American Express Membership Rewards - American Express (USA) online shopping portal gone? (fka Bonus Points Mall)

So I went to http://www.membershiprewards.com/earn to see about getting some extra points on a purchase I was making and just got a message that I can earn 2x points on travel booked with Amex and 1x points on everything else.

Did they get rid of the Bonus Points Mall or am I missing something?

So I went to http://www.membershiprewards.com/earn to see about getting some extra points on a purchase I was making and just got a message that I can earn 2x points on travel booked with Amex and 1x points on everything else.

Did they get rid of the Bonus Points Mall or am I missing something?

So you missed the part that said before it,
"LOOKING FOR WAYS TO EARN POINTS?
We apologize for your inconvenience. The site is currently unavailable."

So you missed the part that said before it,
"LOOKING FOR WAYS TO EARN POINTS?
We apologize for your inconvenience. The site is currently unavailable."

Yep, thanks. You think they could have put that in a bigger font!

Yep, thanks. You think they could have put that in a bigger font!

You'd think ;)

Thread on this was locked so...

During a call to amex today the rep informed me that amex is discontinuing the bonus points mall with no current plans to replace it. She did work in MR so I'd expect that she'd be informed on this, but can only hope she's wrong!

If Amex was discontinuing the points mall wouldn't there be more news on this in forums/blogs??? I really hope they aren't doing away with the points mall....... :(

I called in yesterday and the MR agent didn't know the web site was down. She put me on hold then a while later said yes it was down (duh!) but didn't know when it would be back up. She did NOT indicate it was being retired or discontinued. Thankfully I made a $1500 purchase last week just before it went down and should get 4x bonus points.

They just told me that they DISCONTINUED Amex bonus point mall.
Rip off now... FYI

Bonus points mall never worked for me, I was never able to log in. This was even before they had that toolbar thing, which I liked more. I wrote to CS and got like 2-3k MR points or something, so I'm not too upset ^

I have been using this for hotel stays at Marriott for over a year and got 4x points on each one. It was a big help but with it gone I will switch to other cards more frequently as their offers are better. Hate to see it go,

Crap

Had 3 grand of spg stays to book

Will get 3% back on ebtes I guess

The travel links were the first to disappear:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1358931-no-more-travel-companies-mr-shopping-mall.html

Interesting enough, the individual card pages still list the bonus mall as a feature:
"Get up to 10X points every day when you shop select retailers online at membershiprewards.com/earn"

Interesting enough, the individual card pages still list the bonus mall as a feature:
"Get up to 10X points every day when you shop select retailers online at membershiprewards.com/earn"

I sent a secure message to Amex Rewards and got this reply:


I am really sorry that the Bonus Points Mall web site is still not working and you are loosing on bonus points.

However, please do not worry, I would request you to make the charge directly at merchants physical store or online store (Apple, Tiger Direct, Home depot etc) and once the charge is posted to your account, write back to us with the charge details and we will issue the bonus points manually.


NOW I AM CONFUSED :)

I sent a secure message to Amex Rewards and got this reply:


I am really sorry that the Bonus Points Mall web site is still not working and you are loosing on bonus points.

However, please do not worry, I would request you to make the charge directly at merchants physical store or online store (Apple, Tiger Direct, Home depot etc) and once the charge is posted to your account, write back to us with the charge details and we will issue the bonus points manually.


NOW I AM CONFUSED :)

Maybe they're working on a system that would apply the bonus points to purchases made at the qualifying merchants online without having to use the portal.

Just spoke to MR rep and she confirmed that it has been discontinued indefinitely and she didn't know if it was going to be replaced with something else. She said that the offer I received in the secure message would be honored though.

Maybe they're working on a system that would apply the bonus points to purchases made at the qualifying merchants online without having to use the portal.

That would be a definite improvement, especially if it would apply to store purchases as well.

when you search the amex web site the following message appears

What happened to the Bonus Points Mall?
All of the offers that were on the Bonus Points Mall can now be found at membershiprewards.com/earn. The new site now includes online and in-store bonus points offers. See the offer details for each


so it appears that amex is reworking the site so that the bonus are in-store also

when you search the amex web site the following message appears

What happened to the Bonus Points Mall?
All of the offers that were on the Bonus Points Mall can now be found at membershiprewards.com/earn. The new site now includes online and in-store bonus points offers. See the offer details for each


so it appears that amex is reworking the site so that the bonus are in-store also

i use bonus points mall, now /earn, but cannot access the site, called yesterday to the rewards dept that manages it and they said it was temporarily down, still down again today, anyone having success logging on to /earn

The "Bonus Points Mall" has been gone for well over a year when it was folded into the main site with the URL americanexpress.com/earn -or- membershiprewards.com/earn.


when you search the amex web site the following message appears...

That message has been running since May 2011. See the second post in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1215031-where-find-pending-bonus-mr-points-bonus-point-mall.html

I work in operations and a lot of sites lost functionality after last week's "Derecho" took out the Amazon data center in Virginia. Netflix, Pinterest, and other big names went down not to mention hotel booking engines at Hilton, etc..

Is anyone confident that the http://www.americanexpress.com/earn referral site is actually being phased out?

The "Bonus Points Mall" has been gone for well over a year when it was folded into the main site with the URL americanexpress.com/earn -or- membershiprewards.com/earn.
[/url]

Whatever they market it as, the functionality has always been there up until a week ago. Since, as a Platinum member, I'm paying for 4x bonus points as a benefit of my card, this is once again a devaluation of the Platinum product.

Unless they replace this program my business will be shifting to Chase ASAP.

Maybe they're working on a system that would apply the bonus points to purchases made at the qualifying merchants online without having to use the portal.

If that truly is the case, it would make sense not to decommission the current program before starting the new program....

Just sent in a secure message myself, expressing concern. Their reply is below. This all seems a bit weird to me. It's not like Amex to make such a huge change without informing people. Even if it does only turn out to be temporary, this is certainly nudging me more towards Chase. Until the MR Earn issue is resolved, I'm at least temporarily only really using my Amex PRG for flights & groceries (5x on Chase Freedom for gas at the moment).

---

"I earnestly apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

I'd like to inform you that we are decommissioning our Earn Hub website. This is the reason that you are unable to access this website.

Currently, we have not received any updates of the replacement for this website. As soon as we receive such an update, we will definitely notify you.

I hope you find this information useful.

Wish you a great day!

---

Wow, this sucks. So there really isn't any way to earn extra miles from a platinum card.

Was just about to make a 6% apple purchase before the AmEx mall went down :mad: . I've seen a lot of referral sites dropping their reward payouts lately - maybe the big banks know something about the economy that we don't know?

Wow, I can't believe how many times I find out about something on Flyertalk before the actual company annoucement - in this case none at all.

Huge Devaluation - no annouuncement - AMEX is beginning to look like Citibank!

If that truly is the case, it would make sense not to decommission the current program before starting the new program....

I have no idea, that's just very wishful speculation on my part ;)

maybe they are going to try and match chases mall... Hmmmmm... its still listed as a platinum card benefits up to 10 X on 300 stores

maybe they are going to try and match chases mall... Hmmmmm... its still listed as a platinum card benefits up to 10 X on 300 stores

I hope so -- they'd better do/say something soon

I've missed the opportunity to earn approximately 20k in bonus points in the past week due to this being down.. first the rep told me it'll be back within 24-48 hrs and that they're doing an update to fix the site.. several of my 6x promotions with Apple/TigerDirect during the month of June did not post correctly, and the rep I spoke with said that this is the reason why they're "updating" the site.

Rep told me that it's down and that they have no information on when/if it'll return and in what form it would return in if it did. Tried to get compensatory MR, but to no avail.

I would get self-righteous about this because the feature is advertised as part of AMEX cards, but I'm sure there's a line in the T&C permitting them to change benefits at will.

This stinks. Amex is about to miss out on a pretty big ticket purchase from me. I guess I'll go through Chase's UR shopping portal instead.

After attempting to place an order through the American Express bonuspointsmall all day yesterday, I called Centurion Membership Rewards for assistance. After multiple transfers I was finally told that "American Express is re-evaluating the program" and the site will be shut down "indefinitely". Does anyone have any insight here?

This feels wrong to me. Had they just been planning on canceling it, they must have expected a backlash and they'd have tried to sugar coat it. I can't help but think this is just one big blunder on their part. However, if it does turn out that they're devaluing Amex MR in this manner I'll be looking elsewhere for my spend miles.

Wow, I can't believe how many times I find out about something on Flyertalk before the actual company annoucement - in this case none at all.

Huge Devaluation - no annouuncement - AMEX is beginning to look like Citibank!

At least Citi practically throws ThankYou points at you. I earn 4K TY points/mo with only $300ish spend/mo. But this still sucks.

Is there an official AMEX/MR Spokesperson on FT?

I've missed the opportunity to earn approximately 20k in bonus points in the past week due to this being down.. first the rep told me it'll be back within 24-48 hrs and that they're doing an update to fix the site.. several of my 6x promotions with Apple/TigerDirect during the month of June did not post correctly, and the rep I spoke with said that this is the reason why they're "updating" the site.

Sounds like no one actually knows what's going on there because there have been multiple versions of the "reason" why the site no longer exists. I had about $15k of purchases over the last four months through the site -- and I did have trouble with a majority of the points posting. Ultimately, they had to make manual adjustments for many of them -- maybe that is the reason, maybe not but they need to just man up and tell us WTH is going on.

Is there an official AMEX/MR Spokesperson on FT?

Yes, it is the same team which monitors Twitter and other social media:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/members/amex-customer-care.html

i'm delaying purchases in hope that they rectify it soon, the rep from MR told me they were having IT problems with the site

Just received a SM from Amex saying that after I've made my purchases at the qualifying retail or online merchant, if I wait till the charges post to my account and reply back to the SM, the rep will manually add the 3X for me.

As for the site being down, the rep said that their Technical team is reviewing some technical difficulties with no ETA on when the site will return... so yes, it seems like we're getting different messages (technical issues vs. shutting down the site).

I have a hard time believing that they are actually discontinuing the program. The statement that posted online for me today still advertises the site with the standard "get up to 10x MR points . . . "

That said, I never used the Amex site because to me, Chase's UR site was always easier to use and offered better bonuses. Maybe they are reworking the site to be more competitive. We can only hope . . .

