davetapson Posted March 13, 2019 Posted March 13, 2019 Here is something to love. ACC claims for injuries. I broke my thumb yesterday. Total bill for all hospital care and attention is $72. Only because I went to the hospital at night and had to pay a copayment. Ouch. You ok? (Apart from the broken thumb I suppose... they manage to do something sensible to fix it?)
hayleyearth Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Yeah Debit should be fine, pretty sure I used mine on one of my INZ forms. Kiwis call any plastic bank card a credit card... UNTIL you try pay for something at a Dairy with an actual credit card, and they freak out and try hit you with the 3% surcharge. The only time I have seen a debit card be refused is at Budget Car Rentals, because the card in question didn't have the bearer's name printed on it (some ANZ migrant account cards are like this if one didn't want to wait for them to print a proper one). If your debit card has your name on it, you should be sweet as bro! The real reason car rental companies don't usually (I can actually say never as I've never heard of one that does) accept debit cards is because of the 'excess' they withhold or would take if something goes wrong. Apparently what makes things different is that with a credit card we have accepted with the bank that they can take money from us without us having any, where with debit cards well they can only take what we have and hence if there isn't funds the transaction will return invalid at their side.
Wayne Potgieter Posted March 14, 2019 Author Posted March 14, 2019 Ouch. You ok? (Apart from the broken thumb I suppose... they manage to do something sensible to fix it?)Shell be right mate. Nah, all good. Was horsing around with my son and he landed awkwardly on the hand. Not a major issue, just a cast for a couple of weeks and then it should be good.. animaniak 1
patches Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 The real reason car rental companies don't usually (I can actually say never as I've never heard of one that does) accept debit cards is because of the 'excess' they withhold or would take if something goes wrong. Apparently what makes things different is that with a credit card we have accepted with the bank that they can take money from us without us having any, where with debit cards well they can only take what we have and hence if there isn't funds the transaction will return invalid at their side. Yup! Rental car companies can be a pain about the Credit Card thing when they want to be. One way around it is to take the zero excess insurance. Then a debit card should suffice. Funny enough I have used a debit card at Budget before (in NZ) without the zero excess, and they never gave me hassles, so I checked on their site and apparently Debit is ok in certain instances. In South Africa however... TOTALLY different story! Last year I rented a car from Budget in CT. It was for my mom to drive, so I put her as the main driver. They asked for her credit card, and when I said that she didn't have one and that I was paying so they can just use mine, they insisted I be added as an additional driver for a fee of R350-odd. I told them that I will not be driving the car at all (I had another rental lined up), so the additional driver fee was pointless. They refused to rent it to her alone without her having a credit card and they refused to let me pay without paying the additional driver fee. So frustrating! Here in NZ however, they couldn't care less who picks up the car, pays for it, etc. Just as long as they have a valid drivers license, hahaha!
patches Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Debit cards are fine. Also often referred to as EFTPOS cards. A prezzie card is a gift card with cash on it. I learnt something new today... Apparently Debit cards and EFTPOS cards are not the same thing. https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/debit-cards/ It seems the bank cards without the bearers name on are the EFTPOS cards and cannot be used for car rental (as my friends found out), for online purchases, or overseas. This may have been common knowledge to everyone else on here, I'm a bit slow haha But it makes a valid point of advice for anyone looking to move to NZ... When signing up for a ANZ migrant account (or similar), take the time to wait for them to send you proper a Debit Card, as opposed to them giving you an EFTPOS card on arrival. It'll make your life so much easier in the long run!
Saag Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 I learnt something new today... Apparently Debit cards and EFTPOS cards are not the same thing. https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/debit-cards/ It seems the bank cards without the bearers name on are the EFTPOS cards and cannot be used for car rental (as my friends found out), for online purchases, or overseas. This may have been common knowledge to everyone else on here, I'm a bit slow haha But it makes a valid point of advice for anyone looking to move to NZ... When signing up for a ANZ migrant account (or similar), take the time to wait for them to send you proper a Debit Card, as opposed to them giving you an EFTPOS card on arrival. It'll make your life so much easier in the long run! Especially since it only takes three days! (another Good!)
patham Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Especially since it only takes three days! (another Good!)I don't know if its the same in NZ as in Aus, but just the fact the banks are happy to post you your bank and credits cards just blew me away. For my first issue cards just coming over from S.A., there was no way I was trusting the postal service, they were quite taken aback when I told them I would collect them from the branch.
