Your NAB Qantas Platinum Card is Changing.

[robd]

Received a letter via snail mail that the earn rate for my Visa card has been reduced from 2 points per $3 to 0.5 points per $1 spend on eligible purchases and a $100k limit per statement cycle - (like that's ever gonna happen).

This is actually going to work in my favour, as the Visa card was just a partner card to the Amex which still has the 1.5 point per $1 and I never had any intention of using this Visa because I have other Visa cards with 1pt to $1 spend.

They have therefore reduced the annual fee to $250, down from $290, which is a real bugger considering I only got the card about 6 weeks ago and the fee was charged on my second statement, BUT as I only just received the card, they are giving me 5,000 bonus Qantas FF points.

So 35,000 points for applying and another 5,000 for the change.

Winner!

If they had changed the earn on the Amex, well that would have been a different story.

 

[vetrade]

Yes, I got the same letter robd and agree that the 1.5 pt per $ spend Amex is the main benefit of the card so the cut to VISA points won't worry me either.
I am a little unsure of what NAB means exactly by "statement cycle" and maybe you could clarify if you know the answer - I suppose it would be the monthly statement interval but then I got to thinking that they would probably set the bar lower than $100K per month to catch more ppl out. Hope I'm just being pedantic and worrying over nothing

Depends on the distinction (if NAB makes one) between "cycle" and "interval". If the statement "cycle" according to NAB is 12 months - or maybe even the 3 year period between card renewals (surely not ???) then maybe even the benefits of the AMEX card are under threat.

 

[oz_mark]

Yes, I got the same letter robd and agree that the 1.5 pt per $ spend Amex is the main benefit of the card so the cut to VISA points won't worry me either.
I am a little unsure of what NAB means exactly by "statement cycle" and maybe you could clarify if you know the answer - I suppose it would be the monthly statement interval but then I got to thinking that they would probably set the bar lower than $100K per month to catch more ppl out. Hope I'm just being pedantic and worrying over nothing
.

Statement Cycle is the period from one statement date to the next statement date.

 

[robd]

Yes, I got the same letter robd and agree that the 1.5 pt per $ spend Amex is the main benefit of the card so the cut to VISA points won't worry me either.
I am a little unsure of what NAB means exactly by "statement cycle" and maybe you could clarify if you know the answer - I suppose it would be the monthly statement interval but then I got to thinking that they would probably set the bar lower than $100K per month to catch more ppl out. Hope I'm just being pedantic and worrying over nothing

Depends on the distinction (if NAB makes one) between "cycle" and "interval". If the statement "cycle" according to NAB is 12 months - or maybe even the 3 year period between card renewals (surely not ???) then maybe even the benefits of the AMEX card are under threat.

A statement cycle is monthly. How often do you get a statement?

Weird though, I just went to the NAB website to check details, and the rate for the Visa is still advertised at 3 pts per $2 spend. That's not good.

 

[vetrade]

Quote from robd. "A statement cycle is monthly. How often do you get a statement?"

Yeah I get a statement every month but having had protracted correspondence with NAB over false and misleading promotions on their web site due to their "creative" definitions of some words (they eventually compensated me in full) I am now sceptical of anything which is not 100% crystal clear. Who can forget the free upgrade promo from a Gold Card to a Platinum Card that they called a "Platinum One" Card? The P One card didn't confer the benefits of a real Platinum card at all - it was just a re-naming of a rehashed Gold card - and a complete con.

 

[AVC]

Just got my letter today.
The lower fee is a win, and I don't use the Visa card anyway (EDR is the way to go).

The new 100K limit is a bit of a bugger, we go just over that. But I was planning on getting a new Amex for Qantas spend anyway (2 pts per dollar instead of 1.5).

And yeah, we got stung with the "Platinum One" too. Damn banks. Which bank? B***ard Bank

 

[HarryB]

Received a letter via snail mail that the earn rate for my Visa card has been reduced from 2 points per $3 to 0.5 points per $1 spend on eligible purchases and a $100k limit per statement cycle - (like that's ever gonna happen).

This is actually going to work in my favour, as the Visa card was just a partner card to the Amex which still has the 1.5 point per $1 and I never had any intention of using this Visa because I have other Visa cards with 1pt to $1 spend.

They have therefore reduced the annual fee to $250, down from $290, which is a real bugger considering I only got the card about 6 weeks ago and the fee was charged on my second statement, BUT as I only just received the card, they are giving me 5,000 bonus Qantas FF points.

So 35,000 points for applying and another 5,000 for the change.

Winner!

If they had changed the earn on the Amex, well that would have been a different story.

Same here .... Score!

 

[kennyboi]

Received a letter via snail mail that the earn rate for my Visa card has been reduced from 2 points per $3 to 0.5 points per $1 spend on eligible purchases

so much for their "more give, less take" spin

 

[medhead]

Just got my letter today.
The lower fee is a win, and I don't use the Visa card anyway (EDR is the way to go).

The new 100K limit is a bit of a bugger, we go just over that. But I was planning on getting a new Amex for Qantas spend anyway (2 pts per dollar instead of 1.5).

And yeah, we got stung with the "Platinum One" too. Damn banks. Which bank? B***ard Bank

My westpac earth gives me 2.5 points per dollar on qantas spend. No cap that I'm aware of.

What's the sting with the platinum one card? I had a gold card as part of my package, so fee waived. The upgrade to platinum one, while only a name change, didn't seem like a sting to me as nothing changed beside the name.

 

[The Rok]

I find NAB's customer service a joke. Calls routed through India, inconsistent charges on the account, lengthily decision times, and outrageous overseas charges on cards.

I have just ditched NAB for CBA.

 

[vetrade]

Quote medhead "What's the sting with the platinum one card? I had a gold card as part of my package, so fee waived. The upgrade to platinum one, while only a name change, didn't seem like a sting to me as bathing changed beside the name."

