I applied for the personal Gold & biz Gold card last week. After activating the cards...
It took 2 secured messages and 3 phone calls to get a new signup bonus id finally applied to the personal card.
After 2 phone calls and 1 SM on the Biz card i am still out of luck. Will try again tomorrow on the phone.
I've never had trouble with AMEX getting new bonus codes applied to my accounts in the past. Their reps must have been told to not be so loose with applying bonus codes from now on. Each rep i speak with says they have been getting flooded with calls lately to have them apply new codes...so hopefully this is just a temporary thing. They are cracking down!
I called last night and got promo code 6661 for 75k MR points for $1K spend applied to the Premier Rewards Gold card I applied for and received this week.
They would not approve code 6664.
Last edited by mia; Nov 29, 11 at 9:40 am..
Reason: Remove broken link
After reading on this forum about the many different opportunities to "upgrade" to a better bonus ID, I recently applied and was approved for an Amex gold premier rewards card. I received it today and as many of others had done, I called Amex to ask for a better bonus ID: specifically # 6661, which was reported to be available to non-new card holders.
To my disappointment, the CSR told me that there was a decision made over the weekend not to allow any actions like this due to the overwhelming # of people who were calling to try this. The CSR said that the bonus #s were being distributed on FF web sites and were never meant to be shared this way. I also spoke with a supervisor who repeated the same but offered to check with someone from MR to see if they would honor the code since I had been a member since 1982. Alas, no dice. The CSR from MR said that they would only honor a code that currently appears on the Amex web site.
So the good news is I will get 15K points but the bad news is no more sharing.
I think there are several points of confirmation for this so far today. We should find out in the coming few days if this is true based on more peoples' experiences.
From Frugal Travel Guy today:
Quote:
Amex is Catching Up with Promo Codes
I got this email from reader George this weekend suggesting things are changing with Bump the Bonus and American Express:
"AMEX membership rewards department is getting smarter, a lot smarter. I just called in to verify that certain promotion codes for my new AMEX Platinum card (for whopping bonuses) were in place from registering the last few weeks. The representative said they’ve put in new software that tracks each card against the promotion code to verify eligibility. That means that if you didn’t receive a postcard with XXXX, then no way in hell will they honor XXXX if you call it in. They also track promos based on geography.
"Evidently, too many people have been using the targeted codes and AMEX is killing all the non-targeted sign-ups. ALL MY BONUS CODES, which were “ok” when I called them in, are now invalid. That’s about 250k MR points gone.
Code 5721 – Argentina only
Code 5894 – AMEX gold only
Code 5985 -- AMEX gold only
Code 3882 – expired
Code 5748, 5542, 5891 – MUST be targeted
It’s a race, and I’m losing this week…..!
-- George"
Some people on MilesBuzz are reporting the same thing.
Exactly. Not encouraging, but that's the situation and it makes me think everyone whose accounts were notated by phone will be de-coded soon, despite the notation. Maybe there's wiggle room -- hopefully -- along the lines of "But my account was notated and that should override the code rules." Maybe worth saying something like that, but more "artfully."
Does this mean than even for new applicants that applying an "other" bonus code will not fly? Amex will continue to have offers not available on their website. If I remember correctly from either a thread or blogpost, the code 6661 was flushed out from someone attempting to apply a different code. The CSR looked up other eligible codes and came up with 6661.
Let's go a little deeper here - Rick/ftg just got a new offer to post a new Amex Biz Gold card with a 50k bonus after spending $10k in 5 months and him and all the other bloggers that get referrals are trying to pass it off as a good deal.... take a look at his post today on his site:
"Some of us may have lost a few MR points with the tightening of bumping the bonus, but these two cards look like a chance to get some of those bonuses back. "
It's like.. are you kidding me?
He got ONE email from a reader who was told by AMEX they weren't honoring codes anymore and his wouldn't be honored, and posted it like it was now fact. Even if that's not what he meant, it's what all the readers are reading into. Now he's using that 1 data point, of 100's (thousands?), to try and convince people that the $10k card is a good deal, when we all know it's not that great of a deal...
Maybe the guy called AMEX instead of MR?
Did OP call MR or call AMEX? There's ways to do this, and people are still reporting success in the AMEX PRG personal/biz card threads on Milesbuzz to get the bonus.
There were people in the original milesbuzz threads that were having issues with codes MONTHS ago and weeks ago. Same with the Platinum 100k, but it doesn't mean other people won't get it to work.
Let's not create a big worry for something that really is not proved to be happening.
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(yes, actually)
Last edited by x712xdamx; Aug 23, 11 at 5:06 am..
Reason: didn't finish my post
I think we've learned in the 200 pages (or whatever) of posts about the Amex Gold Premier Rewards and the various codes being applied that with Amex (as x712xdamx just put it), your mileage DEFINITELY may vary. It's been pretty clear that hanging up and calling back with Amex is the best way to get what you want. I don't think it's particularly surprising that the one FTG reader was turned down (how many of us have been told by one Amex agent that we can't do something only to call back and had someone take care of it for us). That just happened to me TWICE in the past week.
I don't think we have reason to freak out. As they say in one of my favorite movies, (The Spanish Prisoner) "Worry is interest paid in advance on a debt that never comes due."
I just got upgraded to 6661 on Sunday morning via electronic message on the Amex website, so thankfully I have mine in writing.
Disappointing thought for future promotions.
I'm wondering if 6661 will still work for a Premier Rewards Gold (PRG) card ordered *today*. I know it works for cards that have already arrived, but will it still work for a brand new app?
RE the Gold Business card and others recommending the Gold Business Rewards $10/spend 50K offer instead... that's because the Gold Business card is no longer offered. It seems like if you had it on its way already, you could still apply code 6608 to it for 100K points, but it's no longer possible to apply for that flavor of card anew.
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I ended up getting 100k on the plat by upping the bonus. They applied the extra 100k manually last week. I posted the experience on the appropriate thread.
My experience, though, definitely left me with the impression that something was afoot. Everything was very cleanly notated in my account. They agreed to up the bonus in July and notated everything, but required me to call in in August to have it applied, which I did. The calls in July went pretty smoothly, but August was different. It took multiple calls, and some of the things they said during the process about the code no longer being visible on my account suggested there was something pretty intricate they were looking at. Long waits on hold, etc., asked to "call back tomorrow."
Eventually, after promising me 3 times that my points would be posted manually, they finally did it, but only because the account had been so well and frequently notated.
Just to be sure I'm understanding this thread correctly, generally speaking, people are frustrated that Amex may no longer allow folks to obtain marketing bonuses that they were, well, not actually eligible for to begin with.
Do I have that about right or am I missing something?
Programs: US CP; AA LTG; HH Dia; SPG Plat; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,891
Quote:
Originally Posted by scubadu
Just to be sure I'm understanding this thread correctly, generally speaking, people are frustrated that Amex may no longer allow folks to obtain marketing bonuses that they were, well, not actually eligible for to begin with.
Do I have that about right or am I missing something?
