Originally Posted by sdsearch

Just don't assume the 3% fee counts toward the $5000 minimum spend, and you should be fine. (It may or may not count, depending on how it posts and how Amex looks at that.) The donation itself should count, but if the 3% is posted separately that's the only thing I might be concerned about. (Not about claw back or rat team, just about it not being counted as a purchase. Remember, it's not really $5000 of "spend" that you need, it's $5000 of "purchases" which at Amex per the T&Cs does not count certain things like cash-equivalent stuff, and credit card fees billed separately could be looked at as cash-equivalent stuff perhaps. So IMHO better to be safe by not counting these fees, if billed separately, in your $5000 count.)