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Macquarie Credit Card up to 40,000 Qantas FF Points, $99 Fee, Travel Insurance

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Macquarie Credit Card up to 40,000 Qantas FF Points, $99 Fee, Travel Insurance
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LPacolito on 24/10/2013 - 15:33 macquarie.com.au (3149 clicks)
Last edited 24/10/2013 - 15:52 by 2 other users

First post, aww yeah. Not sure if it's kosher to post credit cards and thereby encourage the reckless accumulation of unsustainable levels of personal debt but here goes.

40,000 QFF points on offer with the Macquarie Bank platinum credit card. (20,000 upon first purchase, another 20,000 if you spend $5k by Feb 2014)

I recently signed up for an HSBC card simply for the 35,000 QFF points on offer. That card involved a $199 annual fee.

This card from Macquarie offers 40,000 and a half price annual fee for the first year of $99. You also get free travel insurance etc as it is a Platinum card.

Together with the HSBC offer, that's enough for a one way ticket to Europe (preferably aboard an Emirates!) with points left over.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention.

Hopefully, this will be my Ozbargain cherry popped. High fives.

Financial Credit Card Frequent Flyer Qantas

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Macquarie Bank

closed Comments

  • Lunchguy on 24/10/2013 - 15:39

    Just note that 20,000 of the points are contingent on spending $5,000 on eligible purchases by 28 February 2014. Not difficult to do but worth bearing in mind. I couldn't find a definition for 'eligible purchases'.

    • WaywardOne on 24/10/2013 - 19:57

      Hmmm. Spending $5000 to get $250 worth of gift cards. That is a 5% return — equal to ING Paywave rebate.

      What is the best way to spend $5000? Can you buy US dollars? Can you do a $5000 cash advance?

      • OzBrogains on 24/10/2013 - 21:18
        +1

        FYI using QFF points on gift cards is incredibly poor value. The best value is flights - e.g. 140k points for a RTW trip.

        • tonester on 24/10/2013 - 22:15
          +4

          sorry but best value is actually upgrades :)

        • Radar on 24/10/2013 - 22:21
          +2

          I'm saving for the RTW.
          I wish I hadn't spent 90K on upgrades, was nice but it wasn't a holiday.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2013 - 09:44

        best way to spend $5000?

        • buy a return qantas ticket, usually cost around $1500 return to Asian destination or $2000 to to other places further away. the points you get is for the next holiday:)

        • buy iphone 5S 64GB ($1100ish??) or latest android phones ($600+)

        • buy the new ipad air or ipad mini 2 in November ($400-$700ish)

        • buy the new Ultra-HD TV for Christmas ($4000++)

        • list goes on, but $5000 can be spent in a day if you want it:)

  • Tafe on 24/10/2013 - 15:41
    +1

    Worth mentioning:

    Two complimentary Qantas Club Lounge invitations to use before your next Qantas or Jetstar flight, when you make your first eligible purchase by 31 January 2014~

    • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 17:34

      Be mindful of the expiry dates of these passes. I received mine in the mail the other day and they expiry in Dec 2013 :(

      • danyool on 24/10/2013 - 23:48
        +1

        sell them. You're sitting on cash!

    • incarnate on 24/10/2013 - 18:56

      If you aren't going to use the lounge passes, you can get $40 or $50 each for them on eBay/Gumtree. Cancels out the joining fee!

    • rarelyscene on 10/11/2013 - 14:35

      "You will receive 2 complimentary Qantas Club Lounge invitations once you have made your first eligible purchase by 31 January 2014. Selected Qantas products and services are the following items purchased directly from Qantas: Qantas passenger flights (with a QF flight number), Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Club membership joining and annual fees. "

      • meowmeowmeow on 12/11/2013 - 09:04

        So we need to buy a qantas flight to get the free qantas club vouchers? PS got my card yesterday :)

  • Infraction on 24/10/2013 - 15:43
    +1

    So any catches to be aware of or is fairly straight forward to get the points and cancel the card before the next years annual fee is incurred?

    • Tafe on 24/10/2013 - 16:19

      I've always wondered with regards to your credit score and whatnot. Any downside?

