Want to apply for a AmEx card, which one to choose?

tianyujojo on 04/05/2016 - 12:10

American Express Essential Credit Card You get $50 ($75 with referral) if you apply online and spend $500 in the first 2 months.

American Express Qantas Discovery Card You get up to 7,500 QFF points when you spend $300 on purchases with your Card within the first three months of Card membership* (OR Earn up to 15,000 extra QFF points when you apply by 31 May 2016 by using the referrals)

American Express Velocity Escape Card You get up to 15,000 Velocity points after $300 spend (within 3 months)

These 3 cards are all $0 annual fee cards. If I only want to apply for one, which one should I apply?

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Comments

  • hashtagbargain on 04/05/2016 - 12:23
    +3

    I'd recommend https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/236581

    It is a dual card arrangement from ANZ. First year free. Lots of benefits. Give it a look.

  • inherentchoice on 04/05/2016 - 13:07
    +3

    +1 for the ANZ Black deal.

    There's also a great deal with the Platinum Edge card which gives you a free return flight and is free for the first year…

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/240924

    Some OzBargainers even sell their free flight in the classifieds forums, and you can sell it for more than the $195 annual fee…

  • ilikeradiohead on 04/05/2016 - 13:35
    +1

    $50 = $50.
    7,500 QFF ~ $75 although depends on how you value it. People regulalry sell bundles of points for 1c/point. The points are worth a lot more if you use it for business class upgrades. QFF are also the most 'mobile' points, in that most banks do offers for QFF rather than velocity so it is easier to accrue QFF.
    15,000 velocity ~$150. Probably the most valuble in $ terms although less transferable than QFF.

    For a $100 woolies voucher:
    Velocity 18,000 pts
    QFF: 17,570

    • Mad Max on 26/06/2016 - 08:46
      +1

      They are coming down hard on people that sell their points. Both QFF and Velocity have closed down people's accounts (buyer and seller) for that.

  • bluesky on 04/05/2016 - 21:01
    +1

    Hi Tianyujojo,

    This will depend on whether redeeming flights is high on your priority, or whether you are happy to get cash equivalents as rewards.

    I have both the Qantas Discovery and the Essential, for me the Essential is by far the better one. I use it for everything now, and have relegated the Amex Qantas Discovery to the drawer.

    The reasons are (a) ease/flexibility of getting the rewards (b) higher reward rates.

    ilikeradiohead provided above, the number of points necessary to redeem a $100 voucher. If translated to percentage, these are the reward rates:

    Velocity: 0.556%
    Qantas Discovery: 0.569%
    (If you join Qantas AutoRewards, you will get $20 for 3000 points - which is 0.667%)
    Amex Essential: 0.741%

    Amex Essential has a brilliant feature, called 'Use Points for Charges'.
    Whenever you clock up 1000 points (after $1000 spend), you can immediately use this to offset against your card - so cold hard cash. And the rate is 1000pts = 7.41, this is 0.741%

    So as you can see, it is so flexible to make use of the rewards with the Essential card.

    If redeeming flights is high on your consideration, I would suggest the AMEX Qantas Discovery Card.

    With Essential I believe you get $25 more if you are referred. Referral list is here. <Mod: No solicitation>

    Otherwise, the Qantas Discovery referral list is here <Mod: No solicitation>

    If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask or PM, as I have analysed these two cards thoroughly for my own use.

    • tianyujojo on 03/08/2016 - 15:56
      +1

      Thanks for your detailed explanation. I have applied Amex Essential with your referral code :)

      • bluesky on 03/08/2016 - 16:49

        Thank you very much for that! :-)

    • chowmanly on 10/08/2016 - 20:56
      +1

      That's very clarifying, I just signed up for an essentials card with your referral.
      It's also worth mentioning the $500 smartphone screen insurance.
      Cheers.

      • bluesky on 10/08/2016 - 22:02

        Thank you, much appreciated! :-)
        Yes, the smartphone screen insurance would be great for many.

        • chowmanly on 14/08/2016 - 01:02

          A question. If i Apply for the qantas discovery card. Will I get any credit / benefits?

        • bluesky on 14/08/2016 - 01:53

          @chowmanly: Yes, the application bonus for this card is also specified in the amex referral list:

          You receive 12,500 Qantas Points when you spend $300 in the first 3 months of Card Membership and an additional 2,500 Qantas Points when you first spend on selected Qantas products and services in Australia

          Have a look also at the Qantas Discovery's link here for more detailed info about the card.

