Earth Plat.. what the! Points don't add up

[medhead]

AFAIK the bonus also only applied to Amex spend, not to Mastercard spend.

That's correct
But my experience has been that the bonus points are appearing in my account as an being from the mastercard.
for example:

09 JAN 09 EARTH AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD 09JAN09 - - - 9,666

followed by:

27 JAN 09 EARTH MASTERCARD CARD 27JAN09 - - - 9,970

Note: I am not using the mastercard at all.

 

[djfuzz]

My partner and I just applied for the Earth Platinum, however there no longer appears to be any reference on the promotional material / website regarding this 20,000 point bonus or the 2 bonus points per dollar prior to 31 March 2009 - just the discounted annual fee of $125.

I've had a dig around but can't seem to find any actual Earth pages that refer to the other promotions - does anyone have any relevant links? Or are those two introductory offers no longer available?

Would be great to get the DONE4s booked on this - sadly they aren't through QF, so no additional extra point per dollar, but still a hefty bounty. Thanks for the tips!

[EDIT] Found it - had to be approved by 31 Jan 2009. Bugger!

 

[_kab_]

Wow how confusing is this point allocation (or is it just me )

My spend in my first month was $7,853.83 of which $7000.86 was on Amex, the remainder of Mastercard. I qualified for the bonus 20k because I applied for the card prior to 31 January.

The following is from my QFF account:

20 FEB 09 EARTH MASTERCARD CARD 20FEB09 - - - 24,213
16 FEB 09 EARTH AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD 16FEB09 - - 6,029
16 FEB 09 EARTH MASTERCARD CARD 16FEB09 - - - 1,844

I can't make sense of it
Can anyone help me shed any light on how this has been calculated...?

 

[Jorja Brown]

I empathise. It's almost a part-time job trying to make sense of the points. Strange odd amounts of points are dumped into my FF a/c that I still scratch my head and wonder at. No pattern is evident or emerging (I had futilely hoped one might over time). But at least my FF balance is growing healthily - it's a good deal for accruing points at the moment, amongst a dearth of good deals. And I remain

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yes my points keep posting oddly too.

Two different sets..one Amex and one MC (thoug I don't use the MC at all).
Now I can understand the split to some dgree, but the dates each month keep varying.

Still I will wait til afterwards and see if the total points awarded are roughly 3.

In my case that will be relatively easy for after March 31 spend will go back to the Amex Maximiser (except maybe for QF spend, but as I have just booked some flights in the last sspecial I should not have the need for any QF spend fora while).

 

[_kab_]

I empathise. It's almost a part-time job trying to make sense of the points. Strange odd amounts of points are dumped into my FF a/c that I still scratch my head and wonder at. No pattern is evident or emerging (I had futilely hoped one might over time). But at least my FF balance is growing healthily - it's a good deal for accruing points at the moment, amongst a dearth of good deals. And I remain

I may have to give them a call on Tuesday and see if they can explain because at the moment I have absolutely no idea how they've been calculated other than that it is to their advantage i.e. they've under paid. I am sure that will be a fun phone call...

 

[zig]

Two different sets..one Amex and one MC (thoug I don't use the MC at all).

Same thing is happening with my points, and I have never used the MC.

Now I can understand the split to some dgree, but the dates each month keep varying.

Ditto. The points awareded under MC are 'odd' amounts that don't really equate to the amount spent on Amex.

Still I will wait til afterwards and see if the total points awarded are roughly 3.

I'm taking the same approach, and will wait until after 31 March to see if the points awarded generally equal 3x the amount spent. I also don't intend to use the card after 31 March.

 

[medhead]

Wow how confusing is this point allocation (or is it just me )

My spend in my first month was $7,853.83 of which $7000.86 was on Amex, the remainder of Mastercard. I qualified for the bonus 20k because I applied for the card prior to 31 January.

The following is from my QFF account:



I can't make sense of it
Can anyone help me shed any light on how this has been calculated...?

