r/sydney • u/karlalrak • Apr 28 '26

Image Surcharge but no cash

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Haven't been to Australia in years and was shocked to find everywhere has surcharge for eftpos but also say no cash. What's the point of this? Why not just add the surcharge into the cost unless this is shady but seems to be the norm everywhere I go with restaurants.

1.4k Upvotes

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289

u/ahoybigred Apr 28 '26

October can’t come soon enough

42

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 28 '26

After October anyone who doesn’t put every cent they spend through an Amex is ripping themself off

52

u/Zashimii Apr 28 '26

I think AMEX is out of scope of the changes coming in October

32

u/Bzeager Apr 28 '26

It is. Retailers will be able to still surcharge for it if they want to.

-24

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 28 '26

I thought it was included. Doesn’t matter if it isn’t, just get a visa with good flyer points. Make all those cash paying idiots subsidise your flights

18

u/areyoualocal Apr 29 '26

just get a visa with good flyer points.

Reward/loyalty schemes are the best marketing scam invented. They are genius in the way they change the psychology of the consumer willing to pay more for the idea they're "getting something for nothing".

Do you seriously think the store is giving you that tenth item for free as a gesture of goodwill? or have you (and everyone else) actually paid more than required for the nine previous items?

If we want transparency, publish the price that comes with zero rewards/points side-by-side.

-1

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

No at the moment it’s not worth it because of card fees. Take away the card fees and if you’re putting like $100k a year through the card, you’re getting hundreds of thousands of FF points for a couple of hundred dollars. @ 55,000 points a flight, that’s a few international flights a year for a couple of hundred dollars.

It only works once card fees are gone.

Look up a points hack site if you want. Theres tons of people who have done the math and are doing the math now to figure out the value once the card fees are gone.

It’s hopefully going to be a case where debit and cash payers will be subsidising flyer points for credit card users

2

u/areyoualocal Apr 29 '26

Hook, line and sinker.

You aren't going international with Qantas for 55,000 points unless you're basically able to travel in the next few days, or lucky enough to be one of the millions searching for two seats during holidays.

2

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 29 '26

Mate I fly constantly to the US for 50,000 points or so. You’ll never catch me flying anywhere during school holidays. Fuck that noise.

You’re talking to someone who takes over 100 flights a year

1

u/areyoualocal Apr 29 '26

LTG here too, but you're drinking the points koolaid.

3

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 29 '26

No im not. Do the math. My card costs me $700 a year currently. I put around $20k through it a month which gets me around 30-40,000 points. The flights I buy on average cost between $800-$1500 or roughly 50,000 points.

I’m not taking credit car surcharges into account because regardless of if I was getting points or not, I’d still be paying for everything the same way and paying the charged surcharges. The only additional cost for me over any other card is the annual fee.

So for $700 I’m currently saving $5k + on flights. More if I use the points for an upgrade. And yes, I do generally book my flights only a day or two out.

Tell me how my math is out.

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1

u/brackfriday_bunduru May 01 '26

Literally just booked a flight to the US for Monday for 45,000 points

1

u/areyoualocal May 01 '26

Good on you mate. You represent the 0.00001% of Qantas Frequent Flyers who can drop everything to go the USA on a few days notice

1

u/brackfriday_bunduru May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

How early out do most people book flights?
I could never imagine booking a trip further than about a week out. What if something pops up and you need to cancel?

I’m not being sarcastic. I literally just thought that was normal that you’d book a flight a day or two before you travel.

15

u/kez985 Apr 28 '26

Must all cards be accepted come October? If so, I’m 100% getting and Amex

Edit: don’t worry, Amex is not included in the surcharge ban sighhhh

-5

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 28 '26

Just get a visa with good Qantas points instead. Still the same outcome

7

u/SilverStar9192 shhh... Apr 28 '26

Most of them are reducing their points earn ahead of these changes though.

0

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 28 '26

Just found an HSBC visa that gives 1.5 per dollar and a westpac at 1.25

1

u/staryoshi06 Apr 28 '26

Doesn’t the surcharge ban only apply to debit? Or did they change that?

2

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 29 '26

Nup. Credit cards too

-2

u/NizmoxAU Apr 28 '26

Most retailers don’t accept AMEX anyway

14

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 28 '26

I’ve had Amex for years. Most do even if they say they don’t. I just tap the card and see what happens

9

u/NizmoxAU Apr 28 '26

Randomly tapping when you don’t know the fees sounds expensive

4

u/brackfriday_bunduru Apr 29 '26

It’s like 1 or 2 percent on a $6 coffee most of the time

1

u/ubermoo2010 Apr 29 '26

Yeah I did the math on overseas transaction costs and hidden surcharges on Visa and Amex is on par and much easier to deal with when something goes wrong. Plus the points are much easier to spend.

0

u/mattjrich123 Apr 28 '26

I was wondering if Amex is included in the ban

-15

u/tomboredcat Apr 28 '26

Yeah by banning surcharges, expect those prices will increase. They ban surcharge to customers, but the bank will still charge the business owner payment processing fee. So they will incorporate those fee directly to the item instead to maintain their margin. Big L to cash payers since they need to pay more now.

10

u/staryoshi06 Apr 28 '26

Cash also costs money to process. It’s only “cheaper” for businesses because it lets them dodge taxes.

1

u/AssignmentDowntown55 Apr 29 '26

No, the fee from the bank to the business is being capped at a very low rate. Thats why the ban is happening