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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

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.

Old Sep 15, 2014, 7:36 pm
  #8686  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: ORD
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Posts: 1,786
Originally Posted by payeco
I'd disagree because I actually still have a pending CB for September. Not to mention BF is still paying out on it's normal schedule so you'd expect this to happen there as well if Amex were trying to wash their hands of it.
Sept should be showing as pending, as it is STILL September.
Amex does payout portals rather quickly, but BF holds those funds much longer than TCB does.
I would say BF and TCB are both on normal schedule and see nothing to presume a 'hand washing'
skibum7732 is offline  
Old Sep 17, 2014, 7:47 pm
  #8687  
formerly known as Frugal Travel Guy
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Programs: UA Gold, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 1,925
Bump

I just missed seeing the thread on the first page of the forum

Anxiously Awaiting
ingy is offline  
Old Sep 17, 2014, 7:53 pm
  #8688  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: Delta silver, HH silver, IHG platinum, SPG gold, AMEX platinum
Posts: 400
Originally Posted by ingy
I just missed seeing the thread on the first page of the forum

Anxiously Awaiting
Shameless! :-)
stealph is offline  
Old Sep 17, 2014, 8:12 pm
  #8689  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: PHL
Programs: SW CP, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 571
Originally Posted by ingy
I just missed seeing the thread on the first page of the forum

Anxiously Awaiting
LOL! Me too, my AFTs are longing for Amex to return to the portals.
ftomasze is offline  
Old Sep 17, 2014, 9:29 pm
  #8690  
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
Originally Posted by ingy
I just missed seeing the thread on the first page of the forum

Anxiously Awaiting
Please don't do his often.

When I saw this thread rise to the top I had to pause and tell myself not to get my hopes up.
payeco is offline  
Old Sep 17, 2014, 11:31 pm
  #8691  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: BOS .. but soon SFO
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Posts: 1,528
a friend of mine got in on the Barclay 6x deal many moons ago..

except Fedex failed to deliver and my friend had to cancel the order since AMEX has a ton of restrictions on picking up from a UPS location and basically everything MYUPS is about...

anyways, my friend got the credit back on his statement but the bonus from the barclay portal posted anyway

this was a long time ago though
stupidzbu is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2014, 5:42 am
  #8692  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
I also got a charge when I saw the thread rise in the feed. Bummer. Actually, I've found this one of the least snarky threads in FT. I kinda miss the banter.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2014, 6:36 am
  #8693  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
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Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by stupidzbu
a friend of mine got in on the Barclay 6x deal many moons ago..

except Fedex failed to deliver and my friend had to cancel the order since AMEX has a ton of restrictions on picking up from a UPS location and basically everything MYUPS is about...

anyways, my friend got the credit back on his statement but the bonus from the barclay portal posted anyway

this was a long time ago though
A lot of us got paid for declined purchases (some really really well). Then Amex got smart (maybe b/c of this thread - I'm guilty in that too) and stopped paying out on declined purchases.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Sep 18, 2014, 7:09 am
  #8694  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 486
Originally Posted by mrbiggs223
anyone tried to cancel the premium free shipping plan for a pro rated refund?
Too early for that. Someone posted a letter from one of the portals suggesting AMEX will be back next month.
itchyfeet123 is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2014, 1:46 am
  #8695  
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Coconut Creek, FL
Programs: AA Lifetime Platinum-2 MM Starwood Plat,Delta DM
Posts: 975
Originally Posted by itchyfeet123
Too early for that. Someone posted a letter from one of the portals suggesting AMEX will be back next month.

