American Express Membership Rewards - One off purchase over my credit limit

I have a Gold Amex MR card and want to use it to pay for our RTW tickets next week. I don't need a higher credit limit over all, the $5200 I have now is ample for normal life. The tickets will cost close to $9000. That's a huge chunk of MR points.

What I want to do is over pay my card so I bring the total credit availability over $9000. I have the money in the bank, but I want the MR points. I have heard that Amex doesn't let you do this. Just wondering if anyone else has succeeded in doing this?

I don't see why they won't let you do this. You are putting the spend through them. I've done this on other cards, but not Amex.

It might be easier to just ask for a temporary increase in your limit to do it, or just tell them what you want to do. They are usually very accommodating if you a) have a good payment history and b) tell them what's going on.

Why dont you simply put the money on the card account in advance ??? Isnt that possible in Australia???

I have a Gold Amex MR card and want to use it to pay for our RTW tickets next week. I don't need a higher credit limit over all, the $5200 I have now is ample for normal life. The tickets will cost close to $9000. That's a huge chunk of MR points.

What I want to do is over pay my card so I bring the total credit availability over $9000. I have the money in the bank, but I want the MR points. I have heard that Amex doesn't let you do this. Just wondering if anyone else has succeeded in doing this?I didn't realize that that kind of card had a preset limit. The first time I bought rtw tickets I did nothing, and the charge was accepted automatically. Call them.

My gold MR card says "no limit" under the limit listing.

Does Gold Card come with a credit line in Australia? Here in US there is no preset limit. Charges are approved based on your income and previous payment/purchase history.

It's a credit card not a charge card and yes there is a preset limit of $5200. I have heard that Amex doesn't let you pay extra in advance, just wondering if anyone has ever done this before on an Amex.

I would call them to tell them I am about to drop a big charge, less likely to be a problem if you tell them in advance.

In fact, with an advance call I'd be surprised if you had any problems at all.

I have a Gold Amex MR card and want to use it to pay for our RTW tickets next week. I don't need a higher credit limit over all, the $5200 I have now is ample for normal life. The tickets will cost close to $9000. That's a huge chunk of MR points.

What I want to do is over pay my card so I bring the total credit availability over $9000. I have the money in the bank, but I want the MR points. I have heard that Amex doesn't let you do this. Just wondering if anyone else has succeeded in doing this?

I'd call AMEX and let them know you have an upcoming charge and you'd like to let them know it may be outside ordinary expenses.

Most likely they OK the charge and you can send the full amount when payment is due.

This puts you as paying a $9,000 charge in full and makes you look better on AMEX's internal credit review history.

It's a credit card not a charge card and yes there is a preset limit of $5200. I have heard that Amex doesn't let you pay extra in advance, just wondering if anyone has ever done this before on an Amex.

Then ask them for an increase in the credit line - say $15,000 - offer to send in the $9000 for the approx monthly charging.

They'll most likely increase your credit line and send you pre-approved offeres in the future.

It's worth phoning them - they may increase your limit but they can be inflexible at times.

I wanted to make a charge that was about 10% over my limit and they refused it point blank. I argued the point with them for 10 minutes but the call centre rep wouldn't budge - They couldn't increase my limit because I'd had a limit increase 6 months earlier and they couldn't authorise the charge. Rules were rules and they couldn't be bent or broken.

A few months later I told them I wanted to cancel the card because of this incident and they offered me a cash payment as a good will gesture if I agreed to keep the card and they increased my credit limit.

There's no understanding their policies sometimes. :confused:

I've prepaid $20k to buy RTW tickets for me and my friends so it is possible (on a US card at least).

This is wierd. Yesterday, I paid my balance due and purposely overpaid by $130. My limit stayed at $5200, it didn't go up to $5330.

This is wierd. Yesterday, I paid my balance due and purposely overpaid by $130. My limit stayed at $5200, it didn't go up to $5330.

It's a computer program, not a person. The fact that you can charge $5330 this month before busting your limit doesn't change the limit.

Update: I called Amex and explained the situation and also that there would be no risk to them as I was willing to pay the extra $4000 up front. They won't let me pay in advance and they won't approve the one-off charge. I told them that other people on a travel forum (unnamed) said they have gotten approval for such a purchase. The Indian call centre said that these people probably have CHARGE cards as opposed to a CREDIT card. In fact, they sad that having my account in credit by $4000 would freeze my account.

The situation is complicated because AA doesn't have a real office in Australia. They do have a ticket office in SYD but no direct phone contact.

I can't believe I am the first person in the world who doesn't have one single credit card with a limit large enough to purchase 2 ATW tickets, also a group of friends travelling together may want to pay separatly.
If anyone has any other ideas how to get this done, please post them!

If anyone has any other ideas how to get this done, please post them!

Do you have to pay for the tickets immediately?

If not and you are booking (say) 6 weeks in advance then pay for one ticket up front, pay off the balance when the statement arrives, then pay for the other ticket.

As it is points for charging you are doing this for.
Book the seats-on seperate PNRS-charge one ticket-leave the other on hold for a week-having made payment to AMEX a couple of days ahead-timed to hit your account the day after the tickets are charged-then charge the 2nd ticket. Then call the airline and ask them to merge the PNRs
Would that work ? I don't use AMEX so a call to them to find out if this can be done anytime in your billing cycle or only at a certain date might be prudent.
In other words charge one ticket pay for it then charge the other as soon as the funds paying for the first ticket hit your account.

I'm trying to do that if I can get the AA office in SYD to cooperate and they don't have a direct phone line. It diverts to India.

I've prepaid $20k to buy RTW tickets for me and my friends so it is possible (on a US card at least).

That's interesting because I tried to do exactly what the OP is suggesting and they wouldnt allow it. That was several years ago so the policy may have changed but our company was doing a small corporate getaway for about 60 people and the charge was slightly over 100K and they wouldn't take the charge, I said I can prepay it to you but i want the points and they explained it wouldnt help. I spoke to the CSR, and 2 supervisors trying to get it done over the course of several days and they wouldnt allow it. So we ended up working with the resort and doing it in 3 separate charges.

If anyone has any other ideas how to get this done, please post them!

As I am a German credit card holder I really don´t know how the Amex bills in Australia look like.
In Germany you find on the lower part of your invoice a message that you can send in check payment to an address and furthermore an account number for a bank transfer.So you are able to make a bank transfer ("Überweisung") in advance.
Maybe it´s the same in your country. Just look at the small print at the bottom.

And a 2nd possibility: As you pay your credit card bill from your direct debit yccount at your local bank you have at least one transfer each month. So just ask your local bank after the details of that transaction.
Then you will get the bank account number and Bank Identifier Code of American Express International. So you can make a bank transfer exactly at the date and with the amount you want to !
Just let us know if this worked......