As for the site being down, the rep said that their Technical team is reviewing some technical difficulties with no ETA on when the site will return... so yes, it seems like we're getting different messages (technical issues vs. shutting down the site).

Like I said earlier in this thread earlier a lot of sites lost functionality after last week's "Derecho" took out the Amazon data center in Virginia. More likely than not the site went down 6/29 and AmEx's vendor is having trouble getting it back up / ensuring that none of the previously tracked purchases are lost.

I have a hard time believing that they are actually discontinuing the program. The statement that posted online for me today still advertises the site with the standard "get up to 10x MR points . . . "

That said, I never used the Amex site because to me, Chase's UR site was always easier to use and offered better bonuses. Maybe they are reworking the site to be more competitive. We can only hope . . .

1) I kindly disagree. There are plenty of examples where Amex's site beat Chase's site in terms of points earned. Apple earned 6x MR points vs. 1x UR points. Several hotels, like Marriott and SPG, offered 4x-6x bonuses through Amex and 1x-2x through Chase.

2) I hope it comes back so that Chase has a competitor. Losing the Amex shopping portal gets rid of one of Chase's major competitor and will likely make the Chase UR portal less competitor. Consumers win when companies compete.

1) I kindly disagree. There are plenty of examples where Amex's site beat Chase's site in terms of points earned. Apple earned 6x MR points vs. 1x UR points. Several hotels, like Marriott and SPG, offered 4x-6x bonuses through Amex and 1x-2x through Chase.

2) I hope it comes back so that Chase has a competitor. Losing the Amex shopping portal gets rid of one of Chase's major competitor and will likely make the Chase UR portal less competitor. Consumers win when companies compete.

Since I did not really use the AMEX portal, I'm sure you are right that there were some examples where AMEX had better bonuses. However, 10x points is pretty common on UR where anything above 3x is a special event on MR.

I agree completely that UR losing a competitor is a bad thing.

Every major airline operates a shopping portal which allows the customer to pay with any card. There was nothing special about the American Express portal, and there is still ample competition except for the fact that Caretera operates most of the USA-based programs, including Chase.

Every major airline operates a shopping portal which allows the customer to pay with any card. There was nothing special about the American Express portal, and there is still ample competition except for the fact that Caretera operates most of the USA-based programs, including Chase.

Except that the trasnferability of points from MR to multiple programs was a definite bonus. I realize that closing of the shopping portal doesn't change that, but it certainly makes the entire program less valuable since I'll have significantly fewer points to transfer.

AMEX has until the end of summer to sort this out or I'm closing all my accounts and shifting the rest of my business to Chase.

After all the continuous devaluation of the program over the last 18 months, there is little differentiation in their value proposition.

My Ritz Carlton rewards card gives me the $200 airline incidental credit, lounge access and ensures I never, ever fall below Gold elite level with Marriott/RC. I think if I add a UR card I'll be good to go.

It might actually be nice to get off the AMEX annual fee treadmill. Between a plat card, business gold and the Mrs.'s cards we pay them way to much each year for the pleasure of using their cards.

Every major airline operates a shopping portal which allows the customer to pay with any card. There was nothing special about the American Express portal, and there is still ample competition except for the fact that Caretera operates most of the USA-based programs, including Chase.

Did/does Caretera operate Amex's portal as well?

Did/does Caretera operate Amex's portal as well?

Not to my knowledge. It may have been outsourced when it was initially launched as Bonus Points Mall, but /earn seems to have been run in-house.

Pure speculation / Questions with no answer expected:

Is AMEX just moving things around? I notice the small business credit in Boston & other targeted locales recently, and last month or so they were doing various statement credits up to $100 for certain vendors via twitter.

Is their promo budget being moved from the mall and into direct statement credits or other 'modern' social media venues such as Facebook / Twitter?

Is their promo budget being moved from the mall and ...

No, the shopping portal should be profitable for the operator. The bonus points are purchased by the merchants.

AMEX is really loosing my respect. Their customer service was always excellent and their decisions transparent. Now, I'll take Chase almost any day over AMEX.

No, the shopping portal should be profitable for the operator. The bonus points are purchased by the merchants.

Someone I can always remember that for airline miles and forget it for general points.

I sent a secure message to Amex Rewards and got this reply:


I am really sorry that the Bonus Points Mall web site is still not working and you are loosing on bonus points.

However, please do not worry, I would request you to make the charge directly at merchants physical store or online store (Apple, Tiger Direct, Home depot etc) and once the charge is posted to your account, write back to us with the charge details and we will issue the bonus points manually.


NOW I AM CONFUSED :)

Right, nothing so far today. Will have to double check later. I have had around 200k with the bonus points first half of the year, so it will really be a problem if this doesn't get fixed.

May I ask what the secure message protocol is? An email or...?

Just received a SM from Amex saying that after I've made my purchases at the qualifying retail or online merchant, if I wait till the charges post to my account and reply back to the SM, the rep will manually add the 3X for me.

As for the site being down, the rep said that their Technical team is reviewing some technical difficulties with no ETA on when the site will return... so yes, it seems like we're getting different messages (technical issues vs. shutting down the site).

that's good enough for me, i will go ahead with purchases and revert to them to have the account adjusted manually

Had an interesting chat with an MR rep today. He read me an email sent to employees updating them on the shopping portal. In sum: it is currently being "reviewed" and may be ulimately discontinued, reinstated or replaced/updated.

Rep said that it got very positive or negative reviews based on whether a cardholder was awarded the bonus points (aka they used the portal correctly, didn't attempt to buy an item in store yet expect bonus, and didn't attempt to combine the bonus with another shopping portal).

The same email mentioned this targeted promo:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1364437-mr-bonus-july-1-thru-sep-30-2012-targeted-threshold.html

Apparently, they're still sending it out, with newer accounts getting invited later.

This is a shame. I've been doing most of my spending with Chase for the last year, but have to trying to move more spending back to Amex lately to diversify where my points are. It seems like the last purchase I made via the Bonus Points Mall, at Lands' End, posted correctly, so at least there's that. If I'm not going to have the opportunity to earn multiple points for shopping online, it's going to be very very hard for me to build up enough points to be useable for anything worthwhile.

FWIW, all of my 6x tigerdirect charges during the promotion in May and June are not posting correctly. They're posted as 4x (3x in bonus). The 6x Apple charges are posting correctly. When I called MR the rep told me that I'll have to wait until the earn site comes back up for them to have access to the records and reconcile any errors in bonuses with me.

I really loved the Bonus Points Mall and hope they decide to keep it. I've never had a problem receiving my points. I hope they decide to bring it back. If not I will switch my purchases to Chase.:(

Had an interesting chat with an MR rep today. He read me an email sent to employees updating them on the shopping portal. In sum: it is currently being "reviewed" and may be ulimately discontinued, reinstated or replaced/updated.



Wow, this is terrible news. Amex don't seem to want me to use their charge cards for spending anymore.

Had an interesting chat with an MR rep today. He read me an email sent to employees updating them on the shopping portal. In sum: it is currently being "reviewed" and may be ulimately discontinued, reinstated or replaced/updated.

Rep said that it got very positive or negative reviews based on whether a cardholder was awarded the bonus points (aka they used the portal correctly, didn't attempt to buy an item in store yet expect bonus, and didn't attempt to combine the bonus with another shopping portal).

The same email mentioned this targeted promo:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1364437-mr-bonus-july-1-thru-sep-30-2012-targeted-threshold.html

Apparently, they're still sending it out, with newer accounts getting invited later.

Did the rep say what the motives were from AMex? Are they still trying to have people used the shopping portal and earned bonus points, or they care about the reviews that might hurt the image of the cards? If the former, all they have to do is to educate people better to use them. If the latter, then all they need is to come up with a better idea to get bonus points through some protocol.

My wife just got a gold card offer in the mail today and it still listed the shopping portal as a benefit. I've always had good luck with the portal and hope they bring it back soon.

... they care about the reviews ...

I don't think they meant published reviews, but rather customer feedback. Many of us had stopped using the portal completely because every transaction required a request, and every request elicited a lecture on the correct way to use a shopping portal :rolleyes:, followed by a "courtesy" adjustment.

The telling part of the internal memo is American Express' notion that it was the customers' fault when the portal did not work correctly...

they used the portal correctly, didn't attempt to buy an item in store yet expect bonus, and didn't attempt to combine the bonus with another shopping portal


...rather than realizing that their implementation was simply substandard.

There's enough money to be made in this that I think it is very likely that American Express will re-enter the market, but it's very poor form to shutdown without any notice.

just called amex and the MR rep was insistant that they were taking it down to improve it and it is coming back

she then told me I could get a free AU on my Plat card, so she may not be the best source of info... (yes, of course I tried taking her up on that, but in the last step she said ohhhh wait there is a fee...)

Did the rep say what the motives were from AMex? Are they still trying to have people used the shopping portal and earned bonus points, or they care about the reviews that might hurt the image of the cards? If the former, all they have to do is to educate people better to use them. If the latter, then all they need is to come up with a better idea to get bonus points through some protocol.

It sounded like amex doesn't want to give out courtesy points when they don't make any $$$, especially when people are using another points bonus site or buying in store.

IMO, amex's site was valuable, but unreliable in general. I wouldn't complain if they did an overhaul or lumped the bonus points in with twitter/sync. As mia pointed out, it's severely disappointing when a service (still advertised on their website) is suddenly discontinued without notice.

Emailed Amex today and this is the response I got:

I'm really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you due to this issue and can understand your dissatisfaction.

I'd like to inform you that currently our earn website is not available. Currently this particular feature is under review. There is no ETA when or if it'll be available in future. As soon as there is any information, all Cardmembers will be notified.

Feel free to contact us if you have any more issues. We will certainly assist you as required.

Sincerely,

xxx
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

I'd like to inform you that currently our earn website is not available. Currently this particular feature is under review. There is no ETA when or if it'll be available in future. As soon as there is any information, all Cardmembers will be notified.


