American Express adds Qantas as MR transfer partner

[Shadowfactor]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/news/amex-membership-rewards-adds-qantas-partner/amp/

Always good when programs add new partners. Another positive move for MR while UR lags behind.

[mongstradamus]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/news/amex-membership-rewards-adds-qantas-partner/amp/

Always good when programs add new partners. Another positive move for MR while UR lags behind.

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Is there a sweet spot where you would want to use quantas as opposed to avios. Its always good to add partners and not take any away, just trying to find the usefulness of quantas vs other one world amex partners.

On a side note when will amex allow people with gold cards to get 4x at restaurants internationally i honestly don't get why its a limitation on most amex cards to be used internationally.

[simplynoir]

@mongstradamus  Agreed. Avios is much more preferable especially with the easier/cheaper rewards structure. Maybe if you're already in Australia and are looking for in-country flights but outside they there are much better options.

[Anonymous]

On the topic of international restaurants, I’ll be in Toronto this summer. Of course Canada isn’t the US but with how closely the two countries operate in so many ways, even down to currency of either flavor being accepted near the border, does anyone have experience with whether Amex MR earnings might come through in Canada? Or is it hard and fast, US-or-nowhere?

[Shadowfactor]

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@Anonymous wrote:
On the topic of international restaurants, I’ll be in Toronto this summer. Of course Canada isn’t the US but with how closely the two countries operate in so many ways, even down to currency of either flavor being accepted near the border, does anyone have experience with whether Amex MR earnings might come through in Canada? Or is it hard and fast, US-or-nowhere?

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Unless the merchant processes the charge in a US merchant account which is located in the US and in USD. You aren’t getting any bonus points. 

You will see the above with chain hotels and airlines sometimes, mainly airlines.

you still earn 1MR per $ spent. 

[Shadowfactor]

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepointsguy.com/news/amex-membership-rewards-adds-qantas-partner/amp/

Always good when programs add new partners. Another positive move for MR while UR lags behind.

---

Is there a sweet spot where you would want to use quantas as opposed to avios. Its always good to add partners and not take any away, just trying to find the usefulness of quantas vs other one world amex partners.

On a side note when will amex allow people with gold cards to get 4x at restaurants internationally i honestly don't get why its a limitation on most amex cards to be used internationally.

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No sweet spots that I’m aware of but the routing rules are different. Qantas allows for way more complicated routing but you will pay more because of the distance based chart. 

Also access to small Oceania  partners is a plus for Qantas but it’s limited use. Always a nice option to have as those Oceania flights can get quite expensive. 

[hawkins]

Totally agree about the international MR points. Kind of petty that they do that considering Chase and Citi don’t do that. One can dream I guess. I’m sure they have thought about it but so long as they are still making the money I think it’s unlikely they will change it.

[Shadowfactor]

Amex reduces the amount of rewards earned because it helps keep the interchange fee lower for merchants abroad. 

The biggest gripe i hear from the businesses I do the POS systems for, when it comes to Amex acceptance is not the interchange fee but the 3 day hold on payment. They also don’t like the extra hassle of Amex’s charge back process.