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| Koala at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, photo by Andrew Ingersoll |
by Andrew Ingersoll
In the three-plus years I’ve lived in Sydney, I’ve yet to see an Australian credit card offer that has struck my interest. I was having a chat with Rick and he suggested I explore a typical Australian offer to put into perspective how good we, as Americans, have it to take advantage of this hacking game responsibly.
Here are some of the highlights from the American Express Ultimate Qantas Card.
1. To be eligible for all or part of the 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points offer, you must be a new card applicant who does not currently hold any of the Qantas American Express Card products. Points are awarded as follows:
• 5000 points after your first purchase on the card
• 22,500 points after you spend $500 on purchases on your card within the first two months of becoming a card member
• 2500 points after your first card spend in Australia on selected Qantas products and services
Maximum number of points available under this offer is 30,000 points. Please allow six to eight weeks after you have made the eligible spend for the points to be credited to your account. Qantas Frequent Flyer membership and points are subject to the terms and conditions of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.
2. You must be a member of the
Qantas Frequent Flyer program to earn and redeem points. A joining fee may apply.
(It does: to merely sign up for the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, there is an $82.50 fee!!)
3. To be eligible for the reduced annual Card fee of $250 for the first year, you must be a new Card applicant who does not currently hold any of the Qantas American Express Card products and apply via the online application by 15 September 2011 and be approved. An annual fee of $450 will apply after the first year.
4. Interest rate of 20.74% p.a
Now, even if you were to sign up for this card, which I can’t recommend based on the fees alone, we can now look at how far 30,000 points will take you.
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| Nap time for the Red Kangaroos |
Qantas has a scheme that allows you to redeem points for the cost of the ticket and then pay taxes in cash/credit, OR you can use points to pay for the ticket AND the taxes. For the purpose of saving money, I’ll illustrate some round trip ECONOMY examples in which taxes are paid with points.
Sydney – Melbourne = 25,000 points (439 miles each way) Zone 1
Brisbane – Hobart = 42,000 points (1115 miles each way) Zone 2
Cairns – Perth = 45,000 points (2135 miles each way) Zone 3
These results are rather underwhelming for me, especially when I look at
Americans AAdvantage partner awards redemption.
The AAdvantage award for the South Pacific allows you to redeem points, whereby flights wholly within Australia (and extending to New Zealand) fall under one award.
So, if we redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles on Qantas metal we’ll see:
Sydney – Melbourne = 20,000
Brisbane – Hobart = 20,000
Cairns – Perth = 20,000
I suppose my point in illustrating this comparison is to help you appreciate the value of your points and to encourage you to choose your loyalty program carefully. As Americans, we really are pretty lucky to live in a market where banks and point programs are always trying to out-do each other. You can rest assured that when the next big promotion comes around, we tell you about it right here. — A.I.
$300 American Airlines Gift Card for $270
Win, the co-organizer of the Chicago Seminars, will help you get these gift cards at a discount if you do not have a Costco nearby. Read on…
Rick:
As you know, Costco is offering a $300 American Airlines gift card for $270, an offer discussed on the major FF sites with T&C at www.aa.com/giftcard. This is available only in a few Costco locations nationwide (and not by mail order). You will recall that last year I offered to purchase the Costco 20% Hyatt gift certs and resell them at cost to your readers, which I did to the tune of several thousand dollars. I am happy to do the same again for these AA gift cards, as one of my local Costcos has them. Anyone interested may email me at efsebay@aol.com and I’ll send a note describing how to proceed. Thanks. – Win
