Mar 14, 2014, 10:48 am
Last edit by: beltway
It is essential to read the terms of the specific offer, but in general:
This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product.
If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer.
Points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 6 - 8 weeks after the spend requirement has been reached.
This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product.
- You can only earn one new account bonus for each personal card issued by American Express in the USA. We do not know precisely how far back American Express looks to see if you have previously held the same card, but there is anecdotal evidence that the Customer Service database looks back only seven years. This means that if you cancelled a card in 2007 or earlier, and have not held it since, you will probably qualify for a new account bonus in 2015.
- Holding a related card does not disqualify earning a new account bonus. Examples: Green, Gold, and Platinum are each separate products. Delta Gold, Platinum and Reserve are each separate products. The Hilton credit card is a different product than Hilton Surpass.
- Holding a Supplementary Card (authorized user) on someone else's account does not disqualify you from earning a new acount bonus if you open the same card type in your own name.
This rule does not apply to business cards.As of mid-February 2016, Amex appears to be adding the same restriction to its business card products.- If you receive a targeted offer, online or through the USPS, for a card which you have previously held you may, or may not, actually receive the bonus. Be certain to save a copy of the offer, and to read and save every screen which appears during the application process.
- Upgrade offers are different from new account offers. You may be offered a bonus to upgrade (for example) a Gold Card to a Platinum Card, and you may be eligible for that bonus even if you previously held a Platinum card. It is still essential to read and save the terms of the offer.
If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer.
- This language appeared in the Spring of 2013, a year before the once-in-a lifetime policy was announced. The key term is "may", which gives American Express discretion to award or withhold the bonus.
- To reduce the risk that the automated system will deny a new account bonus, RIGHT click the application link and open the application in a Private or Incognito browser window. American Express will still know that you are a current cardholder, but the system will not flag your application.
Points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 6 - 8 weeks after the spend requirement has been reached.
- In practice it is not possible to know when American Express's system will credit a bonus to your rewards account. It may happen immediately after you meet the target spend, or it may happen when the next statement (or the following statement) is generated, or it may take the full eight weeks.
Put a fork in it 5.1.2014: One bonus per personal card per person "lifetime" [USA]
Mar 12, 2015, 10:00 am
#466
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,967
Mar 12, 2015, 12:17 pm
#467
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,036
Can you please be more specific about which card it was?
It's already been documented here that a loophole is if the card is not the exact same type of card that you had before, you might get the bonus again for the personal card. For example, if 10 years ago you applied for a MyProgram SuperDuper card, and now the only card available is a MyProgram SuperSpiffy card, Amex may consider the SuperSpiffy card a different card than the SuperDuper card you had 10 years ago, and may give you a bonus because it's not exactly the same card. (But you may only remember that you had a MyProgram card 10 years ago, but may not remember its exact name 10 years ago.)
So you see, it's impossible for us to judge whether your friend really "slipped through the cracks", or whether they ran into one of the already-known exceptions like what I just described.
It's already been documented here that a loophole is if the card is not the exact same type of card that you had before, you might get the bonus again for the personal card. For example, if 10 years ago you applied for a MyProgram SuperDuper card, and now the only card available is a MyProgram SuperSpiffy card, Amex may consider the SuperSpiffy card a different card than the SuperDuper card you had 10 years ago, and may give you a bonus because it's not exactly the same card. (But you may only remember that you had a MyProgram card 10 years ago, but may not remember its exact name 10 years ago.)
So you see, it's impossible for us to judge whether your friend really "slipped through the cracks", or whether they ran into one of the already-known exceptions like what I just described.