          Above, I have mentioned how much Qantas points are worth if redeemed as cash-equivalent rewards. If redeemed as flights, they are more valuable; OZB members often value the points at 1c/point or more, meaning the reward rate is 1% or more. Hope this helps.

          Edit: In case your question was whether application bonus will apply if already an existing cardholder, this has been asked before, in this thread and others. Seems like they do not always enforce it.

          My experience is with application bonus when applying directly. It is not supposed to apply to existing cardholder. I wasn't expecting any for my second Amex card, but still got it. So I was pleasantly surprised :-)

        • chowmanly on 14/08/2016 - 12:08
          +1

          @bluesky: . Its worth trying, though easier doing it in my wife's name. I'll give it a month to make the $500 spend on the Amex essentials though.
          Thanks again.

        • bluesky on 14/08/2016 - 15:39

          @chowmanly: Yes, that is a better idea.

  • Holysmoke on 14/06/2016 - 19:18

    Whichever one you choose, be sure to apply from the referral list for bonus points:
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/american_express_referrals

  • littlepcat on 12/08/2016 - 02:08

    Just got my AMEX essential. Was very excited because I had a few bills to pay.

    Rego, water bill, council rate, dog registration… However, none of the above accepts Amex.

    Has anyone ever used Amex ( BillPay —> PayPay linked with Amex) to pay these bills successglfully ?

    Thanks a lot.

    • bluesky on 12/08/2016 - 04:08
      +1

      Congrats for getting the card! Lots of possibilities … cashback offers etc :-)

      Yes, often you can still use Amex to pay bills that do not accept Amex directly.
      E.g. Telstra bills can be paid using PayPal. So link your Amex card to PayPal and pay.
      (Added advantage: Telstra does not charge fees for PayPal, yet, they charge fees for direct credit card payments).

      Many bills also accept AustPost BillPay. Which means Amex card can be used (via PayPal). I am cautious when using this for a new bill, and always check if there are processing fees involved.

      Hope this helps.

      • littlepcat on 12/08/2016 - 11:55
        +1

        Hi, bluesky,

        Thank you very much for the reply.

        I'll try car Rego. Rego can't be paid directly using PayPal. I'll see if it can be done via BillPay (then PayPal). I read somewhere stating that even PayPay is available via BillPay, it still depends on if the seller accepts Paypal or not.

        Will report back once it's done.

        • littlepcat on 12/08/2016 - 12:26

          Just tried… actually couldn't even start it :(

          Reason : (SA)Rego accepted BillPay IN PERSON only. Neither Bill pay code nor Reference number was printed on my bill. These two numbers were required to use BillPay online.

          My other bills don't even accept BillPay. :(

        • bluesky on 12/08/2016 - 12:37
          +1

          @littlepcat: Do they have AustPost BillPay as payment method? I used this for a few bills - like water, council rates. If yes, you can pay here, and paypal can be used to pay.

        • littlepcat on 12/08/2016 - 15:22
          +1

          @bluesky:

          Hi, bluesky,

          Thanks again for the reply. Only my car Rego and council rate have BillPay as payment method, but both of them are BillPay IN PERSON only.

          My other bills don't even have BillPay.

          I'll try using BillPay App to see if I can pay them online.

          Will try this later tonight and report back.

          Cheers.

        • littlepcat on 12/08/2016 - 23:32
          +1

          Some updates :

          Successfully paid the council fee with Amex via BillPay App.
          No fee mentioned/noticed so far.

          No luck with the Rego.

          After a few more purchases, I'll be eligible with the $75 credit.

          Happy. :)

        • bluesky on 13/08/2016 - 00:01
          +2

          @littlepcat: Great, thanks for the update :-)
          If you find it hard to make the $500 spend, one good way is just to get Wish giftcards at 5% discount from say, Cashrewards, which can be used in the woolworths chain of stores (woolworths, woolworths petrol, big w, dan murphy, masters etc).

        • littlepcat on 13/08/2016 - 00:47
          +1

          @bluesky:
          Yap!

          That will be my plan B. :)

          Thanks.

    • timetoquit on 13/08/2016 - 01:34
      +2

      I pay rates for 4 different councils (located in SA) - only one of them (Marion Council) accepts Paypal linked Amex. As for the other's - water/ dog rego no success.

      Sorry it probably doesn't help you much.

      • littlepcat on 13/08/2016 - 11:55

        Hi,

        Thanks for the reply. Sure, that helped. The council fee I paid was from Tea Tree Gully.

        Same here. I scanned all my other bills. No luck at all.

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