American Express Membership Rewards - Global Transfer: UK -> NZ

We are emigrating in a few weeks to NZ ^ . Now, in the UK, I have both Plat charge and credit cards, but the charge card was mainly for my job when travelling for expenses and Priority Pass.

In NZ I will do very little travel, so I'm thinking there is no point going with a charge card.

Has anyone made this kind of move and how easy/quick are they to set you up in the new country?

When in NZ the last few trips, I would say Amex cards were only accepted in a minority of outlets - would anyone agree/disagree with that? So is it even worth the $395 for the credit card? Any good benefits from Amex in NZ - we'll be in Auckland.

Thanks for any experiences you have

Neil

Neil,

You got PM.

I see Leumas has sent you a PM, which should be of help as he has done exactly the same thing as you are about to do.

AX cards are accepted at all major stores [Gas Stations, Supermarkets, et cetera] and some other independent stores. It goes without saying to get a VI or IK card aswell. A good secondary credit card for NZ rewards would be BNZ VI PLT or a card from the Westpac Lineup [The VI/IK cards in the GlobalPlus Lineup aren't as good as the Westpac ones]. For QF, ANZ do a card much like GlobalPlus.

Depending on what rewards you take from your card, the AX PLT credit card might be worth it - IIRC 'tis only $325 pa. If you want to earn Air NZ Airbucks you can earn them very quickly with the Gold GlobalPlus AX.

I see the Rotherham brain drain continues .... was the closure of M&S the last straw? Or possibly the threat of WH Smith moving out? Please don't tell me Ronnie Moore's failure drove you to this :p

RJB - it wasn't M&S and I don't follow United......the rugby has had something to do with it though :D :D

Hmm...certainly a drain out of Rotherham....being replaced quickly by others if you know what I mean !

Neil

Guys,

I got some junk mail from them yesterday. I don't know whether it's targetted or not and the fine print marked in the literature wasn't anywhere on the letter. (It may be targetted since I can't find this deal on their web site. If you're interested, you may want to ring them up and try.)

There's a bonus 5000 MR points if you sign up on the Amex Platinum credit card, plus the first year annual fee is only $100, and not $325 (or whatever it is).

Plus, you get the usual deals that are available on their web site, e.g., double MR points until 2007 etc...

Lastly, the Concierge service is now run from NZ, and not Aus. I hope it makes a better service, but I haven't tried.

Is there a link for the benefits of NZ Amex Plat?

Is there a link for the benefits of NZ Amex Plat?

All the various cards are listed here (http://www.americanexpress.com/newzealand/personal/cards/benefits/default.shtml?newzealand_nav=PAGELINK_homepage).

The Platinum Charge Card one is a bit vague, but I've previously posted all the benefits on this forum.

How much is the annuall fee for the nz plat charge card? Thanks

NZD$1250. As I said above, all the card's benefits (and the cost) were listed in one of the threads here.

That is too much money for a plat card. Perhaps they issue an idc card for less.

That is too much money for a plat card. Perhaps they issue an idc card for less.