For those in Perth always looking for a better, faster, cheaper way

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Best EOFY sales for Australia is Overseas

Today is the last day of the financial year and Australia closes this year off with a bang, with the Aussie Dollar at its highest point against the British Pound for the last 25+ years! I took a look at Google Finance's charts to see exactly how much the AUD has appreciated against the GBP and USD over the last seven years and it was a real eye opener.
Click to take a closer look.

Over the last seven years, the Aussie Dollar has appreciated by 56% against the US Dollar and a whopping 78% against the British Pound! Pow! With the continuing unrest over Greece and other EU nations struggling to discipline their banks, Australia is the place to be. Now be a little nicer when bargain hunting this financial year knowing that you are already a fair way ahead from the rest of the world.

Modo Mio at Burswood opens

There's a new Italian in town and we're wondering whether anyone has visited Modo Mio yet? Replacing the Victoria Station with an upper class Italian Restaurant, Burswood is clearly pitching to change the bogan tag that is has inherited as a result of the mining boom. Chef Giampaolo Maffini from Milan will be in charge and we are hoping to check it out some time. Until then.. anyone been there?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

What is the Exchange Rate for Mastercard Today?

Have you ever wondered what the prevailing foreign currency exchange rate is used by your credit card? Here is the website for Mastercard's Currency Conversion tool. The best thing about this page is that you can go back to any date and see what the rate was.

Check it out here


If you can find the website for AMEX or VISA's currency exchange rate, give us a yell.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Perth Stadium will be at Burswood

The location of the new Perth stadium has today been confirmed. The Burswood area, to be renamed in the future to Eastside, will host Eagles and Dockers games as well as international rugby and possibly soccer games. There are plans to build a footbridge across the Swan River and to build a new train station which will feed into the four main train lines in Perth. The seating capacity of the new stadium is tipped to be 60,000 with the option to expand that to 70,000 with the new stadium opening 2018.

Qantas Club Memberships $370 off for 72 hrs

If you always wanted to be a Qantas club member but it was just a little out of reach, perhaps the 72 hour sale will help. The biggest saving from the normal price is the 1 year membership with $370 off the normal fee of $840, 45% off. However, if you can commit over 2 years, you can buy the two year membership for only $850 ($425 per year). Membership benefits include 

  • Q tag for checking in luggage with priority
  • Entry into the Qantas Club lounges around Australia / world which feature complimentary refreshments, business facilities including wireless internet throughout the lounges and shower facilities
  • Free entry for one guest (travelling if international airport, not travelling also allowed for domestic flights)
  • Up to 10kg more baggage when travelling
And with talk of a Qantas engineer's strike, lounge access is becoming more and more valuable.

ANZ website keeps logging you off?

The ANZ website has a habit of logging me off prematurely, citing security reasons and I just recently figured out why. For some of us, the speed at which websites load can be too unproductive for us that we start clicking buttons for the second time or opening up a link from that website on a new window. Well, that's what causes you to be logged off. If you try to process more than one task at a time on the ANZ website, it will log you off. Hope that helps someone out there.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Which AMEX Platinum - Velocity?

I have to admit, I'm quite a sucker for credit card rewards programs. When Virgin Australia announced the Velocity Platinum card, it got me sitting up. First thing that came to mind was, what about the Platinum Edge and Platinum Reserve cards? Seems like AMEX love their Platinum and needed to find some other avenues to push them. So here's the comparison between the Velocity Platinum and the other existing Platinum cards.



The Velocity Platinum card is mainly for
  • People who don't just wish for a Business Class upgrades but actually DO fly Business Class. This card will give you the perpetual option to buy one get one free for business class tickets. This means you have unlimited opportunities to bring your wife or significant other on your business trips for free! That's a massive perk and one that would probably justify the $349 annual fee. Perth to Melbourne Business Class tickets cost around $1400.
  • People who fly Virgin if you are a Qantas-all-the-way traveller, it's probably time you logged onto Qantas.com.au rather than reading on. This card will give two complimentary entries into the Virgin Lounge which is supposed to be only accessible for Virgin airlines passengers. Also the card comes with 3 velocity points per $1 spent on Virgin. 
  • People in Perth This card comes with a free domestic flight to select cities in Australia (see this post here for a list of cities you can go to). Perth residents may find this card quite limiting as the free flights redeemable with this card are only flights to  Broome, Karratha, Newman and Port Hedland (subject to change).
  • Travel a lot and use AMEX to pay for it If you use your AMEX to book a flight, you will also get complimentary travel insurance whether it is a domestic or international flight. Handy if you don't fall into any of their exclusion clauses
  • Oh yeah and you get 30,000 points for signing up.
Hope that helps someone out there, trying to decide which card to get. If you are not a heavy traveller but like the idea of a free flight each year, the AMEX Platinum Edge card for $149/yr is probably for you. And if you like Bali and access to international airport lounges, go for the Platinum Reserve card for $395/yr.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Who should get AMEX Velocity Gold?


Are you considering the AMEX Velocity Gold card? They are currently offering 20,000 bonus points for those that sign up, so we ask, who are the people who would find this offer most attractive?