This doesn't sound good. The more I think about it, I think it's probably gone. If they were planning to introduce a new improved version, I'm pretty sure they'd just muddle through with the old one until the new one was ready. I guess they could be planning to get rid of it, but want to see how many people complain about it going away.

just called to ask about it's status. agent told me it would be back, but take it for what it's worth. received no small compensation for it being out of service, either, when I asked and informed them of making purchases on a competitors card.

Sent a SM and got the "we're trying to fix the issues before bringing it back online" response. Was told there was no point in them continuing to run the portal if it wasn't crediting points correctly. No mention of "under review" or other language inferring that it won't be coming back, at least from this rep. I pointed out in the SM that I've taken my portal business to one of their competitors and I'm not at all happy about the lack of communication, which is making me question the overall value of MR given their handling of this situation. Wasn't looking for or expecting points or compensation, but some up-front honesty (e.g. "sorry, shareholders, we made a bad trade, right now we're on the hook for at least $2b if things don't improve") and proactive notification (a novel idea, maybe I'm in the minority but I tend to check e-mail before the MR site) would be a welcome change, even for a relatively new customer.

I swear, I'm trying really really hard to like Amex...

I sent a secure message to Amex asking about this as I had some purchases to make. In their reply, they indicated I should try back in a couple of days and it would surely be available.

Not vouching for the accuracy, just relaying what I was told.

Standing by....

Other than their SPG card (for 1x spend), this move has effectively switched all of my spending to Chase. No point in trying to build points in the MR pot if it's going to take 3 years to get a decent award... Might be forced to (gasp) just top off my DL account and say goodbye to MR. I'll miss my Plat, but one of the reasons I kept it is the 1x point booster in the earn mall. I thought that was a nice perk.

Last year I bought 3 Apple Laptops at 6x for employees (who then worked them off) and that alone was 27k points (and in turn 40k Avios). You're telling me I'd get exactly 4.5k for that same spend now? No thanks--I'll finagle a way to buy it with 5x+ UR.

If they're not going to have transfer bonuses and the best point multiplier we get is 3x on air travel (admittedly a nice perk for those who get reimbursed for travel) and 2x on gas and groceries then it's just not worth it. I spend maybe $1k per year on airfare and another $5k? on g&g (both of which have been 5x this year on the Freedom).

Chase is really sticking it to Amex right now.

If they're not going to have transfer bonuses and the best point multiplier we get is 3x on air travel (admittedly a nice perk for those who get reimbursed for travel) and 2x on gas and groceries then it's just not worth it.

Chase is really sticking it to Amex right now.

Just curious, who said that they won't have transfer bonuses anymore?
If that is true that would be a bigger dealbreaker to me than the bonus points mall termination.

Just curious, who said that they won't have transfer bonuses anymore?
If that is true that would be a bigger dealbreaker to me than the bonus points mall termination.

I should not have made such a sweeping generalization. The bonuses are fewer and farther between these days. The reason I personally valued MR over UR was the fact that eventually you can parlay them into a transfer bonus--the number of partners is nice too, but most of them are useless if cpm is your goal. But with the level of ease of accruing other miles and points right now, it's not worth it to buy into the "MR ecosystem" and wait around for transfer bonuses at this rate. Eventually I actually want to travel...

Does anyone happen to have the terms from the old site?

I have several purchases with no points. Amex, via SM, is telling me I can't get my points because I used the wrong card. It was an Amex, just not an MR Amex. But I carefully went through the portal.

Pretty sure I did this before and it was no problem. Now, they say they can't provide me the terms until the site comes back up. From this thread, it sounds like that will be never.

You must pay with a card which is enrolled in Membership Rewards. See post 3 in this thread from 2009:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1020388-bonus-points-mall-4x-6x-question.html

You must pay with a card which is enrolled in Membership Rewards. See post 3 in this thread from 2009:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1020388-bonus-points-mall-4x-6x-question.html

Not what I wanted to hear, of course, but thanks for the confirmation.

You must pay with a card which is enrolled in Membership Rewards. See post 3 in this thread from 2009:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1020388-bonus-points-mall-4x-6x-question.html

Not what I wanted to hear, of course, but thanks for the confirmation.

While that is what is stated in T&C, as with all things AmEx, it doesn't necessarily hold up in practice. I made a purchase a little before the Earn site went down from a retailer offering 4x points (so this is 1x for the spend on the MR-enrolled card and 3x bonus). I did NOT use an Amex card, yet my MR account was credited for the 3x bonus. So, YMMV. :D

American Express practice frequently deviates from policy, but if the points did not post automatically the policy determines whether customer service will post manually. Pretty much the same as Chase Ultimate Rewards.

This is quite sad that Amex no longer offers the Bonus Points Mall. I used this a lot and I guess I'll be using my Chase Sapphire more now. I reached a representative who confirmed it has been taken down but they have not reached a final decision whether or not to bring it back up.

If anyone from Amex is reading this:
Amex Please bring back the Bonus Points Mall!! :-)

https://www.americanexpress.com/earn

http://www.membershiprewards.com/catalog/earn/Default.aspx

LOOKING FOR WAYS TO EARN POINTS?
We apologize for your inconvenience. The site is currently unavailable. Here are a few great ways to earn points:
Travel
Book your travel through americanexpress.com/travel and get 2X points for every dollar you spend on the card when you book with us.
Use your Card
You get one (1) point for every dollar you spend on purchases with your Membership Rewards® enrolled card. The more you spend, the more you can earn.

This is very un AMEX like way of dealing with this. Just take away the portal and hopefully no one will notice it? I sure hope that they are having some issues and trying to fix it but no announcement of any kind is not what I expect from AMEX, who won JD Powers customer satisfaction survey for 5 consecutive years.

Sent a SM and got the "we're trying to fix the issues before bringing it back online" response. Was told there was no point in them continuing to run the portal if it wasn't crediting points correctly. No mention of "under review" or other language inferring that it won't be coming back, at least from this rep. I pointed out in the SM that I've taken my portal business to one of their competitors and I'm not at all happy about the lack of communication, which is making me question the overall value of MR given their handling of this situation. Wasn't looking for or expecting points or compensation, but some up-front honesty (e.g. "sorry, shareholders, we made a bad trade, right now we're on the hook for at least $2b if things don't improve") and proactive notification (a novel idea, maybe I'm in the minority but I tend to check e-mail before the MR site) would be a welcome change, even for a relatively new customer.

I swear, I'm trying really really hard to like Amex...

So, this is the matter of IT problem that causes negative customer reviews on shopping portal? Even though I admit that there is no way to find out how many points you earn by looking at all the pending points and which merchandise they are coming from, it will be a simple fix from the IT/DB department.

So, this is the matter of IT problem that causes negative customer reviews on shopping portal? Even though I admit that there is no way to find out how many points you earn by looking at all the pending points and which merchandise they are coming from, it will be a simple fix from the IT/DB department.

it's not just that though. from my experience it seemed like everything was just so disorganized.

1 out of 10 bonuses would post correctly. i'd have to call every time, multiple times for each purchase. then after i get an agent, i'd have to educate them that yes, even though the normal promotion was 3x, i received an offer for 6x. to which they'd say that was impossible! and it would go round and round. the worst thing is id even sit there and have them walk through the math with me, if they agreed, which they sometimes refused to do. i am not kidding when i say they literally couldnt do simple addition and multiplication. we'd get to the end and there would just be silence... and then they'd say sorry.

one time i actually got someone who knew something and gave me 10,000 points as a goodwill adjustment because i had to call 8 - yes 8 - times just to get a 6x bonus to post from a purchase at walmart. and then the next purchase i made - for $310 on a netbook from target - didn't post so i called after 8 weeks. the rep told me the 10,000 goodwill adjustment, which is labeled as such in the account summary, was for the target purchase.

this is both from supervisors and reps. just incredible

then i come to use the ultimate rewards portal and low and behold, i receive an email 3after my first purchase letting me know i earned bonus points, it itemizes by vendor in the summary area, and the points post in 3 business days.

its like night and day.

This is very un AMEX like way of dealing with this. Just take away the portal and hopefully no one will notice it? I sure hope that they are having some issues and trying to fix it but no announcement of any kind is not what I expect from AMEX, who won JD Powers customer satisfaction survey for 5 consecutive years.

As of today, the error message is

We're experiencing technical difficulties with the Earn Points page at MembershipRewards.com, and as a result, have disabled it for maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to restore the Earn feature as soon as possible.

Also spoke to SPVR today. I was told site is done - they're re-vamping.

Good Afternoon FlyerTalkers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are experiencing technical difficulties with the Earn Points page at MembershipRewards.com, and as a result, have disabled it for maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to restore the Earn feature as soon as possible. Once we have more information, we will update you.

Thanks for your understanding.

Amex Customer Care

Good Afternoon FlyerTalkers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are experiencing technical difficulties with the Earn Points page at MembershipRewards.com, and as a result, have disabled it for maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to restore the Earn feature as soon as possible. Once we have more information, we will update you.

Thanks for your understanding.

Amex Customer Care

Yay! I hope this is true.

Good Afternoon FlyerTalkers,

I just wanted to let you all know that we are experiencing technical difficulties with the Earn Points page at MembershipRewards.com, and as a result, have disabled it for maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to restore the Earn feature as soon as possible. Once we have more information, we will update you.

Thanks for your understanding.

Amex Customer Care

Great. When you get it up and running, it would be lovely if it would return with the feature to see which purchases went through.

Great. When you get it up and running, it would be lovely if it would return with the feature to see which purchases went through.

and those pending, with full reconciliation ability, the item or service purchased, the supplier, the date, the $ value and the point value, like the old days

Amex has really dropped the ball on this one.

I hope the portal does come back but please PLEASE update the site to show which points are pending and posted. It is impossible to figure out if I am getting the correct points when I make so many small (less than $100) purchases.

let me add to the chorus about the sub-par activity details on the Amex shopping portal.

I spent some time today following up on all my various accounts to make sure miles / points have posted, etc.

Chase UR was a dream. Everything accurate, timely and easy to follow.

I gave up on Amex...could not figure it out.

Also, seems a bit misleading to me when Amex touts "5x" or whatever...they include the 1x for the spend, so it really is an extra 4x.

