[albatross710]

Hi,

I know that I shouldn't expect more of these pillars of the Australian banking industry but...hearing the radio advert running for 12,000 points just for getting an ANZ Qantas card I had to enquire.

First page that they direct you to:
www.anz.com.au/12000points

Gives the main marketing blurb, but no hint of the annual charge which i had a feeling was going to be ~$95. I read the "Terms & Conditions" still no hint of the charges.

Started going through the application but still no hint of the costs. I was able to find the info quicker at here on AFF.

Called the ANZ call centre whom advised I obviously should have gone to the ANZ home page>>credit cards>> personal>>ANZ Frequent Flyer for the terms and conditions.

At 12,000 for $95 I don't think it is good value with the mlimited amount of Qantas travel I'm doing at the moment.

[Danger]

I've signed up. For me, $95 for a business upgrade from east coast to west coast is cheap.

[clifford]

Originally Posted by Danger

I've signed up. For me, $95 for a business upgrade from east coast to west coast is cheap.

Have to agree with that. BTW, I signed up for one when it was 18,000.

[Jenelle]

Did my application Sunday at 4.30pm.

Card and welcome pack arrived Wednesday 9am.

Whoa!

I just got it for the points. Did my first purchase this morning - will let you know when I get my points.

[comphelp]

It seems that the 12,000 points expired at the end of April and now the current offer is 10,000 points

I certainly take the point about them hiding the annual fee - very poor. From what I read, their "rewards" fee ($55pa) is per card too. Ouch.

[Benko]

i just got this card in the mail but im not a qantas ff member so do i have to join to get points? how does it work? i have to pay the 95 fee for anz then pay to join the qantas club?

[serfty]

You do need to join Qantas Frequent Flyer to get those points.

Qantas club membership costs over $600 to join for a year but does come with enrolment to QFF included.

You could simply join QFF directly for $87.50 IIRC, or if you have a non Oz/NZ mailing adress, then nothing.

[Benko]

no i do have an oz mailing address.. so if i join for 87.50 is it worth it? i dont spend much on the credit card.. and how long is the QFF membership for? so if i dont join QFF then = no points? so the points from the credit card show up on the QFF site if theyre linked or something?

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by Benko

no i do have an oz mailing address.. so if i join for 87.50 is it worth it?

I think QFF joining fee is only $85!

Why not investigate signing up for the Earth or Earth+ credit cards. Late last year they offered fee membership of QFF and first year fee free for the credit card. I have not looked at any recent promotions.

Originally Posted by Benko

i dont spend much on the credit card.. and how long is the QFF membership for?

For life! That is for the life of the QFF program.

Originally Posted by Benko

so if i dont join QFF then = no points?

Correct.

Originally Posted by Benko

so the points from the credit card show up on the QFF site if theyre linked or something?

Don't know about the ANZ card but Qantas Amex premium card points appear as 2 lines on my QFF activity page. One line is for for bunus QF spend and second line is for total monthly spending * 1.25 .

 
10 APR 07     QANTAS AMEX PREMIUM CARD     -     -     -      224
10 APR 07     QANTAS AMEX PREMIUM CARD     -     -     -     1235

[NM]

Work out you benefits very carefully. You mention that you don't spend a great deal on credit cards, so the points balance is not going to grow quickly. Compare with some business people who can spend tens of thousands of dollars a week on their credit card and seek limits uo to $100K.

And keep in mind that the QF Frequent Flyer program has two purposes:

• Retain loyalty to the Qantas brand for people flying a lot
• Make money for Qantas by selling points to partners such as Credit Card providers

And it sounds like you will fall into the second category. Note that there is not necessarily anything in it for you. You will earn points, but then need to be able to redeem those points for something useful. So think now about what you plan to achieve from your points.

As someone who is not a high status QF FF member (at least Gold and preferably Platinum) you will be unlikely to be able to use your points for flight upgrades to business or first class. So you are limited to using them for award flights. Unless you earn a significant number of FF points, you will be limited to domestic flight awards. Note that Qantas make the FF members pay all the surcharges and taxes (including QF's fuel surcharges) when then redeem FF points for award flights. So you have to weigh up the value of using FF points for an Australian domestic flight and paying the fuel surcharges and taxes, verses just buying a cheap fare when they have a sale (seems like almost every week at the moment).