It will be interesting to see what changes are made to these. This was one of the more active boards. I have many uses for the AMEX gift cards which are more related to spending them than standard MS.
robertw477 is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2014, 6:14 am
  #8696  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
As soon as we get closer to the spending season we'll see them again. In the meantime, if you want to order from Amex without a fee, there's now code "phone." Yesterday I was waiting to speak to a CSR and that came up in the Muzak. Doesn't help for cash back but if you like to avoid a string of 504.95 charges...
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2014, 5:03 pm
  #8697  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
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Originally Posted by robertw477
It will be interesting to see what changes are made to these.
My prediction: Amex will fix the "login" loophole that allows you to order >$500 GCs. They put this on hold while their programmers tackled the problem?

In other (relevant) news: I just received confirmation back from Befrugal and Barclays that they (AMEX) completed their respective investigations on 2 transactions that didn't track. I'm happy to report that both BF and Barclay's have credited my account with the missing points (worth about $400 total).

Befrugal was very quick to reply to my request through their portal to open an investigation, but it took them almost 1 month to complete it.

Barclays was a bit of a pain, as I had to spell out (repeatedly) that yes I got paid for *a* $5000 transaction, but not the $5000 transaction in question. It took about 4 back-and-forths for them to finally agree to open an investigation with AMEX. It also took about 1 month to complete the investigation, with zero communication between "We've opened an investigation" and the postal-mail notice saying "We've credited your account".

Gloob
gloobnib is offline  
Old Sep 19, 2014, 7:11 pm
  #8698  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 202
Originally Posted by gloobnib
My prediction: Amex will fix the "login" loophole that allows you to order >$500 GCs. They put this on hold while their programmers tackled the problem?

In other (relevant) news: I just received confirmation back from Befrugal and Barclays that they (AMEX) completed their respective investigations on 2 transactions that didn't track. I'm happy to report that both BF and Barclay's have credited my account with the missing points (worth about $400 total).

Befrugal was very quick to reply to my request through their portal to open an investigation, but it took them almost 1 month to complete it.

Barclays was a bit of a pain, as I had to spell out (repeatedly) that yes I got paid for *a* $5000 transaction, but not the $5000 transaction in question. It took about 4 back-and-forths for them to finally agree to open an investigation with AMEX. It also took about 1 month to complete the investigation, with zero communication between "We've opened an investigation" and the postal-mail notice saying "We've credited your account".

Gloob
I am glad things worked out for you.

I had a missing transaction through the Rapid Rewards portal on a Best Buy purchase. I opened the case and the Cartera rep sent regular "we are working on it" emails (which I really appreciated). About a month later they credited my account.

I also contacted the Alaska portal for a $2k AMEX GC purchase on 7/16 which didn't credit. No reply, no response -- three weeks gone by. I'll wait until Sunday then contact them again.
fluffyCat is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2014, 6:38 pm
  #8699  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: United MP, American AAdvantage, Chase UR, AMEX MR
Posts: 211
I was charged the Premium Shipping Plan Membership back in August of $99 which i thought was worth it when purchasing gc with cb was present. Since that is now gone, there is no need to pay for the $99 or the prorate. Called in to AMEX gift to have the shipping plan membership canceled. Supposedly it should be easy, smooth and hassle-free based on feedback from other users and the T&C but turned out to be a nightmare of one and a half hour on the phone with a CSR. CSR did not know what i was talking about; said i was still on the trial plan, gave her the order number with the purchase and the $99 shipping charge did not help, told me that the shipping charge is only for amex member and since i paid with chase visa, there is none; did not show a premium shipping charge; theres more, but can't remember. The worst one is to call chase up and dispute the $99 charge. What kind of bs is this. worst cs ever. Finally i had to call chase to dispute the $99.

This is my experience and i hope no one had to go through this just to get the refund back for the premium shipping plan membership.
vfdfs2 is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2014, 7:10 pm
  #8700  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: PHL
Programs: AA, SPG, HHonors, WN, Club Carlson, IHG
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Having worked in call center management, if the first person I speak to doesn't seem like they will help me get the resolution I am looking for in the first 10 minutes, I simply ask for a supervisor. No way I would've gone for an hour and a half.
Here2party is offline  

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