I called amex about this yesterday right before i put a 5k order through on apple.com they said. its down for maint and they are not sure when it will be up, nor will they go back and give credit to people like me that were not able to get credit for a purchase when we should of.

Amex MR does not hold the exclusive for difficulty monitoring and getting miles to post. Getting points promised from Mileageplus shopping is like getting blood from a turnip. And those aren't as lucrative as Amex but serve my purpose.

That's run by Catera isn't it?

Yes, Mileage plus shopping is run by Catera. I have really slowed down using them at all in favor of Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards.

UR points transfer to UA mileage plus...and UR typically have higher point earnings to boot.

... I have really slowed down using them at all in favor of Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards.

Which is also operated by Cartera Commerce Inc., I really hope that American Express chooses a different portal operator.

I called amex about this yesterday right before i put a 5k order through on apple.com they said. its down for maint and they are not sure when it will be up, nor will they go back and give credit to people like me that were not able to get credit for a purchase when we should of.

I'd try emailing them. I was offered 3x on a purchase from bestbuy after whining a bit. :D
Of course, they did say that it was a one time exception.

UR points transfer to UA mileage plus...and UR typically have higher point earnings to boot.

MP rewards even have less earning ability than Thank You rewards which is virtually the same Catera site. But I'm trying to eeek out one last ticket with the remaining MP points in my son's account before he takes over his account and starts paying for his own tickets (or worse...allows them to expire). The process of making sure those purchase bonuses are deposited has been excruciating!

I'm new to Platinum MR (although I've had other Amex's for years) and must have received my card within a week or so prior to Amex removing the info from their site. Seems like a bait and switch if you ask me.

I did make 1 purchase via the click-through, from a vender that does not list on any of the other sites, before the earn program's demise and have yet to see it post. I find that all MR points (even spend) are slow to arrive but is this purchase a lost cause?

I find that all MR points (even spend) are slow to arrive but is this purchase a lost cause?

Hope you screenshot every step of the process. I keep every step documented from the mall home page, to the "you're about to earn 3x at XYZ" landing page, to the store, to the check out, to the confirmation. It's good practice to do that for every mall so they can't tell you that you did it wrong and that's why the points aren't posting.

Which is also operated by Cartera Commerce Inc., I really hope that American Express chooses a different portal operator.

Didn't realize that Cartera also ran Sapphire's portal. To give some credit, I have not had any issues with purchases made on Sapphire, and points post pretty quick.

Wonder why there is such an operating difference between UA's portal and Sapphire's?

Didn't realize that Cartera also ran Sapphire's portal.

Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1355402-ultimate-rewards-mall-cartera.html

Does anyone have any more information from Amex Customer Services? In the past Amex been good about glitches, often giving out goodwill compensation, and I'm unwilling to give up on them yet. However, the lack of clear information, especially for the first week or so, seem pretty terrible and out of character based on my own experience. In the meantime, Chase Ultimate Rewards is definitely getting more of my attention, despite, in some cases (e.g. Apple) the return not being as good, and I fear for Amex that it might become habit forming for many.

Hope you screenshot every step of the process. I keep every step documented from the mall home page, to the "you're about to earn 3x at XYZ" landing page, to the store, to the check out, to the confirmation. It's good practice to do that for every mall so they can't tell you that you did it wrong and that's why the points aren't posting.

This is excellent advice.
I have not considered anything like this in the past and always wonder where the record of the transaction is kept and how One would prove a purchase in dispute.

I wondered about it but have not actually needed such proof until this week when a purchase on MP shopping was denied.

FWIW, the Amex rep manually posted the 20k bonuses as promised (bonuses I would've received through the portal, but purchased via merchant website or retail since the portal is down). There's still no ETA on the portal coming back up.

I spoke with someone there yesterday - got all my points (they had already posted, but I missed it).

She said, unasked, that the portal was coming back, but she didn't know when. Take that for what it's worth.

Also FYI I called and was given 5k in points for the portal being down based upon merchant spend and website spend. I was also told that the website is down and would be back up soon but no definite date.

Also FYI I called and was given 5k in points for the portal being down based upon merchant spend and website spend. I was also told that the website is down and would be back up soon but no definite date.

I just called, requesting about 5k points in unearned bonuses for purchases at online retailers apple, bed bath, overstock and crate & barrel. I was given a flat "no, there is no way for us to post bonus points manually", which I know is not true.

The rep's story was not consistent: she first said the site was decommissioned, then that it's down until further notice...

My Amex PRG is normally my go-to spending card, as it works way better for me on air mile redemptions. However, I just checked my spending for last month, and Amex lost out on about 20-30% of my spending as a result of the shopping portal being down, most of which has gone to Chase. Hopefully Amex is listening. Does anyone else have similar statistics?

My Amex PRG is normally my go-to spending card, as it works way better for me on air mile redemptions. However, I just checked my spending for last month, and Amex lost out on about 20-30% of my spending as a result of the shopping portal being down, most of which has gone to Chase. Hopefully Amex is listening. Does anyone else have similar statistics?

I'm pretty sure Chase's mall doesn't require you to use a Chase card . . .

I'm pretty sure Chase's mall doesn't require you to use a Chase card . . .

True, but if the portal bonus points do not post automatically it is very difficult to obtain assistance from Chase customer service unless you used a Chase UR card associated with the shopping portal login. Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1328801-experiences-using-non-chase-card-ur-mall.html

I just called, requesting about 5k points in unearned bonuses for purchases at online retailers apple, bed bath, overstock and crate & barrel. I was given a flat "no, there is no way for us to post bonus points manually", which I know is not true.

The rep's story was not consistent: she first said the site was decommissioned, then that it's down until further notice...

Same.

Just got off the phone with Membership Rewards: asked about the status of the website and was told that the website has been down for about 2 months and that they do not know when it will come back up. It WILL come back, the question is just when. Apparently, they were performing some updates, and they ran into some major errors that caused them to take the whole thing down.
I told the (nice) girl that this is a major blow to the Premier Rewards program (and even a bigger one for the Platinum holders, at 10x per purchase). I asked whether they would match the points if I just went to the brick and mortar store and called AMEX afterwards. Answer: No.

This blows, and really atypical of Amex customer service. They screwed up and they don't provide an alternative. This is my first disappointment with Amex (member since '99)

For folks who used secure message to inquire status about Bonus points, did it work recently? I tried three different browsers but it did not seem to pop up any windows for me to type a secure message. Any help would be appreciated.

This sucks because I just bought a new macbook air at apple. would have liked to get the 4-5x miles

I visited the American Express earn site at www.membershiprewards.com/earn yesterday for the second time in as many weeks and was concerned about the fact that it was still down. I was trying to buy some bigger-ticket items from Home Depot and wanted the 12x points (if that is even still available). I had no idea it has been down for two months! In any case, I called Membership Rewards customer service about the site outage and the rep I spoke too was totally devoid of information. She said that she was sorry it had been down so long, but they are trying to improve the functionality of the site. She had no ETA on when it might be back and didn't take my bait of whether it would be days, weeks, or months. She had no idea, or if she did she wasn't giving any information out.

I started searching the Internet about this problem and found this forum. After reading some of the posts, I was concerned they might be removing the possibility of earning bonus points via an online portal completely based on some of the responses I've seen here. I ended up reading this whole thread and then sending a secure message to American Express. Here was the response I received:

Thank you for writing in.

I assure you that we are not discontinuing earn site. We recently identified unforeseen system issues within the earn page at www.membershiprewards.com.

Once we can deliver the best possible customer experience, we will restore the program on the site and the offers will resume to normal.

We are working to restore the earn feature as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

[Redacted]
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services

So it does sound like they will be bringing the site back at some point. Who knows when.

I spoke to a supervisor yesterday, and was told that from what she's been told, the Amex rewards mall has been discontinued. Period. She said unless something drastically changes, Amex is not planning to bring it back.

Hmmm. That sucks.

That sucks.What really sucks is the conflicting information coming from AMEX about this portal.

What really sucks is the conflicting information coming from AMEX about this portal.

That too. :(

What really sucks is the conflicting information coming from AMEX about this portal.

i've been told the same, Mr Rebates is better especially if you do it through a referral, and get the 20%, Amex was equivalent to 15% in my view if using for F class redemption, not the end of the world, beyond a strategy problem, they had IT problems they obviously couldn't manage

I called amex about this yesterday right before i put a 5k order through on apple.com they said. its down for maint and they are not sure when it will be up, nor will they go back and give credit to people like me that were not able to get credit for a purchase when we should of.

You're not fighting hard enough... Took me two secure messages, but I eventually got 4x points for a purchase I made directly at Apple.com.

They said they got rid of the bonus points mall, but they are working on a "new" website which is basically like the mall + in-store purchases. However, transferring everything over from the bonus point mall to the new system is causing errors. Kind of like copying files from Windows to Macintosh and trying to make them work correctly.
On another note, I just got my 2X points from customer service. He said that I didn't purchase it through the mall (which I'm pretty sure I did - maybe error due to multiple windows open?), but he gave me the points anyway.

Kind of like copying files from Windows to Macintosh and trying to make them work correctly.

Differences in control codes, which caused this problem over 15 years ago haven't been a problem for a LONG time, so I would say that analogy died with the T-Rex.

i was on the phone to MR yesterday about missing Bonus Points Mall points, the CSR didn't take general calls, she was senior, i called her back with an extension number, she told me the talk of a replacement for BPM was all rumor and nothing definite at this stage

i was on the phone to MR yesterday about missing Bonus Points Mall points, the CSR didn't take general calls, she was senior, i called her back with an extension number, she told me the talk of a replacement for BPM was all rumor and nothing definite at this stage

I called about some Apple points today and was told exactly the same thing - there is no imminent replacement for the portal - as of now, it has simply been discontinued.

I called about some Apple points today and was told exactly the same thing - there is no imminent replacement for the portal - as of now, it has simply been discontinued.

That would really be unfortunate. I had mostly been focusing my spending on the UR portal but was looking to transition more of my spending to AMEX to bulk up my MR totals. They really are losing a lot of business to Chase with no portal.