  • If you fly Virgin a lot The Velocity Gold card gives you 2.5 velocity points for every dollar spent with Virgin
  • If you fly Virgin at all You will also receive two complimentary entries into the Virgin Lounge which have recently been upgraded in Brisbane and Melbourne. These are normally worth $35 per entry but apparently you need to be flying Virgin to get into the lounge so no point getting this card if you won't be flying Virgin this year. 
  • If you fly at all The card also comes with free travel insurance when you purchase your tickets using this credit card, for international and domestic flights.
Is there a similar AMEX offer?
If you don't fly much, this card isn't worth the annual fee of $199 as there are plenty of other credit cards that offer rewards points for less. If you are interested in getting an AMEX card, perhaps the AMEX Platinum Edge which is only $149 per year would be better. This card also comes with a free return domestic flight on Virgin Australia.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

New 40kmh Restrictions in City

Perth is going a little slower from Monday 20 June 2011 as new restrictions are placed on speed limits around the CBD and Northbridge. The affected areas are shown below.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Top 100 Restaurants in Perth

According to Urbanspoon, the following restaurants are the Top 100 restaurants in Perth.

RankRestaurantServesPrice
1Andaluz Bar & TapasWine Bar$$
2Little Creatures BreweryModern Australian$$$
3Cantina 663Mediterranean$$$$
4Clarence's BarModern Australian$$$
5Jus BurgersBurgers$$
6The ProphetMiddle Eastern$$$
7Alfred's KitchenBurgers$
8SayersCoffee$$$
9RiaMalaysian$$$
10Ciao ItaliaPizza$$$
11Ha-LuJapanese$$$
12Kulcha CafeAsian$
13V Burger BarBurgers$$
14Grill'dBurgers$$
15ToastBreakfast/Brunch$$
16Must WinebarFrench$$$$
17Missy Moos Burger BarBurgers$$
18The ImpBreakfast/Brunch$$
19To To VietnameseVietnamese$$$
20Mrs. SBreakfast/Brunch$$
21West End DeliBreakfast/Brunch$$$$
22Restaurant AmuseEuropean$$$$
23Novembar's Cafe & TakeawayBurgers$$
24La Galette De France NedlandsCoffee$$
25Pizzaca Caffe | PizzeriaPizza$$
26Elixir CafeBreakfast/Brunch$$$
27Galileo Buona CucinaItalian$$$
28CrumpetBreakfast/Brunch$$
29Great MellieFrench$$$$
30Jackson'sModern Australian$$$$
31BalthazarModern Australian$$$$
32Frisk Espresso NorthbridgeCoffee$
33Jus BurgersBurgers$$$
34The Bonsai Restaurant Cafe and LoungeJapanese$$$
35BouclaMediterranean$$
36Gypsy Tapas HouseTapas$$
37Sherbet Cafe & Bake ShopBreakfast/Brunch$$
38DuendeMediterranean$$$$
39Flipside Burger BarBurgers$$
40Hawker's CuisineMalaysian$$$
41Nine Fine FoodEuropean$$$$
42Rústico Tapas & BarTapas$$$
43Elixir CoffeeSandwiches/Subs$$
44Swish 'n' ChipsFast Food$$
45Little StoveBreakfast/Brunch$$
46Mela Indian Sweets & EatsIndian$$
47Blend CafePizza$$$
48Flipside Burger BarBurgers$$
49Thai Gourmet CafeThai$$
50Bilby's Chargrilled BurgersBurgers$
51Five BarModern Australian$$$
52Himalayan NepaleseNepalese$$$
53HanamiJapanese$$$
54Hong Kong BBQ NorthbridgeBarbecue$$
55ItsaraThai$$$$
56Annalakshmi on the SwanIndian$
57Dancing GoatBreakfast/Brunch$
58Nahm ThaiThai$$$$
59Kitsch BarAsian$$$
60Ristretto EspressoCoffee$
61Riche Authentique Chocolat BelgeFrench$$
62Moore & MooreModern Australian$$
63Viet HoaVietnamese$$
64Bouchon BistroFrench$$$$
65Kiri JapaneseJapanese$$$
66Good Fortune Duck HouseChinese$$
67Tra VinhVietnamese$$
68AttivoModern Australian$$$$
69Hush EspressoCoffee$$
70Voyage Kitchen & DelicatessenCoffee$$
71Ohnamiya JapaneseJapanese$$$
72The QuarterEuropean$$$$
73Catalano's CafeItalian$$$
74Il Lido Italian CanteenItalian$$$$
75EccoPizza$$$
76Kai JapaneseJapanese$$$
77Coode St CafeModern Australian$$
78Maya Indian RestaurantIndian$$$$
79Little SaigonVietnamese$$
80Chez Jean-Claude PatisserieSandwiches/Subs$
81YeloCoffee$
82Brisbane HotelModern Australian$$$
83Saowanee's PlaceThai$$$
84JunJapanese$$
85MusashiJapanese$
86ZekkaCoffee$$
87Dusit ThaiThai$$$
88Kanta Japanese Kitchen and SushiJapanese$$$
89Low Down Espresso BarCoffee$
90Phi YenVietnamese$$$
91Taka's KitchenJapanese$
92EstiaGreek$$$
93Koko BlackDesserts/Ice Cream$$$
94MoobaBreakfast/Brunch$$
95Jean Pierre SanchoFrench$
96Royal IndiaIndian$$$
97The Flying TacoMexican$$
98Blackbird RestaurantModern Australian$$$$
99Kailis Brothers Fish CafeSeafood$$$$
100RaktacinoPizza$$$

Andaluz Bar & Tapas on Urbanspoon
Little Creatures Brewery on Urbanspoon
Cantina 663 on Urbanspoon
Clarence's Bar on Urbanspoon
Jus Burgers on Urbanspoon