The Jetstar Mastercard products have joined their Macquarie Bank stablemates, and will no longer earn points when making ATO or BPay payments. In addition, there are changes that will reduce points earnings on the the Jetstar Platinum Mastercards.
The effective dates for the changes do vary a bit. Existing cardholders should be receiving a communication that outlines the effective dates for their particular accounts.
ATO and BPay payments
In common with many other cards, the abiltity to earn on ATO and BPay payments is being removed from the Jetstar credit cards. The Jetstar cards were one of the few remaining cards offering such points. Anyone using the card to earn points this way may need to look for an alternative card.
Jetstar Platinum MasterCard Changes
Earnings Changes
There are some changes to the earnings structure coming to the card. The overall effect is to halve the earnings rate for any spend over $2,500 in a statement period.
| Earning Style | Earning Prior until 23 October, 2016 | Earnings From 24 October, 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas Points | 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on eligible purchases | First $2,500 in a statment period: 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on eligible purchases then 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent for the remainder of that statement period |
| Jetstar Dollars | 1 Jetstar Dollar for every $50 you spend | First $2,500 in a statment period: 1 Jetstar Dollar per $50 spent on eligible purchases 1 Jetstar Dollar per $100 spent for the remainder of that statement period |
Increased Annual Fee
Along with the various earnings reductions, comes an increased annual fee. The fee is increasing by $20 a year for the primary cadholder. This will see the fee increased from $149 per year, to $169 per year.
Increasing fees, while reducing benefits, is always a hard sell, but this is exactly what has happened with the Platinum card. The earning rate is fairly typical, and is the same as some of the other cards in the market. The one consolation is that, for may people, the $2,500 limit is likely to be adequate.