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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

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Old Oct 25, 2013, 7:07 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: ericdabbs
Please read the wiki before posting a question.

UPDATE 01/17/15

BeFrugal: 1.5%
Big Crumbs: 0.9%
TopCashBack: 1.5%


For other cash back or airline portals, check here: http://www.cashbackmonitor.com/Cashb...erican+express

Public Service Announcement: Do NOT use fee-free codes if you want portal cashback / miles. CB/Miles will post and then be clawed back.

FAQ

Will it post as a cash advance (CA)?

Citi - Yes.

Cards from Chase, BoA, FIA, Barclay, AMEX, CapitalOne, US Bank, Discover, HSBC, etc., have posted as purchase. PNC Visa Cashbuilder - posts as purchase but does not earn CC rewards

Note: Some issuers (Discover, US Bank, etc.) will decline the authorization if it exceeds your CA limit. This does NOT mean it will post as CA. It simply means you need to lower the purchase amount below your CA limit for authorization, but it ultimately posts as a purchase.

How do I set PIN on AMEX Gift Cards and use as debit to load Bluebird, buy MOs, etc.
You cannot set PIN or use them as debit to load Bluebird, buy MOs, etc. You can only use them as credit where AMEX is accepted.

How do I cash out AMEX Gift Cards?
Use manufactured spend techniques (load RB, buy Visa/MC GCs, VRs, AP, AFT, etc.) or normal spend where AMEX is accepted.

Why buy AMEX Gift Cards then?
To reduce the cost of manufactured spend, to mask your manufactured spend (i.e unusual high spend at Target or CVS), earn additional cash back on spend, or meet minimum spend targets faster.

Next day shipping that isn't?
The next day shipping is from when they ship the cards to UPS, which can be as long as 10 days from the order submission if you order personalized cards (more recently this has been under a week). For next day shipping, you are notified late night (once your card finishes processing, see above) and the package arrive that same morning before 10:30AM in your area.

What is with the charge disappearing from my credit card?
Once the order is placed you will see a pending charge on your CC account. Quite often once the card ships this pending is removed but does not show as a charge. Don't panic (or celebrate) it will show up as a charge within a day or so.

Personalized GCs?
Either Biz or Personal GCs can be personalized with your name. This helps when shaky cashiers who demand to see your card are prevalent. These take approximately 4 biz days to arrive compared to the non personalized which arrives as quickly as the next day.

UPS Tracking?
If you logged in to your AMEX account when placing the order you can get tracking info by logging in to your AMEX account and clicking on cards > gift cards > order history > order details. Unfortunately tracking information may not appear until well after your order has shipped so it's best to sign up for UPS My Choice to get faster tracking info and reroute your package if needed. Since UPS may drop your package off at the door if you're not home, it will be useful to know when your package will arrive.

The portal terms indicate that coupon codes will invalidate cash back. Is this true?
Yes (as of July 2014)

What are the purchase limits? (Updated Dec 2014)
10K personal every 14 days
100K business every 14 days

Do declined orders count toward the purchase limits?
YMMV

Do fees and shipping count toward the purchase limits?
No

Why was my purchase declined by AMEX?
There are several possibilities:
- Your billing address does not match 100% with what the credit card company has on file. This could be anything from apt/suite/condo # on the wrong line to zip code requiring 9 digits instead of 5. If your first purchase does not go through, call your bank or login to your acct to verify that this matches what you used.
- You have gone over the $10k every 14 day limit on personal gift card purchase.
- Even if you are sure the first two are correct as you have ordered before on that card and it's been more than 14 days, you might still get declined. No one has any idea why.
- You placed a business order and you don't really have a business (at some point AMEX does a background check for a valid business) or you have exceeded the 14 day limit for business orders.

My order was declined but my credit card still shows a pending authorization. How long until this falls off and my credit line is freed up?
I typically takes 1 week for the pending authorization to fall off after a declined order.

Can I order from the business side using a personal card? Or does it need to be a business card?
You can use whatever credit card you want to pay for business or personal orders. About the only restriction is you can't use an AMEX GC to buy another AMEX GC.

How long will it take the portal to track my order and confirm the pending cash back or points?
For non-Cartera portals (TCB, BC, Befrugal, etc) your order will usually track within a day or two.
For Cartera portals (Barclay Reward Boost, Lucky Rewards, USAA, Alaska, Delta) it will take 3-4 weeks to track.

