Great find.

BUT.. when you go to the link to make the donation the 'info' tab states that 'multiple donations and donations more than $150 will not earn more than 5000 points'.

So doesn't appear that you can earn more than 5000 points per card?

 

[wafliron]

Great find.

BUT.. when you go to the link to make the donation the 'info' tab states that 'multiple donations and donations more than $150 will not earn more than 5000 points'.

Took me a while to figure out where the info "tab" was - I'd never clicked on that before. Hmm, interesting, because that directly contradicts what my RM told me in writing, as per above. I wonder if they changed it, or if she is wrong.

I'll do a test run (two donations) and see what happens, as I'm sure if I don't get the second lot of points and complain they'll credit them to me (given the "in writing" confirmation).

 

[flycop]

Sounds like a plan... I donated $150 anyway for the 5000 points. Let us know how you go.

 

[wafliron]

Sounds like a plan... I donated $150 anyway for the 5000 points. Let us know how you go.

Success!

19/02/2013	MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS LIMITED BLACKBURN VIC	$150.00	150	5,000	5,150
	Multiple Sclerosis Bonus Points	-	0	5,000
19/02/2013	MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS LIMITED BLACKBURN VIC	$150.00	150	5,000	5,150
	Multiple Sclerosis Bonus Points	-	0	5,000

 

[k3nnis]

I'm seriously thinking to do the $150 donation, but do you guys think it is a great return i.e. $150 for 5000 MR points???

 

[wafliron]

I'm seriously thinking to do the $150 donation, but do you guys think it is a great return i.e. $150 for 5000 MR points???

I provided some commentary on this just 5 posts back in the thread.

The base "price" is $0.03 per point, which isn't great. The donation is tax deductible though, so the "real" cost depends on your tax bracket. If you're in the top two brackets the cost becomes pretty reasonable - $0.01605 per point in the top bracket.

I did some basic sums, and if you can buy your MR points for $0.01605 per point it equates to about $1,750 + taxes for MH J return to Europe, or about $2,500 + taxes on SQ J. Not the best deal around, but not bad - a bit like LifeMiles or USDM promos perhaps, where the value is good if your balance is low or you have a fairly short-term plan to redeem the points, but not so good that it's worth stocking up just for the hell of it.

Remember that donating money to good causes is good for the world, and the soul, too.

 

[k3nnis]

Thanks wafliron. I'm not a high income earner though. Still tempted though

 

[paultiffen]

Hey,

Maybe to be a bit of a downer here but there may be a provision against it at Making tax deductible gifts and contributions as I researched this when I was looking into Kiva loans. It would violate the provision that

no material benefit or advantage is received by the donor.

Just something to be aware of if you were to put through many thousands in deductions, I heard once that they don't even audit you if your deductions are less than 3K because that is the minimum cost of an audit.