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.
Dec 4, 2019, 11:18 am
#1577
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Without knowing geographical details for both of you I would only be guessing, but if it has happened at more than one store I would contact American Express.
Dec 4, 2019, 11:59 am
#1578
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,464
Had my first run-in with the incorrect restaurant coding for a yakiniku restaurant in Kyoto. Got the following response from AMEX:
Complete nonsense obviously. It's coding as bar/nightclub but it's neither of those which would be obvious if the person looking into the issue had just googled the business name. Very disappointing. I feel bad for those who run into this more often. I get great value out of the card anyway, but I just wish AMEX would get their act together. It looks like reloading Suica doesn't trigger 3x travel on the green card either and I expect the same response even though that is a clear cut transit purchase.
We received your recent inquiry about earning 4x Membership Rewards® points for your purchases with Chifaja Saiin.
We've determined that, unfortunately, this charge is not eligible to earn additional points. Eligible purchases made with this merchant will continue to earn 1 point per dollar spent.
However, we are currently investigating whether this merchant can become eligible for incremental points in the future. If so, then any future charges from this merchant will earn you incremental points.
We've determined that, unfortunately, this charge is not eligible to earn additional points. Eligible purchases made with this merchant will continue to earn 1 point per dollar spent.
However, we are currently investigating whether this merchant can become eligible for incremental points in the future. If so, then any future charges from this merchant will earn you incremental points.
Dec 4, 2019, 9:45 pm
#1581
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
How far apart? Perhaps they're co-owned and the same person set up the accounts for both?
That sort of thing (a co-owned group of stores all being mis-categorized the same way) has happened before, though it's usually with smaller stores than Safeways.
That sort of thing (a co-owned group of stores all being mis-categorized the same way) has happened before, though it's usually with smaller stores than Safeways.
Dec 5, 2019, 7:59 am
#1582
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,878
Less than 10 miles apart. I wonder why the recent change in merchant category.
Dec 5, 2019, 8:01 am
#1583
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Chains like Safeway are typically setup with divisions or regions, and the acquirer that handles the card transactions for that division may have made an error which no one at the store level is likely to even be aware of. I would contact American Express.
Dec 5, 2019, 9:26 am
#1584
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Adelphi, MD
Programs: Korean Air Skypass, ANA Skyweb, Amex Premier Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred
Posts: 745
I am guessing their credit card system was down and they were using the one at the Fuel area.
Dec 5, 2019, 10:12 am
#1585
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,878
ETA: received reply that the merchant does not qualify for 4x.
Last edited by Troopers; Dec 5, 2019 at 8:43 pm
Dec 7, 2019, 3:02 pm
#1586
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 565
I have had 3 charges at Safeway now processed by Safeway Fuel Station. All 3 purchases were within the grocery store. East side of Seattle.
Dec 7, 2019, 4:40 pm
#1587
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
Safeway is a large supermarket chain, which means many, many cardholders will be affected. This will blow up and be resolved, but you could have a chat with a store manager. I wouldn't focus on the rewards aspect, just ask why your purchases are being processed by their gasoline division.
Dec 8, 2019, 1:46 pm
#1588
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SEA
Programs: All Around Nobody
Posts: 861
I do almost all of my grocery shopping at Safeways, regionally branded as Von's or Pavilions, and have always had them coded correctly. Safeway Fueling Stations have always been hit or miss, even when the PRG earned bonus on gas.
Dec 9, 2019, 1:33 pm
#1589
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 3
Hey y'all, I'm new here, but was directed here from Reddit when I posted a similar question. Someone mentioned they read this similar instance here.
I'm in Texas and hammer my local Tom Thumb for the 4x categories with both my Gold card and my wife's.
On November 19th, it coded as Tom Thumb and gave 4x back.
On November 29th, on my card, it coded as Safeway Fuels.
I see many of you are in the Northwest area of the country. So I don't think this is a regional issue, but a larger problem across the entire Safeway Network (they own Tom Thumb).
I will have my wife buy something with her card their tonight and see if it's indeed a system change, or if it's just a coding change for those close to or at the yearly $25,000 limit for 4x back.
According to my tally, I should have just over $400 left in 4x spend left for the year. Is anyone else close to their limit?
As well, a few weeks ago, AmEx failed to give me MR points on the card for over 2 billing cycles despite everything having been paid well before the due dates.
Then, after giving me the points, they disabled my ability to transfer points to any program without an account already saved to their system (ie I had Virgin, FB, Hilton and Marriott available but not any of the other partners as I never linked a loyalty account).
This was on the heels of their massive shutdowns.
I do put quite a lot of other spend on the cards, but the vast majority of my grocery spend is used up on Home Depot and Amazon gift cards that I actually use.
Does anyone else have a similar story?
I'm in Texas and hammer my local Tom Thumb for the 4x categories with both my Gold card and my wife's.
On November 19th, it coded as Tom Thumb and gave 4x back.
On November 29th, on my card, it coded as Safeway Fuels.
I see many of you are in the Northwest area of the country. So I don't think this is a regional issue, but a larger problem across the entire Safeway Network (they own Tom Thumb).
I will have my wife buy something with her card their tonight and see if it's indeed a system change, or if it's just a coding change for those close to or at the yearly $25,000 limit for 4x back.
According to my tally, I should have just over $400 left in 4x spend left for the year. Is anyone else close to their limit?
As well, a few weeks ago, AmEx failed to give me MR points on the card for over 2 billing cycles despite everything having been paid well before the due dates.
Then, after giving me the points, they disabled my ability to transfer points to any program without an account already saved to their system (ie I had Virgin, FB, Hilton and Marriott available but not any of the other partners as I never linked a loyalty account).
This was on the heels of their massive shutdowns.
I do put quite a lot of other spend on the cards, but the vast majority of my grocery spend is used up on Home Depot and Amazon gift cards that I actually use.
Does anyone else have a similar story?
Dec 10, 2019, 12:04 pm
#1590
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 3
Yesterday, I had my wife make a purchase with her Gold Card. I will see how it posts.
For comparisons sake, I also made a purchase with my Citi Premier card. It will be interesting to see if it also codes as Safeway Fuel. This could present a valuable way for me to justify keeping the Premier card past its AF if grocery store portion of the store will also code as gas for Citi.
Currently, my fuel purchases at the pump at Tom Thumb do code as gas and I get the 3x back. This might also be another value boost for the Ink Cash card across all Safeways. It seems this is a nationwide occurrence from other forums I am reading. Rather than complain about it, I'll adapt and use it to my advantage. I can always get gift cards at Albertsons or Kroger with my Gold Card.
For comparisons sake, I also made a purchase with my Citi Premier card. It will be interesting to see if it also codes as Safeway Fuel. This could present a valuable way for me to justify keeping the Premier card past its AF if grocery store portion of the store will also code as gas for Citi.
Currently, my fuel purchases at the pump at Tom Thumb do code as gas and I get the 3x back. This might also be another value boost for the Ink Cash card across all Safeways. It seems this is a nationwide occurrence from other forums I am reading. Rather than complain about it, I'll adapt and use it to my advantage. I can always get gift cards at Albertsons or Kroger with my Gold Card.