Westpac Altitude Black Qantas Mastercard - welcome bonus difficulties

[MikeG]

OK, I should learn my lesson and stop dealing with Westpac.

See my last encounter...

Thread 'Westpac Black Altitude snafu'

May 5, 2020

I signed up for a Westpac Black Altitude combo at the end of last year, I started to worry when the approval changed from Altitude card to Qantas card.

My Amex card was accumulating Qantas points and my Altitude login didnt work.

I contacted Amex and they changed the account over to Altitude. I had to contact Westpac separately to change the Mastercard over. I still havn't recieved the signing bonus.

Initially I was told I would get 80,000 QFF points (Mastercard only). Now I'm being told I will get 80,000 Altitude points. Oh, wait. I thought it was 130,000 Altitude points?! Does...

• MikeG
• Replies: 0
• Forum: Westpac

This time I signed up to get the 120,000 (90,000+30,000) point welcome bonus, and interestingly, early last year I got an out-of-the-blue renewal bill from Westpac a year after cancelling my last card with them. They acknowledged it was an error, as the card was not cancelled when I requested it over the phone in early 2023.

I decided to wait the 24 months and get another card, to get the welcome bonus again... And everything was fine, until I went to chase up the welcome bonus 14 weeks after hitting the required spend. Firstly, (my fault) on transaction was for a government bill, so it didn't count, so they were good enough to give me 30 days extension to make the spend. After making the spend I call them again, only to find "that old chestnut" the previous card that they neglected to close when I asked them to, was flagged as open within 24 months of getting the new card.

I needed the points this week to book some flights before the prices go up at Qantas, but it seems they now have to raise an investigation for the previous card. So, they are not going to give me the points this week - or even in the next 2-3 weeks it seems. FFS.

I guess this will be my last Westpac product that I sign up for. I'm over it!!!

M

 

[levelnine]

I wouldn't worry. By the time you're next eligible for a bonus in 24 months, the interchange rate changes will have come into effect, the bonus will be something like 10,000 Qantas points, and won't be worth bothering with anyway.

 

[MG1]

I've recently applied for this card and have had a lot of issues myself.

Firstly, I couldn't apply via the website - I tried on multiple devices without luck. After being on the phone for hours (transferred three times), they told me to go into a branch. As it was already too late that day (as banks have to close early (aaarrgh)), I did this the following day.

Just after the banks close on the day that I went to the branch, they send me an e-mail wanting a copy of my passport (which I thought was odd because the worker at the bank had already identified me and entered the relevant details into the application).

I rang them the following morning and the lady was very persistent that the passport was needed (I could tell that she was just reading off of the screen with no real experience)

I made my way to a different branch during my lunch break to check with their staff members (who entered more details of mine into the application and said that I shouldn't need to enter the passport details). I rang the application number again. After being on hold for so long, I eventually got them to speak with one of the branch workers, who tried to tell the lady on the phone that this is bs but she sadly just kept repeating information off of the computer screen like the first one I called in the morning.

Eventually, I succumbed and sent them a photocopy but I don't feel happy about it (I didn't want to waste the credit enquiry that had already occurred and I had already planned on this being a major pait of my requalification for PC). This is only a $6k card now.

Next time, they'll be asking for my DNA, my blood, or possibly something else. If I weren't so addicted to points (or more so, addicted to what the points can get me), I wouldn't be doing this. I'm sure that some people are questioning my sanity (I'm starting to as well).

I'm still awaiting approval. Let's hope that that occurs quickly and that I don't have any issues getting the bonus points. I don't know whether this experience will be similar for anyone else but it definitely ranks either 2nd- or 3rd-worst application process (so far).

 

[MG1]

I wouldn't worry. By the time you're next eligible for a bonus in 24 months, the interchange rate changes will have come into effect, the bonus will be something like 10,000 Qantas points, and won't be worth bothering with anyway.

I'm really worried about this. This is similar to what the European landscape is like. It's not looking good. As much as I want you to be wrong (nothing personal of course), I fear that you'll be very close to the mark.