Feb 26, 2016, 9:28 am
Last edit by: beltway
For earlier discussion of the restriction's application to personal cards, see Put a fork in it 5.1.2014: One bonus per personal card per person "lifetime" [USA].
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.
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.
- You can only earn one new account bonus for each 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.
- 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.
Once-in-a-lifetime bonus policy now applies to both personal & BUSINESS cards [USA].
Mar 24, 2017, 12:47 pm
#241
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
Hi, I don't understand your comment about the SPG business card. Are you saying you had the SPG business but the Amex rep didn't see it? If so, how long ago? (I understand you want the personal, but you also mentioned business.)
Last edited by rrgg; Mar 24, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Mar 27, 2017, 7:13 am
#242
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: BDL, JFK
Posts: 658
Got an email offer today for Amex Business Gold 75k after $5k spend. Did the same offer 4 years ago and subsequently cancelled card. Besides the online app they have an 877 number to apply by phone. Would it pay to apply by phone and if a rep told me I'd get the bonus, is that reliable? I know Citi reps are notoriously unreliable about bonuses on their cards.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
Last edited by Robl; Mar 27, 2017 at 7:39 am
Mar 27, 2017, 9:58 am
#243
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
I called Amex and asked what cards they had in their records. I was specifically interested in some cards that were cancelled in 2013. They listed some, but not others. The curious thing is that the card not mentioned was cancelled LATER in 2013 than other cards that they did mention. Is that possible?
Mar 27, 2017, 10:32 am
#246
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,955
It does appear that up/downgrading a card, or changing, may confuse the history, but I don't think it's clear if this is reliable or how the current status of the account (open/closed/how recently) interacts.
Mar 27, 2017, 3:08 pm
#247
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Berkeley, CA USA
Programs: Piggly Wiggly "Shop the Pig!" Preferred Shopper
Posts: 57,075
Got an email offer today for Amex Business Gold 75k after $5k spend. Did the same offer 4 years ago and subsequently cancelled card. Besides the online app they have an 877 number to apply by phone. Would it pay to apply by phone and if a rep told me I'd get the bonus, is that reliable? I know Citi reps are notoriously unreliable about bonuses on their cards.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
So, Robl, I would not expect you will get the bonus points. You could roll the dice, but have low expectations.
Mar 27, 2017, 5:14 pm
#248
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: BDL, JFK
Posts: 658
I was in exactly this situation. I got this offer via mail and I accepted it. I spent the $5k and waited for the bonus. Never came, so I did the online chat asking about it. Agent told me I had the card in 2013. I told him there must be a mistake -- I never had this card. Turns out I was mistaken. I churn so many cards that I've lost track of which ones I've had. No biggie with this, though, as there was no fee in the first year and I'll get the same MR points I would have on my Plat card.
So, Robl, I would not expect you will get the bonus points. You could roll the dice, but have low expectations.
So, Robl, I would not expect you will get the bonus points. You could roll the dice, but have low expectations.
Mar 31, 2017, 8:03 am
#249
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, *A Silver
Posts: 4,896
Got an email offer today for Amex Business Gold 75k after $5k spend. Did the same offer 4 years ago and subsequently cancelled card. Besides the online app they have an 877 number to apply by phone. Would it pay to apply by phone and if a rep told me I'd get the bonus, is that reliable? I know Citi reps are notoriously unreliable about bonuses on their cards.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
Also should note there is no "This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product." in the offer terms.
Did you eventually end up getting this? Maybe it'll post the second statement after you meet the spending req.
Apr 1, 2017, 6:11 am
#250
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: BDL, JFK
Posts: 658
Didn't apply. The offer in the email extends till May 12. Right now I'm on a spend for another credit card. When thats done I may call Amex first but I have a feeling that its a no-go
Apr 1, 2017, 8:43 am
#251
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 333
Had a targeted offer in my online account for Business Gold $5k/75K, even though I had the card previously two years ago. No previous account language in the offer. Went for it with some trepidation after getting burned on the Plat card last summer. Met spend (no VGCs!) and 75K posted immediately. Once in a lifetime has loopholes, apparently.
Apr 1, 2017, 8:58 am
#252
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,955
Exceptions, not loopholes. Once in a lifetime is not an American Express policy that applies universally, it's a condition that appears in the terms of most offers, but it doesn't apply if it is absent. It always appears in public offers, but there are many targeted offers without the exclusion language.
Last edited by mia; Apr 1, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Apr 1, 2017, 10:22 am
#253
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 333
Exceptions, not loopholes. Once in a lifetime is not an American Express policy that applies universally, it's a condition that appears in the terms of most offers, but it doesn't apply if it is absent. It always appears in public offers, but there are many targeted offers with the exclusion language.
Apr 1, 2017, 2:11 pm
#254
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, *A Silver
Posts: 4,896
Had a targeted offer in my online account for Business Gold $5k/75K, even though I had the card previously two years ago. No previous account language in the offer. Went for it with some trepidation after getting burned on the Plat card last summer. Met spend (no VGCs!) and 75K posted immediately. Once in a lifetime has loopholes, apparently.
Apr 4, 2017, 6:36 pm
#255
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: Hilton Gold, SPG Gold, CC Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 433
Had a targeted offer in my online account for Business Gold $5k/75K, even though I had the card previously two years ago. No previous account language in the offer. Went for it with some trepidation after getting burned on the Plat card last summer. Met spend (no VGCs!) and 75K posted immediately. Once in a lifetime has loopholes, apparently.