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.
Oct 16, 2018, 12:15 am
#616
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
Merchant coded as MCC that is a bonus category -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> something worth noting as an exceptional case / taking up with AMEX
Merchant coded as MCC that isn't a bonus category (regardless of whether the MCC is appropriate/accurate) -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> that's what we should expect, and is a merchant issue.
Buyers of course should be aware that merchants may not have an accurate MCC. The possible fact that Square merchants are much more likely to have an inaccurate MCC (which is true IME) is part of that.
Oct 16, 2018, 5:39 am
#617
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: LAX
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Wyndham Diamond, DL PM, Marriott Platinum, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,305
Here's two recent examples. Top one got me the 4X, the bottom one did not. Both are in a category that says Restaurant - Restaurant. The transaction details are different (one says FOOD, the other says RESTAURANTS). I know it's all about the coding, but the irony is the top example is a small, corner gastro pub and the bottom one where I did not receive any bonuses is a large Center City restaurant. Which sucks, because if this is how the coding goes I'm going to miss out on thousands of bonus points per year.
Last edited by mia; Oct 16, 2018 at 8:30 am Reason: Formatting
Oct 16, 2018, 7:44 am
#618
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Adelphi, MD
Programs: Korean Air Skypass, ANA Skyweb, Amex Premier Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred
Posts: 745
With Dining and groceries there is much more opportunities to increase your spending. With gasoline purchases they are always the same.
Oct 16, 2018, 7:56 am
#619
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHL, LHR
Posts: 219
My point is simply that people need to complain for the right reasons.
Merchant coded as MCC that is a bonus category -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> something worth noting as an exceptional case / taking up with AMEX
Merchant coded as MCC that isn't a bonus category (regardless of whether the MCC is appropriate/accurate) -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> that's what we should expect, and is a merchant issue.
Buyers of course should be aware that merchants may not have an accurate MCC. The possible fact that Square merchants are much more likely to have an inaccurate MCC (which is true IME) is part of that.
Merchant coded as MCC that is a bonus category -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> something worth noting as an exceptional case / taking up with AMEX
Merchant coded as MCC that isn't a bonus category (regardless of whether the MCC is appropriate/accurate) -> AMEX doesn't give bonus -> that's what we should expect, and is a merchant issue.
Buyers of course should be aware that merchants may not have an accurate MCC. The possible fact that Square merchants are much more likely to have an inaccurate MCC (which is true IME) is part of that.
Oct 16, 2018, 7:57 am
#620
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: FL, USA
Programs: AA Plat, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriot Gold
Posts: 1,666
Just wanted to DP that I got gas on purpose on this card to see how it codes. I opened my card less than a week before the changes, today it posted for 2x points.
Oct 16, 2018, 8:35 am
#621
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,953
It's too soon to know if you will, or will not, receive bonus points in those instances. All we know now is that the preview function doesn't show them. There also doesn't seem to be any evidence to support the notion that 50% of the transactions will be affected.
Oct 16, 2018, 9:18 am
#622
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SFO/TPE
Programs: UA GS slavery, *A Gold, Marriott/SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hertz Pres Circle
Posts: 281
Quick question, anyone have experiences with Google Pay not coding correctly? Just want to be safe, trying to make sure I don't miss out on 4x coding.
Oct 16, 2018, 9:37 am
#624
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SFO/TPE
Programs: UA GS slavery, *A Gold, Marriott/SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hertz Pres Circle
Posts: 281
Oct 16, 2018, 1:35 pm
#625
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
Oct 16, 2018, 2:08 pm
#626
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,750
DP:
Bought 2 slices of cheesecake for a total of $17.44 at Cheesecake Factory on Saturday. The purchase was done at the front counter where take outs were paid.
$10 credit posted today. I guess this would be the only way we can use the $10 monthly credit.
Will decide if the card is worth to keep at the 1st year anniversary (mine was from a targeted offer in May with 1st year fee waived, same conditions found from the referral links.)
The limit of US Only is a big minus to us.
Bought 2 slices of cheesecake for a total of $17.44 at Cheesecake Factory on Saturday. The purchase was done at the front counter where take outs were paid.
$10 credit posted today. I guess this would be the only way we can use the $10 monthly credit.
Will decide if the card is worth to keep at the 1st year anniversary (mine was from a targeted offer in May with 1st year fee waived, same conditions found from the referral links.)
The limit of US Only is a big minus to us.
Oct 16, 2018, 2:31 pm
#627
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,750
Also you would need to CLICK OPEN the transaction details to see it. There is NO indicator next to the transaction but once you open the details, the frame next to it DOES SHOW the earning if the transaction is posted 4 to 5 days at least.
So far ALL grocery stores and restaurants have been working as expected on my card.
If you are looking for the indicator right next to the transaction, it will NOT show on either preview or the regular format. Those boxes would only show on the CLOSED statement activities.
