RichardMEL

I've had the HSBC QF Plat card for over a year now. I signed on for several reasons, but one of them being 2x points for QF products purchased in oz, eg: flights. This worked fine until recently. Now it seems to have gone away. eg: I made a substantial flight purchase and only received the 1:1 points for it in my last statement which was a disappointment.

So, I did some searching, and it seems HSBC may have changed their T&C/benefits (but I do not recall getting any notification of this) however QF doesn't seem to be aware of it, or at least their website says differently.

eg:
QF: http://www.qantas.com.au/cardselecto...ountSelected=1

"Extra Qantas Points per $1 on selected
Qantas products and services Earn an additional Qantas Point per $1 spent on selected Qantas products and services in Australia~"

(the ~ limits the products/services but definitely includes purchases of QF flights with a QF flight number)

HSBC:
http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/...latinum-qantas

Does not include the "Extra Qantas points"

it definitely used to, and I definitely received this.

Has anyone else seen this change?

I am going to contact HSBC to ask, but curious about anyone else's experiences

(btw I would go to the Woolies card though it doesn't offer the travel insurance but IS uncapped (so far), or extra point for OS purchases) though I may move elsewhere since this change.

comments welcome....

theassassin

I also have the HSBC card but have not used for Qantas purchase. Why wouldn't you charge the Qantas flight to an Amex that gives you 2.5pts per dollar with the Qantas bonus points?

My ANZ platinum gives me this. The cc fee is the same for Amex or Visa/MC.

RichardMEL

I only have the amex discover card (or whatever it's called.. the free one) that gives 2points, but I had put the purchase on hsbc thinking I'd have gotten the same amount of points. If I'd known HSBC decided to take away the bonus point I would have used the amex....

Supersonic Swinger

It does appear to have been removed from the site.

For me, yet another example why I avoid direct earn cards unless they are fee free (the Amex Discovery) or just for a sign-on bonus.

It's a lot easier for wholesale devaluations of them rather than with something like Membership Rewards.

aster

Just curious but what is currently the best Visa/MC to use for all types of spend in terms of the $ to miles/points ratio?

Also, when looking at the mileage ratio as well as award availability (not to mention the # of miles/points required for redemptions), is it best to go with a card that generates QF miles or is it better to get one tied to another airline's FFP (let's say redemptions would be on the SYD-SIN route)?

RichardMEL

I'll answer this to say the obviously unhelpful "it varies"

For instance, if your goal is to basically generale award tickets, specially in premium cabins, from mileage accrued via CC spend, then something like AA or US airways MAY be the way to go as they often have cheap offers to buy miles, with bonuses, so that one could get quite a lot in a short amount of time, and then spend those for oneworld awards including QF, CX etc.

If however, the idea is to perhaps use points to upgrade on QF, then you'd want a QF earn card (or possibly something like Amex Membership rewards-though I am not an Amex person myself so I leave that to others).

Finally, if you want a card that earns to QF and the best "bang" for buck, it also then, I think, depends on your spending habits - for example, spend more overseas - then the bonus points via HSBC may be handy, if spending mostly on QF products, then maybe the Amex Discover.. if you're happy with a poings cap at say 100,000 then maybe the Woolies everyday rewards mastercard may work out for a lower annual fee... and so on.

QF have a reasonably good comparision tool, and page with all the current offers, costs, earnings and so on on their website which may be of help.

https://www.qantaspoints.com/earn-po.../card-selector

others may have better advice on this topic.

aster

Many thanks, I'm mainly looking at the HSBC card which gives a mile per Dollar to get something out of everyday spend, and naturally 2 miles/$ when used in conjunction with Woolies Everyday Rewards.

On a side note, does the Woolie's rewards card get sent out upon signing up online or only after the first purchase with some sort of temp number/barcode?

Also, are annual fee waivers for CCs pretty much standard in Australia or do people actually pay the annual fee? Just curious as over in Singapore it's cake-easy to get them waived.

og

the orange Woollies card will come in the mail a few weeks after signing up. I have got the card without any spend - although, if you can sign up and immediately have a bar coded paper card that works until the real plastic arrives. I have some friends overseas that keep their QF points alive by having a helpful person in Oz show the card once every 17 months when purchasing >$30 at Woollies.

IME it's rare for CC fee waivers unless you have leverage with the CC.

RichardMEL

I got the orange card sent to me I think due to my QFF status. I had avoided it previously (I just didn't care to sign up) but use it if I'm at woolies. It certainly doesn't definite my spending patterns - as a single guy I rarely shop that takes my grocery bill over $30 anyway to earn anything so it's just not a big deal.

Of course this is different to the woolies mastercard, which is a whole other kettle of fish and is an appealing option with a low annual fee.. the main problem for me is lack of int travel insurance (HSBC provided, and I've used). I'm still annoyed they took away the QF spend bonus points and I do not recall receiving notification about this change so it seems a bit sneaky, specially with QF announce it still on their website as a benefit....

aster

Is it faster to get the Woolies' card in-store? Do they carry plastic ones that you can get on the spot and just register your details online from home?

Good tip on just having someone use your Woolies card to extend account validity.

og

Unless things have changed in the last year, the stores only carry a paper leaflet with a uniquely barcoded temp paper card. You send the form (with the corresponding bar code) to Woolies and they post out the plastic card in 1 - 3 weeks time. The paper card works until the plastic card arrives.

Of course, you might just have the account (in exactly the same name as the QF FF name) and then use a postal address of your friend that does the shopping.

There is a 1 - 2 week delay with shopping and the points appearing on your FF statement. Also, spend <$30 gets no points.