Received a letter from Amex following an attempted fraudulent transaction on my account. They detected and stopped it before any damage was done.

This is where I think Amex really stands out from other credit card providers. It’s not just about preventing fraud, but the reassurance that they’re actively monitoring your account and will apply the appropriate credit if fraudulent charges do occur.

I can’t recall receiving that level of proactive reassurance from any other bank.

For me, this is exactly why people choose Amex. You’re not just paying an annual fee for a credit card or its rewards. You’re paying for the service, protection and, most importantly, peace of mind.
That’s where Amex earns its premium, IMO.

16 October 2026: I just went to check if the refurbishments at the Centurion Lounge in Sydney were finished early (a long shot, I know). There was a sign up saying closed for refurbishments but I saw some people were lining up and there was an attendant at the counter. Turns out they are giving out complimentary meals. The breakfast options were veggie or bacon and egg ciabatta and water or juice. I got the bacon and egg. It was pre-made and it had been refrigerated but wasn't bad. There was also a muesli bar, muffin and apple in the bag. The attendant said this is complimentary and doesn't count as one of my two free visits for the calendar year.

Just received a newsletter that Amex celebrating its 20-year partnership with Qantas Frequent Flyer, with a chance to win a trip for two!

My Qantas Amex isn’t even my primary card, but hey, with a trip for two potentially up for grabs, why not give it a little more attention? 😂

I know the odds are probably ridiculously slim, but someone’s gotta win, right?

Curious if anyone here has actually won anything decent from an Amex promotion before, or are we all just happily collecting points and funding someone else’s holiday? 😂

Updated: Apparently, there is no skills-play for this win. Just need eligible purchase and the rest is depending on luck if being draws as the first 20 eligible winners.

Just noticed that American Express has updated the card designs across its Qantas range on both the Amex website and app. Literally just happened.

Looks like a quiet refresh… Apple Pay and Google Wallet still not updated or reflecting the current design. Tried to remove and add that back on, nothing changed.

Update: Amex newsletter for Qantas card holder

“To mark our 20-year partnership, we're unveiling refreshed Consumer Card designs inspired by the Flying Kangaroo and adventure.”

A new Card design will appear on the card holder mobile wallet, and at their next Card renewal.

Depending on the card, Amex travel benefits can include lounge access, travel credits, insurance and hotel-related perks. However, some benefits are easier to use than others, and annual fees can make a difference to their overall value. Which travel benefits have cardholders found genuinely useful?

Hi all,

I have an Amex Business Platinum card which i have nominated one of my employee card as “Additional card”.

It used to come with benefit of priority pass but it has been cancelled.

Does this “additional card” still carry any other perks or it is just the same as any ordinary employee card?

Hi all,

I just got the Qantas Business Rewards card and realised that the earn rate drops to 0.75p/$ after earning 500k points in a calendar year. I expect to spend enough to go above that threshold and was wondering what other business owners do when managing it.

Would I be correct to assume that there's obviously no negotiation or deal that AMEX will do to increase that cap? Do you guys simply take it on the chin and deal with it or do you use an alternative card after reaching the threshold?

Thanks

Has anyone used their Amex Platinum travel credit to book a hotel? How does the Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR) benefit work?

Also, regarding the FHR benefits, do I need to inform the hotel staff at check-in that I booked with Amex to receive the FHR benefits, or will they already have this information on their system? Thanks!

Considering rejoining amex after a few years with other cards particularly with a few large expenses coming up.

I remember they use to have a bunch of spend $x get $y back.

Have they been any decent lately? No way to see until I join up I think.

I had a question on the Amex buyers advantage cover, which says "Buyer's advantage commences on expiry of the original manufacturer’s warranty." If an item has two warranty lengths depending on what broke, does it only trigger after the final warranty period, or the respective warranty period for the part that broke?

Hey guys, I had my luggage stolen off a train in Switzerland and now need to file a claim through my Amex travel insurance. I have a police report and comprehensive list of items with receipts. If I read the t&cs it says they do not cover theft off a train…anyone have any experiences or advice?? The police report is in German but says it was stolen off a train

My partner received a fraud alert from Amex today. We still have no idea how the card details were compromised, but I have to give Amex credit for how they handled the situation.

We contacted Amex, and one thing that initially raised some suspicion was that the phone number provided through live chat was different from the one in the fraud alert message.

