Just received communication from Commonwealth Bank informing me that points earned per dollar spent will be decreasing in line with new credit card regulations.
I have a Diamond Awards Amex, and usually get 3 points per dollar. However, this is now being reduced to 0.5 points per dollar (except at supermarkets, department stores and major petrol stations). As a bonus, the card will now have zero international transaction fees.
Has anyone with another bank had similar point reductions?
westpac devalued their Altitude credit cards redemption rate(to a few frequent flyer programs) late last year already. Lost about 25% of the value of altitude reward points.
Greedy bastards. Which Westpac card are you applying for?
Altitude platinum
the CBA international travel insurance is still the best around. Most other credit cards ask you to spend 90% of total overseas travel cost on the card or $1000 etc. whilst CBA does not have any criteria.
3 points per dollar at supermarkets, department stores and major petrol stations
Sounds like Amex Platinum Edge. I am suspecting Commbank will make the move soon to drop their Amex cards soon after to follow ANZ footsteps.
I think dropping from 3 -> 0.5 points is the equivalent to "dropping" them.
Especially when you get 1.25 points on the mastercard.
Got a similar letter from Bank of Queensland yesterday I believe their credit card business is ran by Citibank. Their changes begin on June 15, so at least its plenty of warning.
Yeah it sucks that the points are getting harder to ear, whilst conversion rates are higher and reward points for redemption are higher.
The best way to stick it to the banks is to get a zero fee card, and pay them no interest.
I have the Citibank Signature from the zero fee for life deal and have paid $0.00 interest since that time. I will be using my 200k points before they are devalued even more.
Missed out on that deal…hopefully it comes around again.
It'll probably never come around again
Just found this HSBC card which has no annual fee if you spend >$6K
http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/credit-cards/platinum
Yes similar thing happening with many Citibank cards , like the Signature.
I wonder if there's a way to set up paypal to charge you in USD.
I used to use pay-pal as a proxy when online stores didn't allow amex to get the triple points, so maybe there is a way to do the same thing with this.
Most stores accept paypal, so if it charges in USD and has a 0% international transaction fee - that might work to get back up to triple points.
Need to find the PDS for the new changes and hope "overseas purchases" includes "online overseas purchases".
Well ANZ cut off AMEX entirely so theres that lol
Although they increased the points earn rate on the Visa. Which actually works out well by comparison to other banks who did keep the Amex as then you earn a better rate across all your card spend, not just Amex.
No more checking if merchants will accept Amex and whether they surcharge for it. And none of this complicated tiered spend based on type of merchant. Main issue though is not getting the Amex offers.
Haven't got this at all, was it an email communication? Diamond award?
It's on the latest statements.
I haven't received any notification either. If there's something on the latest statements, as Godric said, I won't receive mine for at least another two weeks, so not impressed if that's the only notification I receive. Mind you, if they've sent a letter via snail mail, it'll take a week or more to get here to Perth judging by Australia Post's efforts in recent months.
I've seen people talking about this on facebook already. It will take place from 1 July onwards. Just tried to cancel my cc and no effort from the CS to maintain me as a customer. Not even a question why are you closing it….
I got a letter and an email about the point cut.
You can refer to this official direct link for more info.
I know it sucks and I'm now searching for alternatives, if any.
I think I'm going to cancel my platinum card.
What would be a good alternative?
I am interested in this also. I will be going from 3 points per dollar to 0.5 points per dollar and to sweeten the deal, the CBA have also increased my home loan interest rates last week by stealth. I pay $395 a year for this rubbish. I need a new home loan and a new credit card with a decent rewards program.
I've made moves to switch to a Westpac card. It's disgusting behaviour from the CBA, they should at least have the decency to reduce the annual fees. It's also encouraging people to shop at supermarkets only and not local stores and goes against what the RBA wants with the interchange fee caps.