In The Market for a AmEx Credit Card? Any Suggestions?

GabbaKing on 02/11/2017 - 10:30
Last edited 02/11/2017 - 10:39

Hey guys,

Like numerous other members here, I am currently looking for a rewards credit card preferably an AMEX since ANZ cut their ties
with them mid year. I currently have a ANZ rewards card which I would like to close prior to getting slugged with the annual fees later this year.

From the browsing the deals page, I didn't find any current deals for AMEX especially the explorer or the Qantas equivalent cards. Any suggestions or should I keep an eye out for 100k bonus deals or should I just bit the bullet now and apply for one. I've never had AMEX issued card so wont have any issues getting one.

Whilst on the topic, I have couple of questions so please bear with me:

  • I know its preference but Amex explorer vs Amex Qantas?
    This is a expired deal https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/324086 which I should have jumped on earlier. In terms of airport access, does this offer 4 lounges access? ( 2 Qantas + 2 AMEX) or just qantas lounge only)

  • In the past, I've used Visa card instead of Amex where it was'nt accepted. Any workaround it? I've read over at whirlpool forums that people were buying gift cards/prepaid cards using amex.

  • Also with the points I have accrued over at ANZ, I would like to move them. Any suggestions? Velocity seems to be a good option. Mainly going to use the points for seat upgrades next year when flying over to Europe. No preferences for flights.

PS: Also thinking of closing my 28d card and getting either a Coles MC or bankwest platinum. Main purpose would be everyday shopping and international transactions when I travel or buy from overseas. I believe Coles does not charge a Int'l transaction fees but not sure about their rates whether commission is baked in or their MC global rates.

I really appreciate any kind of input. I know, I've opened a big can of worms

Thanks

Financial

Comments

  • aj3000 on 02/11/2017 - 11:23
    +2

    ANZ has a 30% bonus on Velocity Points transfers this month

    • GabbaKing on 02/11/2017 - 11:54

      Legend!! Just transferred points across to Velocity.

  • MathNerd on 02/11/2017 - 12:38
    +1

    If you want to really slut it out, you can do the following:
    * Apply for a Platinum Edge
    * Apply for an Explorer soon after, while logged into your Platinum Edge account
    * Activate the Explorer while logged into your Platinum Edge account
    * This should link the points earn of the Explorer to the Ascent MR scheme of the Platinum Edge
    * This means you earn an absolute minimum of 2 Ascent points per $ spent. Supermarket spend, use Platinum Edge (get 3pts/$), but everything else, use Explorer (get 2 pts/$).
    * For non-AmEx spend, get the Coles Rewards MC, as you said. It works exactly like 28 Degrees in terms of its rates, however it also earns Flybuys points which is a nice bonus.

    This is a pretty good triple-threat combo, would be pretty hard to beat this wallet.

    This is my combo and it works wonders. My partner makes a fair few international transactions so the Coles Rewards MC comes handy. If this wasn't the case I would've just bought EFTPOS cards from Woolies using eGift cards purchased with the Platinum Edge, for all the places that don't take AmEx (which is not a lot of places for me, very fortunately!).

    I've been building up a healthy points balance and will hopefully get to use it on an F award seat sooon.

    • donbot on 02/11/2017 - 12:48
      +2

      Why do it that way? Sign up for the explorer first (pocket the bigger bonus), then the plat edge, and then link the two to ascent?

      • MathNerd on 02/11/2017 - 12:53
        +1

        True, you're right. Have you heard any recent success stories though of the linking? I've heard that they're getting tougher on this :(
        that's why I recommended this method as it links explorer to ascent without human intervention. I like to have as few human interactions as possible (self checkout anyone?) when doing something that's not typically allowed!

        • d003r on 02/11/2017 - 13:13

          I signed up for the Explorer only, should I next sign up for Platinum Edge and call them up to link my Explorer to Plat Edge? Should I sign up with different accounts?

          New to this so sorry if I'm asking Noob questions!

        • MathNerd on 02/11/2017 - 14:17

          @d003r: yup though it is hard to find someone willing to link. Try late at night / early in the morning so you get the overseas call centre.

        • soangry on 13/11/2017 - 22:40

          @MathNerd:
          I applied for explorer first then plat edge. I just used up my travel credit on my explorer and linked explorer and plat edge through call centre. Remaining gateways points becomes ascent points 1:1. Am I missing something?

        • MathNerd on 14/11/2017 - 06:45

          @ausvicee: that's a great success story :) how many attempts did it take you to do the linking and points transfer over to ascent?

        • soangry on 15/11/2017 - 09:54

          @MathNerd: I'm an Amex newbie, learnt this from you (your comment in another post)
          …thanks for that. I tried to link but was told that my 100k sign up bonus will be forfeited. So I converted my points into airline miles and waited until I've used up the travel credit, it is now linked. My understanding is that you could link/unlink the reward programs anytime by calling the MR team?

        • MathNerd on 15/11/2017 - 10:18

          @ausvicee: Haha that's awesome, glad it could help :) Did you use referral links to apply?
          Also where did you convert the points into? Airline miles expire so I'm wary of transferring them if I don't have immediate plans to use up the miles. Yes you can link/unlink but it really depends on who you get, as it's not technically something that you should be able to do?

        • soangry on 15/11/2017 - 11:16

          @MathNerd: I was looking for a refferer but sadly it's because of Amex I came to OzBargain..i wished I knew sooner.
          Im going all out for Krisflyer miles…my number 1 airline :).I plan to use it for travel during Christmas period next year, hoping to get a confirmed seat and not waitlist.

