Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22947395)

And each time I've had to fight with CS to tell them how stupid their response is. A cardholder has no means to know what MCC an establishment is tagged to when he decides to use a particular card! He sits at a restaurant table, with fine linen, is served food and drink, signs for the bill at the end - and has every reason to believe that he's dined at a restaurant. He's bought clothing or shoes at a department store that sells these items on 4 out of 5 floors (with the exception of a grocery store at the basement) hence has every reason to believe that he's shopped at a department store.

No matter what the MCC says of these establishments!

What's the cardholder supposed to do? Ask the waiter, "What is your MCC?" Naturally the waiter wouldn't know, not to mention the embarrassment of such interaction, especially if you have dining companions. Neither will a department store checkout counter be able to provide this information readily.

Worst is if it's a standalone restaurant in a large department store - how would the person know which is the "right" card to use to maximise his points earning capability?

And these banks, in their response, effectively expect the onus to know what MCC is tagged to which establishment to rest on the cardholder. Information that's impossible for the cardholder to know at the point of deciding which card to use. This stance by banks is ridiculous and almost amounting to unfair banking practice in my firm opinion.

In my recent fights, I've had to threaten to write to the local papers and/or MAS before the banks deigned to escalate within their senior management to get the missing points credited. But it hasn't come easy from my experience. Oftentimes their initial response is to deny the claim - even though it's of no fault of the cardholder as a merchant's MCC tagging isn't something that the cardholder controls.

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22947395)

These interactions really shouldn't have been so hard... and banks really shouldn't require "threats" for them to see sense and do what's right. I'm frankly tired of having to fight every time to get what's due to me.

In fact, any decent bank should immediately rectify the missing points credit when hearing of a cardholder's complaint, as they full well know how "imperfect" this MCC tagging scheme is.

It appears banks continue to benefit from a cardholder's lack of knowledge to get away with not crediting the right number of points. Such situation is exacerbated by lack of transaction breakdown in the monthly CC statements.

Interested to know if you share similar frustrations, and what you've done in the past to get the banks to honor the bonus points. What's the "path of least resistance" - if there's even one?

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22947395)

Likewise Citibank Rewards MC at certain department stores that may not carry the right MCC (eg. M&S UK is tagged as grocery store!) again losing out on bonus points.

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22948267)

For UOB PPAmex, my main issue is that even standalone restaurants within hotels are not tagged as "dining" but "hotel".

Originally Posted by percysmith (Post 22948276)

Again not sure about SG, but in HK my experience is hotel chains that have their own MCCs tend to code their restaurants with that MCC http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...p?id=7116&p=14

Examples:
- Shangri La HK Island and Kowloon
- Ritz Carlton
- Marriott

Originally Posted by LAX888 (Post 22942434)

Thanks for the info on the mileage accrual. I guess 22 miles is better than nothing. :)

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22948267)

For UOB PPAmex, my main issue is that even standalone restaurants within hotels are not tagged as "dining" but "hotel". Likewise restaurants in malls are tagged as shopping as I discovered in the various Isetans and Takashimayas in Japan. Yet the problem ism't consistent - a handful are indeed tagged correctly as restaurants. Most intriguing was a recent visit to a Michelin starred restaurant in Napa Valley, which is tagged as "amusement park" because it was created by its parent owner that owned a winery surrounding a castle that's open for day visits, but the actual winery and castle was literally hundreds of miles away from the restaurant where I had my meal!

Guess the problem is - the cardholder would never have easily known or even guessed!

Originally Posted by lcpteck (Post 22941598)

I've never tried a Clubmed before but I understand it's an all-inclusive thing? You don't pay any extra while you're there to use the facilities and the dining right? Including transport?

Since you're paying in local S$ to the local travel agent (whether offline at the agency or online at their website), you can charge it to your UOB PRVI Amex Card (assuming they accept Amex) to earn 1.6miles per S$1 (in multiples of S$5). If the bill comes up to more than $500 (which it should, cause I heard they are expensive..) in a single transaction, you get a free Limo ride from UOB to the airport via their limo service.

Even if the payment was online, you can't use UOB Preferred Platinum Visa to earn 10x (4 miles per S$1) since they exclude air ticket/hotel/tour package (transport/travel/holiday) related transactions.

DBS altitude would only earn you 1.2 miles per S$1, same as Citibank Premier Miles.

Just my opinion based on the CCs you're holding on right now. Does your clubmed package include the air ticket? I'm assuming yes.

