TraderX

New card offer out from Amex, re-jigging the Platinum offering

$59 spend per APD (from $75)
Lower fee $195 (from $395 - removed annual free flight)
Status earn unchanged at $250 per SP
Priority pass and Amex Sydney lounge passes
$400 APD bonus till Feb (18 month stand down)

Pretty good offer all round - hopefully forces a bit more competition out of the banks

https://www.americanexpress.com/nz/c...platinum-card/

JJSWLG

I've got an Air NZ Airpoints Amex, but I rarely use it as so many places no longer accept Amex. For all round versatility and earn rate I thing Westpac World MasterCard is still the best

TraderX

Fair call, it does tend to be major retailer use primarily. Having said that there are generally zero fee deals available for mastercard/visa APD options (eg ANZ currently) so running two cards is not a major hassle.

milehighclubnz

This is an improved offer from their regular one, but not as good as the AP$800 bonus AND a free return domestic flight for the annual fee of $395 last year.

Compared to the regular offer ($395 annual fee, AP$200 bonus) basically Amex did away with the flights and cut the annual fee by half, and threw in some lounge passes.

Still pretty low ball compared to what Amex offers to US, AU, etc.

TraderX

$59/APD earn is a significant new benefit (which may actually encourage card holders to stick around rather than churning)

sbiddle

The whole irony of which is this sort of return is only possible because of the high interchange rate of Amex - and retail acceptable if Amex is declining due to the high merchant rates.

SeaProf

Except those of us living in the US have no option of earning NZ status points with Amex or any other credit card in America. You have to have a NZ bank account and address. There is no American based NZ credit card.

Only option for APD is to use a Starwood Amex and convert the points over to NZ for APD at a horrible rate (US$65 spend = 1 APD).

TraderX

Westpac have responded to the AMEX offer with bonus points for new signups

http://www.westpac.co.nz/credit-card...nus-airpoints/

jawnbc

Just rang to cancel my AMEX card. When I explained why (upcoming renewal fee) they said "Oh, OK." Guess I should have used more than 5 times

benkepes

I ditched my amex platinum last week for a kiwibank platinum. AMEX was a dog to use and their phone support and website were abysmal. all this second guessing and shifting around to get the best deal - there would be a real opportunity for AirNZ to do their own card and simply guarantee that, apples for apples, they offered the best deal on the market...

sbiddle

The Kiwibank card was intended to be an Air NZ card - it carries Air NZ as the primary branding and only carries a very small Kiwibank logo on the back.

Air NZ would never want to get into anything themselves - they make far too much money selling APD and SP to banks!

NZbutterfly

After having the AMEX cards for a bit and trialling using the travel credit (successful but wondering if I got ripped off) and airline programmes (unsuccessful), I think it's a card better used for maybe when I retire one day. You can get access to lounges, hotel status etc once you don't have it, for a good price really. The sign up bonus is good but will just bank that for now. I'm thinking about sending spending back to the NZ cards. I'll keep on with this trial for the year though. I do like the edge card and may opt to keep that one (specifically only use at supermarkets and petrol stations). I hate their statements also. I just want to know what the outstanding balance is and they can't blimn show me that in simple terms. They've overcomplicated the breakdown. Also just realised the Oz AMEX transfers to airlines at a rate of 1:1 and ours is 2:1 - I feel ripped off. I think I value the NZ APD more although AMEX is useful for SQ and QF top ups I think.

I think NZ needs to get into more of our NZ market. With EK sending 5 A380s our way I reckon they'll start trying to get into other areas within NZ. From a cc perspective I would appreciate the competition from EK but you need a massive amount of EK points to upgrade or buy a reward ticket it seems so I'd still stick with NZ. Just a guess. QF and VA offer so much within the Australian market, I'd hate for NZ to lose an opportunity to get ahead in their own backyard.

brenrox

Do AMEX send out the Priority Lounge Passes or are they electronic on the card?

kyanar

Priority pass is a separate card that you have to swipe at participating lounges (in AKL, the Emperor Lounge I think it is).

The Sydney AMEX lounge, you just present the card at the desk and they let you in.

NZbutterfly

deleted...wrong card