... she was senior... she told me the talk of a replacement for BPM was all rumor and nothing definite at this stage

That would be unfortunate. Nevertheless, AMEX senior management should tell their junior people running their website to clear up all rumor and update their verbiage because, as of right now, it still reads "[we] are working to restore the Earn feature as soon as possible."

the americanexpress.com/earn changed its wording to say that the mall is down due to errors and that it is hoped to be cleared up. This is different, i believe, than the wording up in early July.

That is definitely a more positive wording.
I'm still amazed that "technical difficulties" and "maintenance" take this long.
-Karl

I tried to access the membershiprewards.com/earn link a few times in the past 3 or 4 days and kept getting an error page saying the site has technical difficulties.

I sent a secure message to AMEX and this is the answer I got today... :eek:

-------------------------
I'm really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you due to this issue and can understand your dissatisfaction.

I'd like to inform you that currently our earn website is not available.

As of today this particular feature is under review. There is no ETA when or if it'll be available in future or an alternate method by which you can make a purchase and earn bonus points.

As soon as there is any information, all Cardmembers will be notified.

Feel free to contact us if you have any more issues. We will certainly assist you as required.

--------------------------

just sent another inquiry and received a reply stating that the earn hub has been permanently discontinued...

Ten weeks, and still nothing positive from American Express. I wonder if they're following this thread?

I hope they are looking at this. Rarely did I use the site, maybe four to 5 times per year, but when it went down, I really felt dejected. The bonus points mall allowed for rewards to come just a little easier, especially with the dramatic decrease in the worth of each point over the last few years.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been considering switching to a competitor, particularly Chase with its similar Ultimate Rewards website. AMEX is a superior company, with superior customer service, great travel programs and an amazing concierge team. When I am meeting with someone and pay with an AMEX, it shows that I take my finances very seriously and I expect the best out of life. Cutting, or potentially cutting, this program has allowed me to evaluate whether to keep my AMEX or to switch to a competitor. I hope I decide to keep it, but there are no guarantees.

I hope they are looking at this. Rarely did I use the site, maybe four to 5 times per year, but when it went down, I really felt dejected. The bonus points mall allowed for rewards to come just a little easier, especially with the dramatic decrease in the worth of each point over the last few years.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been considering switching to a competitor, particularly Chase with its similar Ultimate Rewards website. AMEX is a superior company, with superior customer service, great travel programs and an amazing concierge team. When I am meeting with someone and pay with an AMEX, it shows that I take my finances very seriously and I expect the best out of life. Cutting, or potentially cutting, this program has allowed me to evaluate whether to keep my AMEX or to switch to a competitor. I hope I decide to keep it, but there are no guarantees.
You make me laugh.

That's pretty ominous.

I asked them yesterday to match the points I would have earned. They said no way. They also said that new business agreements were being drawn up and the mall would be coming back, but they had no set date when that would happen.

I asked them yesterday to match the points I would have earned. They said no way. They also said that new business agreements were being drawn up and the mall would be coming back, but they had no set date when that would happen.

It's not surprising that they need to re-work the agreements, Chase was kicking their butts up and down the board. It's become much, much easier to earn UR than it ever was to earn MR. The fact that UR are more useful to boot is also pretty damaging to Amex. People on CC are having a hard time unloading MR for UR 1:1 even WITH the BA bonus.

That said, if it does come back, I'll be surprised. Amex seems to be shifting their business reward model to social network syncing. These customers (those to whom this appeals) are probably much less deal-savvy (i.e. not buying a bunch of prepaid reload cards), the terms are guaranteed when they work out deals with merchants, and the demographics with the most disposable income are increasingly social networking users. $20 off $200 at BB is a solid 5% back, but I'd rather have 5x points--1000 UR (or even MR)--than $20 cash.

While Chase is certainly moving in the right direction (aggressive UR mall numbers and decent transfer partners) and Amex is moving the wrong way (losing transfer partners and closing the mall), I still think MR is the program to beat. They just have more usable transfer partners, plus they often have bonus deals. I've never seen Chase offer any transfer bonus. 40% or 50% to BA used correctly is very valuable. And Amex has also offered EQM in the past - my wife and I are still Delta Silvers because of it, and I've gotten first class upgrades from it. Until Chase goes beyond the normal transfers, I'll work the MR angle primarily.

I am surprised in the way Amex is handling this. I guess they don't want to tell people that they are discontinuing the mall since there would be a lot of cancellations. But if they are continuing the mall and just renegotiating, then why wouldn't they keep it up in the mean time? The bonus malls keep business coming their way even when I am doing a challenge with a new card to get points. Now there is not much reason to use Amex since they haven't had a transfer bonus to Delta all year and there is no mall. I agree with others that their customer service is great, but Sapphire Preferred calling directly to get a person is awesome. I guess Chase and Citi will get more of my business until they respond to this. Getting $5 off at McDonalds by syncing with Twitter is not going to get it, although Small Business Saturday is coming up at least.

^ to all the recent comments.

I need to do some shopping today, and no way I am using my Amex card with no mall bonus when I can use Chase Saphire Preferred and get many more points....and more transfer partners.

Granted, no transfer bonus with Chase, but annual kicker plus transfer programs that I actually use = no Amex use.

Not sure what they are thinking here....

I sure wish they would bring it back! :(

^I sure wish they would bring it back! :(

I just checked the shopping portal again today, contemplating buying something from Apple, and still nada. This is starting to get ridiculous. Amex: What are you doing? 15 weeks for "maintenance", and no real news, concerning what many consider to be a major value feature. At least gives us a real update!

I've been following up with AMEX for weeks. Finally spoke with a Sr. Director in I.T. (portal architecture or something), after pressing for a call-back from somebody more specialized.

Long story short, it may not come back. He wouldn't get into specifics, but said there are too many issues to be optimistic about a return.

Who knows...

I spoke to an AMEX rep at a local SMB event today. He mentioned a relaunch of all OPEN areas online 1/1/13. He said that includes the earning mall :) Lets see.

The bloggers haven't given Amex a hard time about this (other than reporting it). I find that interesting...

The bloggers haven't given Amex a hard time about this (other than reporting it). I find that interesting...

Not surprising...they don't want their affiliate links to stop working.

Well, I was thinking about upgrading to the PLAT card.... not any more.

SUCKS. Was looking forward to 6x points on the BPM like last Christmas. Good thing I didn't delay that computer purchase I had been contemplating making on BPM.

My guess is they're trying to direct traffic to the new SYNC service - which also sucks, every time I look I only have four or five offers, two of which are usually vacation service providers located in other states...

This might be an interesting development. I just looked at my MR statement (Amex PRG) for October, and noticed that I received 3x points for a couple of transactions that I would previously have received bonuses for with the MR mall. In these cases, budget.com (car rental) and livingsocial.com. Anyone else have similar? Are Amex giving goodwill bonuses? Alternatively, are they skipping the referral system and dealing directly with companies now?

This might be an interesting development. I just looked at my MR statement (Amex PRG) for October, and noticed that I received 3x points for a couple of transactions that I would previously have received bonuses for with the MR mall. In these cases, budget.com (car rental) and livingsocial.com. Anyone else have similar? Are Amex giving goodwill bonuses? Alternatively, are they skipping the referral system and dealing directly with companies now?

If this is the case, it might make my Amex my go-to card again. Not having to click through referral sites would make things much simpler. Further, it might make stacking possible - i.e., 3x from Amex plus click through UR mall.

Agreed. If everyone following this list could check their most recent MR statements and see if they have similar I'd be grateful. A list would be handy, especially if we could compare it with a previous earning bonus list. Has anyone made any Apple online purchases recently?

I'll look in just a sec, but wanted to report back that I got zero MR for complaining about no BPM...

"I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you as our Bonus Point Mall website is currently not available for shopping.

We have been advised by our technical team that currently, we are having some issues with the technical functionality on our Bonus Point Mall program and it is being reviewed by our technical team. During this time the Bonus Point Mall website will be unavailable to our Cardmembers until further notice.

Regrettably, we are unable to confirm the timeframe in which the Bonus Point Mall website will start working.

Once we are confident that we can deliver the best possible customer experience, we will start the Bonus Point Mall website and the offers.

However, as soon as it is available, we will notify you.

I appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

(CSR)
Email Servicing Team
American Express Interactive Services"

Bah. Seriously - I'm going to switch a lot of my spend to my UR card...NOT cool, removing a major piece of the program without any notice at all (other than a bunch of lame excuses)

This might be an interesting development. I just looked at my MR statement (Amex PRG) for October, and noticed that I received 3x points for a couple of transactions that I would previously have received bonuses for with the MR mall. In these cases, budget.com (car rental) and livingsocial.com. Anyone else have similar? Are Amex giving goodwill bonuses? Alternatively, are they skipping the referral system and dealing directly with companies now?

I can't see how they could skip a referral company and deal with all of these companies directly. I'm pretty sure we'd have heard of that.

And I can't see how they can give extra points for retailers (there were hundreds, maybe thousands, in the mall) without an affiliate company in the middle.

Some Amex cards (i.e. PR Gold) give 3x points for car rentals and other travel-related purchases. That could be what's happening here.

I can't see how either, but something weird is happening, looking at my MR statement.

I was looking around on the web for this exact thing. I just noticed all these extra points on my PR Gold card as well for Oct. Things such as 3x at Kate Spade, or 3x at Amazon. I'm not sure what is going on.

3x at Amazon!? That would be amazing if it were reproducible. Anyone else?

3x at Amazon!? That would be amazing if it were reproducible. Anyone else?

That's what I thought too.. My November looks higher as well and I know there was a lot of Amazon buying in there, but I can't tell since a lot of the points will be from Black Friday and the start of Xmas shopping.

If Amazon is starting to be 3X, this would really increase my Amex usage A LOT!

This could be very interesting.

Just to clarify, everyone who has seen extra points is using a Premier Rewards Gold Card, not a Business Gold Rewards Card, correct?

I, for one, never really use my Premier Rewards Gold Card outside of airfare at this point, so I've got no data to add.

Amex and Amazon certainly already have a partnership where you can use MR points for Amazon purchases. But if they are also awarding points for purchases, that would indeed be great. I can't see how that would square with an affiliate commission being paid to a blog or some other side, but I suppose anything is possible.