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22947395)

Periodically I've this continuing fight with various banks pertaining to under-crediting of bonus points for specific spend categories that's marketed as key features of their credit cards.

I diligently use UOB PPAmex at a bona fide restaurants but if the restaurant for some reason isn't tagged to a dining establishment MCC, then I'm cheated of the bonus points.

Likewise Citibank Rewards MC at certain department stores that may not carry the right MCC (eg. M&S UK is tagged as grocery store!) again losing out on bonus points.

Each time I've had to call up their CS to check if firstly I had been credited the points correctly, and if not raise a request to rectify. Like clockwork, the bank will call back shortly after with a boilerplate reply that it's because the merchant wasn't tagged to the right MCC so they can't award the bonus points.

And each time I've had to fight with CS to tell them how stupid their response is. A cardholder has no means to know what MCC an establishment is tagged to when he decides to use a particular card! He sits at a restaurant table, with fine linen, is served food and drink, signs for the bill at the end - and has every reason to believe that he's dined at a restaurant. He's bought clothing or shoes at a department store that sells these items on 4 out of 5 floors (with the exception of a grocery store at the basement) hence has every reason to believe that he's shopped at a department store.

No matter what the MCC says of these establishments!

What's the cardholder supposed to do? Ask the waiter, "What is your MCC?" Naturally the waiter wouldn't know, not to mention the embarrassment of such interaction, especially if you have dining companions. Neither will a department store checkout counter be able to provide this information readily.

Worst is if it's a standalone restaurant in a large department store - how would the person know which is the "right" card to use to maximise his points earning capability?

And these banks, in their response, effectively expect the onus to know what MCC is tagged to which establishment to rest on the cardholder. Information that's impossible for the cardholder to know at the point of deciding which card to use. This stance by banks is ridiculous and almost amounting to unfair banking practice in my firm opinion.

In my recent fights, I've had to threaten to write to the local papers and/or MAS before the banks deigned to escalate within their senior management to get the missing points credited. But it hasn't come easy from my experience. Oftentimes their initial response is to deny the claim - even though it's of no fault of the cardholder as a merchant's MCC tagging isn't something that the cardholder controls.

These interactions really shouldn't have been so hard... and banks really shouldn't require "threats" for them to see sense and do what's right. I'm frankly tired of having to fight every time to get what's due to me.

In fact, any decent bank should immediately rectify the missing points credit when hearing of a cardholder's complaint, as they full well know how "imperfect" this MCC tagging scheme is.

It appears banks continue to benefit from a cardholder's lack of knowledge to get away with not crediting the right number of points. Such situation is exacerbated by lack of transaction breakdown in the monthly CC statements.

Interested to know if you share similar frustrations, and what you've done in the past to get the banks to honor the bonus points. What's the "path of least resistance" - if there's even one?

Originally Posted by angelyn (Post 22954183)

Recently, I paid for a $13k bill in Ocean Restaurant, RWS using the UOB preferred platinum Amex card for 10x dining reward. UOB credited only 2x uni$ and I called them to request for the crediting of the additional 8x, they asked for receipt to be emailed to them and very quickly approved the additional 8x uni$ credit :) For this bill, I earned 52k miles yippeee

Originally Posted by carrotjuice (Post 22947395)

Periodically I've this continuing fight with various banks pertaining to under-crediting of bonus points for specific spend categories that's marketed as key features of their credit cards.

I diligently use UOB PPAmex at a bona fide restaurants but if the restaurant for some reason isn't tagged to a dining establishment MCC, then I'm cheated of the bonus points.

Likewise Citibank Rewards MC at certain department stores that may not carry the right MCC (eg. M&S UK is tagged as grocery store!) again losing out on bonus points.

Each time I've had to call up their CS to check if firstly I had been credited the points correctly, and if not raise a request to rectify. Like clockwork, the bank will call back shortly after with a boilerplate reply that it's because the merchant wasn't tagged to the right MCC so they can't award the bonus points.

And each time I've had to fight with CS to tell them how stupid their response is. A cardholder has no means to know what MCC an establishment is tagged to when he decides to use a particular card! He sits at a restaurant table, with fine linen, is served food and drink, signs for the bill at the end - and has every reason to believe that he's dined at a restaurant. He's bought clothing or shoes at a department store that sells these items on 4 out of 5 floors (with the exception of a grocery store at the basement) hence has every reason to believe that he's shopped at a department store.

No matter what the MCC says of these establishments!