davetapson Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 I learnt something new today... Apparently Debit cards and EFTPOS cards are not the same thing. https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/accounts/debit-cards/ It seems the bank cards without the bearers name on are the EFTPOS cards and cannot be used for car rental (as my friends found out), for online purchases, or overseas. This may have been common knowledge to everyone else on here, I'm a bit slow haha But it makes a valid point of advice for anyone looking to move to NZ... When signing up for a ANZ migrant account (or similar), take the time to wait for them to send you proper a Debit Card, as opposed to them giving you an EFTPOS card on arrival. It'll make your life so much easier in the long run! This is good to know. I think I'm going to contact ANZ for a named card...
travisza Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 I'm guessing that is without a job offer?! If I recall correctly 140 is the minimum. 160pts is the benchmark. A job offer gives one about 30 points (if in Auckland)160 without a job offer...boom! Not that I'm considering going, was just interesting to see how I ranked. Vetplant and Hairy 2
ByronH Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Hi all. Two questions: 1) A quick admin question.. has anyone had experience in couriering a pack of original documents to New Zealand from RSA? Which service provider would you recommend? I got a quote from RAM for R1600 bucks... which I suppose is not that bad... but want to hear about previous experiences from you all.. 2) When I get over there, can I just pack my bike into a bike box and travel with it like I was taking any normal international flight? Not sure how sticky SAA, Qantas and Air New Zealand are about it..
patches Posted March 14, 2019 Posted March 14, 2019 Hi all. Two questions: 1) A quick admin question.. has anyone had experience in couriering a pack of original documents to New Zealand from RSA? Which service provider would you recommend? I got a quote from RAM for R1600 bucks... which I suppose is not that bad... but want to hear about previous experiences from you all.. 2) When I get over there, can I just pack my bike into a bike box and travel with it like I was taking any normal international flight? Not sure how sticky SAA, Qantas and Air New Zealand are about it.. 1. I have used DHL to get critical docs (like unabridged birth certificate, police clearances etc) send from SA to NZ, all while being based in NZ. I'm not sure on the cost as the service provider (Passports4u) waived the courier fee because I had spent a ton of money on their services. My gut feel is thatDHL would be about R2000 - R3000. I can say that it arrived safely and on time. 2. A number of airlines (like Qantas, Emirates, Qatar) don't see bicycles as "sporting equipment" with its own allowance. They simply say that the bike forms art of your regular luggage allowance. And with most having an allowance of 30kg, a boxed bike will take up about half of that, if not more. When I moved over I flew Qantas and paid to upgrade to Premium Economy. Not because I thought of myself as upper-middle class, but because it allowed an extra 10kg luggage, plus a 2nd item of hand luggage (at 7kg). That extra 17kg in excess baggage fees would have been more than the difference between the economy and premium economy ticket, plus I got more comfy seats, and a layover in Sydney's business lounge. So I flew over with a boxed bike and tools (at around 22kg) and another bag with everything else. Then 2 items of hand luggage (mostly clothing), and my downhill helmet as a 3rd. (On of few of my biking trips I have managed to sneak a full face helmet without it being noticed as an extra piece of hand luggage). That was all I moved over with. No boxes. No shipping containers. Just 1 of my bikes (left 3 behind for later) and some clothes. I fetched a second bike on a visit back to SA. Followed the same procedure, minus the premium economy, because I had Qantas Club luggage allowance (42kg). Also no issues. Just make sure your bike is squeaky clean. Especially if it is a mountain bike. Biosecurity loves inspecting MTBs for mud etc. Oh and standard civil aviation rules apply in that even if your luggage limit is 40kg, no sinlge item can exceed 32kg. Once you are in NZ, if you choose to fly around with a bike, one of the airlines (Jetstar), also counts a bike in with the luggage allowance, BUT they charge a $25 handling fee for "oversized baggage" each way. Pretty annoying! Hope that helps! davetapson and ByronH 2
travisza Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 (edited) Mass shootings in a Mosque in Christchurch! Terrible news https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-15/n-z-police-respond-to-reports-of-shots-fired-in-christchurch Apparently due to anti-immigration sentiment Edited March 15, 2019 by travisza
Slowbee Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 Hey guys the shooting also popped onto my news feed. And they hit two mosques ..,. You guys ok ?
DawieO Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 This is an unmitigated tragedy. 40 people killed and the number may still climb. Today we were touched by darkness.
DawieO Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 4 shooters, 3 men and a women walked into 2 mosques at the afternoon prayer and killed as many people as they could. One of them walked out and then came back to kill survivors. NZ Police did an amazing job at rounding them up within hours, but the damage is done. The Muslim community here is very small and close, and we have some very traumatized people who lost friends and family today.
Chris_ Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 Sad sad news, thoughts are with those of you living in NZ. My parents are doing a 5 week trip through NZ, I went cold when I saw the headlines this morning. (Luckily) they're supposed to drive to Christchurch tomorrow. As they said just now, its the happiest most amazing country, the locals are just devastated. ZakAttak and intern 2
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