The fact that nothing changed beside the name WAS the sting, medhead. NAB's Platinum cards at the time had a much higher points earn rate so people taking up the offer expected to get that benefit - only to find that when the card arrived in the mail it was called "Platinum One" and the points earn rate was still ****e. I got 100,000 pts from them that I was wrongly denied under the offer - even though NABs weasel words in the offer were technically correct - because I could prove that they had a link for Platinum One that took you directly to the benefits of the real Platinum card.

 

[medhead]

The fact that nothing changed beside the name WAS the sting, medhead. NAB's Platinum cards at the time had a much higher points earn rate so people taking up the offer expected to get that benefit - only to find that when the card arrived in the mail it was called "Platinum One" and the points earn rate was still ****e. I got 100,000 pts from them that I was wrongly denied under the offer - even though NABs weasel words in the offer were technically correct - because I could prove that they had a link for Platinum One that took you directly to the benefits of the real Platinum card.

Ah. Thanks. Can't say I paid to much attention. I recall getting a letter that pretty much outlined that everything was the same. My only concern was because platinum cards are not free in a choice package so I called about that, and was told the deal would remain the same. I guess I never got stung as you did.

Personally now I have a 1 for $1 card I don't use the nab card. Except for balance transfer offers as I like to keep as much cash in my offset account. So I find paying a couple of percent on a card better than paying 6% on a mortgage balance.

BTW there is a reply with quote button on the bottom right of each post. Using that will automatically set up a quote.

Edit: maybe I should go back and see if I missed any points due to the visa cap on platinum one vs platinum. It's only be a few thousand points but still a point is a point.

 

[robd]

Quote medhead "What's the sting with the platinum one card? I had a gold card as part of my package, so fee waived. The upgrade to platinum one, while only a name change, didn't seem like a sting to me as bathing changed beside the name."

The fact that nothing changed beside the name WAS the sting, medhead. NAB's Platinum cards at the time had a much higher points earn rate so people taking up the offer expected to get that benefit - only to find that when the card arrived in the mail it was called "Platinum One" and the points earn rate was still ****e. I got 100,000 pts from them that I was wrongly denied under the offer - even though NABs weasel words in the offer were technically correct - because I could prove that they had a link for Platinum One that took you directly to the benefits of the real Platinum card.

I got the gold card "Platinum" offer. Wish I'd known that before cancelling it. 100,000pts - nice.

 

[vetrade]

Yes, I also have a package with NAB medhead and when I told them I wanted a real Platinum card, rather than the Claytons P1, they told me it would be fee-free - that only lasted 1 year though before they started charging me the $290 pa! Personally I think it was unconscionable of NAB to use the word "Platinum" in the name of the new card when its features had nothing in common with the other Platinum cards they had in the market. The only reason I can think of that anyone would do that would be to mislead and deceive - although I think advertising people would claim with innocent eyes that it is bona fide "creative marketing".

 

[MarcB]

My letter also indicates that the card name is changing to the "NAB Qantas Rewards Premium" card. WTF?

 

[medhead]

Yes, I also have a package with NAB medhead and when I told them I wanted a real Platinum card, rather than the Claytons P1, they told me it would be fee-free - that only lasted 1 year though before they started charging me the $290 pa! Personally I think it was unconscionable of NAB to use the word "Platinum" in the name of the new card when its features had nothing in common with the other Platinum cards they had in the market. The only reason I can think of that anyone would do that would be to mislead and deceive - although I think advertising people would claim with innocent eyes that it is bona fide "creative marketing".

Well that is rubbish as they offered you something and didn't deliver it. I can't exactly remember but I though the platinum one fee was the same as the gold fee, so they were/are also charging you the fee of the full platinum card. Another reason why you should expect the full package not some watered down cough. I've actually asked a couple of times for a free "full" platinum card in my package. Only the last one was accepted if I increased the credit limit. I decided to go for 50000 bonus points on other cards instead.

 

[vetrade]

Perhaps I should clarify the situation for you medhead since there is apparently still confusion.........I had a fee free Gold Card under my package and took the free Platinum (One) upgrade when it was offered, only to subsequently find I was not getting benefits (and points) from the P1 card I had expected on the basis of the various search results of their web site I had familiarised myself with. I therefore arranged a change to the real Platinum card and was told it too would be fee free but NAB only waived the fee for the first year and then started charging me the $290 pa. I didn't bother to pursue this because, being tax deductable for me anyway, it was hardly worth my time and it suited me to have the high credit limit they had given me.

On principle though I did pursue the points I had missed out on before my card was changed from P1 to P - primarily because the NAB people tried to "stooge me" by removing the blatantly deceptive info from their web site and THEN suggesting to me that it had never been there in the first case. They promptly credited me the 100,000 pts they had denied me when I sent them copies of the screen shots of the data (which they tried to suggest never existed) I had taken from their website plus a draft copy of the letter I said I would be forwarding to the banking ombudsman or Consumer Affairs or whoever (not sure exactly now which one I selected).

 

[medhead]

Ah, I sort of got that but still confused myself. Thanks.

 

[kevrosmith]

Got my letter about the change today. Glad I saw the posts here, as I read the $100K limit as an annual limit, not statement cycle (monthly) limit and thought it may impact me if I planned to switch to the NAB Amex away from my Westpac Earth Amex due to the problems I'm having with them posting the Bonus points on QF spend.

Same as OP, I only just got the card in the last few months with the 35K sign-up offer, so disappointed that I had to pay the higher annual fee, but the 5K bonus does make up for it a bit I guess.

 

[vetrade]

"Ah, I sort of got that but still confused myself. Thanks."

That's because they like to keep us all confused!!!!