Jan 8, 2014, 2:22 pm
Last edit by: TheDapperDon
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50k per year for new accounts. For now, this does not apply to existing cardholders, although Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. This card is less viable as an MS instrument. Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of Dec 13, 2014, shutdown reports continue. Shutdowns appear to be triggered by spending on the card or upon statement closure, but not always
Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
Others have succeeded in getting new cards, including new OBCs, but consider your relationship with Amex and how much you value that and this card when deciding how to use it.
There might be some impact with other issuers. If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
So, if you still feel it is worth it:
Application Link: Copy & paste the following link into a incognito window in Chrome or InPrivate Browsing in IE, Private Session in Firefox. There have been reports of people who got the card in the last couple of months getting shut down because of the rush to spend the initial $6,500.
Do NOT post "Link isn't working" until you have tried it incognito/private browsing and it fails there.
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
² 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
* Read the fine print for 'gas' purchases! Right from AMEX T&C's:
...Everyday Purchases are: ... $400 or less of gasoline at gas stations located in the U.S. (superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations)... A >$400 purchase at a gas station will get 5% for the first $400 and 1% thereafter. E.g., for something, say, $503.95, you would earn $21.04 CB [($400*5%)+(103.95*1%)].
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of Dec 13, 2014, shutdown reports continue. Shutdowns appear to be triggered by spending on the card or upon statement closure, but not always
Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
Others have succeeded in getting new cards, including new OBCs, but consider your relationship with Amex and how much you value that and this card when deciding how to use it.
There might be some impact with other issuers. If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
So, if you still feel it is worth it:
Application Link: Copy & paste the following link into a incognito window in Chrome or InPrivate Browsing in IE, Private Session in Firefox. There have been reports of people who got the card in the last couple of months getting shut down because of the rush to spend the initial $6,500.
Do NOT post "Link isn't working" until you have tried it incognito/private browsing and it fails there.
Code:
https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/blue-cash/25330
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
² 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
* Read the fine print for 'gas' purchases! Right from AMEX T&C's:
...Everyday Purchases are: ... $400 or less of gasoline at gas stations located in the U.S. (superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations)... A >$400 purchase at a gas station will get 5% for the first $400 and 1% thereafter. E.g., for something, say, $503.95, you would earn $21.04 CB [($400*5%)+(103.95*1%)].
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
Old Amex Blue (2013-2014)
Oct 22, 2014, 4:37 pm
#4036
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: BOS, MHT
Programs: AA ltg, B6, DL, UA, AS, SPG/Marriott Plt, HH, Hyatt
Posts: 10,052
Oct 22, 2014, 4:38 pm
#4037
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 34
Data point:
I was shut down today. Received the email at 1:46pm today.
I spend 120k last month on BC in MS, and another 4k in regular purchases.
My most recent GC purchase was 10 days ago. So this was not a trigger. My most recent card purchase however was a salad from Kroger for $7 this afternoon, about a half hour before it got cancelled.
Has anyone seen the move 21? Surely most of you have. If only American Express took us out back and beat us senseless prior to cancelling our cards, then we could make a movie out of our wild ride.
I was shut down today. Received the email at 1:46pm today.
I spend 120k last month on BC in MS, and another 4k in regular purchases.
My most recent GC purchase was 10 days ago. So this was not a trigger. My most recent card purchase however was a salad from Kroger for $7 this afternoon, about a half hour before it got cancelled.
Has anyone seen the move 21? Surely most of you have. If only American Express took us out back and beat us senseless prior to cancelling our cards, then we could make a movie out of our wild ride.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:40 pm
#4039
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
So for those who haven't been shut down, what's the consensus?
Keep your old blue socked and cover everything in tinfoil?
I'm wondering how one would cash out now.
Initially I thought it may be an honorable thing to commit seppuku in order to save my Amex account, but it seems everyone that's been shut down still has access to their other cards.
Keep your old blue socked and cover everything in tinfoil?
I'm wondering how one would cash out now.
Initially I thought it may be an honorable thing to commit seppuku in order to save my Amex account, but it seems everyone that's been shut down still has access to their other cards.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:47 pm
#4040
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 13
So for those who haven't been shut down, what's the consensus?
