David Jones American Express Card. A seldom used card, but could be beneficial for many users and purpose of the post is to bring it to your attention as it can fly under the radar, yet provide good value for some.
Key points of the Offer:
- $99 Annual Fee
- 30,000 David Jones Membership Rewards points as a bonus once you spend 3 times outside of David Jones (no minimum spend - just 3 transactions)
- You can opt in to earning Qantas Points, at a conversion rate of 4 DJMR = 3 QFF (75%)
- First supplementary card free for first year, each and every card thereafter is $29/year.
- Free Standard Delivery when shopping at David Jones online or in store.
- Complimentary Gift Wrapping when shopping at David Jones online or in store.
Probably the biggest point: Customers applying for the David Jones American Express Staff Card or Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any other David Jones Credit Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer.
This means you qualify for the sign-on bonus even if you hold another American Express Issued Credit Card (eg. Amex Explorer)
Earn Rates of DJMR Points:
- Earn 3 Reward Points per dollar spent at major supermarkets and petrol stations
- Earn 2 Reward Points per dollar spent at David Jones
- Earn 1 Reward Point per dollar spent everywhere else
DJMR Points convert relatively poorly to most FF Programs (2:1 in most cases), but the conversion to SPG Points is the same as Ascent Premium at a rate of 1 DJMR = 0.5 SPG Points.
A better option to convert to FF Programs is to convert to SPG first (2:1), then convert to your airline of choice at 1:1 (35 partners - Asia Miles/Krisflyer/Velocity/American/Alaska). Convert 20,000 SPG Points, and you'll receive an additional 5,000 airline miles.
* So for 40,000 DJMR Points, you'd get 25,000 Airline Miles, being a better redemption than going direct from DJMR.
Effective Earn Rate if Opt-in to QFF:
- Earn 2.25 Reward Points per dollar spent at major supermarkets and petrol stations
- Earn 1.5 Reward Points per dollar spent at David Jones
- Earn 0.75 Reward Point per dollar spent everywhere else
So naturally, its going to be beneficial to those with high super market & petrol spend.
Why do I think this is deal worthy?
- Many OzBargainers might not know about this card - it is a cheap source of bonus points that majority of users would be eligible for (14 referral links exist today which is the smallest for a consumer Amex)
- Many OzBargainers might have considerable Amex Gateway Points from the Explorer Card offers that have been widely taken up by users on this site. Gateway Points & DJMR Points convert at 2:1 to SPG, and SPG converts to Marriott at 1:3. There is extremely good value to be had from these redemptions… an example or two to demonstrate.
Example of a Business Class Return Trip + 7 Nights Accomodation in Vietnam using Explorer + this card for 1 person
- 100,000 Gateway Points from Current Amex Explorer Deal + 40,000 DJMR Points from this deal (see below for bonus) = 70,000 SPG Points (2:1) = 210,000 Marriott Points (1:3)
- Redeem 200,000 Marriott Points for a Flights & Nights Package which gives you 7 Nights at a Marriott Category 1-5 Property + 55,000 United Airlines Miles.
- Buy 5,000 United Miles for Approximately $200 AUD (can do this direct with United)
- Fly Thai Airways Business Class to Vietnam (or anywhere SE Asia) + minimal taxes for 60,000 United Miles for the return trip.
Total cost of Vietnam Holiday = $395 + $99 + $100 taxes + $200 United Miles + $200 flights to Phu Quoc = $994 for a week in Vietnam including Business Class Airfares & Accommodation.
Example of Business Class Return Trip + 7 Nights Accomodation in Japan using Explorer + this card for 2 people.
- 2 x 100,000 Gateway Points from Current Amex Explorer Deal + 30,000 Referral Bonus (because you'd refer your spouse/friend) + 6,000 due to minimum spend of $1500 each + 2 x 40,000 DJMR Points from this deal + 15,000 Referral Bonus (again, because you'd refer your spouse/friend) = 165,500 SPG Points (2:1) = 496,500 Marriott Points
- Redeem 360,000 Marriott Points for a Flights & Nights Package which gives you 7 Nights at a Marriott Category 8 Property (Eg. The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo) + 132,000 United Airlines Miles.
- Redeem 72,000 Marriott Points = 30,000 United Miles.
- Fly Thai Airways Business class to Tokyo + minimal taxes for 160,000 united miles for the return trip for you both.
Total cost of Tokyo Holiday = $395 x 2 + $99 x 2 + $200 flight taxes = $1,188 for a week in Toyko for 2 away including Business Class Airfares & Accommodation.
So yeah. I feel there is value to be had from this card if you are wise in your use of the points bonus.
Referral for additional 10,000 Points on Sign Up
Utilise a referral link and obtain a sign on bonus of 40,000 DJMR Points compared to standard 30,000 (or 30,000 Qantas points compared to 22,500 if you opt-in for QFF).
The referrer gets a bonus of 15,000 points (or 11,250 QFF Points if opted-in)
Please feel free to use my referral link (http://amex.com.au/refer/lucyfa9HR) or the auto-generation link of the OzB referral program below.
Happy Flying!
Update 28/03/2017 - I have updated this to reflect that this combines very will with the Amex Explorer offer of 100,000 points on referral which opened back up today. The above takes this into account for your benefit of cheap holidays to Vietnam & Japan.
I don't quite understand your maths:
"360,000 Marriott Points = 7 Nights at a Marriott Category 8 Property (Eg. The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo) + 132,000 United Airlines Miles."
Where did the 132,000 UA miles come from?
"56,000 Marriott Points = 25,000 United Miles, leaving you to buy 3,000 United Miles direct from UA (maybe $200 total cost)"
Where does this 56k points come from? The left over Marriot points should be 61,500