What's the cardholder supposed to do? Ask the waiter, "What is your MCC?" Naturally the waiter wouldn't know, not to mention the embarrassment of such interaction, especially if you have dining companions. Neither will a department store checkout counter be able to provide this information readily.

Worst is if it's a standalone restaurant in a large department store - how would the person know which is the "right" card to use to maximise his points earning capability?

And these banks, in their response, effectively expect the onus to know what MCC is tagged to which establishment to rest on the cardholder. Information that's impossible for the cardholder to know at the point of deciding which card to use. This stance by banks is ridiculous and almost amounting to unfair banking practice in my firm opinion.

In my recent fights, I've had to threaten to write to the local papers and/or MAS before the banks deigned to escalate within their senior management to get the missing points credited. But it hasn't come easy from my experience. Oftentimes their initial response is to deny the claim - even though it's of no fault of the cardholder as a merchant's MCC tagging isn't something that the cardholder controls.

These interactions really shouldn't have been so hard... and banks really shouldn't require "threats" for them to see sense and do what's right. I'm frankly tired of having to fight every time to get what's due to me.

In fact, any decent bank should immediately rectify the missing points credit when hearing of a cardholder's complaint, as they full well know how "imperfect" this MCC tagging scheme is.

It appears banks continue to benefit from a cardholder's lack of knowledge to get away with not crediting the right number of points. Such situation is exacerbated by lack of transaction breakdown in the monthly CC statements.

Interested to know if you share similar frustrations, and what you've done in the past to get the banks to honor the bonus points. What's the "path of least resistance" - if there's even one?

Originally Posted by vsepr (Post 22954066)

I went to Hiroshima in Mid May and brought my Citi PM VISA and Citi Rewards Card MC.

So annoying! I went airport to buy boxes of Japanese Sweets at the airport (You find these shops in airports all over Japan). I was not aware that these are actually departmental stores until the charge got posted on my Citi PM VISA with MCC 5311:

15/05/2014 HIROSHIMAKUUKO FUKUYASHIYHIROSHIMA JP JPY 719 SGD 9.12
15/05/2014 *HIROSHIMAKUUKOBIRUDEINGU HIROSHIMA JP JPY 733SGD 9.30

At Hiroshima JR, there is a big departmental store. It's called ASSE. I went to the Starbucks, supermarket buy bento and fruit juice and ate at a restaurant. OMG, when posted, all are MCC 5311. I charged to my Citi PM VISA.

All 4 charges had the SAME description. No Starbucks in it, all ASSE.
15/05/2014 *ASSE HIROSHIMA JP JPY 1,231 SGD 15.62

Then I went to Haneda Airport to buy a bottle of mineral water at a shop selling Japanese Sweets, gifts and toys. It sells drinks too, but not ready to eat food. The MCC code is 5311 Departmental Store!!

16/05/2014 HANEDA AIRPORT TERMINAL TOKYO JP JPY 113 SGD 1.44

Then I went to buy a limo bus ticket to Narita Airport. Cost a bomb:

16/05/2014 HANEDA AIRPORT TERMINAL TOKYO JP JPY 3,100 SGD 39.34

The MCC Code is 4722 Travel Agencies, Tour Operators!! This one I charged correctly to Citi PM VISA.

Basically, when overseas, you really cannot tell the MCC code even from the goods they are selling, unless it is very obvious. Even same description can have different MCC code or different categories like cafes can have 5311 codes. Luck plays a part. Either you play safe, S$1 = 2 miles or gamble, get S$1 = 4 miles or 0.4 miles. Nothing much the credit card centre can do. But the next time you go back to the same place, you know which card to use.

But the good thing about using credit cards when making payment overseas is sometimes the charge never gets posted.
I made 2 transactions at the convenience store at Hiroshima Airport, looks like 7-Eleven kind, 2420 yen and 683 yen on 15 May 2014. As of today, 31 May 2014, still not posted. Hope it never gets posted!! LOL!!

Damn!! The 2 transactions are posted on 01 June 2014:

15/05/2014 *SUNKUS TOKYO JP JPY 683 SGD 8.66
15/05/2014 *SUNKUS TOKYO JP JPY 2,420 SGD 30.70

The MCC 5499 is for Miscellaneous Food Stores - Convenience Stores and Specialty Markets, under the Food/Daily Stores, Drug/Liquor Stores category description. I charged correct for this!

Originally Posted by MilesBuzz (Post 22964574)

My question is: if I want to spend quite a large sum on a luggage bag from one of the Department Store here in Tokyo (Odakyu), I should charge it to the Citibank Rewards Card right for the S$1=4 miles thingy?