Mar 12, 2015, 1:46 pm
#468
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,935
Ah, the Hilton Surpass. Well, were both of them applications for the card "from scratch", or was one or more of them upgrades to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton card? Lots of people upgrade to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton Amex card (because Amex gives big bonuses for doing that), and perhaps an upgrade offer is treated differently than a from-scratch new card application?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
Mar 13, 2015, 3:04 pm
#469
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,036
Ah, the Hilton Surpass. Well, were both of them applications for the card "from scratch", or was one or more of them upgrades to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton card? Lots of people upgrade to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton Amex card (because Amex gives big bonuses for doing that), and perhaps an upgrade offer is treated differently than a from-scratch new card application?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
Mar 17, 2015, 2:53 pm
#470
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 83
As a datapoint, I've held both the Platinum and MB Platinum cards in the past. In the Amex Offers & Benefits section of the site when viewing my Blue card, there was a targeted offer to upgrade (i.e., apply for a new card) to the Platinum card with the 40,000 points after $3,000 spend offer.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
Mar 17, 2015, 3:50 pm
#471
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
As a datapoint, I've held both the Platinum and MB Platinum cards in the past. In the Amex Offers & Benefits section of the site when viewing my Blue card, there was a targeted offer to upgrade (i.e., apply for a new card) to the Platinum card with the 40,000 points after $3,000 spend offer.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
Mar 17, 2015, 9:21 pm
#472
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,608
Ah, the Hilton Surpass. Well, were both of them applications for the card "from scratch", or was one or more of them upgrades to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton card? Lots of people upgrade to the Surpass from the no-fee Hilton Amex card (because Amex gives big bonuses for doing that), and perhaps an upgrade offer is treated differently than a from-scratch new card application?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
And what happened to the previous Surpass card? Was it cancelled, or was it downgraded back to a no-fee Hilton Amex card? If downgraded to a different Hilton card, perhaps that made them lose track of the Surpass having been open before?
There was a post a few months back ( in the Hilton 50K thread I believe) about member who claimed he got a 2nd bonus on a Surpass while still having a Surpass open.
I had the Surpass years ago and went back to the regular NAF Hilton AMEX. I may upgrade to Surpass again next year for the Gold status but via chat I was told I would not get the 50K as I already had a Surpass...............the agent could be wrong of course.
As long as the 50K Visa churn is running I wouldn't spend $3k for 50K HH points anyway but if it's over ( and it most likely will be in a year) then I may need those points and make the spend
Mar 19, 2015, 9:00 am
#473
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,012
So is it even possible to be 'targeted' for any bonus above the publicly-available minimum if you have an open Amex card?
I have (and have only ever had) the SPG amex. I never see any offers on the Amex website (or any other search tool to check targeted offers), never receive any emails or mailings. etc. Have excellent credit. Where's the love amex?
I have (and have only ever had) the SPG amex. I never see any offers on the Amex website (or any other search tool to check targeted offers), never receive any emails or mailings. etc. Have excellent credit. Where's the love amex?
Mar 19, 2015, 9:26 am
#474
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,967
Mar 19, 2015, 10:49 am
#475
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 172
i closed my personal plat a year ago and just got it again .. all the reps i have spoke to guarantee that i will get the bonus .. i have until 4/11 .. i guess it is time for a trip to target .. hopefully i will get it .. if not no biggie
Mar 24, 2015, 11:25 am
#476
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 126
As a datapoint, I've held both the Platinum and MB Platinum cards in the past. In the Amex Offers & Benefits section of the site when viewing my Blue card, there was a targeted offer to upgrade (i.e., apply for a new card) to the Platinum card with the 40,000 points after $3,000 spend offer.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
The terms and conditions for this offer did NOT include the language "If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product."
I applied on a whim and the points posted as soon as the $3,000 posted to the account.
In summary - saying one thing in print and enforcing it at an operational level are two totally different things.
It would be nice to get more data points.
Mar 24, 2015, 11:32 am
#477
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,967
The only way we are going to get more data points is for you, and me, and others to apply for personal cards that we know we cancelled several years ago, and see if we receive a bonus. Applying for a card that we might have had doesn't help. We have to be certain we are not eligible under the literal terms, and see if American Express's history goes back far enough to detect it.
I think there isn't much incentive to do this, because the Business card rules are more favorable.
I think there isn't much incentive to do this, because the Business card rules are more favorable.
Mar 29, 2015, 2:17 pm
#478
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, SPG Plat, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 78
Same thing here, under my Amex Blue "Offers" page there is a "Apply for Platinum Card" 50,000 points for 5k in spend. No "previous cardmember" language in the application link. Seems to good to pass up as a past holder subject to the new lifetime rule
Mar 30, 2015, 9:39 am
#479
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold, Will never by anything with airlines
Posts: 287
Cancelled Personal Plat over two yrs ago, currently hold PRG
Mar 30, 2015, 10:11 pm
#480
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 650
