From now until 31st July, Amex cardholders can transfer Membership Reward points into BA miles and get 50% bonus miles. That means for example if you transfer 1,000 points into 1,000 BA miles, you will get an additional 500 miles to make it a total of 1,500 miles. For those of you who have applied for the BA 100,000 miles deal (like I have), this is another good chance to accumulate even more miles!

I presently have over 60,000 MR points and I guess I have to do some research and even plan for next years summer trip and see if it makes sense to do so. For those who have the Amex Platinum Card, you can “borrow” up to 60,000 points to transfer to BA (in addition to points you already have!). Once again, another huge opportunity to rack up those BA miles.

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Consumer confidence in Australia dropped in the six months leading up to April 2011, according to the latest survey by MasterCard.

The credit card providers study revealed that in this period, confidence fell to 63.1 points, down from 74.1 points in the preceding half a year.

Andrew Cartwright, MasterCard Australia country manager, noted that many Aussies are being more cautious with regards to their spending and saving habits.

“Households are keeping their wallets closed and are adopting a wait and see approach, in particular keeping a close eye on Reserve Bank of Australia rate announcements, before making large-scale purchases,” he told the Australian Associated Press.

He noted that there has also been a softening in the growth of credit card purchases, but that there is still growth with regards to debit cards as Aussies look to only spend what they have.

This comes after Tim Lawless, research director at RP Data, said many people are waiting for positive developments in the economy before they take out new home loans.

There is a scene in the movie “My Cousin Vinny” where the cousin of the title character is explaining to his friend why this person was born to be an attorney. He tells the story of the time that Vinny watched a magician’s act. After each trick, Vinny would shout out the secret as to how the illusion was performed. This kind of observation, he explained, was just part of the family culture.

In my family, we have another game we like to play. We like share tips about how to manipulate companies into giving us what we want and feel we deserve. When we learn a new trick, we proudly share it with each other so that we may all benefit when the time comes. That said, everything we do is strictly legal and ethical. Allow

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The tough financial situations many Aussies are struggling with at the moment are contributing factors to their reticence to use credit cards, it has been suggested.

MasterCard spokesman David Masters told the Herald Sun that people are more likely to buy goods using their plastic when they feel secure about their finances.

“In mature markets like Australia that tends to be a sure sign of caution because there is a tendency for consumers to use credit cards when times are good and consumer sentiment is high,” he asserted.

His comments come as data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) revealed that during the third month of the year, spending on credit cards dropped to the lowest level in five months.

Aussies hoping to get the most out of their plastic may want to go online to compare credit cards and find the deals that offer them the most attractive rates.

According to the RBA the average amount owed on each card by Aussies who own them is $3,321, News.com.au reported.

A recent audit at the University of Newcastle revealed that the 1,001 employees that had corporate credit cards managed to spend $19 million last year.

According to the educational establishment, many of those issued to workers were for travel or repeat supplies.

The processes surrounding use of the universitys plastic were questioned by New South Wales auditor Peter Achterstraat, who recommended that a complete review be conducted.

Nearly 15 per cent of employees used their credit cards for personal expenditure, although all but $2,625 had been recovered by the end of the year.

A spokesperson for the establishment said: “The university agrees the number of credit cards needs to be reduced and a reduction program is already being implemented.”

With 293 cards suspended and 46 cancelled last year, some staff may be going online to compare credit cards to get their own plastic.

This comes after a study by RMIT University found that men are more likely to make impulse purchases than women, reported the Herald Sun.