Oct 4, 2018, 1:05 pm
Last edit by: roberto99
Faq amex: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/campaigns/gold-card/gold-update-faqs.html
For existing and new cardholders
For new cardholders (Oct 4 2018 and after)
For existing cardholders (Oct 3 2018 or before)
For existing and new cardholders
- Changes below are effective immediately
- 4x US grocery (25k/calendar year), 4x US dining* (*pervasive reports that many dining transactions are not coding as 4x, including but not limited to those from Square or Toast-based POS systems. Scroll down in thread for more reports and information.)
- $120 dining credit ($10 monthly in certain restaurants)
- No change
- $100 calendar year airline reimbursement
- Other
- $250 AF (see below for existing cardholders)
- No 2x gas (removed, see below for existing cardholders who have it till Oct 2019)
- Metal card (contactless)
- Rose gold card - limited edition until Jan 9 2019
- Regular gold card
For new cardholders (Oct 4 2018 and after)
- You may be able to find targeted/referal 50k/$2k, but first AF is not waived
- Signup bonus: You get 20% off restaurant up to $500 restaurant spend (3 month)
- You do not get 2x gas (only for existing cardholders, see below)
For existing cardholders (Oct 3 2018 or before)
- AF will change to $250 for anniversary dates after April 1 2019
- 2x gas will be removed after Oct 2019
- You can chat/call for the gold/rosegold metal card. AU card will get whatever primary cardholder is getting, cannot be different
Premier Rewards Gold refresh: 4x USA dining, groceries, $10/mon dining credit. $250.
Aug 23, 2019, 12:56 pm
#1486
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 93
So we are lucky. My husband and I ordered food thru gruhub on the last day of a month 3 times. His dining credit is also $80 from Jan-Aug.
Aug 23, 2019, 1:44 pm
#1487
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 299
yes that is normal!! Dont forget the 250.00 fee. Im seriously considering canceling in Oct a few weeks before the fee hits my acct. I can do better with my other Amex and Chase cards. Did have great signup bonus tho. Since my family is not into traveling anymore..basically useless.
Aug 24, 2019, 5:26 am
#1488
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: SFO/LAX/SAN/LAS/DFW/JFK/LGA/EWR/MIA
Posts: 1,073
thank you for the info. if i ever procrastinate, i will try a grubhub order early afternoon and clear the credit. pretty sure it works because its an online order system so its faster vs in-store POS where there is a nightly batch processing/accounting hence the next day posting.
Aug 24, 2019, 6:56 pm
#1489
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 95
What is the usual SUB for the Gold? I have a 50k offer at the moment and I would like to know how it compares to past offers.
Also have a 100k offer for the Plat but I think I will pass on that one for now.
Also have a 100k offer for the Plat but I think I will pass on that one for now.
Aug 24, 2019, 9:25 pm
#1490
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: USA
Programs: UR and MR
Posts: 88
usual SUB for non-referrals is 35k, and with referrals is 40k. you can get a 50k SUB with a referral and incognito trick
Aug 27, 2019, 6:33 pm
#1492
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,487
I asked AMEX CS to have their MR team review a charge at a large Chinese/Dim Sum Restaurant that seemingly coded as a restaurant in the consumer facing charge details but like some other restaurants didn’t code correctly for the 4x points. After about seven weeks, I finally heard back today that the charge was reviewed and they determined it does not qualify for the restaurant bonus points.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
Aug 27, 2019, 6:41 pm
#1493
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BAY AREA
Posts: 1,125
I asked AMEX CS to have their MR team review a charge at a large Chinese/Dim Sum Restaurant that seemingly coded as a restaurant in the consumer facing charge details but like some other restaurants didn’t code correctly for the 4x points. After about seven weeks, I finally heard back today that the charge was reviewed and they determined it does not qualify for the restaurant bonus points.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
Aug 27, 2019, 8:43 pm
#1494
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: LAS ORD
Programs: AA Pro (mostly B6) OZ♦ (flying BR/UA), BA Silver Hyatt LT, Wynn Black, Cosmo Plat, Mlife Noir
Posts: 5,992
I asked AMEX CS to have their MR team review a charge at a large Chinese/Dim Sum Restaurant that seemingly coded as a restaurant in the consumer facing charge details but like some other restaurants didn’t code correctly for the 4x points. After about seven weeks, I finally heard back today that the charge was reviewed and they determined it does not qualify for the restaurant bonus points.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
I’ve used my Citi Prestige at this restaurant many times and have never had issues with it coding as a restaurant and getting the 5x points on that card. Definitely not impressed with AMEX in this situation.