It's all very easy

The base 1.5 points per dollar for AMEX spend are credited against AMEX.

Any bonus points, including the extra 1.5 points on AMEX spend are credited against the mastercard.

I don't have mastercard spend so I'm not sure on that but I'll assume they all credit against mastercard. So you spend:

$7000 on AMEX and $853 on mastercard. Actually, I can't work you numbers without knowing you cut off date. Just try checking the numbers based on the above and see if it works.

Personally, I have a spread sheet and I can pretty well track it ok, except there were a couple of odd amounts early on, Oct last year.

Ohh and the bonus points (extra 1.5 points per dollar) will always credit at least about 2 or 3 weeks behind the first amount being credited. Technically they can be upto 6 weeks late.

 

[zig]

It's all very easy

The base 1.5 points per dollar for AMEX spend are credited against AMEX.

Any bonus points, including the extra 1.5 points on AMEX spend are credited against the mastercard.

I don't have mastercard spend so I'm not sure on that but I'll assume they all credit against mastercard. So you spend:

$7000 on AMEX and $853 on mastercard. Actually, I can't work you numbers without knowing you cut off date. Just try checking the numbers based on the above and see if it works.

Personally, I have a spread sheet and I can pretty well track it ok, except there were a couple of odd amounts early on, Oct last year.

Ohh and the bonus points (extra 1.5 points per dollar) will always credit at least about 2 or 3 weeks behind the first amount being credited. Technically they can be upto 6 weeks late.

Easy in theory, but all my MC amounts are odd and don't reflect the Amex spent. For example in Jan :

Amex - 4695 points credited, which was 1.5 points per $1
MC - 3478 points credits, instead of an expected 4695 as the remaining 1.5 per $ spent.

Feb:

Amex - 5211
MC - 3052

March hasn't posted yet. Bonus 20000 points were credited as MC spent. As mentioned above I have not used the MC.

Any thoughts :?:

 

[medhead]

Easy in theory, but all my MC amounts are odd and don't reflect the Amex spent. For example in Jan :

Amex - 4695 points credited, which was 1.5 points per $1
MC - 3478 points credits, instead of an expected 4695 as the remaining 1.5 per $ spent.

Feb:

Amex - 5211
MC - 3052

March hasn't posted yet. Bonus 20000 points were credited as MC spent. As mentioned above I have not used the MC.

Any thoughts :?:

The MC credits are going to be at least a month behind, IME. For me statement closes, I get the 1.5 for AMEX spend in a couple of days (this is always correct). Then about mid month (2 to 3 weeks later) I get the extra 1.5 as MC credit, but it is for amounts going back upto 6 weeks,

So your Jan MC credit of 3478 points could be related to AMEX spend going back to Dec or Nov. I've basically resolved my points to a monthly reconcilation with a running totally. No single month is showing zero but eventually the total will get to zero.

 

[zig]

The MC credits are going to be at least a month behind, IME. For me statement closes, I get the 1.5 for AMEX spend in a couple of days (this is always correct). Then about mid month (2 to 3 weeks later) I get the extra 1.5 as MC credit, but it is for amounts going back upto 6 weeks,

So your Jan MC credit of 3478 points could be related to AMEX spend going back to Dec or Nov. I've basically resolved my points to a monthly reconcilation with a running totally. No single month is showing zero but eventually the total will get to zero.

Thanks medhead. I only started using the card in Jan (following the end of the Everyday Spending Promotion), so don't have any purchases from Dec or Nov. However as you indicate that the payment of bonus points appears to be out of sync with Amex points I will probably have to wait until perhaps the end of April to see if eveything ends up tallying as expected.

 

[HardieBoys]

I just spoke to a Earth platinum sales team member, and he said that the reason this may be happening is there is a month's lag between spending and points being awarded. Does this make sense to existing card holders?

I need to make a decision about cards in the next week or so. Are existing Plat earth card holders happy with their decision to choose this card, or have some been disappointed and cancelled it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[medhead]

I just spoke to a Earth platinum sales team member, and he said that the reason this may be happening is there is a month's lag between spending and points being awarded. Does this make sense to existing card holders?