Keep your old blue socked and cover everything in tinfoil?
I'm wondering how one would cash out now.
Initially I thought it may be an honorable thing to commit seppuku in order to save my Amex account, but it seems everyone that's been shut down still has access to their other cards.
Keep your old blue socked and cover everything in tinfoil?
I'm wondering how one would cash out now.
Initially I thought it may be an honorable thing to commit seppuku in order to save my Amex account, but it seems everyone that's been shut down still has access to their other cards.
Last edited by guion; Oct 22, 2014 at 5:18 pm Reason: removing unbelievable details.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:50 pm
#4041
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
My sister has been using the AMEX Blue pretty hard, $10-20K/month, which apparently isn't nearly as much as some of you hardcore MSers. No email for her.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:51 pm
#4042
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: MDT
Programs: DL, AA
Posts: 390
Mid 5-figures of rewards in limbo? So 50k? So you've spent 1 mil on this card in the last two months? Interesting.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:54 pm
#4043
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: BOS, MHT
Programs: AA ltg, B6, DL, UA, AS, SPG/Marriott Plt, HH, Hyatt
Posts: 10,052
Data point:
I was shut down today. Received the email at 1:46pm today.
I spend 120k last month on BC in MS, and another 4k in regular purchases.
My most recent GC purchase was 10 days ago. So this was not a trigger. My most recent card purchase however was a salad from Kroger for $7 this afternoon, about a half hour before it got cancelled.
Has anyone seen the move 21? Surely most of you have. If only American Express took us out back and beat us senseless prior to cancelling our cards, then we could make a movie out of our wild ride.
I was shut down today. Received the email at 1:46pm today.
I spend 120k last month on BC in MS, and another 4k in regular purchases.
My most recent GC purchase was 10 days ago. So this was not a trigger. My most recent card purchase however was a salad from Kroger for $7 this afternoon, about a half hour before it got cancelled.
Has anyone seen the move 21? Surely most of you have. If only American Express took us out back and beat us senseless prior to cancelling our cards, then we could make a movie out of our wild ride.
My sig line was on there for a while before this happened. I know/knew these cards could change at any time but no one can say they figured it could happen so abruptly.
this thread is likely watched by amex too, though, so yah.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:55 pm
#4045
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 54
MS is like card counting and losing $$$ in CB is like being beat up. Especially if you have no reason to NOT count on it posting. This gave no warning and a FR would have been better. Basically Amex figured: Crap, we are totally losing money guys. Lets close all these cards--anyone who purchases something today (which included me, about an hour prior to closure) and we will save a ton. We should have never offered this thing (there, by the way is the very reason to sue) but we did and now we gotta get out of it fast!
My sig line was on there for a while before this happened. I know/knew these cards could change at any time but no one can say they figured it could happen so abruptly.
this thread is likely watched by amex too, though, so yah.
My sig line was on there for a while before this happened. I know/knew these cards could change at any time but no one can say they figured it could happen so abruptly.
this thread is likely watched by amex too, though, so yah.
Oct 22, 2014, 4:58 pm
#4046
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 34
Along those lines, it feels more like punishment than an actual solution for Amex. I mean, most of us would retain the card for regualr gas/grocery use at the very least. Is there a legal reason, perhaps something from FinCEN or some other regulators, which prevents them from changing the T&C to put a cap on points?
Oct 22, 2014, 4:58 pm
#4047
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 274
Data Points
Would be nice to see a list of datapoints in the WIKI in terms of who has been shut down and his or her volume over the last few months.
Oct 22, 2014, 5:00 pm
#4048
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 54
Along those lines, it feels more like punishment than an actual solution for Amex. I mean, most of us would retain the card for regualr gas/grocery use at the very least. Is there a legal reason, perhaps something from FinCEN or some other regulators, which prevents them from changing the T&C to put a cap on points?
Oct 22, 2014, 5:00 pm
#4049
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: DL PLT, AS 75k, AA Exec Plat
Posts: 391
Along those lines, it feels more like punishment than an actual solution for Amex. I mean, most of us would retain the card for regualr gas/grocery use at the very least. Is there a legal reason, perhaps something from FinCEN or some other regulators, which prevents them from changing the T&C to put a cap on points?