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.
Since other reps have said otherwise, even in writing, why do you assume your rep was not misinformed?
drjh -you might want to ask your citibank branch what is needed to have the fees waived. I believe it is a minimum of 2500 at the bank in any combination of accounts. or it might be a certain kind of account. I do believe initially when I first opened my account for this purpose, that it was a $2500 minimum.
You are thinking of the fee for using a non-Citibank ATM. Yes, that is farily easy to get around with minimums. But about 6 months ago Citi started charging all customers a 1% foreign transaction fee. On all non-Citi ATMs (actually, it might even be with Citi ATMs) abroad. Give them a call.
I don't know any way around the fees though if you have a good relationship with a banker they can put it back in your account.
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.
The transactions are coded as cash advance. As people are suggesting, do it for a small amount if you not comfortable. Calling CSRs will only bring attention to this.
P.S. I have been given either wrong or old info by AmEx and other CSRs many times.
I gave it a try Saturday at an AMEX owned office. The Rep. there didn't know how it would be charged to my cards (Hilton and SPG). The receipts said purchase. When I checked my account online today my available balance was reduced on one card but not the other and the transaction has not been posted yet for either card. It doesn't seem that there is anyway to see the available cash advance balance online.
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.
Looked at my AMEX statement on line today. The transaction doesn't show up yet, but my available cash advance line has decreased by $500.
Maybe I'll call them and see if this is correct.
Advice? (other than to shut up and suck it up)
__________________ "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
Looked at my AMEX statement on line today. The transaction doesn't show up yet, but my available cash advance line has decreased by $500.
Maybe I'll call them and see if this is correct.
Don't call them about that. Everyone seems to agree that the cash advance credit limit plays a role in these transactions (see OP). The question is, are fees/interest charged and does it earn points.
So I found myself in downtown ORD on Saturday, and managed to buy 2 x $1000 travellers check bundles with my one Starwood card (My cash advance line is > $5000)
I tried again on Monday and it wouldn't approve. According to the lady at the Amex Travel Center on Michigan Avenue, you're only supposed to be able to buy $1000 every 15 days. When I called (sorry) 1-800-AXP-1000 they said you could only do $1000 every 7 days.
So I'm not sure how come I was able to buy 2 x $1000 bundles. In any case, this seems like far far too much work for me to get 1000 SPG points.
Note: I didn't ask about getting points on the purchase, and I am posting my experiences here so that other people may decide not to call.
Don't call them about that. Everyone seems to agree that the cash advance credit limit plays a role in these transactions (see OP). The question is, are fees/interest charged and does it earn points.
Fair enough.
I guess the question is, then, can I tell from my online statement whether I will be charged interest and/or whether it will be treated as a purchase?
I'm thinking it may be too soon to see (transaction on Monday: "cash advance" happens right away: gets through the system a couple of days later). I'l wait until Wednesday or Thursday and see what shows up.
Meanwhile, I have a credit limit >$10,000, but the cash advance line is only $800. If this thing works, I'll have to goose it up a bit.
__________________ "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
In any case, this seems like far far too much work for me to get 1000 SPG points.
You're correct -- depending on your geographical location, it may indeed be a lot of work.
However, if my location works out, it's very convenient -- I just signed up for the SPG card and combining the 10,000 point bonus with a few trips to the Travel store could yield me the additional 10,000 points (becoming 25,000 miles in all) that I'm going to need for a family trip next year.
So, for me, it's worth it.
YMMV, as we say around here.
__________________ "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