The other method someone described by checking the upcoming statement activities, do NOT work for my account whether with Firefox or with Chrome. It simply does not show any indicator next to each transaction, the transactions themselves cannot be opened either. But the Preview / open details of transaction,
There is a local grocer specialized in fresh fishes flown in from Caribbeans do NOT earn category bonus on AMEX Cards. It earns the category bonus on ALL Visa cards. So there are a hundred or so grocery spend each month would not benefit from the extra 2 pts from AMEX (TD Visa is 3 at ding 2 at grocery store Worldwide, No AF and 0 forex fee)
I am not convince the $250 AF is worth to pay despite the offsetting airline credit (just piling more GCs into already a pile that has not been used once), plus the $10 monthly credit requires extra effort to earn. Of course others who can easily use those offsetting credits would have a different take.
Last edited by Happy; Oct 16, 2018 at 2:51 pm
Oct 16, 2018, 2:35 pm
#628
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 262
The stated annual fee (AF) is $250 with $120 dining credit and $100 airline fee credit; let say I value both at face value for this question: are there other benefits than earning points to offset the effective $30 AF ($250-120-100)? I am trying to determine (in 2-player mode) if wife and I should each keep the card or keep one card and make the other authorized user (AU). The other assumption is that we won't reach the $25K groceries cap (cuz we eat out often). If we do go over grocery cap, then each having their own card would be ideal?
Maybe I already answered by own question (keep separate cards or keep one with AU) based on the last two sentences?
Thoughts?
Maybe I already answered by own question (keep separate cards or keep one with AU) based on the last two sentences?
Thoughts?
I would keep separate cards just for the fact that if you do so, each of you can pick the color card of your choice.
My wife is an authorized user ("AU") on my card and she wanted to get the rose gold card. Both the primary card and the AU card must be the same color so I had to take one for the team and get a rose gold card as well.
I would have happily paid the effective annual fee of $30 just to avoid plonking down a rose gold card, but happy wife, happy life right?
My wife is an authorized user ("AU") on my card and she wanted to get the rose gold card. Both the primary card and the AU card must be the same color so I had to take one for the team and get a rose gold card as well.
I would have happily paid the effective annual fee of $30 just to avoid plonking down a rose gold card, but happy wife, happy life right?
Correct. I just received a AU card (ironically, I'm still waiting for my primary card) and it looks more bronze than pink, but certainly not like the images shown on amex website or iphone rose gold. I guess their marketing team wanted to make sure people wouldn't be offput if it was pinker.
In person, the rose gold isn't that pink and in certain lighting bronze is about right. Wife has already gotten some compliments on the card due to the color and weight; could help as a conversation starter.
At the moment, we will see how being AU will play-out to save the $30; might be easier in terms of MR accumulation (I do have a question on MR accumulation in 2-player mode; I will search the forum before posting or if I am lazy just post it anyways).
Oct 16, 2018, 2:44 pm
#629
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 731
Has anyone run into an issue where the online application says your not eligible for the welcome offer due to past history, having an offer in the past, and so on, but non of those are true?
I've never had product (have to other amex non charge cards) and have a great history with amex. I called customer service yesterday and spent approx 30 min on the phone with them. They confirmed that nothing precluded me from the offer, nor should it from the referral offer. That said, their was nothing they could do on their end outside note it in my account. I would have to call back after applying and they could take a further look at the application and what might have happened.
I weighted my options and decided to apply and give them a call today.
I've never had product (have to other amex non charge cards) and have a great history with amex. I called customer service yesterday and spent approx 30 min on the phone with them. They confirmed that nothing precluded me from the offer, nor should it from the referral offer. That said, their was nothing they could do on their end outside note it in my account. I would have to call back after applying and they could take a further look at the application and what might have happened.
I weighted my options and decided to apply and give them a call today.
Oct 16, 2018, 2:59 pm
#630
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,750
Alright, for those who are very keen to find out whether their spends earn category bonuses, now there is an easier way despite it would still not giving you the past 5 to 7 days posted spend, but would give you the whole picture on one single click -
Go to Statement and Activities, choose Year to-date, i.e. January 1, 2018 to present.
Then you will see the neat little box next to each transaction if it earns category bonus.
On my card, the update is up to Oct 11 posted transactions. From Oct 12, the posted transactions remain no box attached - but they are the same merchants all along, so I know by default they will earn the 4x.
The only merchant remains not earning category bonus is that Caribbean grocer. It was also the same merchant that years ago used payment processor's MCC therefore it was First Data versus its own account, hence did not qualify for the Small Business Saturday, if anyone still remembers such promotion.
Go to Statement and Activities, choose Year to-date, i.e. January 1, 2018 to present.
Then you will see the neat little box next to each transaction if it earns category bonus.
On my card, the update is up to Oct 11 posted transactions. From Oct 12, the posted transactions remain no box attached - but they are the same merchants all along, so I know by default they will earn the 4x.
The only merchant remains not earning category bonus is that Caribbean grocer. It was also the same merchant that years ago used payment processor's MCC therefore it was First Data versus its own account, hence did not qualify for the Small Business Saturday, if anyone still remembers such promotion.