        • MathNerd on 15/11/2017 - 11:48

          @ausvicee: Likewise mate, I'm just racking in the points and saving them up, planning to hopefully do an Award RTW Redemption in F on SQ for my fiance's and my honeymoon, that would be the best. I've never booked flights with FF points before though, have you? If so, did you find the process easy? I'm kinda scared to be perfectly honest, I would hate having a ~500,000 KF miles balance but no availability to burn them on :'(

        • soangry on 15/11/2017 - 12:11
          +1

          @MathNerd: I would love to redeem for J or F if I have no kids…i can't possibly leave my kids at home or in economy class while I enjoy myself in luxurious cabins. I'm totally new to points/redemption for flights, I wished someone had taught me sooner. It's not too late to start banking points for my kids though. Now, Im just waiting for the airline to open up award bookings for 2018 Christmas

        • MathNerd on 15/11/2017 - 12:49

          @ausvicee: yeah I wish I was onto this sooner too, I would have quite a healthy points balance if that were the case!
          Christmas bookings would be in high demand so you have to pounce on it literally straight away as the award seats open up.
          Do you know when SQ will open these up?

    • GabbaKing on 02/11/2017 - 13:00

      Wow!!! That's pretty impressive!!

      • So I'll end with three credit cards if I go down this path? How would that affect a person's credit rating? I'm in the market for buying my first home so dont really want to affect it too much.

      • With Coles MC,anyone able to confirm whether their rates based on MC global rates or their in house.

      Thank you.

      • MathNerd on 02/11/2017 - 13:34
        +2

        Yeah do this after getting a home loan, the lender will not look favourably on multiple credit card applications.

        Regarding Coles MC, I've confirmed it using the MC website that it uses the official MC rate, no cut or fee or profit margin that Coles takes. Just like 28 Degrees!

    • bottletop on 02/11/2017 - 16:29
      +1

      Coles Rewards MC would only be a viable option if you earn enough FlyBuys points to offset the $99 annual fee. No annual fee with 28deg.

      • MathNerd on 02/11/2017 - 17:01

        I started off with the no annual fee version and called to upgrade it to rewards. They did it for a first year annual fee free. I'll call up again when it's time, downgrade and then after a month upgrade again, hopefully it works :)

  • ezz88 on 02/11/2017 - 19:37

    OP I'm basically in the same situation as you. I'm just waiting it out hoping a 100k bonus point deal will be posted soon. I created a search alert for "velocity" which notified me of your post.

    • GabbaKing on 04/11/2017 - 18:13

      Hahah, were you excited when you got the alert?

  • Schumi5 on 03/11/2017 - 21:31
    +1

    Amex usually offer the Velocity Platinum amex around June with 100-120k signup bonus so I would be waiting for that.

    In the mean time keep an eye out for the bank issued cards (not necessarily amex).
    My last card was the ANZ travel adventures similar yourself and now I have gone for one of the Virgin Money issues cards. There are 2 options 60k bonus (spend $1500 each month for the first 3 months) 120k bonus (spend $3k each month first 3 months) a bit challenging for some

    Your other option is the ANZ black card which is free first year and 75,000 ANZ rewards points which converts to 37,500 velocity points.

    finding a card with a High sign up bonus will generally work out much better than a card with no sign up but offering more points per $ spend.

    For more tips heads to pointhacks.com.au where they list majority of credit cards offers and the ins and outs of each card.

    • GabbaKing on 06/11/2017 - 15:10

      Thanks mate, but I'll already have the ANZ Credit card so I doubt they offer it to existing members

  • GabbaKing on 06/11/2017 - 15:12

    While on the topic, how QFF is compared to VFF when it comes to Amex cards.

    It seems like the Qantas Amex card seems like a better deal.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/11/2017 - 18:18
    +1

    Get a Citibank debit for international transactions, no annual fees and no international currency exchange fees.

    Edit: flybuy points… Right, right… My bad.
    For anyone who's not concerned about points, Citibank is still a winner imo - no fees at all.

    Note the annual fee is like $100 on then coles cards from memory, so you have to spend roughly 5,000-10,000* on it before you even break even from the points. Keep that in mind. It's easy when it's your main card, but little more difficult when it's only really used for international purchases.

    *Depends how smart you are with points, $10,000 assumes using 2k points for $10 off Coles shopping.

    • GabbaKing on 06/11/2017 - 23:16

      Thank you.

      I should add that I already have the Citibank debit card when I go overseas and need to take money out of the atm. I mainly use 28d for international purchases and overseas over the counter transactions.

      What I am trying to do is consolidate two cards ie 28D and ANZ rewards into one everyday rewards card with overseas functionality. I understand it won't be at the same level of reward as Amex or ANZ however I'm waiting for good Amex deal to come up.

      Do they offer any good deals before the start of Xmas period or is there any point of waiting until next year?

      I'm hoping anyone can clarify whether how many lounge passes do you get for QFF AMEX card vs Amex explorer card.

      Also in terms of travel credit, I read somewhere that QFF card can be used to book flights anywhere as compared to 2 x domestic flights offered previously.

      • [Deactivated] on 06/11/2017 - 23:33

        Not personally sure about amex, originally clicked the thread as apart of my own research too - in the same boat as you ;p

  • lovepub on 10/11/2017 - 11:52

    In the same boat. naB axed their Amex. Now just signed up Amex explorer ….Doesn't seem to have any 8ncentives….Except for free mobile screen replacement if you buy using that card.

    Need Amex just for all the shop smalls and other Amex deals.

    Also looking at any bonus sign up deals with QFF for normal visa from banks too….Recently got ANZ black ….Got my 75k point….Will have to cancel soon and reapply in 14 months time

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