BryanL

New offer from Bank of Communications Union Pay Card:

http://www.asiamiles.com/am/en/earn/...0007d21c39RCRD

So with tripple miles, what is the $/AM ratio?

percysmith

I went through their worked example. It's triple *extra* miles. In effect it's 4X miles within the $18,000 in first three months (but see below)

I also called their CS and asked whether the double points for txn>$300 will count within the $18,000 limit, the answer comes back as YES.

To make sure the CS wasn't confused, I asked the CS to calculate how many miles I'll earn if I spent $18,000 in one go. She came back with 72,000 as advertised + 18,000 double points for >$300 = 90,000 pts, so it's really *5X*.

90,000/8 = 11,250 miles (or $1.6/mile!!!)
Plus CS also confirmed I still earn the 1,000 mile for using the asiamiles.com form
For a grand total of ***12,250 miles***

And CS further confirmed that bill payments (except securites, financial institutions and tax) count towards the $18,000 welcome offer and the double points offer at the same time. We'd easily bust the $18,000 limit with bill payments alone (can overpay a bit to make the tally).

If spending using old 6,000AM asiamiles.com offer, the reward for $18,000 spending in txn>$300 is 5,000 welcome AM+1,000 asiamiles.com form AM+4,500 earn AM=10,500AM.

So if you can spend/pay bills of $18,000, this offer's ***2,000AM*** better! w00t Bankcomm's in a welcome offer bidding war with Citi!

BryanL

Hmm I submitted my application form 3 days before this offer was released. I guess I should call Bankcomm to see if I can be on the new deal or do you think it would be granted that I am on the new deal with Asia Miles?

It's only 2,000 more miles but still good.

kaka

1) is this only for new bankcomm customers? 2) anyone know forex rates for union pay?

AND, did i screw something up or CX AMEX 3X promotion they only decide on your bonus AFTER you the end of the spending period? that's insane!

kaka

we only get the results after the promo ends?

percysmith

From my experience in trying to cancel a credit card application with Mevas (Dah Sing), a credit card application is very hard to revoke once applied http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...ow.php?id=4039, unless you're missing documents and refuse to provide them or something.

Once a credit card application has reached its credit approval department, it's very hard to do anything about it.

Even if the CS promises to act, remember the application form is not in front of the CS or otherwise accessible to the CS. You might get a CS who promises to do something but really does nothing like my Mevas CS above.

You can try to revoke your application with Bankcomm CS and submit a replacement, but when your card gets approved you have to check with CS which welcome offer you're on.

percysmith

1. Customers who have not held Bankcomm card for >=6 months also eligible.

2. I got 0.68% *discount* to HKAB rate when withdrawing from Bank of Taiwan ATM via Unionpay in TPE. If Unionpay ATM rates are same as Unionpay credit card rates (like PLUS rates are same as Visa rates before fees) then Unionpay looks really good from here.

percysmith

http://www.bankcomm.com.hk/en/credit...ant_offer.html
http://www.bankcomm.com.hk/mediafile...df_9832_en.pdf

Count >=$500 spending only.
Max extra rewards 6,250 points (so if you're still in the 5X range, max txn = $1,526.5; 10X, $694.44; 20X, 328.95 (deadweight loss of $171.05 cos min txn's $500!).

Makes this offer restrictive...essentially you're just tacking on 6,250 points for each transaction...

But just confirmed with CS, this 5X-20X offer runs in parallel to the Bankcomm Diamond double points offer (like the welcome offer, above). So if you have a big ticket item that can be paid for by Unionpay to earn $4/mile anyway, this is just icing on the cake.

Different story on the Bankcomm $12/mile Plat Visa

percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Palm850/V0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11))

I got my extra points today.

Since my designated card was SCB AE with 6X, I am only eligible for 1.5X top-up.

Funny thing is they awarded all my overseas internet purchases during the period (including the EUR15 payment to Dutch co I mentioned) as well as all the card-present transactions, despite the T&C saying they won't rebate the online purchases.

But yeah I'm still not going for the Pizza one...gonna use the Bankcomm Diamond for a $3,000 watch repair I have to pay on behalf of Dad today...watch shops should accept Unionpay won't they?


Update (3:40PM): the watch shop did (Vacheron Constatin at 1881 Heritage).

However my doc's clinic stuck me with a 6K bill today...despite his (Dah Sing) card terminal having a Unionpay logo, his nurse steadfastedly refused to accept my Bankcomm Diamond Unionpay card. Visa and MC only - so I maxed out my Dah Sing My Favourite Merchants offers on both my MFM cards (to $2,200 each).

When the doc came out (to get some records) I gave him a hard time about it.

dietevil

I'm very lost with this new BankComm bonus offer.

Am I reading the 20X offer correctly to say that the most "efficient" spending would be 24 transactions at HK$1250 each?

percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Palm850/V0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11))

depends how much you plan to spend during the promo period

if between $3,000 to $10,000, $1,562.50 between 2 and 6 times most efficient.

if between $10,001 and $30,000, $1,388.89 between 8 and 20 times most efficient

if above 30,001, $1,304.35 x 23 transactons most efficient.

percysmith

This is getting confusing so I decided to try and work out the breakeven points on each card.