I just checked activity detail from the last statement and nothing looks out of the ordinary. My next statement should close tomorrow, and there is a relatively large Amazon transaction on the statement so I should have more info in a few days when that statement moves to "pending" on the MR website.

To be clear, everyone claiming these bonuses is actually seeing them listed on the MR website listed as a line item bonus when they look at activity detail?

In my case, yes, under card bonus details as a line item, in much the same way that supermarket and flight payments are marked.

I just checked activity detail from the last statement and nothing looks out of the ordinary. My next statement should close tomorrow, and there is a relatively large Amazon transaction on the statement so I should have more info in a few days when that statement moves to "pending" on the MR website.

To be clear, everyone claiming these bonuses is actually seeing them listed on the MR website listed as a line item bonus when they look at activity detail?

So, I have a Personal PRG card and not a Business card.

This is what it is showing up as.

10/XX/2012 AMAZON.COM 13 3x 39
10/XX/2012 AMAZON.COM 52 3x 156
10/XX/2012 KATE SPADE 150 3x 450

I can't see what is going to be coming for this last statement. That will be the most interesting one as it showing a lot of pending points..

So, I have a Personal PRG card and not a Business card.

This is what it is showing up as.

10/XX/2012 AMAZON.COM 13 3x 39
10/XX/2012 AMAZON.COM 52 3x 156
10/XX/2012 KATE SPADE 150 3x 450

I can't see what is going to be coming for this last statement. That will be the most interesting one as it showing a lot of pending points..

I had a $200 amazon purchase in October, but did not receive this bonus - at that time it was PRG - now upgraded to plat

Just to follow up.

I had a few transactions get 3x points that would not have in the past. I did not have an Amazon purchase on this statement (I forgot about the huge amount of lag in posting of MR points). I did get the extra points from other non-gas, grocery, or airfare categorized businesses - one of which was a paypal transaction.

3x PayPal would obviously be in a whole different league - and way to ripe for abuse, I'd think.

Care to share more details?

3x PayPal would obviously be in a whole different league - and way to ripe for abuse, I'd think.

Care to share more details?

Not a whole lot more to share, really.

My Paypal transaction was just a small regular paypal transaction from a merchant that only accepts credit cards via paypal.

Other than that it was legalzoom (long story, not really my purchase) and the charge for when I watched the John Stewart / O'Reilly "debate".

Since that last one is so obscure, I can't imagine it is targeted at particular merchants. The only thing that ties these all together is they were all online purchases.

Anyone who reported any extra points get bonuses from anything that wasn't an online transaction?

Edit to add: I could see Amex maybe adding a bonus for all online transactions. It would be a great way to poach competitors' portal bonuses. Sure, go through the competitors portal, but put your spend on our card. Just a thought.

Edit to add: I could see Amex maybe adding a bonus for all online transactions. It would be a great way to poach competitors' portal bonuses. Sure, go through the competitors portal, but put your spend on our card. Just a thought.

Except 1) At 3x MR points this strategy wouldn't really be profitable and might even incur a net loss; and 2) The strategy doesn't make any sense at all if they don't advertise it.

Oh well. I put a pretty large Amazon purchase on the PRG yesterday just to see what would happen.

Except 1) At 3x MR points this strategy wouldn't really be profitable and might even incur a net loss; and 2) The strategy doesn't make any sense at all if they don't advertise it.

Oh well. I put a pretty large Amazon purchase on the PRG yesterday just to see what would happen.

I'm not sure it would be a loss - they have airline purchases set up at 3x and I'm not convinced that is a loss. You have to remember a lot of people never use their points or use them on cheap redemptions like statement credits or gift cards. Statement credits are what, .005 per / pt? Which means that 3x really costs them .015?

Of course, if this is intentional (which is a big assumption to make) it is definitely preemptive, i.e. they would eventually advertise it when it is officially launched. My thought is that best case scenario this is an accidental "preview" of some future benefit. Worst case scenario it is a mistake that will be corrected - I just don't know how such a mistake could happen absent some intent, so that doesn't make sense to me.

I agree with CFFrost's analysis. I suggest we just sit tight, report findings here, see if we can find predictable patterns, and see what happens.

I got some strange 3xs on my PR Gold as well: ZenniOptical.com and Shoebuy.com.

Don't know what makes me happier; receiving those or the fact that I can finally see what points are awarded by specific transaction at MembershipRewards.com.

I buy *tons* of stuff on Amazon... it'd be beyond awesome if that goes to 3x.

A little update. I can confirm that I did not receive any bonus points for Amazon on my membership rewards statement this month, despite making one purchase in the appropriate timespan. However, I did receive 3x points on another budget.com payment, as well as a paypal payment for pet sitting. Very strange.
-Karl

I got 3x for several online purchases from two sites previously on the bonus mall and one phone orde made with my PRG card. No amazon bonus.
Very nice when added to my UR mall points. Got 5+ points/$ ^ ^ ^

It seems like it's kind of random, but that it always applies to internet or phone orders, rather than in store purchases.

For a company like american express to have such a ****ed up process in place is a disgrace. No communication, no clarity, nothing. What a joke. :td:

Getting ready to make a big Xmas purchase and NOT happy I can't get points through my PR Gold card, so I can also qualify for purchase protection and extended warranty. Guess this one goes to Chase UR as well. ::mad::(

I buy *tons* of stuff on Amazon... it'd be beyond awesome if that goes to 3x.

You know, kindle gift cards from staples using ink bold yields 5x ur points with no fees. Seems a better strategy than figuring out what's going on at Amex.

Here's the one thing that stops me from cancelling my Amex entirely: 20 years or so of stellar customer service. If I've had a problem with a vendor or needed a statement credit I've often gotten it without question or even much hassle, nearly every time. I have no experience with Chase and until I'm confident they'll take my needs seriously, I'm willing to give Amex a little more time. Also, the only Chase air transfer partners are UA, BA, WN... not terrible but for now I'd like more options.

Also, the only Chase air transfer partners are UA, BA, WN... not terrible but for now I'd like more options.

KE, too.

I can't believe the mall isn't back yet. I can't believe AMEX hasn't made any official announcement yet. Online portal is a big part of purchase decision and AMEX is seriously losing out.

When I bought a $2,000 Nikon D600 last week from JR, I went through Chase UR to earn 3x points.
When I bought a $2,700 Sony RX1 from Sony Store, I went through Chase UR to earn 3x points.

This is just 2 examples of many that I would normally have went through Bonus Points Mall and used AMEX if the mall was there. Now most of my purchases are put on a Chase card.

AMEX, get your act straight and bring the shopping portal back soon, for your sake.
Yes, you provide great service but that is not enough when consumers are losing out on thousands of points.

I just received an e-mail from American Express related to my Hilton HHonors card. At the bottom of the e-mail is a blurb with a link:

"Shop Online. Earn Rewards.
See how using your Card as your online form of payment earns you more rewards.
Learn More"


The link does not properly direct to a page with more information. However, this supports my theory (derived from having received extra points from a few different online merchants in the past couple of months) that AMEX is going to provide bonus points for online purchases generally, perhaps as an alternative to the bonus points mall.

Either that, or they're just referring to this:

http://shoptoearn.hhonors.com/hhearn/us/earnmallhome?

-Karl

Either that, or they're just referring to this:

http://shoptoearn.hhonors.com/hhearn/us/earnmallhome?

-Karl

That's probably more likely. As much as I use portals, I've never even considered the Hilton portal. The peculiar thing is that the link clearly directed to an Amex site rather than a hilton site (it was a faulty link however, which ultimately redirected to the homepage).

It is amazing as of today Earn Points page is still down for "maintenance". What kind of maintenance will take more than half a year?????

I mostly use Chase UR mall since the bonus is either on par or greater than Amex and I personally value 1 UR point a little more than 1 MR point. However, there have been some exceptions - shopbop, bergdorf goodman, starwood, hilton I do miss.

So, another month, another set of mysterious 3x bonuses on my AmexPRG. This time:

12/12 Mark Paypal
12/07 Amazon.com
12/03 Tix, inc
11/29 Bestbuy.com
11/29 Mark Paypal
11/21 Fab.com, inc
11/20 Water and Power Cashier

The really interesting one here is that "Water and Power Cashier" is my local utility company! It was definitely an internet transaction. All the others were internet purchases. Also note that for bestbuy.com, I went via a shopping referral site AND received amex cashback, so this was in effect a triple dip!

Perhaps it is more interesting to look at what internet orders did NOT get 3x over the same period:

Multiple Amazon.com orders
12/15 Neiman Marcus online
12/12 Nuts.com online
12/08 Gogoair.com

I do not think any of these companies gave a 3x bonus through the old earn hub, but I might be wrong about NM.

So, looking back over the past three monthly statements, there is a fairly consistent story that many online purchases are getting 3x bonuses. On the other hand, not all internet purchases are getting the bonus, and in the case of Amazon the story is particularly inconsistent. Perhaps most intriguingly, all of my paypal payments, admittedly all to one recipient, and my one local utility bill, have also received the bonus. I still don't feel like I have a complete picture.

To me, it looks like they're trialling some sort of new system. Or maybe they're just handing out random 3x bonuses to keep us engaged and intrigued?

-Karl

Oh, and another aspect to the story. I called up recently to cancel my card, knowing full well that I'd get forwarded to the reconsideration department. I took the opportunity to complain about and discuss the issue with the Earn Hub. There was no news, but the person I spoke with was apologetic and repeated the same story, that they were working on a replacement. I came away 17,500 membership rewards points richer, so all in all I consider it to have been a worthwhile phonecall.

If you are someone who uses your card a lot, this seems like a good way to register your concern about the situation. I don't recommend it to anyone who has only lightly used their card, though, as they may just say "okay, we're sorry to see you go".

I think I've gotten to the bottom of why only some Amazon.com payments go through with 3x bonus. It appears to only apply to ones labelled "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase" (through Amazon Mktplace Pmts) rather than "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores". I can also confirm that one of my paypal payments was to a different merchant on paypal, which would seem to be consistent with 3x Paypal across the board!

Its baffling that Amex still hasn't issued an official statement on this.

Its baffling that Amex still hasn't issued an official statement on this.

