I would report them to Amex headquarters.They have a franchise and are in the business of selling Travelers Cheques.What you do with them is not of their concern.I contacted a local Agency office to clarify the question about Purchase vs Cash advance,they said it would be treated as a purchase.I told them if it was otherwise I would hold them respondsible for any charges to my card in excess of actual purchase.Would suggest getting clairfication and understanding before buying.
I called AMEX, and regardless of how the agency treats it (purchase, cash advance, etc), the CSR said AMEX will automatically change it to cash advance *on their end* when it's coded as a travelers check purchase. AMEX CSR said that's because you are buying a cash equivalent with a credit card (is it in the small print?). She said you don't need to enter a pin or sign anything saying cash advance, that it will be a cash advance & you should know it will be treated as a cash advance. Even when it worked correctly for dgordon, it still is listed as a cash advance. Whether or not you get whacked with the transaction fees and interest is another story. If the agency codes it as a cash advance, then chances are high you will get charged the fees/interest --- if the agency codes it as a purchase, that's when it gets a little fuzzy, and maybe where alot of people have been fortunate.
In the past I used the Travelers Cheque card to buy travelers checks. Here there was no way for them to charge a cash advance fee. You received the points when you bought the Travelers Cheque card using an Amex points yielding card. Unfortunately they quickly shut down the cards and it was a real pain to get any money left on the card out. I will be surprised if Amex does not quickly shut this deal down.
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Obviously not
People have been asking for years if there was any way to buy travelers checks with a credit card. and if people knew they have been keeping it a secret. When
Chase was selling travelers checks that could be charged to any credit card, it was all over here and there were threads about it. It got shot down. I hope that it doesn't happen here. I would suggest you stop calling amex and make a very small purchase (min I think is $150) towards the end of your billing cycle, and only at an official AMEX and see what happens. If it is handled as a case advance you will see it listed that way and pay very little interest, and you will know you can't do it.
When I called about the one place charging as a cash advance, the first gal refunded the interest, and the next gal said she would give me the 1000 points (haven't seen it posted yet???). Clearly not all reps know the same.
The other people who have gone ahead and tried this will give us feedback on how it turns out.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dgordon
I would suggest you stop calling amex and make a very small purchase (min I think is $150) towards the end of your billing cycle, and only at an official AMEX and see what happens.
Just repeating for emphasis. Please, people!
peace,
~Ben~
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Stopped in today at a mom&pop travel agency. They called AMEX for authorization. Used my Hilton Platinum AMEX. Got $500 worth of checques.
The receipt showed no fees, I entered no PIN. I signed a receipt that looks like a regular cc purchase receipt.
On the receipt they printed out, There's a line saying "Optima Advance", which seems suspiciously like a cash advance -- however, we'll see what AMEX does with it when they get it.
At worst I'm out a cople of buck and I should still get the Hilton points ... I think.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dgordon
People have been asking for years if there was any way to buy travelers checks with a credit card. and if people knew they have been keeping it a secret.
I need approximately 1800 GBP shortly after arriving in London at the end of the month. Has anyone successfully used the technique discussed in this thread to purchase traveller's cheques with their AMEX card and had it treated as a purchase for points purposes at any of the AMEX travel centers in London? If so, please disclose the details! Thanks, Casimir
Stopped in today at a mom&pop travel agency. They called AMEX for authorization. Used my Hilton Platinum AMEX. Got $500 worth of checques.
The receipt showed no fees, I entered no PIN. I signed a receipt that looks like a regular cc purchase receipt.
On the receipt they printed out, There's a line saying "Optima Advance", which seems suspiciously like a cash advance -- however, we'll see what AMEX does with it when they get it.
At worst I'm out a cople of buck and I should still get the Hilton points ... I think.
The key is that there was no cash advance fee charged for TC purchase.
I haven't done cash advance in years but IIRC fee appeared almost same time...
I went today in person to the official Amex office at 55 W. Monroe in Chicago (one of two here).
No dice. They suggested I call the 800 number, which I did from their lobby, and the rep on the phone, after putting me on hold for about 6 minutes, came back to say this could not be done at any office, except as a cash advance.
So if you are getting points succcessfully, it may just be a fluke.
I am going to give this a shot today, at the local AMEX Travel office in downtown Seattle. I'll try with both SPG AMEX and the Hilton AMEX. My Hilton AMEX should be finalizing its month end bill today, so it's possible I'll see the impact/results by tomorrow. Will report what I encountered here if people promise to stop calling AMEX.
With people calling AmEx about this it won't last too long...