Aug 28, 2019, 2:25 am
#1495
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,487
I understand that there are additional layers of data when charges post that are not visible to us, and when the card first launched, AMEX used that as a reason why some restaurants that posted as “restaurants” didn’t trigger the bonus points. That being said, it seems a little ridiculous that they would manually review a charge coded as “Restaurant- Bar & Cafe” and determine it is not a qualifying charge.
Aug 28, 2019, 9:56 am
#1496
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: NYC
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Plat Pro, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, JetBlue Mosaic 3, Amtrak Select
Posts: 966
In my activity, the charge posted as “Restaurant- Bar & Cafe.” In their written response to me, AMEX only stated that the charge was not qualifying, with no further explanation.
I understand that there are additional layers of data when charges post that are not visible to us, and when the card first launched, AMEX used that as a reason why some restaurants that posted as “restaurants” didn’t trigger the bonus points. That being said, it seems a little ridiculous that they would manually review a charge coded as “Restaurant- Bar & Cafe” and determine it is not a qualifying charge.
Case in point - there's a beer shop near me that also functions as a bar. It codes as Restaurant - Bar and Cafe, but doesn't get 4x on Amex Gold, but always gets 3x on Chase. It was a 20 dollar purchase, so its not worth arguing with Amex, but it's just frustrating as it seems like if Amex was less strict, it wouldn't be an issue. It also leads me to being hesitant about using my Amex Gold unless i'm 100% confident it'll post as 4x.
Aug 28, 2019, 10:35 am
#1497
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,956
Every credit card that offers category bonuses has this problem.
The merchant, or more likely their acquirer, chose a classification for each card network. The VISA classifications are not interchangeable with American Express classifications. Perhaps the Amex classification that these merchants chose are used primarily by others that are a not restaurants. Fixing your problem may cause another problem elsewhere.
The merchant, or more likely their acquirer, chose a classification for each card network. The VISA classifications are not interchangeable with American Express classifications. Perhaps the Amex classification that these merchants chose are used primarily by others that are a not restaurants. Fixing your problem may cause another problem elsewhere.
Aug 28, 2019, 11:53 am
#1498
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
But, I have also noticed that in the last few months I've also had many fewer issues with missing bonuses, even at the types of places where I was having frequent issues back late last year and early this year (especially restaurants and cafes using Square and other similar "modern" POS systems). I wonder if Amex might have made some more fundamental change to how they were figuring out which places qualified, and correspondingly have become less willing to make manual adjustments because they feel they have mostly fixed the problem? Obviously some places will still fall through the cracks, but for me it's been months since I've had an issue.
Aug 28, 2019, 1:29 pm
#1499
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHL, LHR
Posts: 219
But, I have also noticed that in the last few months I've also had many fewer issues with missing bonuses, even at the types of places where I was having frequent issues back late last year and early this year (especially restaurants and cafes using Square and other similar "modern" POS systems). I wonder if Amex might have made some more fundamental change to how they were figuring out which places qualified, and correspondingly have become less willing to make manual adjustments because they feel they have mostly fixed the problem? Obviously some places will still fall through the cracks, but for me it's been months since I've had an issue.
Aug 28, 2019, 1:38 pm
#1500
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,956
Bear in mind that 2X for gasoline was removed from the Gold card when it was refreshed, but existing cardholders retained it for a period, which the Wikipost shows continuing to October. Perhaps it expired sooner for individual accounts based on opening date.