Melbourne Cyber Monday - Glass KeepCup for $11!

Cyber Monday is yet another opportunity for businesses to get customers interested in buying something and while it is an American tradition, businesses in Australia have taken full advantage. Here's a tip that will only last 24 hours. You can get a glass keepcup for only $11!

You need to 

- be in Melbourne to pick up the cup (or add $8 for shipping)

- have registered with the American Express Shop Small promotion 

- go to Keepcup for example

- process your order online using your registered AMEX card at au.keepcup.com on 27th November 2017 (Cyber Monday) 

- add the coupon CYBER30 

The cost of the small glass keep cup is $30. When you apply the coupon, it will take the cup down to $21. When you buy using AMEX, you should get $10 off your purchase because Keepcup is on the Shopsmall promotion map!

Origin Energy vs Kleenheat vs Alinta (vs AGL)

If you are in WA and paying for gas without any discount, you're doing something wrong. Gas does not vary in quality between the provider and really, what customer service do you really need for a utility like this? So the only competition is price. Almost overnight, there are now four providers of gas in WA's market, providing a number of options for residents willing to shop around. When there were two operators, we suggested that you play Alinta against Kleenheat. 

Kleenheat was offering 20% off gas for almost anyone that asked. With the new providers, they are offering 25% off gas. Also, if you know someone from Wesfarmers, which is basically anyone working for Coles or affiliated companies like Bunnings, you should be getting their family and friends rate of 30% off. Then if you spoke to Alinta, they would offer you various levels of incentives to switch back. 

Now, there is AGL and Origin energy offering 35% off gas when you direct debit. We tried to call Kleenheat about it to see whether they were willing to match without much success. They seem comfortable. So what is your household going to do about your gas?

Top 96 Perth Locations in the Entertainment Book & AMEX Shopsmall

Reposted from last year - Shop Small is here again, so this post will probably benefit some. It's great to get $10 back when you spend $20 using your registered AMEX. But what if you use this in conjunction with the Entertainment book? Here's a list of restaurants or businesses that you may be able to double dip. There may be more but these were exact matches between the AMEX shop small list and the Entertainment book. For those with multiple locations, you will need to check that the location you are interested in, is participating in both. Feel free to let us know of any others.

