Hi all
I am little confused as to which American Express credit cards are eligible for all these cashback deals that get posted.
I have ANZ frequent flyer BLACK AMEX but I am guessing that doesn't work with these deals?
How do I obtain this magic card and without annual fees (and any that give QFF points?)
Thanks in advance
This is the card to solve your problems,
https://www.americanexpress.com/au/content/frequent-flyer-ca…
Not ALL his/her problems. I've got that card and the recent HCF deal wasn't available on it but was available on my ANZ-issued card.
Agree, there is no silver bullet with these things, however, that card will suffice for most
The Qantas Amex Discovery Card generally earns 1 point for $1 spend, and is fee-free.
I have 2 cards, this and the Essential Amex to increase the chances of the cashback offers (I believe a person can have 2 cards with Amex direct, not counting bank-issued cards). Indeed, some offers appear on one card and not another. Some offers appear on the Essential card and not the Discovery, even though both are Amex-issued cards.
Applying directly for the Discovery card will get you only 7,500 points. Using a referrer, you will get 15,000 points, and the referrer 10,000 points. The Qantas Discovery referral list is here, if you choose to use it.
Edit: The precise wording from Amex Refer A Friend is:
You'll receive 10,000 Qantas Points for each friend approved for a Card using your referral link
They receive up to 15,000 Qantas Points if they are approved for a Qantas American Express Discovery Card and meet the spend criteria
So, to be safe, if you choose to use a referrer, I would suggest that you also comply with the "spend $300 on purchases within the first 3 months of becoming a Card Member", which is the criteria for bonus points if you were applying directly, instead of via a referrer.
So are Qantas Amex Discovery and Essential Amex the best fee free amex to have?
I have the velocity platinum but I am going to cancel before the next annual fee ($349).
The cashback deals are great though and some are too good to miss out on.
Naturally different people have different opinions, based on their individual circumstances. For me, Amex Essential is the best, followed by Qantas Discovery, since my priority is cash-equivalent rewards, rather than redeeming flights.
Based on this criterion, the Amex Essential gives the highest reward rate, and provides the most flexibility for redeeming rewards (here's my analysis in a recent comment).
If the priority were redeeming flights, then the Qantas Discovery would have been better.
Since one can have two cards with Amex, probably worth applying for both - to maximise the chances of the cashback offers, because some offers appear on one card but not the other.
Thanks Bluesky. You are right it is worth applying for both.
You say that one can have two cards with Amex, but some people on Ozbargain have up to 11 cards. How do they do? Just 2 for each family member?
Yeap, must have been, supplementary cards for family members, and also bank-issued cards. Bank-issued cards, there is no limit, if they are from different banks.
Edit: The two limit, I believe, is the number of cards directly issued by Amex and for which you are the primary account holder.
@maxi: From my experience, some deals yes, and some deals no. The essential card, since I have it (which was not as long as the Discovery card), seemed to provide the deals which I was interested in, for both primary and supp holder. Having said that, I have not paid total attention to deals I was not interested in, so cannot categorically say. For the Discovery card, I do remember some deals in the past, which were not offered to the supp holder.
Sometimes the deals are only available to Amex-issued cards, sometimes they are only available to bank-issued Amex cards, sometimes they're available to both and sometimes they're available only to certain cardholders.
For deals available to Amex-issued cards, they'll be listed in the "Offers" section when you login to the Amex web site and click the "Offers" tab at the bottom of the page.
For bank-issued Amex cards, the deals availble to you will be listed at https://network.americanexpress.com and you'll have to register your card there so see them.