American Express Cards - Included Travel Credit sham (probably #rant)

geoffs87 on 12/08/2019 - 13:09

Recently received my AMEX Qantas Ultimate credit card (for the 100k bonus points). $450 fee - but they spruik you get $450 travel credit. I understand the QF ticket requirement, its a QF card after all.

What is disappointing, is almost every flight i tried to book, i cross referenced against the Qantas website, and AMEX was significantly more expensive than the Qantas direct website - all other airlines seem to be on par with competitive pricing, but Qantas flights are not!

Eg: Sydney to Nadi in June 2020 QF: $1,176 for 2pax, AMEX: $1,401. I checked a few other flights, eg SYD - BNE were $60-70 more for a $200 return flight compared to Qantas directly.

So given this overcharging, you're only getting ~$200 benefit of your $450, which i would argue is a misrepresentation in their marketing practice - given they spruik the benefit but grossly erode it in pricing.

Has anyone else experienced this, or had any luck getting comparative flight pricing through AMEX compared to direct? Am i just doing something wrong??

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Comments

  • looks on 12/08/2019 - 13:13
    +1

    Report to ACCC..?

  • ChaseTheSun on 12/08/2019 - 13:13
    +2

    Complain to Amex - they may do something about it.

    I use my Amex Credit (explorer) on hotels rather than flights. Do your own research.

    • geoffs87 on 12/08/2019 - 13:22

      Yeah i will reach out again when i get the chance - they dont have an advertised email so will need to make a phone call.

      Agree with doing own research - problem is you can't log into the AMEX travel site to search without a profile - so there was no way to know about this issue before getting the card!

      Unfortunately this particular $450 credit can ONLY be used for QF flights through the AMEX travel site!

  • Poppin on 12/08/2019 - 13:25

    Have you checked that the fares are in the same fare bucket/class? I have done comparisons and sometimes they are the same, some times they have been cheaper, some times more. It's very hard to compare airfares between travel agents and airlines due to agreements and cost structures. It could just be a case of Amex not offering as steep of a discount that far out, or Qantas having access to a cheaper fare bucket that it doesn't provide to agents.

    • geoffs87 on 12/08/2019 - 13:39

      All are 'economy sale'. Can't seem to find more detailed ticket bucket info at booking stage.

      I note the same cost differential for flights this side of christmas too. Interestingly the flights are more expensive than AMEX through other providers (aunt betty etc).

      Seems that qantas are not passing on certain fares to agents… but thats where it becomes a misleading issue - the perceived benefit provided by the qantas card is eroded as you can only use it to purchased QF flights from AMEX site, which attract a significantly higher price than booking elsewhere!

  • brokenglish on 12/08/2019 - 13:43

    Yes, I never found any 3rd party to be comparable to direct booking. YMMV. AMEX Travel is way more expensive for me.

  • omguleh on 12/08/2019 - 13:48

    I have the explorer card, use their system to book my mel-sha tickets and it was similar price to Expedia and a lot cheaper compared to direct.

    • geoffs87 on 12/08/2019 - 13:50

      qantas? I note all other airlines prices are on par with flights found on google flights, except for QF ticketed ones?

      Glad you were able to benefit from the travel credit :)

      • omguleh on 12/08/2019 - 14:25

        Can’t be 100% sure, it was a qantas code share flight.

  • waterbottled on 12/08/2019 - 14:01

    flights to shanghai on amex are very comparable to other sites. depends on where you go.

  • qazwsx on 12/08/2019 - 14:29
    +1

    In the past 2-3 years I've booked QF, SQ and NZ for pretty much the same amount as what was shown direct. Amex travel credit is definitely not fit those who do 1 trip a year given how hit and miss they are with pricing.

    I generally look more at sq and will say that I have seen sq more expensive as the amex fare was aligning to a higher fare bucket - seen on Expedia and others as well, generally means that the airline has not made the same inventory available to travel agents.

  • tendliya on 12/08/2019 - 16:21
    +3

    There was a similar complaint on AMEX Facebook page few months ago. And someone rectified this by calling 1300 303 877 to speak to a manager and get the fares price matched and complete the booking.

    I didn't had to try this yet but give it a go and please report back if that works.

  • kipps on 12/08/2019 - 18:26

    I’ve seen AMEX travel to sometimes be cheaper. I’d call them and get them to match to use your credit.

  • clover on 13/08/2019 - 09:31

    Used my travel credit to book trip a month ago from Melbourne to Asia. Price is the same as the Qantas website. Price hike might be for selected route then

  • brih on 13/08/2019 - 12:52
    +1

    I've booked domestic flights with my $450 credit for flights that were the same price as listed on the qantas website.

    There might be an issue with sale fares being pushed through to Amex's service. Call them to get it sorted out.

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