Air NZ Onesmart card - "debit card load fee"

Forums › Off topic › Air NZ Onesmart card - "debit card load fee"

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#230641 6-Mar-2018 11:21

At the risk of asking a stupid question, can anyone confirm the "debit card reload fee" for the Air NZ Onesmart card? The first few times I read this, I thought it meant anytime you load funds on to the Onesmart [debit] card, you pay a clip to AirNZ - e.g. load $100, get $98.50 balance. But looking at the similar Qantas card and the Onesmart PDS, they seem to imply that this fee only applies if you use another debit card to load funds onto the Onesmart card.

Basically, if I load $100 by internet banking, am I getting $100 to spend on the Onesmart card, or is the ticket clipped each time money is loaded?

Linux

12173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8469

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1968808 6-Mar-2018 11:36

If you load $100 you will have a $100 balance, I changed to using the Qantas cash card as zero $ fee per month

Linux

floydbloke

3646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4554

ID Verified

#1968826 6-Mar-2018 11:59

1.5% load fee only applies when paying by debit card. Does not apply for bank transfer.

Screenshot:

There is a $1 a month card fee though.

Also, in my experience, bank transfer from BNZ usually clears in about 3 hours rather than a business day.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#1968848 6-Mar-2018 12:30

I see absolutely no reason why anybody would want to use the current OneSmart card offering. IMHO it's a terrible product with very poor exchange rates and ongoing monthly fees. Compare this to the former BNZ offering which was fantastic.

If you have no issues with Travelex who run the product (I personally do) you're far better off using an actual Travelex card. OneSmart is simply a white label offering of this that has worse rates and higher fees, with the exchange rates being better because Travelex have to pay commission to Air NZ, which in part is used by Air NZ to fund the Airpoints earn on the product.

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#1968872 6-Mar-2018 13:10

Cheers all.

To be honest with you, I have something of an interesting use case for the card. I am shocking at remembering to claim business expenses (I remember to keep the receipts, but then forget to turn them in). I've tried in vain to break this habit so am now looking for A Better Solution.

I figure with a dedicated work card, come the end of the month, I just need to hand in receipts to match the amount spent on that card. Work won't give me a credit card/pcard, so prepaid debit seemed like a good option.

I will mostly be using the card for NZD expenses (might be occasional USD but not much), so am not too worried about the exchange rate, I have been focussing on fees. AirNZ's fee of a $1 per month / $12 per year charge didn't seem extortionate, and I would fly Air NZ often enough for work that the savings on the credit card booking fee would offset that so it would be essentially zero fees. I've also already got the card kicking around somewhere so seemed like an easy option

I appreciate that this isn't really what the cards were intended for, so open to other suggestions (though please no "just look at your bank transactions more carefully" - I have tried this, it didn't work, and it seems that there are better solutions for low cost, so am aiming for one of those).

MikeAqua

8024 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3817

#1968880 6-Mar-2018 13:28

I just write on the back of my work receipts what they are for (and expense code if I remember it). I do this at the time the expense is incurred.

Mike