Agreed. However, perhaps somewhat optimistically I'm going to suggest that they've been trialling something completely new since October: 3x bonus for internet purchases. Clearly it's all pretty inconsistent at the moment, and if this were an official trial they'd most likely be deluged by feedback, complaints, etc. There is no way that they are unaware of these strange 3x bonuses they hand out after almost three months of it. I suspect we'll know the truth soon enough. Until then I'm starting to adapt my internet purchase spend as I learn more, and it's certainly increasing the utilization of my Amex PRG.

The main question I have is: "How are they paying for this?". Clearly 3x on all internet purchases would be a huge value increase, but, without getting referral bonuses, I do not see it as financially sustainable. The presence of 3x bonuses on paypal payments and my local utility bill suggests that they have not made deals with these companies. Perhaps they represent some sort of teething troubles?

So, maybe it's better for us that no official statement is made? Just keep looking for patterns and trying to double dip, using Amex PRG + a shopping portal for the bonuses.

I think the surprising thing for me is that I've been getting bonuses from some online merchants on BOTH my PRG card and my Hilton card. I can't imagine a new program that allows for an online bonus on ALL of their cards.

It has caused my significant other to do a double take on the Hilton statement since those are lumped in with the "Hilton Family Hotels" category - "When did you stay in a Hilton property!?"

To your point about a commission - isn't there a higher transaction fee for card not present transactions? Could that perhaps cover (some) of the associated cost? Combined with cutting out any middle man (such as other portals that are operated by Catera) or the cost of having to operate their own portal, could that be enough?

Maybe I misunderstood what you said. Are you getting MR points for purchases on your Hilton card?

No, I've had several online transactions from my Hilton card be categorized as "Hilton Family Hotels" earning 6 hilton points per dollar (rather than the usual 3).

I just wanted to ask, can anyone confirm whether or not they've seen any other MR earning cards getting the mysterious 3x bonus? I've only read reports about prg, anyone use other MR cards for online purchases and confirm that they did or did not get anything?

I just wanted to ask, can anyone confirm whether or not they've seen any other MR earning cards getting the mysterious 3x bonus? I've only read reports about prg, anyone use other MR cards for online purchases and confirm that they did or did not get anything?

I have the US Plat card. I've been ordering online like crazy and have not seen a single MR bonus. Used to have a PRG too... thinking about re-opening one when we have more clarity.

I have the personal Platinum as well. No bonuses.

I had several purchases in November that posted 3x on my PRG from Amazon.

I had several purchases in November that posted 3x on my PRG from Amazon.

All categorized as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase"? Sometimes they process as "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores" on Amazon, but none of those have given me 3x points.

-Karl

No, I've had several online transactions from my Hilton card be categorized as "Hilton Family Hotels" earning 6 hilton points per dollar (rather than the usual 3).

That's just plain weird. I guess that could support the "glitchy system" hypothesis.

All categorized as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase"? Sometimes they process as "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores" on Amazon, but none of those have given me 3x points.

-Karl

Just reviewed my Amazon activity from end of last year. Purchases classified as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase" received 3x.

The others which were "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores" did not.

All categorized as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase"? Sometimes they process as "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores" on Amazon, but none of those have given me 3x points.

-Karl

In December I had a bunch of purchases from Amazon, which again were in the mixed categories above. I believe it may have to do with if the purchase was 'Ships from and sold by Amazon.com' vs. sold by 'xxxx' fulfilled by Amazon.

In December I had a bunch of purchases from Amazon, which again were in the mixed categories above. I believe it may have to do with if the purchase was 'Ships from and sold by Amazon.com' vs. sold by 'xxxx' fulfilled by Amazon.

Yep. I see the same thing. My orders for items that were directly sold by Amazon did not get bonus. Those that were from other merchants (even if fulfilled by amazon) got 3x. As described previously, those that got the bonus have the merchant listed as Amazon Marketplace (as opposed to simply Amazon.com) and were classified as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase."

I also got 3x on a couple of Paypal transactions, filed under "Business Services - Internet Services."

I still wonder just what in the heck is going on here. Why have bonus categories and not tell your customers about them? I mean, I'm not really complaining, since I got a couple of thousand points I had no reason to expect, but as a business strategy it makes no sense to me.

I sent a secure message to Amex Rewards and got this reply:


I am really sorry that the Bonus Points Mall web site is still not working and you are loosing on bonus points.

However, please do not worry, I would request you to make the charge directly at merchants physical store or online store (Apple, Tiger Direct, Home depot etc) and once the charge is posted to your account, write back to us with the charge details and we will issue the bonus points manually.


NOW I AM CONFUSED :)


I wonder if all these 3x bonuses is just American Express' attempt to automate this? Maybe it's just a goodwill thing? If only it were vaguely predictable!

I still got 3x at paypal this month. Makes me want to use paypal for all of my online transactions - unfortunately this is only a $5 recurring monthly transaction (though it serves as a good barometer for whether this "glitch" is still active.)

It looks like Amex might be trying to tighten this problem up though - they clarified terms of the bonus categories on my most recent statement. (3x only for airfare directly from carrier, 2x only at domestic (US) gas stations)

I wonder if all these 3x bonuses is just American Express' attempt to automate this? Maybe it's just a goodwill thing? If only it were vaguely predictable!

I doubt it's proactively goodwill, rather than something systemic.

Semantics. A deliberate introduction of a systemic benefit, whether announced or not, can count as goodwill. If accidental, however, clearly it isn't.

My personal favourite idea is that they're just messing with us. By giving these unexpected points, they're keeping us engaged and interested enough not to cancel. Incidentally, they may even keep us quiet on all the inquiries, as we don't want to risk losing this benefit by drawing their attention to it! However, my preference towards that interpretation is borne more out of amusement at the idea rather than any kind of logic.

So we made some additional purchases from "sold by 'xxxx' fulfilled by Amazon" which posted yesterday 3x.

I asked Amex for an update on the missing earn mall, today. Nothing new. However, I'm increasingly of the opinion that the current state of affairs could be more lucrative than the old earn mall, as we can leverage the mysterious 3x bonuses in addition to referral bonuses from other sites.

I had several Apple purchase but no bonus points posted. I inquired today.

highman123, I would like to inform you that membershiprewards.com/earn is currently unavailable. Therefore, you cannot earn 4X or 5X MR points for Apple purchases

We have recently identified unforeseen system issues within the Earn page at membershiprewards.com. While we make updates to fix these issues, we have to interrupt the program.

I had several Apple purchase but no bonus points posted. I inquired today.

highman123, I would like to inform you that membershiprewards.com/earn is currently unavailable. Therefore, you cannot earn 4X or 5X MR points for Apple purchases

We have recently identified unforeseen system issues within the Earn page at membershiprewards.com. While we make updates to fix these issues, we have to interrupt the program.

"recently". That's funny.

The (correct) bonus points for a purchase I made last July just posted this weekend. (I never even inquired about them.)

The link title says it all:

http://thepointsguy.com/2013/03/amex-officially-confirms-death-of-bonus-points-mall-shopping-portal/

Hopefully our recent discussions point to a replacement of a different sort, however.

The link title says it all:

http://thepointsguy.com/2013/03/amex-officially-confirms-death-of-bonus-points-mall-shopping-portal/

Hopefully our recent discussions point to a replacement of a different sort, however.

What's funny is, if you look upthread, several of us that got talkative CSRs last year already knew this was done.

Yes, but others stated quite clearly that they were working on fixing the earnings mall. I'm afraid that they've been very inconsistent.

It appears the mysterious triple points bonuses may be ending. The small recurring paypal charge I had been getting triple points on every month only received one point / dollar this month. Any other recent experiences?

I wanted a better excuse than "I only spent enough to get the bonus" when I called to cancel my PRG today.

I blamed the mall and mentioned Chase. It sounded like I am not the only one by the reaction of the representative.

It appears the mysterious triple points bonuses may be ending. The small recurring paypal charge I had been getting triple points on every month only received one point / dollar this month. Any other recent experiences?

No statement for another week or so here. That would be a shame. No other mysterious 3Xs in your statement then?

I wanted a better excuse than "I only spent enough to get the bonus" when I called to cancel my PRG today.

I blamed the mall and mentioned Chase. It sounded like I am not the only one by the reaction of the representative.

Well, I renewed thanks to a fairly generous retention offer. I'm going to see out the year and get my 15k bonus again as a result. Unless a mall replacement comes up before my renewal next year, I'll certainly be pushing for another retention bonus or cancelling. They really need to come up with something, or else Chase are going to take a lot of their business!

-Karl

I was poking around the Amex website today, and stumbled across this...Sounds pretty definitive that the Amex Mall is now truly dead...:(

The Earn Points website (also known as membershiprewards.com/earn) will be discontinued as usage was less than expected. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We want to thank you for being an American Express® Cardmember. We're working hard every day to provide you exceptional customer service, great value, and compelling rewards. We look forward to your continued business.

We are dedicated to providing value to our loyal Cardmembers and hope you can take advantage of other great ways to get additional Membership Rewards points

http://www.membershiprewards.com/catalog/search/?Display=detail&Ntt=Earn%20Points&OmnSearchTerm=Earn%20Points

More and more spend to Chase UR now, and probably kill off all but one of my Amex as well once fees are due.

Edit: Ooops. I now see the Points Guy had already posted about this up-thread, though it did not come across very clearly without clicking on his link. I will leave the text posted here for clarity.

I was poking around the Amex website today, and stumbled across this...Sounds pretty definitive that the Amex Mall is now truly dead...:(



http://www.membershiprewards.com/catalog/search/?Display=detail&Ntt=Earn%20Points&OmnSearchTerm=Earn%20Points

More and more spend to Chase UR now, and probably kill off all but one of my Amex as well once fees are due.

Edit: Ooops. I now see the Points Guy had already posted about this up-thread, though it did not come across very clearly without clicking on his link. I will leave the text posted here for clarity.

Yes, it was a real shame. I only renewed this year due to a retention bonus, so they'll get one more year to reintroduce some value. Otherwise, like many others, Chase and the rest will get my business.