1	1907 Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL
2	Amphoras Bar	25% off the TOTAL BILL
3	Anghiti Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and...
4	Araluen Botanic Park	One complimentary PARK ADMISSION when another PARK...
5	Aroma Cafe	One complimentary FRESH JUICE when another FRESH JUICE of...
6	BamBamBoo	25% Off the TOTAL BILL
7	Bar 138 on Barrack	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
8	Better Baby Deals	20% Off Valid for non sale items only Enter code...
9	Big El's Latin American Fusion	THIS BUSINESS HAS CLOSED
10	Blinco Street Cafe	25% off the TOTAL BILL (Valid for dine-in and...
11	Blu Grill	25% off the TOTAL BILL
12	Broadway Pizza	25% off the TOTAL BILL (Valid for dine-in and pick-up...
13	Canning River Cafe	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for Dine- in or...
14	Caves House Hotel	25% Off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
15	Chilli Farms Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and takeaway
16	Clarkes of North Beach	25% Off the TOTAL BILL
17	Coode Street Cafe	25% off the TOTAL BILL
18	Davvero Caffe e Cucina	25% Off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
19	Deen Street BBQ	25% off the TOTAL BILL
20	Deli Chicchi	25% Off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
21	Dhaba	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
22	Exclusive Chinese Cuisine	25% off the TOTAL BILL
23	Fast Eddys Cafe	One complimentary MAIN MENU ITEM when another MAIN MENU...
24	Fermoy Estate	25% off the regular price of any phone or cellar door...
25	Fibber McGee's	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
26	Flames Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL Or when dinindg alone, 25% off...
27	Floyds	25% Off the TOTAL BILL
28	Food For Me	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
29	Friends Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL
30	Fusion on Swan	25% Off the TOTAL BILL
31	George Street Quarters	25% off the TOTAL BILL
32	Grill and Chill	25% off the TOTAL BILL (Valid for dine-in and...
33	Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and takeaway
34	Island Brook Estate	30% off the regular price of any CELLAR DOOR WINE...
35	Java Juice	One complimentary REGULAR JAVA JUICE when another REGULAR...
36	Jean Pierre Sancho	One complimentary HOT BEVERAGE when another HOT BEVERAGE...
37	Jesters	One complimentary 2 FROZEN PIE PACK when another 2 FROZEN...
38	Kingsway Bar & Bistro	25% off the TOTAL BILL
39	Kuza Urban Japanese Food	25% off the TOTAL BILL
40	Laligurans Nepalese Kitchen	25% off the TOTAL BILL
41	Lanna Thai Cuisine	25% off the TOTAL BILL
42	Lo Zucchero	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
43	Looksmart Alterations	25% OFF THE RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE OF ANY CLOTHING...
44	Mama Tran	25% off the TOTAL BILL (Valid for dine-in and...
45	Metro Indian Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL
46	Millioncino Bar & Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL
47	Mondo Nougat	ONE CAPPUCCINO AND PREMIUM 60g NOUGAT BAR when another...
48	Monggo Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and...
49	Morish Nuts	20% off the total bill of ANY MORISH NUTS PRODUCTS...
50	Mosmans Restaurant	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
51	Muzz Buzz	One complimentary HOT CHOCOLATE when another HOT...
52	Nine Fine Food	25% off the TOTAL BILL
53	Opal Cafe	One MAIN MENU ITEM when another MAIN MENU ITEM of equal...
54	Outback Jacks Bar & Grill	25% off the TOTAL BILL
55	Pachi Pachi	25% off the TOTAL BILL
56	Pancakes at Carillon	25% off the TOTAL BILL
57	Peko Peko	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
58	Pizza Express	25% off the TOTAL BILL
59	Pizza on Cambridge	25% off the TOTAL BILL dine in or pick-up only
60	Red Opium	25% off the TOTAL BILL
61	Regal Crown	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and takeaway
62	Rose Hotel	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
63	Royal Siam Kitchen	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and takeaway
64	Sage Hotel	Page No: H24
65	Sandalford Wines	30% off the RRP price of any MIXED CASE purchased at...
66	Satchmo Cafe	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and takeaway
67	Satsuki	25% off the TOTAL BILL
68	Shingle Inn	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
69	Siena's of Leederville	25% off the TOTAL BILL
70	Skin Resus	25% off the regular price of any IPL TREATMENT First...
71	Sorano Restaurant	25% Off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
72	Steve's Fine Wine and Food	25% off the TOTAL BILL
73	Sunflowers Animal Farm	One ADMISSION when another ADMISSION of equal or greater...
74	Swan Valley Tours	Valid for the Swan Valley Indulgence Coach Tour or...
75	Thai by the Sea	25% Off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
76	The Alexander Bar & Bistro	25% off the TOTAL BILL
77	The Ashby Bar and Bistro	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
78	The Brown Fox	One complimentary MAIN COURSE when another MAIN COURSE of...
79	The Cheesecake Shop	25% off the TOTAL BILL valid at all current and future...
80	The Common	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
81	The Generous Squire	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
82	The Manse Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
83	The Pickled Herring	25% off the TOTAL BILL
84	Thousand Spices Indian Cuisine	25% off the TOTAL BILL This offer may also be used...
85	Tiamo Cafe Restaurant	25% off the TOTAL BILL or when dining alone 25% off...
86	Toast	25% off the TOTAL BILL
87	Toscanini's	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for Dine- in or...
88	Two Feet and A Heartbeat	25% off any FULL PRICED TOUR Online Booking Code:...
89	Uber Caf	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and takeaway
90	Union Kitchen	25% off the TOTAL BILL
91	V Burger Bar	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine in and...
92	White Salt	25% off the TOTAL BILL
93	Wok St Chow House	25% off the TOTAL BILL
94	Yahava Koffeeworks	One complimentary COFFEE when another COFFEE of equal or...
95	Zeo's Cafe	25% off the TOTAL BILL Valid for dine-in and takeaway
96	Zucca Espresso	One complimentary COFFEE when another COFFEE of equal or...

It's time to admit NBN and ADSL is dead

In at least three separate conversations this week, the plight of NBN was mentioned. If you are like us, our ADSL is painfully slow, even taking a minute to download a pdf or sometimes just to load a website can be so slow! Don't even talk about videos. For us, NBN is not coming until 2019 or something far away so it is time for households like ours in Australia to think laterally and some providers have started to provide some viable alternatives.

