VISA/MasterCard

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  1. #21

    Join Date
    Dec 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by z754103:
    I've been looking for a cash back credit card in HK.... can you give more details? (anyone know of any others?) I never manage to use the airmiles or points - and its reallly hard to accumulate enough to do much with what I do get.
    http://www.citibank.com.hk/portal/ci..._visa_card.htm

    I got it mixed up with Sg's... its VISA for cashback, not Mastercard..

  2. #22

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    Dec 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by mattstewart:
    what about 0% interest for X amount of months?

    thats a common thing in US...didnt see any so far here. i loved that feature cause i would open a new card with 1 year zero interest, buy something expensive, and pay it off over 12 months. then close card and open new card somewhere else with similar zero interest...and buy something else that is expensive....

    nice way to pay installments that are same as cash

    anything like that here?
    Interest Free Installment Plan
    The Citibank Cash Back VISA Card offers you and your supplementary cardholders the extra convenience of interest-free installments and repayment terms
    up to 24-month tenor at over 450 leading merchants in Hong Kong
    << Is this wat u are looking for?

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by discobay:
    That is likely to change with the introduction of the QF $3200+tax fare to London.
    Oh sorry - I was thinking of business. It is very rarely good value to use miles for a simple economy fare. For 60000 miles you can get economy to London (worth $4000). For $4000+60000 miles you can get business (worth $25000). No contest in my book.

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by andante:
    << Is this wat u are looking for?

    yeah....i didnt realize that its an ongoing thing as long as you are a cardholder.

    i am used to having it as a promotion only for the first 12 months of account opening. But this seems a lot better that at anytime i can buy something and not pay interest.

    how do the companies make money then? usually they only make money from interest and late fees...but if 450 merchants have no interest...they dont really make much on you....right?

    or is there hidden costs?

  5. #25

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    Oct 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by PDLM:
    Oh sorry - I was thinking of business. It is very rarely good value to use miles for a simple economy fare. For 60000 miles you can get economy to London (worth $4000). For $4000+60000 miles you can get business (worth $25000). No contest in my book.
    How do you get this type of deal? Is it just on the CX website?

  6. #26

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    My guess is that with those 450 merchants...they have to give the cc company a portion of the value of the sales...credit cards are an extremely profitable business


  7. #27

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    Sep 2005
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaetee:
    How do you get this type of deal? Is it just on the CX website?
    you don't. first off, while CX $4000 fares r/t to LHR exist, they are uncommon and typically only offered in response to BA/VS/SQ promotions. thus they are limited in supply and do not last for long (currently, this fare is valid for departures 03May06-15May06, and available for purchase for the next 18 hrs only -- http://www.cathaypacific.com/hk/offe...73695,00.html).

    second, even if u manage to want to fly during this period and book it within the booking window, they are non-mileage accruing and therefore ** non-upgradable ** using miles.

    third, even if you got a fare that was upgradable, bear in mind that flight rewards are very limited. 3 out of 5 CX flights to LHR do not have upgrade inventory. and even if u manage to score one for urself, ur spouse will likely have to stay at the back.

    fourth and most important of all, CX prioritizes their redemption waitlists by frequent-flyer status, and there are many of elite flyers on flights to LHR. simply put, if you're not a CX frequent-flyer (maybe u racked up ur miles by purchases) you actually have extremely poor chances of redeeming anything even if u have sufficient miles.

    i am not trying to discredit what PDLM has said, but if u're signing up for a particular CC becuase you hope to get free flights or upgrades faster with it, u'll very likely be disappointed.

    lastly, if u do want to go down this road, Citibank co-branded CX visa cards are in fact very poor value, offering a mile for $8 and requiring a $800-1,600 annual fee. Sign up for a DBS Black Amex or a Standard Chartered Amex instead, which gives a mile for each $3 spent and which has no annual fees.
    Last edited by marcuslai; 31-03-2006 at 08:41 AM.

  8. #28

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    Dec 2005
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    120
    Quote Originally Posted by mattstewart:
    yeah....i didnt realize that its an ongoing thing as long as you are a cardholder.

    i am used to having it as a promotion only for the first 12 months of account opening. But this seems a lot better that at anytime i can buy something and not pay interest.

    how do the companies make money then? usually they only make money from interest and late fees...but if 450 merchants have no interest...they dont really make much on you....right?

    or is there hidden costs?
    Any merchants with a VISA machine has to pay a installation charge and a per usage charge..this might look less profitable coz they have to pay a certain % of their sales but in actual fact, it boost spending. Consumers tend to think of that "extra" credit as a psychological push to purchase more & payback later.

    & this works especially well for the more expensive products that can often be seen to be tagged to some credit cards for instalment payments. Dun think anyone can and will wanna carry over 10k to go buy a furniture set or a laptop?

    NOt forgetting, credit cards, with their customer base, helps the merchant to advertise. If u have a promo.. extend it to the credit card custoemrs, u get free promotion advertisements to a larger base of (better-off individuals - since there is a minimum spending for the cards) free of charge. It's definitely a mutually beneficial collaboration.

    Merchants do not get interest. From wat i understand, VISA pays on behalf of the customer to the merchant pretty timely. If the card holder defaults on payment, they owe VISA.. not the merchant.

  9. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by marcuslai:
    you don't.{...long rant...}
    Yes, HKG-LHR is a hard route to get award redemption on if you have no flexibility on flights, but it's not impossibleand it's just one of many that CX fly. The other European and some other destinations are much easier.

    The cheapest regular mileage-accruing (and therefore upgradeable) fare to London is HK$5650+taxes, but there are sometimes mileage-earning deals that are lower than that. Sydney would have been a better example - CX has a published mileage-earning fare of HK$3830+taxes; again, +60000 miles for business.

    As we discussed abouve, the Citi CX card has no annual fees provided that you either maintain CX Silver status or spend more than HK$150,000 per year on it.

    And the Amex cards have quite low limits (HK$300K per year I think) on those extra-miles offers, and they have a fee every time you actually want to convert your points to AsiaMiles. And it's an Amex not a Visa, so not so widely accepted.

    There isn't a clear-cut answer to what is best - it depends how much you spend, how much is overseas, how often and where you fly, and so on.

  10. #30

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    Nov 2005
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    does the Citibank CX selected preferred card or something that name gives you automatic status into marco polo club ?

    i fly often and it would be nice to have access to the lounges when i need to check emails or grab some free coffee...

    or do i have to chalk up sufficient asia mileage to get the MP club status.. hmmm....


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