Amex Platinum Edge – My Secret For Earning Miles & Points

Many people wonder how I manage to do all these amazing trips on such a tight budget.  The #1 thing I do is to take advantage of any credit card promotions that come along.  We all have daily expenses – groceries, petrol, bills that have to be paid regardless so why not earn miles and points on them?

In Australia, the Amex Platinum Edge is the best card for normal everyday spend.

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Here you can see the benefits of this card.  You may notice a 10,000 points bonus for applying but I can do better than that!

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However if you use my referral link, you get 15,000 Membership Rewards points!  I also get a referral bonus……………….and then you will become eligible to refer people yourself so you can pick up some more points!

There are 9 airline transfer partners –  Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Air New Zealand Airpoints, THAI Royal Orchid Plus, Malaysia Airlines Enrich and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.  Most of these transfer at 1:1 ratio.  You can also transfer to Starwood Preferred Guest at a ratio of 2 Amex = 1 SPG.  From SPG, you have access to over 20 airlines worldwide including American Airlines, British Airways, Flying Blue & more!  When you transfer from SPG to an airline, you should do so in blocks of 20,000 SPG to get a bonus 5000 miles in your airline account.

Earning Amex Membership Rewards is easier than you think!  First of all, your groceries not only get the 3 points per $ but you also get the Coles Flybuys or Woolworths Rewards by scanning your supermarket loyalty card.  Then you can buy gift cards to all kinds of stores like Bunnings, BCF, several clothing stores, Netflix, iTunes and more so almost all your purchases can earn 3x!  It all adds up and you soon will have enough points for your dream trip!

Amex T&Cs

Hacked Credit Card

I’ve had this happen a few times even though I am very careful with my credit cards.  Usually the bank sends an alert to my email (email works better than texting for me) and even if I am overseas I check my emails and get the alert.  I usually do advise them I will be in a certain country so I don’t have cards being declined in awkward situations.

Last weekend, I got one of those unwelcome emails early Sunday morning.  We were up early at Rainbow Beach Holiday Park to see any resident birds before the first morning birding excursion.  I can get a decent cell signal so I downloaded my emails and got the bad news.  Someone had tried to charge over $400 in the UK when I haven’t been there in years!  Thankfully the bank caught it.  The strange thing is that this card had been in a sock drawer the last few months and only used 4 times in the last week – local BP station, BP station in Gympie (gotta get those Velocity points), Hungry Jack’s, Gympie and the Rainbow Beach Holiday Park to pay for the stay.  All of these are pretty innocuous low-rosk businesses in Australia.  I have no idea where the hacking took place or how it was done.  Maybe I let my guard down because I was in a location I felt safe in.  Maybe someone hacked one of those businesses or went through a rubbish bin.

I then had to try to get a good enough signal out to call Citibank in the USA.  It took a while but I finally got through and they cancelled the card and agreed to Fedex me a new one to my home in Australia.  The card arrive 5 days later so all is well.  It could have been worse – I could have been in the middle of the Amazon and not gotten the email for days instead of 3 hours from home.  But it was a good wake up call and be careful where I use my cards.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Loses Major Travel Partners

One of the biggest incentives to pay with a Chase credit card is the opportunity to earn bonus points by using their “Shop through Chase” online mall (formerly called Ultimate Rewards Mall).  Although I don’t buy a lot of consumer goods, I have used them primarily for Expedia and Hotels.com.

I am currently chasing United miles for next year’s travel plans so I would make Rocketmiles my first port of call.  But in this case, the hotel options on Rocketmiles were too expensive.  I only want a mid-range guesthouse in Chiang Mai and Hotels.com has several in the $25-30 range.  Who goes to Chiang Mai to sit around a hotel?

Anyway, I logged into Chase about to use the portal as usual and saw that Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline, Hotwire and all their travel partners are gone.  The travel category has disappeared from the drop-down menu.

Shop thru ChaseA quick look at Flyertalk confirmed it.  The only thing I have to fall back on is TopCashBack as a portal since Hotels.com don’t partner with any of the airlines.  If you are in the same position and want to go for the cashback option, you and I both get $10 bonus by clicking my link.  I must admit that I rarely use cashback instead of portals that earn miles as I get more value from the miles but sometimes there isn’t any other option.

Anyway, now I am feeling better about my decision to cancel my formerly prized CSP.  It was once my go-to card but I don’t think its worth the $95 fee anymore.  I will be using a combination of the Freedom and Ink to maximize the 5x bonus categories.

Out Of The Sock Drawer – Barclay’s Finally Axes Forex Fees

What a pleasant surprise to find this email!

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Just 2 months ago this card was on the chopping block as I didn’t want to pay the $89 annual fee.  Otherwise the benefits to this card are pretty good and the US miles will soon become AA miles. I have an older version that gives 10,000 anniversary miles and now I will get 10% of miles redeemed (up to 10,000 annually) as a rebate.  On top of all that, I got them to give me a statement credit for the annual fee!  The only thing holding me back from using this card more often is the forex fee but now that is gone!

I will still give preference to cards that have category bonuses such as Chase Ink & Freedom (this quarter is grocery stores!) but for non-bonused spend, this card will be going back into my wallet.

If you want to apply within the next 2 days, I can refer you as per below.  Please comment below and ask for a referral.  I will need your real email address but no one can see it but me.  50,000 points will get you a free trip to Central or South America!

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Airline Miles For Grocery Shopping – Chase Freedom (USA) Visa Card

People often wonder how I get so many frequent flyer miles when I rarely ever pay for an airline ticket.  This is one of my techniques.  Using the right credit card can get free miles for simply doing your normal grocery shopping!