We've been looking and it seems none have really offered a good deal until now.. Optus seems to have taken the initiative with a huge offering of 140GB over their wireless broadband 4G+ network for only $70 / month. 4G+ for the most part is much, much faster than NBN and the price is in line with what most people are paying for their ADSL, Naked or NBN connections each month. For this, you will have to get a mobile broadband modem or dongle and insert the sim card that you get. Or you can use an old phone and turn on tethering to share the wireless hotspot to the other devices.

A quick survey of other mobile broadband providers gives us this

Optus 140GB $70/month (one year contract minimum)
Kogan 30GB $50/month (no contract, first month you get 30GB but it is not ongoing)
Vodafone 50GB  $60/month (two year contract minimum)
Telstra 20GB $70/month (one year minimum)
TPG - not available?
Vivid Wireless 40GB $59/month (two year minimum)

We're still investigating but it looks like this could be a viable alternative to ADSL and NBN. If you see issues with mobile broadband as an alternative or you have other providers or suggestions, please leave a comment and we can incorporate them into this post.

Is bit.ly/payenergybill legitimate?

Many of you will probably be asking whether the sms that you received from Synergy was really from Synergy. It says something like this

Hi there. This is a friendly reminder to pay $X for account _______ by 30/08 to avoid late fees. Pay online at bit.ly/payenergybill Payment no. ____

The question is while we probably found getting a link like bit.ly/payenergybill, which is easy to remember, it is also easy to hoax. If a scammer uses a similar link (eg changing one letter to capitals such as bit.ly/Payenergybill) to redirect to their own website, they could potentially steal customer credit card numbers etc. In this case, we know that the bit.ly/link is legitimate, but it can be easily faked. A better way would be using their own domain and make a redirect from www.synergy.com/pay for example.

You can always find out where a bit.ly/link goes by adding a + at the end of the web address ie bit.ly/link+ From this you can see that almost 50,000 people have used the Synergy bit.ly/link to get to their bill. 

Can you do anything when your gift card expires?

Gift cards used to be an expression of love, but nowadays many of us dread receiving them or only buy them for ourselves to save 5% or something. When gift cards expire, it is very frustrating and the idea that your money just disappeared can be quite hard to dismiss. However, some good companies like Woolworths may allow you to have your balance reinstated with a short expiry date. Recently, someone had their WISH egiftcard expire and called up 1300 665 249, explaining that they just found out their card expired. They were credited the full $118 back on the card with one month to use it up. However, not all companies will do this. Someone else tried to get an extension on a Garden City gift card but their written request was quickly dismissed.

If you came on here looking for a solution, let us know how you go when you call up in the comments, and how much you got back.

How to Get Velocity Gold the FAST Way?

Most of us probably do not fly much for work and even with family pooling, the idea of attaining gold membership with Qantas or Virgin Australia seems so far away. Are there shortcuts?

Coles Flybuys
If you have flybuys, they are known to give selected flybuys customers the opportunity to "Explore Gold". This gives you three months of Gold level membership with Virgin Velocity, allowing you to use the lounge when you travel with Virgin Australia and most of the other benefits that Gold members get. If you manage to earn 80 status credits during that three months, you will be able to get full Gold level membership for the next 12 months.
Gold benefits included in Explore Gold

• Advanced seat selection and priority seating preferences
• Priority check in at the airport
• Priority boarding onto the plane
• Virgin Lounge access for you and a guest and up to two children aged between 3-12.
• Access to around 150 other international lounges when traveling with Virgin or affiliates
• Priority baggage arrival - comes out first on the carousel
• 75% more points each time you travel on Virgin

Gold benefits not included in the three month Explore Gold membership include

• Guaranteed Economy Reward Seats for an annual trip to any Australian destination,
• Membership pause for Parental Leave
• Complimentary membership with our car hire and hotel partners (eg Hilton, Hertz, Europcar, Thrifty)

Coles Flybuys MasterCard

Rather than waiting anxiously to be offered by flybuys, the other way of getting "Explore Gold" is to apply for a Coles Flybuys MasterCard. This will cost you $89 for the annual fee, but comes with the equivalent of $100 worth of flybuys points. It also comes with "Explore Gold" as described above with the same offer to attain 12 months of full Gold membership if you can earn 80 status credits in three months. For people living in Perth, this is pretty easy to earn - it's just one flight to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane return to Perth and you will have Velocity Gold for 12 more months. 

