MR points for travelers cheques?
 

This post is somewhat redundant, but I can't find a straight answer to this question: Can I get MR points for travelers cheques?

I read somewhere on this board that no reward bought by amex core cards, but yes by amex partner cards. This means that you will get starwood, hilton, delta points, but no MR points. I might be wrong, please check yourself.

No MR point, from the TC's FAQ section:

Can I earn Membership Rewards® points when I purchase Travelers Cheques or foreign currency?
No. Membership Rewards enrollees cannot earn Membership Rewards program points for purchasing Travelers Cheques or foreign currency.

I (accidentally) got MR points for travelers cheques a couple months ago.

I called to order the cheques, and was asked for a checking acct #. I asked if I could give a savings acct #, because otherwise I'd have to wait a couple days to transfer the $ btwn accts. The rep said that a savings acct was fine.

The charges didn't show up for over a month. I looked online, and found out that you're only allowed to charge travelers cheques to a checking acct, not a savings acct. This was clearly the problem.

I needed to order more cheques anyway, so I called back. I ordered the new batch with my checking acct, to prevent any more problems (they were debited from the acct w/in a day or two). I told the representative that there was a problem with the payment with the last batch of cheques I ordered, and asked to resolve it then, because I was about to leave the country for several months. He said it showed as paid (!) so I let it be. I was hoping at this point that I would get the cheques for free -- I'd already received them, my acct hadn't been debited, and it showed as paid in AmEx's computers!

A few weeks later there was a charge on my plat card statement for "returned gift cheque item" in the amount of the travelers cheques. I paid it off and received MR points.

So, at the end of it, I had use of both the money and the cheques for about 6 weeks, and got MR points. This clearly isn't supposed to happen, and I don't think you should try to scam the system. But if you ask if you can pay with a savings acct, and they say it's OK, I'd go ahead.

The CS guy at AMEX told us you earn MR if you issue checks from your business line of credit through AMEX. Those according to a few people at AMEX do receive MR, but we haven't done it yet.

Good info. I was wondering about this when I got the invitation to business line of credit. Can one issue a 10K check to a friend and pay the balance as soon as it posts? The interest cost would be minimal and this might be a good opportunity to rack up MR points. Any idea?

You can write checks up to 10k every 7 days. Then when you log in your account shows the balance and you can pay online. You could write the checks to either a friend or yourself and then cash it.

Despite what the TC FAQ says, you do in fact earn MR points for TC purchases from an AMEX Travel Office (there aren't many of these) up to $10,000 a month on a AMEX Plat card. Getting the max out every month however might raise a red flag and they may stop this amazing loophole if you get too greedy.

I agree. Not a good idea to test Amex's tolerance. Another risk is that amex can code it as a cash advance if it wants to.

I'm bumping this tread because I am looking to pay the couple of vendors my business uses that don't take cards. Is this loophole still open? What is the best way to go about writing checks to get MR or Starpoints?

The loophole is dying a rapid death right now. More discussion in the (very long) MilesBuzz thread on the topic. Read the last 50 posts or so for details about the demise of this benefit.

Thanks for the link. Oh well, I guess I missed the boat.

I think they saiy in the T&C that you wont get it, but if you buy it you do get the points. You have to be careful not to buy too much at once (>1000 I think) otherwise they consider the purchase a cash advance.

TC purchase didn't earn any MR points when my Platinum account which closed on Nov 19th. I got MR points for TC previously...