Well, the mysterious 3x MR bonuses for my Amex PRG are still here. I just looked at my most recent (February) statement, and received bonuses for the following merchants:

Bestbuy.com
Water & Power Cashier
LivingSocial
Wag.com
Amazon.com (Marketplace 3rd party only)

The results seem consistent with previous ones. Note that "Water and Power Cashier" is a local utility, but online credit card payments process as an Internet Purchase.

Furthermore, the March statement pending points are listed, and if I apply the following bonuses to my statement:

Gas x2
Groceries x2
Internet Purchase x3
Vehicle Rental x3 (perhaps all of Travel?)

I get within 10 points of the pending points, the rest being accountable for by considering that for 3x bonuses, you only receive the extra points on the purchase, not on any sales tax. (Note that I pay my utility bill bi-monthly, and so that does not contribute this month). The results seem very consistent from statement to statement.

Does anyone have any non-flight, non-vehicle rental purchases under the Travel category they can check?

My theory remains unaffected: American Express are experimenting with giving 3x category bonuses in order to make up for the withdrawal of the mall. If so, and if Internet Purchases and Travel (or at least Vehicle Rental) remain stable 3x categories, this will make the Amex PRG very competitive with Chase Ultimate Rewards once more.

Thanks,

-Karl

re your experiment comment, one can only hope, i've found myself reaching for the CSP more and more for all transactions, initially just for travel and restaurants, now i've taken the view why not enjoy the 7% yr end kicker, if the amex mall was still there i'd be using it, but that's a big disadvantage for amex now

Interstingly I received 3x for AP this last month.

Interstingly I received 3x for AP this last month.

This is nothing new (at least to me). What is very interesting is that karlmitchell seemed to get triple on regular Amazon.com. Is that right?...

Simpleton: No, not on regular Amazon.com. Those are still charged as "Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores". I should have clarifies that I mean the Amazon Marketplace 3rd party purchases which are charged as "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchases". I have clarified this now in my post.

I found an interesting discussion on credit card use at Amazon.

In the main, they found similar to us. If a purchase is from regular Amazon, it will go through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores". If it is from a Marketplace vendor, it goes through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase".

However, if it's via Amazon, but is a mixture of Marketplace and Amazon, it also goes through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase". In theory, this should make regular Amazon purchases give you the current 3x MR return. Maybe it's worth mixing it up a little if you have a large purchase?

I have not confirmed this.

Best wishes,

-Karl

I found an interesting discussion on credit card use at Amazon.

In the main, they found similar to us. If a purchase is from regular Amazon, it will go through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Department Stores". If it is from a Marketplace vendor, it goes through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase".

However, if it's via Amazon, but is a mixture of Marketplace and Amazon, it also goes through as "Category: Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase". In theory, this should make regular Amazon purchases give you the current 3x MR return. Maybe it's worth mixing it up a little if you have a large purchase?

I have not confirmed this.

Best wishes,

-Karl

This is a great finding!

On a side note, what's the category of your paypal purchase? I made two paypal purchases in Feb and Mar, both categorized as "Category: Business Services - Internet Services" and hence don't get 3x for my feb 2013 statement.

How can you even tell where your points came from?...under my point summary (activity detail tab) I only see 18,000 points from Feb statement. Can't see any indication of which purchases, if any, gave bonus points. Help the helpless...

UKUK: You have to look it up under your statement. From the main page go to statement balance, then you can either click on the + to the left of each transaction, or you can select view by Category. It might take some effort to track down which payment is which.

guoguo914: In response to your question, all were "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase". I guess paypal can process transactions in more than one way.

UKUK: You have to look it up under your statement. From the main page go to statement balance, then you can either click on the + to the left of each transaction, or you can select view by Category. It might take some effort to track down which payment is which.

guoguo914: In response to your question, all were "Merchandise & Supplies - Internet Purchase". I guess paypal can process transactions in more than one way.

got you. thanks for the info. it seems paypal will first categorizes the purchase and then send the info to Amex.

Update on the 3x points on Amex PRG internet (and some other) purchases: It's still happening!

I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.

Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.

FYI I've had 3x applied to bose.com purchases

Thanks, Tommy. I just had a look at my purchases before the "mysterious 3x" era, trying to find merchants that classified as "Internet Purchases" in order to predict 3x bonuses. I suspect that these will work in addition to those I have confirmed before:

Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com

Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.

I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.

Thanks, Tommy. I just had a look at my purchases before the "mysterious 3x" era, trying to find merchants that classified as "Internet Purchases" in order to predict 3x bonuses. I suspect that these will work in addition to those I have confirmed before:

Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com

Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.

I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.


I spend a lot of money every month on paypal. I had an experiment and tried putting 10k on the gold prg last month but I didn't get any category bonus. Any way to get paypal to code purchase as internet purchase?

I spend a lot of money every month on paypal. I had an experiment and tried putting 10k on the gold prg last month but I didn't get any category bonus. Any way to get paypal to code purchase as internet purchase?

Not that I am aware of... I did put a lot of paypal purchases back in December and January. Nothing happened.

Update on the 3x points on Amex PRG internet (and some other) purchases: It's still happening!

I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.

Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.

is there consensus on what cards this is working for, i'm not getting any on business plat or business gold, is it just for the personal cards?

Amex PRG only. A few people have checked with others, and it does not seem to apply.

Amex PRG only. A few people have checked with others, and it does not seem to apply.

thks, any speculation as to whether they're running a test market with the PRG before making it available across all cards? would be nice for the non PRG cardholders

thks, any speculation as to whether they're running a test market with the PRG before making it available across all cards? would be nice for the non PRG cardholders

Lots of speculation, little concrete, and on the off-change that Amex have just made a mistake, we don't really want to ask them. I proposed my interpretations in post #216. I recommend reading from post #145 onwards in order to catch up with discussions.

The idea of this being a test market for 3x on all internet purchases and travel is a great one, and it would certainly help make Amex competitive with Chase again. However, I can't see how they can make it cost effective as a business model. Without referral bonuses, the value of the miles from that is almost certainly greater than what Amex bring in on merchant fees. Admittedly that argument applies to Flights as well, and yet 3x on flights is a stated benefit. So my pet theory is that they're introducing this to keep the points/miles community engaged, and to make up for the lack of mall. Perhaps they will introduce something new eventually, but while this is happening I'm going to exploit it. Three months ago I thought there was little chance than I'd hit my $30k spend, and it was only the retention bonus keeping me onboard. Suddenly the Amex PRG is looking lucrative again, though.

Lots of speculation, little concrete, and on the off-change that Amex have just made a mistake, we don't really want to ask them. I proposed my interpretations in post #216. I recommend reading from post #145 onwards in order to catch up with discussions.

The idea of this being a test market for 3x on all internet purchases and travel is a great one, and it would certainly help make Amex competitive with Chase again. However, I can't see how they can make it cost effective as a business model. Without referral bonuses, the value of the miles from that is almost certainly greater than what Amex bring in on merchant fees. Admittedly that argument applies to Flights as well, and yet 3x on flights is a stated benefit. So my pet theory is that they're introducing this to keep the points/miles community engaged, and to make up for the lack of mall. Perhaps they will introduce something new eventually, but while this is happening I'm going to exploit it. Three months ago I thought there was little chance than I'd hit my $30k spend, and it was only the retention bonus keeping me onboard. Suddenly the Amex PRG is looking lucrative again, though.

you can always go the VR cards at CVS/Amex BB to build spend and pick up points for paying bills that otherwise would not have earned points

you can always go the VR cards at CVS/Amex BB to build spend and pick up points for paying bills that otherwise would not have earned points

Manufactured spend is a very different topic, and I prefer to keep it separate. We're talking about maximising purchases on regular spend. Besides that, VR cards are sparse around here, and I prefer not to put too many purchases of them on my Amex to avoid the risk of financial review.

My March points just posted this morning, and I can confirm that the following are still showing 3x points...

Amazon.com
Lancome.com
Costco.com

FWIW, my pending points from April are showing a substantial amount more than what I would have anticipated. Made a couple of purchases online at Best Buy, Apple, and Amazon throughout the month. It appears that these 3x purchases are still alive and well.

I had my april statement points accelarated so there's no way for me to get a breakdown of points earned by transaction. It appears that Hotels.com is 3x and an ebay return is -3x.

Hotels.com? That's a nice one. Could you check if the hotels.com purchase processed as Internet Purchase or as something else? Perhaps it's evidence that ALL travel is at 3x?

This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).

Hotels.com? That's a nice one. Could you check if the hotels.com purchase processed as Internet Purchase or as something else? Perhaps it's evidence that ALL travel is at 3x?

This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).

Where do you get the 10% discount code?

Hotels.com? That's a nice one. Could you check if the hotels.com purchase processed as Internet Purchase or as something else? Perhaps it's evidence that ALL travel is at 3x?

This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).

I spent 1 hour and finally got the math right. Yes I can confirm that hotels.com is 3x! I use Topcashback (my link:http://www.topcashback.com/ref/guoguo914) to get 7% back plus this rebate (http://www.hotels.com/deals/rebate/) plus its own Welcome Rewards.

Alternatively, HotelClub is 14% cashback on topcashback plus coupons plus its own rewards program.

In my recent bookings I found Priceline NYOP can't even beat those stackable deals (combined > 20% off).

Where do you get the 10% discount code? there are multiple 10% off codes out there but they don't work on chains.

Where do you get the 10% discount code?

As guoguo stated, there are quite a few going around. Most of the time I can http://evreward.com/store/go/3440 (a generally useful site to know about).

I spent 1 hour and finally got the math right. Yes I can confirm that hotels.com is 3x! I use Topcashback (my link:http://www.topcashback.com/ref/guoguo914) to get 7% back plus this rebate (http://www.hotels.com/deals/rebate/) plus its own Welcome Rewards.

Alternatively, HotelClub is 14% cashback on topcashback plus coupons plus its own rewards program.

In my recent bookings I found Priceline NYOP can't even beat those stackable deals (combined > 20% off).

there are multiple 10% off codes out there but they don't work on chains.

hotels.com is offering 8.5% cashback on topcashback!

and from my own experience, using the rebate promo code your stay will still count towards welcome rewards free night.

that's maybe the best deal out there in the market if you don't care about spg, ihg, hh etc points.