Meeting minimum spend for Amex
Apr 9, 2021, 1:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,940
Meeting minimum spend for Amex
I know that Amex does not allow spending on cash equivalents for meeting minimum spend for sign up bonuses. What about the following:
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
Apr 9, 2021, 2:46 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: EWR
Programs: World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, UA Mileage Plus
Posts: 1,255
I know that Amex does not allow spending on cash equivalents for meeting minimum spend for sign up bonuses. What about the following:
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Apr 9, 2021, 5:39 pm
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
I know that Amex does not allow spending on cash equivalents for meeting minimum spend for sign up bonuses. What about the following:
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
—Branded gift cards (I.e. GCs for Walmart, purchased at Walmart)
—Plastic payments for tuition (or other Plastiq payments allowed with Amex)
—PayPal payments for purchases or services (I.e. car insurance that has PayPal payment option)
—Taxes (I assume this one is yes)
Any other suggestions?
Apr 10, 2021, 10:26 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2016
Programs: American Airlines, Delta, United, Southwest
Posts: 45
Pre-pay utilites? My gas and electric company charges $1.50 to use charge card but you can make as large a payment as you want for that fee. I pre-pay several months in advance. OTOH My water company won't take a credit card.
Apr 10, 2021, 10:30 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
I've never prepaid utility bills. Maybe I can try next time. Sometimes I forget to pay the bills and combine two bills at same time. There is no interest charge and I pay just one fee instead of two fees. I use the USBank Cash+ card though and it earns 5% cash on utilities as its main category.
Apr 10, 2021, 12:02 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: AS 75K (OW), SK Silver (*A), UR, MR
Posts: 3,345
It would be nice if Amex would display your SUB progress. If done manually by you, you and Amex may disagree, and you wouldn't know until it's too late, such as looking at the statement of your third billing cycle.
Apr 10, 2021, 3:22 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,940
I've never prepaid utility bills. Maybe I can try next time. Sometimes I forget to pay the bills and combine two bills at same time. There is no interest charge and I pay just one fee instead of two fees. I use the USBank Cash+ card though and it earns 5% cash on utilities as its main category.
Apr 11, 2021, 10:54 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,940
I need to check to see if Amex gold biz has cell insurance (I don’t think it does). But in a pinch I could do that. Bill is around $200/month.
Apr 11, 2021, 12:39 pm
#11
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,063
I recently applied for the Morgan Stanley Platinum and had to meet a $5000.00 minimum spend to get 60,000 MR points. I probably put around $400.00 on Amazon reload and got the signup bonus without a hitch, so Amex doesn't treat as a cash equivalent. I say that because I've read similar stories of people purchasing cash equivalents and not having it count toward the minimum spend requirement. Good Luck.
Apr 18, 2021, 6:28 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,940
May 14, 2021, 6:50 pm
#14
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat
Posts: 4,777
Any documented clawbacks purchasing GCs with this offer?
I didn’t see language in the terms that bars gift card purchases from meeting minimum spend, or suggests clawbacks (unlike some earlier offers). Has anyone actually experienced a clawback after purchasing merchant (not Visa, MC) gift cards at grocery stores? In my case, I’m buying GCs to that actual locally-owned grocery chain.
May 16, 2021, 12:37 pm
#15
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,438