What business credit card is best for $250,000 month spend for travel?

18 replies

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

We secured a deal with a supplier to pay $250k+ / month on a credit card facility to obtain interest free days and flyer points.
We are currently banking with ANZ and they are suggesting ANZ black to 250k with .5 points converted to QF points as an example, giving us 125,00/month, more than enough I think (new to this) to get us a heap of trips annually for owners and staff.
I've ben following this community for ages, yet i'm still unsure if this CC is a good deal or not with our potential points accrued???
And i'm such a newbie I "assume" the points get assigned to a FF programme that I can access flights easily? and transferred to staff?
sounds like a lot I know but the whole area seems very confusing.
Be grateful to any help at all as i'm really inexperienced with this space.

Thanks

sid

Member since 07 Jan 2011

Total posts 208

Can you pay by Amex? The Platinum Charge card will net you 1.125 points per dollar from April.

Last editedby sid at Jan 18, 2019, 05:40 AM.

MRYJDrake

Air New Zealand - Airpoints

Member since 31 Oct 2016

Total posts 206

Chris is going to have a lot of fun when he sees this one

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Can you pay by Amex? The Platinum Charge card will net you 1.125 points per dollar from April.
Last edited by sid at Jan 18, 2019, 05.40 AM.

I will check on Amex, I think they mentioned that would be a charge over the agreed no fee for Visa, Mastercard, worth asking the question, thanks.

mnc

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 06 Aug 2017

Total posts 38

i'd be suprised if there isnt a surcharge passed on for AMEX

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Looks like I might have a small surcharge maybe .75-1% using Amex, looks like that could be worth paying?
With accumulating a lot of points like this in a small business can you then via a FF programme buy tickets for others? like staff, family etc, would really like to give to staff as rewards for their hard work?
Should I get a AMEX platinum and then assign to whichever FF programme I want considering the potential to accrue a good number of points?
If so I think i'll go AMEX and ANZ black for all other purchases that Amex don't cover, has anyone done that?
cheers all
Last editedby Dewy at Jan 18, 2019, 11:18 PM.

Hockey Monkey

Member since 19 Jan 2019

Total posts 2

Bank of Melbourne / St George / Bank SA Signature Visa give uncapped 0.825 point per dollar once the annual birthday bonus is factored in

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Dewy - If 250K is the spend per month then you need to approach each financial institution and ask for their best offer to obtain your business. YOU are in the power position here my friend. Put out a tender and make them compete for you.
B

OK, never really thought of it like that at all. So will they then maybe tailor it to our needs in there offer as well? There is a chance the monthly spend will go up to $400k so maybe that again makes it more enticing for the banks to compete for the business? I didn't mention that as I thought it mightn't be what they offer on cc. I've got some learning to do in this space, sounds like some negotiating going on next week.

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Is there an easy way to filter the CC offers to show only unlimited points earning and those offering choice of where you send points to? seems there are only a few form looking through the lists here.

Hockey Monkey

Member since 19 Jan 2019

Total posts 2

Is there an easy way to filter the CC offers to show only unlimited points earning and those offering choice of where you send points to? seems there are only a few form looking through the lists here.

Not to my knowledge. I think it is only the Westpac Black or St George / Bank of Melbourne Signature card in the Visa/MC category that has unlimited QF points at 0.75 per dollar or greater with the latter having the 10% annual birthday bonus

Last editedby Hockey Monkey at Jan 20, 2019, 10:51 PM.

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Chris is going to have a lot of fun when he sees this one

Hopefully in a good way...

bobbinbrisco

Member since 27 Dec 2014

Total posts 1

Got to remember with credit cards there's a limit so you are asking for the bank for at least 250k and flexibility upwards.. probably less hassle with a charge card

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Got to remember with credit cards there's a limit so you are asking for the bank for at least 250k and flexibility upwards.. probably less hassle with a charge card
i'm thinking it might be a bit of both (Amex & CC) as the charge card does all I want but on a $3m+ spend annually IF I incur the fees (or reduced part of them like 1%) its circa $30k, but I don't have to provide residential security on the charge card, so that frees up capital for investment instead, catch 22 a bit I think.
AMEX greater points earn but increased fee cost v CC security less points.
I'm leaning towards CC as we will spend a large dollar amount on it, so points volume shouldn't be the focus even if earn is .5 - .75 per $1 spent.
On a CC I can pay this $250k / month without a fee, so seems the field is narrowing.
Now to find a CC that lets me sweep wherever I want rather than locked to an airline ... any suggestions welcome.
Cheers

Chris C.

Member since 24 Apr 2012

Total posts 1,116

While we can't provide readers with personal financial advice, we can suggest simply looking at the AMEX Qantas Business Rewards Card as well, which has an annual fee of $450 yet an uncapped earn rate of 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent on most purchases, compared to 1.125/$1 on the Business Platinum Charge Card through Membership Rewards from April (and the Platinum's much higher $1750 annual fee), as the QBR card earn rate isn't changing.

If you spend lots on Qantas flights, the QBR card also earns more points on those bookings giving 2/$1 spent from the card, and triple Qantas Business Rewards points earned from the flight itself into a business' QBR account. However, on insurance and utility payments, the earn rate is only 0.5/$1 (versus 1.125/$1 on the Business Platinum from mid-April), so you'd need to do your own sums and pick the card that works best for you.

As one final note on points, the QBR card credits these to a business' QBR account - not to a personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account - and from there, they can be converted by the business to any Qantas Frequent Flyer member and used accordingly, whereas AMEX Membership Rewards points can only be converted into frequent flyer points when transferring to the primary cardholder's personal frequent flyer accounts, and some programs (like Qantas, KrisFlyer etc.) have restrictions as to who those points can be used for, so you need to think about that as well if you were planning to use points for client or employee travel.

Dewy

Member since 14 Jan 2019

Total posts 9

Thanks Chris, that last paragraph is an important one for me, so I will dig into that for sure.
Does anyone know is an AMEX credit card is viewed when paying fees? e.g a company I deal with charges 2,5% for AMEX, 1% for CC, so technically its a credit card right???

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