      • miq on 24/10/2013 - 17:00

        There is no such thing as a 'credit score' in Australia. Every time you apply for credit (loan, credit card, mobile phone contract etc), it appears on your credit file (accessible via mycreditfile.com.au) regardless of whether or not the credit was approved. Any defaults on payments will also appear on this file, as well as bankruptcies etc.
        When applying for credit your file will be assessed by the credit provider so they can judge if you are creditworthy.

        • Tafe on 24/10/2013 - 20:45

          OK, that's cool, but I guess the question still stands in that I'm wondering if a large amount of applications on your credit file is frowned upon by credit providers?

        • miq on 24/10/2013 - 22:52

          Absolutely it would be.

        • goblues on 25/10/2013 - 15:02

          Yes the more credit applications you make the more an adverse rating of your score (if you do them in a short period of time). It also depends on what type of credit application you are making. For example, if you apply for finance through Harvey Norman (GE Creditline) its going to bring your score down.

          If you apply for a Mobile phone contract, not so much. Go to veda's website for more info.

      • goblues on 25/10/2013 - 15:01

        Actually Veda does have a score now. Go to the following site to find out: http://www.veda.com.au/. If you have a score of around 600 then you are OK.

        Veda is the agency that reports your credit history and I absolutely assure you they have a score, just go to their website.

      • Ryk on 25/10/2013 - 21:26

        If all you're doing is applying for credit cards to get QFF then whats the worst that can happen, get declined and not get the QFF, no great loss

  • Turd on 24/10/2013 - 15:46
    +2

    MacQ declined me a while back.

    • shizmo on 24/10/2013 - 15:50

      :(

    • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2013 - 16:20
      +3

      I declined MacQ on many occasions….they're thieves!

    • altomic on 24/10/2013 - 18:53
      +15

      the trick is to sign up with your real name and not your ozbargain name.

      • subywagon on 25/10/2013 - 09:07
        +2

        I don't know about you altomic, but our ozbargain names are our real names….

    • fuggedaboutit on 25/10/2013 - 01:54
      -1

      If altomic's suggestion didn't work, just…

  • cornucopia on 24/10/2013 - 15:52
    +2

    Might be worth reading this article in today's Fairfax press about issues reaching the Financial Ombudsman involving Macquarie Bank before signing up for one of their credit cards. Just saying…..

    http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/did-the-bank-bashin…

    • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2013 - 16:14
      -1

      Thanks for sharing the article… The good news is that customers are much happier with mac bank than before, so thats a +ve trend. They should've learnt their lesson by now.

      • cornucopia on 25/10/2013 - 08:14
        -1

        Did you actually read this article? It DOES NOT say that the 'customers are much happier with mac bank than before'. What it does say about Macquarie Bank is 'Home loans and credit cards were at the centre of most disagreements between customers and banks, and in each of these areas Macquarie had the highest dispute rates.'

  • unity1 on 24/10/2013 - 15:53
    +2

    $200 on going annual fee after the first year

    You must earn a minimum taxable income of $50,000 per annum

    • slowmo on 24/10/2013 - 16:53

      50kpa means you get 3.4k/mth after tax. Which isn't a lot of money if you take away rental (eg$1733@400/week) you are left with $1667/mth for rest of the stuff.

    • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 17:35

      Its a Platinum Card, a 50k min is fairly standard.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2013 - 09:47

      Surely we can close the card before the 1st year once we get all the bonus points?

  • miq on 24/10/2013 - 15:53
    +3

    Still doesn't beat the 45000 QFF points from the David Jones Amex card. They somehow stuffed up and gave me twice the points they should have. Not complaining!

    • b00tyman on 24/10/2013 - 16:37
      +1

      hi mate, where is this 45000 points deal from DJ you're talking about, in the market for another CC, is this still on offer?

      cheers.

      • miq on 24/10/2013 - 16:49
        +1

        No mate, it was a mistake on their part. The special offer at the time was 22500pts after your first purchase (of any amount) on the card, however I was somehow credited two lots of 22500 points. This was close to a year ago now.

