American Express - Airpoints, no fee card

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › American Express - Airpoints, no fee card

Aaroona

3192 posts

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#235940 10-May-2018 16:01

I'm wondering if anyone on here has one of these cards and whether they are finding it worth while for the airpoints side of things?

If so, I have a couple of questions

- Do these cards, particularly the no fees one, support contact-less transactions (Visa's paywave equivalent)?
- I use PocketSmith for my transaction tracking - does the AE portal provide an easy way to export transactions? (csv, ofx, or something else...?)
- Is there a catch to this deal? A no fees credit card that allows you to earn airpoints? Sounds too good to be true... Do they calculate interest on your closing balance daily or monthly? Just trying to see where they catch you...

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#2013492 10-May-2018 16:33

I use their Platinum card which is the best earning rate of any card. I’m able to use it at probably 90% of places I shop at so it’s fairly widely accepted.

The payWave only works at terminals that specifically support Amex cards. So far I’ve only seen this at Countdown supermarkets, and possibly at BP before, so there’s virtually no support for using the card’s payWave functionality.

Had a quick look at my account and can’t see any option for exporting transactions.

I believe interest is calculated the same way as Visa and MasterCard. But otherwise there’s no catches to it.

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kingjj

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#2013513 10-May-2018 17:14

I have one of these cards, got it a few years ago before a trip to the US (it was one of those spend $300 in the first 3 months and get 50 Airpoints deals). It's been a great card. As corksta said, their paywave equivalent is only good for a few stores (Countdown and BP are the only ones I've found as well). I've got it linked to PayPal and spend a few hundred a month on it. Earn around 1.50 Airpoints per month which isn't much but it all goes into the Share Points pot. Haven't found a catch yet other then their App being average and having to pay by direct debit with a 1-2 day turn around. Its only cost me $4.20 in interest payments (forgot to pay it one month) - no other costs.

Edit: oh it and it works with Hulu (well as of a few months ago when I updated the payment info).

backfiah

217 posts

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#2013517 10-May-2018 17:29

You can export the previous 3 statements as QIF or CSV.

nickb800

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#2013569 10-May-2018 19:41

Yeah no catches, good way to earn airpoints. Longer interest free period than Kiwibank.

I've had random issues with different Amex declining for no good reason at Foodstuffs outlets (Paknsave, New World) that neither Foodstuffs nor Amex seem to care about so I recently ditched it in favour of a high earn rate Mastercard.

Tzoi

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2013583 10-May-2018 20:17

I have this card, used it for one month initially to get the bonus 50 airpoints, then got a platinum card elsewhere so I don't use it any more. It's useful to have because there's no fee and sometimes there amex exclusive deals that I use it for - e.g. at the moment they have a spend $30 online at countdown, harvey norman and a couple of other places and get a $10 credit

Aaroona

3192 posts

Uber Geek

#2013589 10-May-2018 20:40

Thanks for the replies! Very helpful.

Thinking I might sign up for it. As much as going to American Express doesn't excite me all that much, the lure of no fees and free airpoints on the money I'm going to spend anyway seems reasonable.

I only have a Gemvisa, which I don't really use. The only real reason I've kept it is for the interest free periods that are usually offered on it. I would go to a visa air points, but they all cost ~200 a year, which I'm definitely not going to make back in air points.

I don't think the free one has the contactless payments though, which is a bit crap. Doesn't seem to have the contactless symbol on the card.

backfiah

217 posts

Master Geek

#2013592 10-May-2018 20:44

For me, I use the Amex on most of the big purchases I have which are usually at places big enough that I'm confident they have Amex - - mostly petrol and groceries honestly. For the smaller day to day stuff I just use the visa since the number of airpoints is negligible and the effort of figuring out if they have Amex isn't worth it. That paired with an automatic direct debit makes it pretty seemless.

larknz

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#2013595 10-May-2018 21:03

No status points with this card.

Aaroona

3192 posts

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#2013596 10-May-2018 21:08

backfiah: For me, I use the Amex on most of the big purchases I have which are usually at places big enough that I'm confident they have Amex - - mostly petrol and groceries honestly. For the smaller day to day stuff I just use the visa since the number of airpoints is negligible and the effort of figuring out if they have Amex isn't worth it. That paired with an automatic direct debit makes it pretty seemless.

Direct debit doesn't really sound that great. I quite like the idea of just doing bank transfers, like GemVisa does. Do they have other payment options?

larknz: No status points with this card.