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Maxing out your $1500 during 3 months is basically $500 a month and most families will easily spend that on groceries.  You can also buy gift cards for any other merchants (such as gas stations, restaurants, department stores) you do business with at most grocery stores.  You then end up with 7500 free Ultimate Rewards points that can be converted to airline miles if you also hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Plus card.  The best partners to transfer to are United Airlines and British Airways.

 

If you don’t already have a Chase Freedom, you can post here asking for a referral as I sometimes have them to give out.  My most recent referral just expired on 8 Dec but I still have referrals for the Chase Sapphire Preferred valid until 31 Jan 2015.  Or you can read this Flyertalk thread to see if there are any specials going on.  The most recent special has been this one, but please read the thread to see if it is still active when you wish to apply.

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USA Readers: United Mileage Plus Explorer 50K + 5K + $50 Statement Credit

One card approval can get you to Central or South America!  This is the best offer I have seen on this card in a while so if you have a good credit score and can manage credit responsibly, go for it!

I do not have an affiliate relationship with Chase, I found this link on FlyerTalk.

Offer

 

More information click on image

Shop Small Returns To Australia This Month

Last year, the Aussie Shop Small promo ran in November which is the usual time for the similar promo in the USA.  This year, it’s coming a few months earlier.

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You can register Amex cards issued by Amex, the NAB, ANZ, CBA & Westpac,.

It’s not quite as generous as last year where you got $10 for spending $20 so this year I won’t be going out of my way to hunt down eligible shops as the only useful one near me is a pharmacy.  Still $5 is $5 so I will def use my various Amexes at shops near me if possible!

Amex still doesn’t have the popularity here as it does in the USA and not many small shops accept it but I wish they would as typical Aussie Amex cards offer double the usual points a co-branded Visa or Mastercard would.

Help us support local businesses this August and get up to $50 credit*.

Register your American Express® Card and spend $20 or more in a single eligible transaction at up to ten different participating small business locations between 1 and 31 August 2014, and get a $5 credit for each purchase per location.
Don’t miss out – this offer is limited to the first 50,000 Cards to register.
*T&C’s apply.

I do have a minimum spend to make on my new ANZ Visa & Amex combo for 50,000 Qantas points………………..if the cards ever get here!  I’ve been approved but apparently there is a delay in shipping them out as the promo is so popular!

Finally, ANZ Offers Aussies A Credit Card Deal Like Americans Get

This post is for my Australian readers, especially those who have been looking with envy at the lucrative credit cards Americans can get with Chase, Citibank, Amex and more!  It’s very rare to find an offer where the annual fee is waived!  Minimum spend is $1500 in 3 months so pretty easy even if we can’t manufacture spend here!

*Not affiliate links, they go right to Qantas website.

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I applied and got a “more information required” message so no instant approval but my details are well within the criteria for the basic card.

What can you do with 50,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points?  Use the “where can I go” tool!  Please note the taxes and fees, some of which are YQ fuel surcharges.

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30,000 Bonus Starpoints For SPG Amex (USA)

From time to time Amex runs specials for their card holders that allows them to refer friends for an extra special deal.  The usual sign up bonus for this card is 25,000 points but until the end of June it has increased to 30,000 points.  The card holder (me) gets a bonus of 5000 points for each referral.  I do not have an affiliate marketing relationship with Amex, any card holder gets the same offer – you will too the next time around!

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Your friends must apply for the Card through the REFER NOW buttons in the email (that I will send you) and be approved in order for you to earn your Referral Bonus.

And for a limited time, each friend can earn up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints: 10,000 Starpoints after their first purchase on the Card in addition to 20,000 Starpoints after they make $5,000 in purchases within their first 6 months of Card Membership.2,3 Referrals need to occur by June 30, 2014 and your friend must be approved by June 30, 2014 to be eligible for this limited time offer.

After you have met your minimum spend (pretty easy to do since they give you 6 months to do it), you will have at least 35,000 Starpoints in your account.  The best use of Starpoints for eco-tourists is to transfer them to airlines in blocks of 20,000 points as they give you a bonus of 5000 points so you end up with 25,000 miles in the airline.

If you would like a referral, please either comment here and make sure your real email is in the comment form, only I can see it.  Or send me an email tara at milestothewild.com.

I recommend transferring them to American AAdvantage or US Airways and depending on your destination maybe one of the others I highlighted below.  Don’t transfer them to United as they have a poor rate of exchange.  Here is the full list of partners.

Frequent Flyer Program

Exchange Ratio (Starpoints : Miles)

Aeromexico Club Premier 1:1
Aeroplan/Air Canada 1:1
Air Berlin 1:1
Air China Companion 1:1
Air New Zealand & Air Points 65:1
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan 1:1
Alitalia MilleMiglia 1:1
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club 1:1
American Airlines AAdvantage 1:1
Asia Miles 1:1
Asiana Airlines 1:1
British Airways Executive Club 1:1
China Eastern Airlines 1:1
China Southern Airlines’ Sky Pearl Club 1:1
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles 1:1
Emirates Skywards 1:1
Etihad Airways 1:1
Flying Blue 1:1
Gol Smiles 2:1
Hainan Airlines 1:1
Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank 1:1
LAN Airlines LANPASS Kms 1:1.5
Miles and More 1:1
Qatar Airways 1:1
Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan 1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1
Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus 1:1
US Airways Dividend Miles 1:1
United Mileage Plus 2:1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1:1
Virgin Australia 1:1

Australians Must Use PIN, Not Signature From 1 August

Most Aussies probably already know that they must use PINs instead of signing from 1 August.  Our credit cards have been PIN enabled for several years so this shouldn’t be a problem.

But if you are coming here as a visitor, don’t worry.  The system will recognize a foreign card that doesn’t have PIN technology and you will be asked to sign.  More information.

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