        • Ahan on 24/10/2013 - 22:18

          Happenned to me about 3 years ago as well. I received $200 DJ gift card twice…

  • atlas on 24/10/2013 - 15:57
    +1

    Gah, didn't receive much when I signed up as a foundation member for the card. Going to cancel it.

    • microsnot on 25/10/2013 - 21:57

      They even stopped sending out those crappy invites to events.

  • itx on 24/10/2013 - 16:20
    +8

    Got this card on a similar promo a couple of weeks ago. Some things to note:
    - Keep a record of the reference number at the end of the application. You're not provided with the information again past that point.
    - Some people have reported having more success under-reporting their income and/or assets. They are apparently more likely to reject you if you look like you'll pay the full balance every month.
    - They will most likely ask you to send in payslips (by email or fax)
    - The application to activation process took just over six weeks, so be prepared for a shock if you're used to 60 second approvals! There were no updates whatsoever in the meantime.

    They also charged me a $50 Qantas rewards fee (on top of the $99 annual fee), which I was previously told would be waived.

    Leaving aside these initial problems, it's a good card with a competitive points earn rate.

    Of course, they may have gotten their act together since then and sped things up, so YMMV.

    • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2013 - 17:17

      Thx for sharing your experience!

    • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 17:38

      My latest experience with them have been much better with the card in my hand in just under 2 weeks from application.

      Note, the conditions in the offer state that the $50 Qantas fee will be waived for the life of the card, so you probably should have pushed the point a little harder.

      • itx on 24/10/2013 - 20:31

        Yep, I queried it and they're now "investigating". They couldn't tell me how long that would take though- there must be a lot of detective work required to get to the bottom of something like this!

    • lexxyacc on 24/10/2013 - 21:28

      Correct me if I'm wrong but many credit applications have questions like "have you been rejected credit" or similar, so if MacQ are going to reject your application - wouldn't that mean one will have a black mark against their name? So if you are getting rejected will you have problems applying for your next card?

  • Baghern on 24/10/2013 - 16:29

    So roughly what is 40000 qantas FF points worth these days?

    The lounge invitations are what tempts me.

    • Pizdets on 24/10/2013 - 16:33
      -5

      Probably a $20 caltex fuel card.

    • Turd on 24/10/2013 - 16:34

      145,000 points = $1000 myer gift card.
      36,250 points = $250 myer gift card.

      ~100,000 points = return flight to HK/Japan etc (on sale price).

      etc… etc….

      • BlueDiesel on 24/10/2013 - 17:01

        Don't forget you still have to pay fee and taxes. From memory it was about 160000 miles from OZ to Europe (retun flight), but they still charged us about $1000 each for fees and taxes!!!

        • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 17:44
          +1

          You should not redeem the points on a Qantas flight as they have very high taxes/charges.

          Although it sounds silly, the only way to get good value for your QFF points is to use the points on a partner airline's like EK or AA etc.

        • BlueDiesel on 24/10/2013 - 17:55

          That;s true, booked a couple times domestic as well and they still charge a arm and leg in tax and fees.
          For our upcoming trip we have booked some flights from Germany to Spain and they were ridiculously cheap (points as well as fees and taxes), compared to what you pay for Qantas.

        • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 18:10

          The main reason is that Qantas includes a Fuel Surcharge in their fee structure. Other airlines include fuel in the base fare. For the purposes of redeeming points, you need to fly a carrier that has the fuel charges included in the base fare.

          Domestic flights with Qantas can be ok at times, as well as using the points to upgrade to business etc.

        • Turd on 24/10/2013 - 18:33

          Nop no fuel surcharge fees. I went to HK in May cost me ~96,000 points and no fee.
          Booked a flight for dad to HK 3 weeks ago and it cost me ~103,000 points + $2 booking fee (not sure why they had this as they changed systems and it applied it).

          If you do point ONLY system there is no need to pay money.
          The points are higher but you dont need to pay taxes.

        • Trance N Dance on 24/10/2013 - 18:46

          When did you book these flights? QF changed their system back in June and it seems like all inclusive points bookings are no longer available.

        • Turd on 24/10/2013 - 19:20

          Definitely NOT "no longer available".

