Given that it only takes 29,500 points for a US$250 card, I'm sure you can do the maths on the value it offers (especially in light of current points earning opportunities ). I guess some people out there might need to consider finding themselves an Australian mailing address.
Programs: BA Gold OWE, A3*Gold, VA Gold, BD Silver, Hilton Gold, Starwood Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 1,010
Can this be used anywhere, not just for hotels? Can anyone confirm this? Since now they have the point + pay offer where you are really buying 30000 points for 180USD, and then get yourself 70USD for free?!
If not, then if i get this card and use it to pay for IHG hotels eg CP and HI, does it mean I still eligible for points if I sign up all the promos?
You can only use it at hotels, and it is treated like any other credit card. All establishments that accept Amex are coded in the Amex system, and if you try to use the card at an establishment that is not coded as a hotel then the card will be refused. Sometimes it will work in a hotel restaurant if you pay directly instead of adding it to your bill, sometimes it won't. LOADS of posts on this from 18 months ago when they did a global '50% off' promo.
Remember that they are fiddly to use at hotels which bill in a different currency to the Amex card (in this case US$) because you cannot be sure how much to charge to the card before hitting the limit. You will also be hit with Amex's currency loading fee of 3%.
Last edited by Raffles; Jun 17, 09 at 7:04 am..
Reason: Typo
And yes, there's a definite arbitrage opportunity here when used in conjunction with PC's new reward nights option. Unfortunately, I dont really need more than US$500 worth of hotel credit at the moment so I'm not going to go crazy.
The card MUST be posted to Australia. As I posted above, perhaps not clearly enough, you can fill in any address you want on the 'recipient' page of the website, but when you click submit it will be rejected if the address is not an Australian one.
Programs: BA Gold OWE, A3*Gold, VA Gold, BD Silver, Hilton Gold, Starwood Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 1,010
I've just purchased some points thru pay + cash, cancelled and then buy 2 cards for 59K points. Now I am waiting to see when it comes. Hopefully it will be here in 2 weeks, rather than 4.
). I guess some people out there might need to consider finding themselves an Australian mailing address. 
