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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 Oct 20, 2014, 9:05 am
  #9076  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 142
Originally Posted by liveforflying
Hi

Can you buy personalized Gift Card ( personal card ) with business Credit card ?

With Business Version of AMEX Gift Card, you can not put name of person. How do you do that ?

Without your name on gift card, it is hard to use at CVS and other places.

Thanks for your help.
You could put your name on business AGCs.
Yaoyao is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 9:28 am
  #9077  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 437
I made a $3K BC order last night. It's only reporting $36 CB. That's 1.2%. WTH.
vinhboy is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 9:32 am
  #9078  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by vinhboy
I made a $3K BC order last night. It's only reporting $36 CB. That's 1.2%. WTH.
Not sure what the rate was last night but the new rate went into effect this morning.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 9:33 am
  #9079  
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by vinhboy
I made a $3K BC order last night. It's only reporting $36 CB. That's 1.2%. WTH.
The rate yesterday was 1.2%.
Stoughton is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 9:45 am
  #9080  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 437
Originally Posted by Stoughton
The rate yesterday was 1.2%.
Nope. It was 2% since yesterday afternoon.

But either way, my purchase is reporting 10/20/2014, so it should be fine even if it started today.
vinhboy is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 10:36 am
  #9081  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 137
Originally Posted by Stoughton
The rate yesterday was 1.2%.
It was not, it was showing 2%, I also made an order and have screenshots fwded to them to rectify the error.
seahawksunite is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 11:04 am
  #9082  
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Ok, I stand corrected
Stoughton is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 11:20 am
  #9083  
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Fort Myers, FL
Programs: Hilton Gold, SPG & IHG Plat, & every airline program that I can join
Posts: 2,279
Mine is not showing anything yet, but I will be patient.
JudyJFLA
JudyJFLA is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 11:26 am
  #9084  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 683
Originally Posted by T3pleShot
anybody else getting this after clicking "submit order"?

"We're sorry, but our system was unable to complete your order. This may have been caused by a time out due to lack of activity or a connectivity issue."

Tried ordering with 2x of my amex accounts and get the same error.. first time I am getting seeing this - hopefully this is just a temporary issue with the website, I will try again in the morning..
I got the same error. did you re-order it?
liw5215 is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 12:05 pm
  #9085  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
Originally Posted by vinhboy
Nope. It was 2% since yesterday afternoon.

But either way, my purchase is reporting 10/20/2014, so it should be fine even if it started today.
Same issue here. Ordered just after midnight eastern and it tracked at 1.2%. FWIW, I don't think the rate increased to 2% until midnight eastern. I remember checking it earlier in the evening and it was still 1.2%
HikerT is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 12:22 pm
  #9086  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 293
Originally Posted by HikerT
Same issue here. Ordered just after midnight eastern and it tracked at 1.2%. FWIW, I don't think the rate increased to 2% until midnight eastern. I remember checking it earlier in the evening and it was still 1.2%
That was my experience as well. Rate did not change for me until midnight eastern time.
BigDawgFT is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 12:23 pm
  #9087  
Hyatt Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SNA/LAX
Posts: 1,407
Originally Posted by liw5215
I got the same error. did you re-order it?
Ditto. I tried re-ordering 4x with my AMEX and unfortunately all of the purchases have gone through to "pending" on my AMEX account; however, none of them were actually processed. Therefore my "available balance" is near $0 yet no actual orders went through.

Tried with my Arrival+ and went through as usual. I am thinking it has something to do with using AMEX CC, so I now need to wait for the pending charges to drop.
healthnut is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 12:30 pm
  #9088  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by healthnut
Ditto. I tried re-ordering 4x with my AMEX and unfortunately all of the purchases have gone through to "pending" on my AMEX account; however, none of them were actually processed. Therefore my "available balance" is near $0 yet no actual orders went through.

Tried with my Arrival+ and went through as usual. I am thinking it has something to do with using AMEX CC, so I now need to wait for the pending charges to drop.
same here. my spg had the same error when I tried to order. All other non-amex cards worked fine.
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 1:34 pm
  #9089  
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Amex Gift Cards to meet spending requirements for Ink Plus?

Any issues with these kinds of transactions being treated as a cash advance?

Any difference between how consumer and business cards are treated by Chase and other banks in general?
wco81 is offline  
Old Oct 20, 2014, 2:08 pm
  #9090  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: DFW
Posts: 478
For Chase: No & No
spgbus is offline  


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