        • Trance N Dance on 24/10/2013 - 19:27
          +1

          Are you referring to points+pay or classic awards?

          Edit: NVM, I've answered my own question. Classic awards that were paid entirely by point are no longer available, however point+pay allow flights to be paid wholly in points. At a crappier rate compared to what it was before though.

  • b00tyman on 24/10/2013 - 16:34

    40000 points can get you roughly 5 x $50 caltex fuel cards for example! :)

    • miq on 24/10/2013 - 16:50
      +2

      yes but gift cards have a v. poor points conversion rate.

      • Dacs on 24/10/2013 - 17:35

        Why? I've never had a problem with them. Almost as good as cash.

        • miq on 24/10/2013 - 17:40
          +3

          I mean compared to using the points for flight upgrades, international fares etc. Represents much better value.

        • Dacs on 24/10/2013 - 17:53
          -5

          It's not that bad.

          You need 14,000 points to fly Brisbane to Sydney one-way. That is worth between $59 and $169 depending on the time and day you fly - That's if you can get the flight using points.

          If you took those points as a gift card you would get $93.
          And the advantage of a gift card is that you can claim it when you have just 750 points (=$5). You don't have to build it up over months or years in the hope that the points requirements don't change in the meantime.

        • Dacs on 27/10/2013 - 16:13

          Dudes, why all the negs?

        • Trance N Dance on 27/10/2013 - 18:36
          +2

          $93 for 14,000 points is a !@#$ redemption rate. 0.66 cents per point is atrocious. I value the points at 1 cent each and even then it's pretty average value, most value the points at 1.5+ cents each if not 2-3 cents per point when redeeming upgrades or premium cabin tickets.

          Also I've never seen SYD-BNE on QF go for any less than $70. Even the current sale which is pretty damn good for forward tickets is at $79. Normally they sit at $109+.

        • Dacs on 27/10/2013 - 18:46
          +2

          OK, the prices I quoted are prices for Jetstar over the next few weeks not Qantas, so cheaper.

          Still I'd usually prefer to have have, say, $100 cash in hand than an upgrade "worth $300". But each to their own.

  • AmericanDad on 24/10/2013 - 16:44

    https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/InitialPointsRedeem… for flights. Would bee good but I won't be able to spend $5000 by Feb :(

    • unity1 on 24/10/2013 - 16:52

      1 term school fees will do it

    • JohnHowardsEyebrows on 24/10/2013 - 17:11

      Maybe by something expensive for the balance of 5th Oct, then refund it the next day?

      • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2013 - 20:34

        Will that work? Coz it'd be awesome if it did.

        • JohnHowardsEyebrows on 25/10/2013 - 09:28

          Don't know how I typed 5th Oct there. What I meant was, spend the balance (e.g. $2k) on something small but expensive on 28th Feb, then refund it. Whether they would choose to scour the files for such transactions is another question, but certainly, once you have the points, they're yours. Given 20k points are worth $150 or so, even having your card in credit a couple of thousand for the next few months will still be good value.

      • Crownanchor on 25/10/2013 - 22:11

        One option is to fund a CFD account if you trade the financial markets with a CFD provider that funds from a credit card. GFT does not charge any fees for credit card funding, the funds are then able to be refunded in full back to the credit card after the interest free period on the card expires.

        Even if you dont trade the market this may be an option.

  • Baghern on 24/10/2013 - 16:52

    I never got a FF card as it came across as a hassle back in the day.

    Is it a hassle still, from what I read you just hook it up to your cc and other than some spam mail thats it?

  • sammyk on 24/10/2013 - 17:22

    you could also get 5,000 points from this AMEX card, no annual fee, just spend $300 within 3 months

    https://www.americanexpress.com/au/content/frequent-flyer-ca…

    • Coley on 24/10/2013 - 17:47
      +1

      5000 is much less then 40,000…. just saying. Of course it's an easy 5k points if you don't mind the record on your credit file.

      Keep in mind it's an Amex, and not as many places will accept it for payments. If you are actually going to use the card for getting additional points, its much harder to get the same points as you would on a $1 - 1 QF Point Visa/MC.