First off, Bankcomm Diamond currently wins over all the Visa cards once over $300. Its 2X for HK$ retail transactions >=$300 ($4/mile) is truly awesome. Adding 4X is really just icing on the cake - it's even better than Amex Plat now (I earn Virgin Miles on Amex which I value at 70-127% more than an Asia Miles depending on whether I use it for upgrade or redeeming Premium Economy).

The rest: let me sum up the offers:

- Bankcomm Plat Visa earns $12/mile but earns 5X between $500 and $1,562.50 (higher rewards not considered)
- Fubon Plat Visa earns $6/miles (assuming weekend) but earns (min) 167 miles over $500 (higher rewards not considered)
- Shacom Plat earns $4/mile on food, my principal big spending

Flat/ad valorem fees not considered, too complex.

Below $300, Shacom Plat rules, no surprise. Bankcomm Diamond is second, Bankcomm Plat is third and Fubon Plat is last.

$300-$500, Bankcomm tied with Shacom Plat (both $4/mile, maybe Diamond wins cos it's flat fee), followed by Fubon Plat ($6/mile) and Bankcomm Plat is last. Bankcomm really useless without the 5X-20X offer

At ***$500*** spending, Bankcomm Diamond earns 125 + 250 = 375 miles (bye bye everyone else! No-one's earn rate can keep up)
Fubon Plat earns 83 + 167 = 250 miles
Bankcomm Plat earns 42 + 167 miles = 209 miles
Shacom Plat earns 125 miles.

Fubon's Sure Win is one off, but Bankcomm Plat's 5X goes on until 1,562.50. So there's a point where Bankcomm Plat catches up:

I used an Excel spreadsheet to solve the simultanous equation. At ***$666.67*** spending:
Fubon Plat earns 111 + 167 = 278 miles
Bankcomm Plat earns 56 + 222 = 278 miles
Shacom Plat earns 167 miles

From that point on, Bankcomm Plat 5X-20X leads Fubon Plat (until $4,250, see below)

There is a point where Shacom Plat regains the lead over the two other Plat cards. At ***$3,125*** spending:
Fubon Plat earns 521 + 167 = 688 miles
Bankcomm Plat earns 260 + 521 = 781 miles
Shacom Plat earns 781 miles.

After which Shacom leads to infinity.

I could graph this but I really don't have the time.

At $4,250, Fubon's $6/mile catches up to Bankcomm Plat's $12/mile even with the 5X (capped at $1,562.50) and both earn 875 miles. After that, Fubon leads again.

At $12,500, a $8/mile card (Shacom Plat on non-food, BEA Plat or Citi PM ) will catch up to Bankcomm Plat's $12/mile with 5X-20X

percysmith

One really good thing about this promotion on Bankcomm Diamond is that the 5X multiplier applies on the 8pt/mile conversion rate. Also, all transactions eligible for this promotion is also eligible for the >=$300 promotion, so it's eligible for an additional 1X multiplier. Therefore:

5X is really $1.33/mile
10X is really $0.8/mile (woah this is what Singoreans earn in S$...)
20X is really $0.4/mile!!!

Of course the cap spoils the party...
Plus Unionpay is still hard to use in some businesses - medical clinics, local restaurants
But if I eat a lot at hotels, I can really max this offer.

percysmith

I've been trying to use my Unionpay card a lot in the last ~24 hours. I'm a little disappointed at the number of places which don't take it.

My doc's clinic doesn't take it. I've given him a hard time over it.

OT: since I have another big consult coming up, I applied for yet another My Favorite Merchant card from Dah Sing (MFM Titanium this time), which makes me possess four cards from that bank (existing: MFM Plat Visa, MFM Plat MC plus an old Mevas card I've applied for in mistake but am now using for tax payments http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...-card-3.html#3)!
Dah Sing's been giving me 5% rebate on the doc's fees and 1% on my tax payments, I think they're gonna reject this, if not take a katana to my other cards.

The Yakitori place girlfriend and I went to didn't either. They're a small Visa/MC shop, no AE either, too bad. I'm feeling at this point that the acquirer banks really haven't been selling Unionpay acceptance to small non-retail merchants, and there may be a substantial set-up fee (I think interchange is smaller for Unionpay compared to Visa tho).

Went to Aqua next - no acceptance there either. That surprised me cos girlfriend and I thought Aqua will be popular with tourists. They accept AE already. So bit disappointed they wouldn't.

Trying to get Leo Ku tix for 8 Oct. I checked my settings at urbtix.hk and see if they take Unionpay - nope (Visa/MC/AE/Diners only).

But AEG apparently would http://www.timable.com/event.php?eid=19010 - gonna try it tonight. Bankcomm warned me they might not accept some types of online purchases "depends on whether the posted txn has a retail MCC or not". But gonna give it a go anyhow.

percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Finally got on another Visa fly taxi again, but its for a really short ride. The taxi driver this time had his card terminal attached (underneath gps) but asks I use it only for long rides, which he defines as $80 or over. I think that's fair.