I need to make a decision about cards in the next week or so. Are existing Plat earth card holders happy with their decision to choose this card, or have some been disappointed and cancelled it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yes there is a lag for the promotion points which is the extra 1.5 per dollar on AMEX spend.

My experience with the card has been fine. They were very responsive chasing points in Jan that were missing from Oct last year. Its just a card.

 

[WA flyer]

I need to make a decision about cards in the next week or so. Are existing Plat earth card holders happy with their decision to choose this card, or have some been disappointed and cancelled it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've been happy with the additional 110k or so extra points earned, but will be mothballing it at the end of the month untill the next promotion.
I'll review it again prior to the $250 becoming due in November.

 

[oz_mark]

I've been happy with the additional 110k or so extra points earned, but will be mothballing it at the end of the month untill the next promotion.
I'll review it again prior to the $250 becoming due in November.

Assuming there is a next promotion. Westpac (like many banks) are big on introductory promotions, with less emphasis on promotions going forward.

 

[WA flyer]

Assuming there is a next promotion. Westpac (like many banks) are big on introductory promotions, with less emphasis on promotions going forward.

In that case it looks like it will go the same way as my Westpac Altitude and ANZ Qantas card after their reductions in points per dollars spent.

 

[medhead]

In that case it looks like it will go the same way as my Westpac Altitude and ANZ Qantas card after their reductions in points per dollars spent.

I don't know, I haven't checked, but my feeling is that it is the cheapest 1.5 QF points per dollar card.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I've been happy with the additional 110k or so extra points earned, but will be mothballing it at the end of the month untill the next promotion.
I'll review it again prior to the $250 becoming due in November.

Ditto....it will net me about 70K. Would have been higher (say 130k) but I was busy pumping dollars into the Everday Promo as well.

 

[_kab_]

Wow how confusing is this point allocation (or is it just me )

Take two! Just got my second statement, still a little
I am however very happy to report that on this occasion I can account for the 0.5 points per $1 spent on MC. In addition, it appears they have credited the 1.5 points per $1 spent on AE (which I understood would be the case from reading through previous posts). The extra points credited - against MC - a few days later don't add up however. I was expecting 3 points per $1 spend on AE as per the promo.

Here's my points wrap up from my QFF activity statement:

20 MAR 09 EARTH MASTERCARD CARD 20MAR09 - - - 2,583
16 MAR 09 EARTH MASTERCARD CARD 16MAR09 - - - 183
16 MAR 09 EARTH AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD 16MAR09 - 6,757

Here's my spend:
MC spend for the month = $365.59 = 183 pts as per activity statement above.
AE spend for the month = $4,504.32 @1.5 per $1 = 6,757 pts as per above.

But where's the additional 1.5?
What the heck is the random figure of 2,583...?
What am I missing...?

Thoughts anyone?

 

[medhead]

Wow how confusing is this point allocation (or is it just me )

Take two! Just got my second statement, still a little
I am however very happy to report that on this occasion I can account for the 0.5 points per $1 spent on MC. In addition, it appears they have credited the 1.5 points per $1 spent on AE (which I understood would be the case from reading through previous posts). The extra points credited - against MC - a few days later don't add up however. I was expecting 3 points per $1 spend on AE as per the promo.

Here's my points wrap up from my QFF activity statement:


Here's my spend:
MC spend for the month = $365.59 = 183 pts as per activity statement above.
AE spend for the month = $4,504.32 @1.5 per $1 = 6,757 pts as per above.

But where's the additional 1.5?
What the heck is the random figure of 2,583...?
What am I missing...?

Thoughts anyone?

The 6757 points is the base 1.5 points per dollar upto the statement date. The 2583 is the extra 1.5 points per dollar but related to spending possilby from your previous statement and some from the current statement. The 2583 are upto 6 weeks behind.

edit: there is no real way to know what these 2583 relate to and they are very difficult to account for.