Some have reported that some of their status credits disappeared when they got the Explore Gold membership. This is because in Explore Gold mode, the Velocity website only shows your status balance for the last three months. Any other status credits earned before the last three months will not appear on the website, but have not been taken from you. When you have finished your Explore Gold, the website will once again display your total SC balance. 

Unlimited Calls on your Mobile for $10/month

I think Amaysim is getting pretty aggressive with acquiring market share. We've been comparing prepaid plans for quite a while and this offer is the best we've ever seen.

If you are using mobile prepaid and international calls are important to you, Amaysim has an offer that is definitely worth looking into. Like other prepaid offers nowadays, they are giving unlimited calls to mobiles and landlines within Australia as well as unlimited SMS. But what sets them apart are their UNLIMITED international calls and SMS and MMS They give unlimited calls to ten international destinations and unlimited SMS/MMS to 32 countries. On their lowest plan, this normally costs $24.90 with 1.5GB of data to use within the 28 days. However, until the end of this month you can lock in a rate of $9.90 for every 28 days for the first six months using the promotion code 10FOR6 when you sign up.

If you think this is what you need, don't forget you can get $10 extra credit if you use this link amaysi.ms/bonus10

EDIT: If you sign up with Cashrewards, you can also get $32 cashback for signing up to this deal through Cashrewards. This site pays you commission on your purchases from websites like Ebay and Amaysim. 

Unlimited SMS/MMS to mobiles in 32 countries.

Austria

Bangladesh

Cambodia

Canada

Chile

China

Croatia

France

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Malaysia

Netherlands

New Zealand

Pakistan

Philippines

Poland

Singapore

South Africa

South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

UK

USA

Vietnam

Unlimited calls to mobiles and landlines in 10 countries.

China

Hong Kong

India

Malaysia

New Zealand

Singapore

South Korea

Thailand

UK

USA

Why does Coles make it so hard to change fly buys points to credit?

One thing we can't stand is when corporations give you points knowing that you are likely to get little benefit when you redeem them, and many don't even know how to redeem the points for cash. It took us a while to work it out but now we're so used to the process that we can suggest a process by which everyone should follow to redeem their points for cash.

1. Go to flybuys.com.au and click on the top right SIGN IN 
2. Enter your card number (found on your card beginning with  6008 94) 
3. If you don't know your password, click on the link "Forgot your password"
1. You will need to know the email address that you registered with your flybuys card. 
2. Check your email for the link to click to reset your password
4. Click on Rewards near the top left of the screen under the flybuys icon
5. Click on Money off Shop which is the only real worthy thing to redeem your points for 
6. Click on Flybuys dollars (because this will allow you to use your credit at Coles, Kmart or whatever. 
7. Choose the number of points you want to change to $10 credits where 2000 points = $10
8. Click on the little tick box agreeing to the redemption 
9. Click on Get it now
10. Choose a four digit pin number
11. Record the amount you have on your flybuys card with a sticky note or something  

When you are at a shop and you want to use the flybuys credit on your card, scan your flybuys card as you normally do to earn points. When it comes to paying, 

1. Select pay by card 
2. Swipe your flybuys card
3. Enter the pin number you chose when you redeemed the points in step 11 above
4. The amount owing will reduce by the flybuy credit on your flybuys card

Remember you don't have to use all your flybuy dollars in one go. And you can pay partially with your flybuys card and partially with cash/other card.

If you ever wanted to check your Flybuys dollars, this is also nicely hidden by the good folk at Coles. 

1. Go to flybuys.com.au  and sign in as above 
2. Click on My Account
3. Click on Account Details which appears just under My Account
4. Click on View your current balance
5. Click on the tick box to confirm you are not a robot
6. Click continue

Is the Perth Entertainment Book Worth Getting?

As last year's Entertainment Book vouchers expired yesterday, many people are asking themselves whether the Entertainment Book is worth getting this year. We tried to do a comparison between last year's listing and this year's listing and have come up with a list of 140+ restaurants or businesses which appear to be not in this year's Entertainment Book compared to last year. If you see any that are actually in the Entertainment Book for 2017-18 please let us know as we used a simple match search to come up with the list. It is also worth stating that the Entertainment Book for 2017-18 does have 909 offers according to the website (one business could offer more than one offer).  

