American Express (USA) online shopping portal gone? (fka Bonus Points Mall)
#226
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 182
Update on the 3x points on Amex PRG internet (and some other) purchases: It's still happening!
I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.
Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.
I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.
Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.
#228
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 182
Thanks, Tommy. I just had a look at my purchases before the "mysterious 3x" era, trying to find merchants that classified as "Internet Purchases" in order to predict 3x bonuses. I suspect that these will work in addition to those I have confirmed before:
Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com
Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.
I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.
Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com
Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.
I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.
#229
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 129
Thanks, Tommy. I just had a look at my purchases before the "mysterious 3x" era, trying to find merchants that classified as "Internet Purchases" in order to predict 3x bonuses. I suspect that these will work in addition to those I have confirmed before:
Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com
Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.
I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.
Amazon Kindle purchases
Amazon Payments*
Amazon Local
Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon Services Jersey (overseas)Apple webstore
apple.com
itunes.com
hulu.com
art.com
ononesoftware.com
onlineshoes.com
proclip USA
Oasis Date Gardens
worldpantry.com
ecohomestore.com
BigSkinnyCorp
shoes.com
Uncommongoods
Handicappedpets.com
invisibleshoe.com
Amazon Payments may be like Paypal, as it could depend on the merchant in question whether it classes as Internet Purchase. YMMV.
I was very pleased to see Hulu, Amazon kindle, iTunes and Apple there, and so will be adjusting my spending accordingly.
I spend a lot of money every month on paypal. I had an experiment and tried putting 10k on the gold prg last month but I didn't get any category bonus. Any way to get paypal to code purchase as internet purchase?
#230
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: MSP
Posts: 376
Not that I am aware of... I did put a lot of paypal purchases back in December and January. Nothing happened.
#231
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,685
Update on the 3x points on Amex PRG internet (and some other) purchases: It's still happening!
I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.
Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.
I just received my monthly MR statement, and the news is pretty much as expected. I received 3x again from Hertz, Amazon Marketplace and Costco membership renewal. Both the Amazon and Costco purchases were listed as Internet Purchase, and Hertz as Vehicle Rental.
Checking my current Amex PRG statement, I estimated my pending points to within 0.5% assuming 3x points on Internet Purchases and Vehicle Rental. I still haven't been able to check whether other Travel spend gets the bonus.
#233
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,685
#234
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 182
The idea of this being a test market for 3x on all internet purchases and travel is a great one, and it would certainly help make Amex competitive with Chase again. However, I can't see how they can make it cost effective as a business model. Without referral bonuses, the value of the miles from that is almost certainly greater than what Amex bring in on merchant fees. Admittedly that argument applies to Flights as well, and yet 3x on flights is a stated benefit. So my pet theory is that they're introducing this to keep the points/miles community engaged, and to make up for the lack of mall. Perhaps they will introduce something new eventually, but while this is happening I'm going to exploit it. Three months ago I thought there was little chance than I'd hit my $30k spend, and it was only the retention bonus keeping me onboard. Suddenly the Amex PRG is looking lucrative again, though.
#235
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: IHG, RC, HH, AA, QF, UA, Aeroplan
Posts: 2,685
Lots of speculation, little concrete, and on the off-change that Amex have just made a mistake, we don't really want to ask them. I proposed my interpretations in post #216. I recommend reading from post #145 onwards in order to catch up with discussions.
The idea of this being a test market for 3x on all internet purchases and travel is a great one, and it would certainly help make Amex competitive with Chase again. However, I can't see how they can make it cost effective as a business model. Without referral bonuses, the value of the miles from that is almost certainly greater than what Amex bring in on merchant fees. Admittedly that argument applies to Flights as well, and yet 3x on flights is a stated benefit. So my pet theory is that they're introducing this to keep the points/miles community engaged, and to make up for the lack of mall. Perhaps they will introduce something new eventually, but while this is happening I'm going to exploit it. Three months ago I thought there was little chance than I'd hit my $30k spend, and it was only the retention bonus keeping me onboard. Suddenly the Amex PRG is looking lucrative again, though.
you can always go the VR cards at CVS/Amex BB to build spend and pick up points for paying bills that otherwise would not have earned points
The idea of this being a test market for 3x on all internet purchases and travel is a great one, and it would certainly help make Amex competitive with Chase again. However, I can't see how they can make it cost effective as a business model. Without referral bonuses, the value of the miles from that is almost certainly greater than what Amex bring in on merchant fees. Admittedly that argument applies to Flights as well, and yet 3x on flights is a stated benefit. So my pet theory is that they're introducing this to keep the points/miles community engaged, and to make up for the lack of mall. Perhaps they will introduce something new eventually, but while this is happening I'm going to exploit it. Three months ago I thought there was little chance than I'd hit my $30k spend, and it was only the retention bonus keeping me onboard. Suddenly the Amex PRG is looking lucrative again, though.
you can always go the VR cards at CVS/Amex BB to build spend and pick up points for paying bills that otherwise would not have earned points
#236
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 182
Manufactured spend is a very different topic, and I prefer to keep it separate. We're talking about maximising purchases on regular spend. Besides that, VR cards are sparse around here, and I prefer not to put too many purchases of them on my Amex to avoid the risk of financial review.
#237
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 9
My March points just posted this morning, and I can confirm that the following are still showing 3x points...
Amazon.com
Lancome.com
Costco.com
FWIW, my pending points from April are showing a substantial amount more than what I would have anticipated. Made a couple of purchases online at Best Buy, Apple, and Amazon throughout the month. It appears that these 3x purchases are still alive and well.
Amazon.com
Lancome.com
Costco.com
FWIW, my pending points from April are showing a substantial amount more than what I would have anticipated. Made a couple of purchases online at Best Buy, Apple, and Amazon throughout the month. It appears that these 3x purchases are still alive and well.
#239
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 182
Hotels.com? That's a nice one. Could you check if the hotels.com purchase processed as Internet Purchase or as something else? Perhaps it's evidence that ALL travel is at 3x?
This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).
This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).
#240
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Okinawa
Posts: 2,609
Hotels.com? That's a nice one. Could you check if the hotels.com purchase processed as Internet Purchase or as something else? Perhaps it's evidence that ALL travel is at 3x?
This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).
This really stacks up well for a quadruple dip if you add it to the x3 pts Ultimate Rewards, current 10% discount, and hotels.com's own Welcome Rewards program (which I value at 8% cashback equivalent).