Something to consider -I didn't think you would with any airpoints card though? or do you?

corksta

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#2013678 10-May-2018 23:20

Yeah you do earn status points, not at a great rate but you do get them on most cards across the range.

larknz

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#2013718 11-May-2018 07:07

They don't mention status points on their website, whereas they do for the platinum card. So from that I would assume that you don't get status points for the free card.

sbiddle

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#2013721 11-May-2018 07:28

You can't expect a lot from an entry level free card in NZ. The credit card market is simply nowhere near as good as somewhere like Australia.

I have one of these cards which I got a few years ago as an emergency card for travel, the earn is actually pretty good for a free card but you don't earn status points with the free card, only the Platinum card.

Aaroona

3192 posts

Uber Geek

#2014683 12-May-2018 14:15

I'm not particularly worried about status points, so that's all good.

I ordered the card on Thursday, what could it hurt? I have a few purchases coming up that will earn me a couple of dollars, as I prep for my trip overseas. Plus I might transfer my mobile payment and fuel to it as well.

If it wasn't for it being free, I wouldn't do it- I fall in a spot where I spend enough to probably earn a little bit, but not enough to pay the 90+ fees a year, otherwise it zeros out.

invisibleman18

1344 posts

Uber Geek

#2015264 13-May-2018 17:37

I've had one of these and Ben able to use it at most major stores. Another benefit of you like going to major events (concerts etc) is that Ticketmaster often have Amex presales.

Also just came across a link which says they give you complimentary smartphone screen insurance. They'll cover the cost of repairs if you pay for your monthly contract or buy the phone outright with an Amex card:
https://www.americanexpress.com/nz/credit-cards/membership-benefits/service-and-security/smartphone-screen-insurance/?bkgd=2&intlink=en-nz-hp-mt-cta-screenins-20180503

KiwiSurfer

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#2015302 13-May-2018 19:09

invisibleman18: I've had one of these and Ben able to use it at most major stores. Another benefit of you like going to major events (concerts etc) is that Ticketmaster often have Amex presales.

Also just came across a link which says they give you complimentary smartphone screen insurance. They'll cover the cost of repairs if you pay for your monthly contract or buy the phone outright with an Amex card:
https://www.americanexpress.com/nz/credit-cards/membership-benefits/service-and-security/smartphone-screen-insurance/?bkgd=2&intlink=en-nz-hp-mt-cta-screenins-20180503

Note that the no-annual-fee card is not eligible for that offer.

I currently have the Airpoints Amex (with no annual fee) and I've found it a nice card. Accepted at most major chain stores. Like others, I've only managed to get the paywave function to work at Countdown (never paid in-store at BP so can't comment there). While there are lots of little shops that don't take Amex, I've found that I can easily put >90% of the total monthly value of my purchases on the Amex and use other cards only for the very rare occasions I buy from a diary etc. I previously paired the Amex with my Qantas Cash card so I got points regardless of card type (apart from the odd EFTPOS only places).

Amex customer service is also top notch. Called them about a purchase that I did not recognise and they were happy to reverse it (explaining that they would contact the merchant and if it turned out to be a valid transaction they would reverse it back—which never happened). Also called them to request a replacement card and they issued it without charging a fee. Both times got through to someone after a short wait. The Amex app is also pretty easy to use though it just shows your balance, avail credit and recent transactions. You can also get/request PDF statement going back the last few years online too (not sure what the limit is).

Purchases made online/POS generally appear within a few mins in your Amex account (v.s. several days on my Kiwibank Mastercard account). However payment (e.g. when you pay your account via internet banking) do take a few days to apply which worried me because I always paid on the due date. But I've never had an issue with this (even when the payment only appeared 3-4 days after the due date e.g. during holidays).

Have recently stopped using the Amex as I've switched to the Kiwibank Platinum Airpoints Mastercard due to their 300 APD offer plus they give 1 APD per $75 (vs $100 on the Amex). But once 12 months is up and I become eligible for the offers Amex give to new customers (read: customers who haven't had a Amex in the last 12 months) I am likely to switch back to Amex for their Platinum card.

Another thing I've noticed is they gave me a fairly low credit limit then offered me a slightly higher limit after several months. I've read elsewhere they seem to start low and offer you higher limits if you pay your bills on time etc. This is in contrast with NZ banks who have given me high limits from the start (relative to my income—in some cases higher than I was comfortable with) whereas Amex seem to be much more conservative. Might just have been me though but I thought it showed they had actually taken my circumstances into account (which lenders should be doing in any case).

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