Adairs

Amani Bar and Kitchen

Anghiti Innaloo

Araluen Botanic Park

Barbados Lounge Bar

Bathers Beach House

BCF

Big El's Latin American Fusion

Big W

Burger Bistro

Busselton Chinese Restaurant

BWS

Cafe Del Pescatore

Cafe D'Vine

Calcutta Curry House

Campari Italian Restaurant

Canton Bay Chinese Restaurant...

Canvas @ Fremantle Arts Centre

Captain Cook Cruises

Carnegie's Bar & Restaurant

Casella's Wine - Tapas - Grill

Charlotte's Table

Chocolateria San Churro

Chophouse

Chutney Mary's Cafe Rockingham

Cookie Man

David Jones Department Store Murray...

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

Cucina Tabella

CY O'Connor Village Pub

Dao Vien Vietnamese Restaurant

David Jones

De Cribs

Deep Water Point Cafe

Dolphin Dive Fremantle

Driftwood Food Co. at the...

Duck Duck Moose

Dusit Thai

Dux Cafe

Eagle Boys Dial-a-Pizza

Edible Blooms, Green Thumbs...

Innaloo Megaplex

Ezy Tan Cannington

Cuisine Type: Winery

Fermoy Estate

Fit Chips

Flinderz

Fratelli Restaurant

FrozBerries WA

Grocer & Grind Bistro

Jimbaran Jalan Bukit Permai & Jalan...

Haweli Indian Restaurant

Heliwest

Hermosa Cantina

Howling Wolves Wines

Indian Ocean Brewing Company

Jamie's Italian

Jamies Italian Perth 140 William Street

Jet Juice Bars

Karma Indian Restaurant

Katch-Up Seafood Grill & More

Kome

La Bella Woodfired Pizzeria &...

Laurance of Margaret River

Little Fish Yallingup

Llama Bar + Kitchen

Mad Mex

Madzoon

Manea's Restaurant

Margaret River Brewery Tours

Margies Big Day Out Beer and...

Matisse Dining Room

Menchie's

Metalicus

Michel's Patisserie

Michels The Park Centre (Victoria Park)...

Milk and Honey

Millioncino Bar & Restaurant

Mo:mo's Cafe & Restaurant

Mooba espresso bar & cafe

Mozaic BeachClub Brasserie

Jalan Pantai Batu Belig

Narada Spice & Grill

NewsLifeMedia

No Mafia

Oliver's on James Street

Oppa BBQ

Oscars Currambine

Pagoda Restaurant and Bar

Main Stop Barrack Stretty Jetty

Petals Network

Pinjarra Bakery and Patisserie

Porky’s BBQ & Bar

Prinz of Vienna

Purl Bar

Rasoi Indian Restaurant

Rebel

Rivendell Estate and...

Roman Palace Italian...

Salsa's Fresh Mex

Salt on the Beach Restaurant

Samari's Restaurant

Sandalford Estate Restaurant

Secret Garden Cafe and...

Shun Fung on the River

Siena's Sister Pizzeria & Cafe

Sip n' Cycle

Skydive the Beach and Beyond

Snowgoose

Sorano Restaurant

South Beach Bar and Grill

Squidlips

Steve's Fine Wine and Food

Studio Bistro

Sunflowers Animal Farm

Supercheap Auto eGift Cards

Tasik Indonesian Restaurant

Teleflora

Thai D'Lish Restaurant

Thailand Island

The Admiral Hotel

The Alexander Bar & Bistro

The Aviary Bird Cage...

The Back in Motion Health...

The Boat

The Brown Fox

The Byrneleigh

The Clove Indian & Sri Lankan...

The Conservatory Rooftop Bar

The Cure Tavern

The Granary

The Great Escape

The Groper & His Wife

The Pickled Fig

The Waterfront Cafe &...

Thousand Spices Indian Cuisine

Thredbo Alpine Village

Tiamo Cafe Restaurant

Trendi Cafe

Urbon

V Fusion

Valley View Restaurant &...

Villa D'Este Restaurant

Watershed Restaurant

Wild Duck

Woolworths / Wish Gift Cards

Zeo's Cafe