(Sorry for the verbosity, but we ARE discussing a 100,000 point current bonus that seems TGTBT. )

Thank you mia, very helpful and enlightening, always informative to read your replies. (I sometimes think of myself as having an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree, working on my Master’s, in all this FF/CC stuff. You clearly have a PhD, a regular Jedi master. )

I looked at the links. I called MS. I read this entire thread starting from Aug 23, 2018 post #147 (mia “Blog articles from April 2018 explain how to become a Morgan Stanley client with as little as $5,000 in an investment account: …”). Other than the rigamarole of calling MS (as reported here and by several blogs) it all seems TGTBT (and if it seems TGTBT …).

Apparently MS does not have a phone line for information and/or new accounts. First robo-question was my SSN (when I don’t have an account, gimme a break). First rep said he couldn’t help with new account questions, transferred me to someone who was able to answer Cash Plus and MS AmEx Plat questions, transferred to another who answered Access Investing questions. Fortunately the last rep was actually insightful and helpful. Last question to him was “it all seems TGTBT, is it?” He gave me the (should have expected) “incentivize” reply. (No, it’s not gonna go away because I called and told one of their (mostly clueless) reps it was TGTBT. )

He also said without hesitation said MS had no problem with depositing $5,000 each month and withdrawing the same amount each month. He said other than the 0.03% annual fee (debited monthly) there were no other fees. Based on my call to MS and based on just reading a couple of blog reviews of these accounts, it seems unimaginable that MS would do the recon efforts for a failed or pending CC application.

These accounts are relatively new (1-2 years), perhaps why the MS folks I spoke with a year ago didn’t mention it. (Or maybe they just didn’t care to recommend something other than something generating earnings for them. )

Bottom line seems to be an ongoing (not just first year) low-hanging-fruit way to have a profitable AmEx Plat card for a minimum $30,000 balance ($5,000 minimum Access account and $25,000 minimum CashPlus account) with potential for capital gains (or losses). With little effort, MS will return the $695 AF and give a $200 Airline Fee credit and all the other perks of an AmEx Plat card, year after year, saving the hassle of churning the various varieties in order to have a Plat card.

Remaining questions: For a non-IRA account does this type of account result in many transactions for Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets) or does MS consolidate things to a small number of transactions? Are these accounts too new for many data-points? (FWIW, the MS rep said that MS consolidates everything.)

Important questions for us miles and points enthusiasts: Regarding cycling the $5,000 minimum in and out each month, general agreement to do different dates and multiple smaller amount transfers out or no problem with exactly $5,000 in one day each month and exactly $5,000 out another day of the month?

There are posts above about this AmEx card having different approval criteria than other AmEx cards and there are few reports of declines. Is CC approval basically automatic with these (properly set up) accounts?

1 or 2 posts above mention charging $1,000 quickly in order to avoid a 1099 for the $695 engagement bonus, is that generally agreed upon? Too new to know?

And just to be completely compulsive (no snark please ), is the MS AmEx Pat card indeed a separate and different product than ALL other AmEx Plat cards? (Disagreement with AmEx a couple of years ago if “Enhanced Business Platinum Card” and “Business Platinum Card” are the same product.)

Other than the hassles of several required applications and (personally) putting me at 5/24 for at least the next year it all seems to be a no brainer. What am I missing? Is it TGTBT? Thank you.