    • Holysmoke on 24/10/2013 - 19:37

      Deal has been posted for that card: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/120599

  • Baghern on 24/10/2013 - 19:43

    what's stopping people from signing up cancelling after they receive the points,

    And thanks everyone for the information.

    I'd looked at the Qantas page and was puzzeled by what the points could buy, didn't realise the tax and surcharge wasn't included

    • Hoju on 24/10/2013 - 19:57
      +1

      Nothing at all. I've done this with a pair of cards for me and the wife with ANZ, then again with Qantas credit union themselves.

      Not sure what our credit thingy looks like but given we're both students now and already sealed a deal with the mortgage, who cares!

    • [Deactivated] on 25/10/2013 - 09:58

      Tax and surcharge cost you around $350 or more for return flight to singapore, that's out of the total $800ish return economy if its on special. the TAX is almost half of the airfare!!!

  • Hoju on 24/10/2013 - 19:59
    +4

    Worth pointing out that every year I ring up to cancel my woolies credit card because the annual fee is due, and every year they waive it.
    So the $200 ongoing fee may not necessarily occur, depending how much they value your custom

    • TintyJ on 24/10/2013 - 20:39

      i tried this with my commbank gold rewards but they wouldn't budge on the annual fee and i ended up actually cancelling it (i wanted to keep it!) I never pay any interest so I can see why they didnt want me

    • kctt on 24/10/2013 - 21:54

      Is it Woolworths Qantas credit card? I see annual fee is only $89. Can't find any Woolworths card with $200 yearly fee.

      • incarnate on 25/10/2013 - 00:46

        I assume Greenspoon was referring to the $200 annual fee on the Macquarie card.
        That said I think getting a $200 fee waived will be less likely than an $89 one.

        • JohnHowardsEyebrows on 25/10/2013 - 09:25

          I had a $230 fee for Emirates Citibank Platinum waived this year.

        • hashtagbargain on 25/10/2013 - 10:36

          Oh wow, that's nice.

        • tonester on 25/10/2013 - 10:42

          citibank waivers are common :)

          cba - never heard of any :(

        • AndyRates on 25/10/2013 - 13:03

          CBA often give free upgrades to Platinum or Diamond Awards card for life

        • tonester on 25/10/2013 - 16:48

          true but free upgrades are different to fee waivers :)

        • ybad on 27/10/2013 - 16:21

          how do you get that? But I'm assuming you'll be paying the upgraded cards annual fee right?

        • AndyRates on 27/10/2013 - 18:45

          no u pay what u were on. Guess its for loyalty customers

    • wako on 25/10/2013 - 16:01

      I rang woolworths 2 times 1 with balance, 1 with none, And they wouldnt waive the fee when asked for closing balance , I ended up cancelling it to, Didnt really want to But did to avoid fee…

      I to paid of in full each month, but did pay 1 $89 yearly fee..

      Greenspoon, Do you pay off card in full each month??

  • povertytrap on 24/10/2013 - 20:27
    +1

    yes, I do the same with the woolies credit card every year, they always waive the fee for me when I say I want to cancel.

    • hashtagbargain on 24/10/2013 - 20:39

      how did you get the fees for the first year waived? dont they charge you as soon as the account it opened?

    • Coley on 25/10/2013 - 09:22
      +1

      All the comments I have read in other forums on this card in past indicate that Macquarie don't care that you will leave and will not reduce or waive the annual fee.

  • Baghern on 24/10/2013 - 21:47

    Another question, doesn't seem to be clear on the websites.

    Does applying QFF wipe out your rewards program, or do you get points for both your current rewards program and the QFF for same purchases?

    • incarnate on 24/10/2013 - 23:32

      Only one or the other:

      Account holders who opt-in to Qantas Frequent Flyer Rewards are not eligible to earn Macquarie Reward points under Macquarie Rewards.

      • Baghern on 24/10/2013 - 23:38

        I see,

        That's strange to focus on QFF then, since based on a gift card focus. The QFF program cost 50% more.

        • incarnate on 25/10/2013 - 00:40

          The emphasis here is the 40K bonus QFF points, Macquarie points don't appear to be on offer.

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