refused bonus points
 

i have applied for many cards with great bonuses from this site. i applied for this card on the last go-round before that expiration date using the link provided. i was instantly approved and activated the card upon its arrival. unfortunately, it was an automated activation and i didn't call back to establish that they agreed with the bonus i believed i signed up for. well, the 4 months and 10k spend has been done and they are refusing the 75,000 points on the grounds that i was not eligible for the bonus offer. they are saying that this offer was targeted and i can't get the points. this seems unfair in that the app. never asked for the targeted info. (as far as i knew it was untargeted) and issued the card. any thoughts on how i should proceed.

steve

Moderator action
 

Welcome to the American Express Membership Rewards forum, the primary discussion area for this card and its reward program. You will find threads addressing many common questions and concerns.

It's important to take screenshots along the way while applying so that you can submit it as proof - this 75k offer was available (untargeted) a couple of times over the past 7 months so perhaps someone on this board would have screenshots that they can e-mail. I'm sorry that I don't have any but I applied in June for this offer so cannot apply again until at least a year has passed and I don't have screenshots from that time either.

Were the gift cards were purchased with the personal or business SPG card?

I've charged nearly $4k on to card since I opened the card about a month ago. Fingers crossed.

It was Frequent Miler, mentioning it in the comments to one of his posts within a few days of my reply. I do not believe he specified which card it was, I just quickly tried searching and couldn't find it right away.

The spend requirement is $10k for the 75k bonus. I received a phone call from the fraud department in Amex after making $6.5k in VR purchases within the last 2 days.

1) Do you recommend calling Amex in advance that you will be making large purchases to avoid the fraud dept and a potential FR?

2) Do you spread your $10k in purchases over a longer period (like 2 months) so that no red flags are raised?

3) An Amex FR representative asked me some questions about my purchases and my business. She called me back 15 mins later and said I passed the FR. I recommend that people mix up VR purchases with other items to avoid raising red flags.

Amex does not know or care that you purchased VRs. They likely were more concerned about the relatively high amount of spend at the same/similar stores.

It's all about patterns and amounts. Usually the payload of your purchase isn't communicated to the issuer of the card.

1) payload = the type of purchase, for example: prescriptions, gift cards, electronics, etc?

2) Do you recommend calling Amex before making more than $5k in purchases within a week?

3) How many weeks do you recommend spreading the $10k in purchases?

4) When purchasing VRs, do you recommend purchases in different amounts, like $755, $959, etc? It is difficult to find VRs in different stores, thus same/similar stores will probably show up in the Amex computers.

hey guys -

I got in on the Amex Biz Gold 75k for $10k min spend, no fee for the first year. I met my min spend in a month and have already received the bonus points. My thought is that I should cancel the card now so I can start the new cycle of waiting 12mts to apply for the next Amex Biz card.

I have read posts on not cancelling the card for 6-12 months after opening to avoid Financial Reviews.

Anyone have thoughts on whether I should cancel or keep it for a while longer and then cancel? I have an personal Plat so not worried about losing points. More concerned from a credit score/FR perspective.

Thanks,

I have heard its best to keep the cards open for most of the year, the banks may not like it if you are closing right away.

After 5-6 months call in and tell them you want to cancel, they may offer you an incentive to stay. you can do still cancel on the 10th month after your incentive has posted.

any current mr offers for 50k or better?

I was targeted with an e-mail for 50,000 points for 5k spend in 3 months. First year annual fee waived, $175 afterwards. Has a RSVP code and pre-filled application form, etc.

I will apply for this card but what is slightly concerning to me is that I *just* canceled my Platinum card like a week ago. I pored through the T&C and see nothing mentioned about waiting 3 months after having a green/gold/plat card before being eligible.
So I'm pretty sure I'm safe right? Even in the header of the e-mail there's an image of a Plat card with Hello member -xxxxx. So it seems clear they targeted me knowing I was a Plat card holder.

oh I would love to see that offer. I need MR

I got an offer from Amex recently for the same amount of points but only $2k spending in 3 months.

For the business card, correct? Via post? Via phone?