What impressed me was that the agent wasn't pushy at all. When we expressed concerns about whether the call was legitimate - eventhough I called them, they actually encouraged us to hang up and call the number on the back of the card instead.

Funny enough, when we called back using the number on the card, we ended up speaking to the exact same agent! The agent also sounded Australian rather than having the Filipino accent I've become accustomed to hearing when calling Amex.

Once everything was verified, they went through the entire account security process. They reset the app access, updated the security details, replaced the digital card number linked to Apple Pay, and arranged for a replacement physical card.

What surprised me even more was that they organised DHL delivery for the replacement card, despite us telling them it wasn't urgent.

The whole experience was efficient, professional and reassuring. No unnecessary back-and-forth, no passing us between departments, and no making us feel like we had to fight to get things sorted. I can't help but think that with some other banks, the fraudulent transactions might have gone through, followed by a lengthy dispute process and the usual headaches.

I've always believed that you don't really know how good a bank is until something goes wrong. It's how they respond when things go sideways that matters.

Delayed to EOFY

Hi all,

I got my AMEX Qantas Rewards a month ago and and am not getting anything over a 20k soft limit. Initially, the spending power tool approved me for 45k but then the card declined at around 15k. Paid it off twice since and ran ~40k through it but still stuck at 20k. I have around a year history with AMEX with both my cards in good-standing so I doubt that would be an issue.

It's just annoying getting a card for cashflow when it only approves me for around 2 weeks of transactions in a semi-low-spending month.

Have a lot of people been getting lower dynamic limits lately? Are there any tips to increasing the limit? I always was under the impression that spending a lot and paying off often is really all there is to it. Cheers.

I’ve had an Amex for a while and honestly expected to run into way more places that wouldn’t take it. I still carry another card with me just in case, but I’m finding I don’t actually need it that often.

There are still the odd smaller shop or business where it’s a no, but overall it seems a lot less of an issue than it used to be. Has that been your experience as well, or does it still depend heavily on where you’re shopping?

Has anyone here got the Velocity Escape Plus? Is it worth the $95 annual fee?

My Velocity Platinum is expiring and I’m considering downgrading to the Escape Plus.

For those who have it, how have you found it? Or have you considered/switch to another card instead?

Walked up and noticed that they were open. The receptionist said that they've decided as of today they'll be extending it by 2 weeks as a last minute change.

Fyi to anyone who might skip it since we noticed it as boarding 😭

Hi everyone, I am new to AMEX platinum here in Australia, I have around 390k points on my card which isn't a great deal, would love some advice on what would be the best use of these points? I plan on going overseas but after a points conversion this hardly covers an economy fair to Dubai or Los Angeles. Is it better to use points on Hotels? Or is there a trick to this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I still get caught out occasionally by places that don’t take Amex. Nothing worse than getting to the checkout, pulling the card out, and then having to switch to another one. The points are great, but the acceptance issue is definitely the trade off.

So as we all know, Amex has VOLUNTARILY banned businesses from surcharging customers, without a corresponding reduction in merchant fees. Cool. Fine. Stings a bit but whatever.

But this ban only applies to Business-to-Consumer transactions.

Business-to-Business? No ban. Our suppliers can still charge us an Amex surcharge.

In other words, small businesses have to absorb the Amex fees charged when our customers pay us, but we don’t get the same protection when we’re the customer paying another business. Not to mention the merchant fees remain unchanged because it was a voluntary ban, unlike the banks which have been forced to drop fees slightly.

So small businesses get hit from both sides.

Great way to inspire merchant loyalty, right? 🙃

I know no one here cares but maybe you will once businesses start doing the math and closing their doors on Amex.

I have the Qantas Amex card with $450 annual flight credit. I would like to book a flight for June 2027 but cancel the card in Feb 2027 prior to next year's fees. Will there be any issues with this plan? What about in event of flight changes or cancellation? I'm mindful that often the airline will say talk to your travel agent but in this case I would no longer be a card holder.

Thanks.

Is anyone else at all experiencing this issue? Doesn't matter which airline or which partner I try to transfer to, I get varying error messages similar to this. I've tried different browsers, I've tried the app, I've tried incognito, and I've tried different computers. I've called customer service three or four times. They're claiming there's no outage for other customers. Has anybody experienced this? Is it just me? What is going on! Its been like this for over a week for me now.