My orders are not tracking. How can I maximize the chances the portal will track my order properly?
Use a browser you do not normally use (Chrome, Firefox, Opera), reset all browser settings to defaults, clear all browser cookies, disable all browser add-ons, and close/re-start your browser before navigating to the portal and placing your order. Do NOT use promotional coupon codes. The vast majority of tracking issues result from use of coupon codes, a bad browser cookie, improperly configured browser settings, or add-ons that interfere with cookie tracking.
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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

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Old Dec 3, 2012, 5:25 pm
  #61  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: UA
Posts: 27
Smile Discover with Amex prepaid

Originally Posted by zanzibar
I am waiting to read if anyone gets the 5 percent back on Discover online shopping purchases (unlikely) for Amex prepaid cards since I have an old Discover card that I have not used in years. Only for $1,500 in purchases though.
I have successfully got 5% cashback with Discover by purchasing Amex prepaid card.
hamnori is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 7:14 pm
  #62  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: UA
Posts: 27
And I now see 2.5% with BigCrumbs. I just ordered with 2.25%
hamnori is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 7:14 pm
  #63  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NJ, USA
Programs: SPG Gold, OnePass Gold, OneWorld
Posts: 168
Talking Me Like Discover

I am tempted to get Discover card for their excellent promos and cashback portal. This is on my list for next churn.^
kshahk is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 7:21 pm
  #64  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: 787
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 1,306
Whats the largest amount per card? i only see $200 cards. No $500 ?
ThePointsCollector is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 7:23 pm
  #65  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bellevue, WA
Programs: All main US FF programs basic level
Posts: 109
It asks me for Business TAX ID, but because of the two boxes, it seems like I can't sub with SSN? I did not even choose a business card option as far as I can tell. Just picked the topmost leftmost card after logging in. Does not allow to proceed with just personal address and phone filled out.


Edit: Ignore. Seems like clicking through my e-mail led me to to clicking on the business card option since the personal was hidden below. Am going to switch to personal.
zanzibar is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 7:29 pm
  #66  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by Bored_Russian
Whats the largest amount per card? i only see $200 cards. No $500 ?
$3,000
Stoughton is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 8:03 pm
  #67  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: 787
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 1,306
Originally Posted by Stoughton
$3,000
How do you get $3000 on one card? The largest I see is $200.

Oh, I see. Classic Gift card.

Last edited by ThePointsCollector; Dec 3, 2012 at 8:09 pm
ThePointsCollector is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 8:04 pm
  #68  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bellevue, WA
Programs: All main US FF programs basic level
Posts: 109
Went through with it despite my trepidation at having a package left outside my door (live in an apartment complex). Wonder what happens if I never get these?

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how CHASE (I used the Ink) and AMEX make out on this in terms of profits/losses? I assume AMEX pays CHASE anywhere from 2-3 percent in fees since I used the CHASE card to buy these? Just like a retailer would pay CHASE for a 5k purchase?

Does AMEX also pay BigCrumbs something over 2.5 percent? Otherwise, how does BigCrumbs make anything with its business model?
zanzibar is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 8:12 pm
  #69  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 463
Any promo codes to sweeten the deal?

Do we know for sure what coupon/promo codes work for sure and will NOT affect the ability to receive cash back?
AnitaBryant63 is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 8:21 pm
  #70  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 225
Looks like I am already blacklisted after $5000 in 3 separate purchases over the last month. Every card I use gets rejected.
mensday is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 10:18 pm
  #71  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
Originally Posted by mensday
Looks like I am already blacklisted after $5000 in 3 separate purchases over the last month. Every card I use gets rejected.
You might have to give more detail. There are people doing several times that amount per month and have been doing just fine.
Astrophsx is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 10:55 pm
  #72  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 73
Originally Posted by Astrophsx
Anyone remember the time when it was around 4%? Had to be at least 2 years ago. I'm liking this holiday!!
It was actually 4.5%, plus many of us had 5% CC's back then. It felt like minting money
chuzzlewit is offline  
Old Dec 3, 2012, 11:13 pm
  #73  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bellevue, WA
Programs: All main US FF programs basic level
Posts: 109
I am assuming it was harder to dispose of the Amex cards a few years ago prior to all these new schemes, plus interest rates at the time were also over 4 percent in case you wanted to keep your 5k in the bank?

Originally Posted by chuzzlewit
It was actually 4.5%, plus many of us had 5% CC's back then. It felt like minting money
zanzibar is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2012, 5:08 am
  #74  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: EWR Ionosphere Club, LAX Clipper Club, Still Traveling Global, yearly BIS miles
Programs: EAL Silver Wings, I-Club, Flying Colonels DL, WorldPass PLat from the olde Meatball and PE SMARTbank
Posts: 1,987
Originally Posted by DaveInLA
Could you clarify on this a bit? You said not to use a coupon code when using these promotional codes... are coupon codes and promotional codes not the same thing? What would be an example of a coupon code?
I cant seem to get the codes to take more than 5.95 off of either personal or biz GC purchase of 500
what is the limit to avoid higher fee shipping?
barcky... its confirmed as purchase?

any help
thanks

Last edited by frank_10b; Dec 4, 2012 at 5:20 am
frank_10b is offline  
Old Dec 4, 2012, 7:44 am
  #75  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 463
When does the 2.5% offer go away?
AnitaBryant63 is offline  


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