Nov 10, 2013, 11:26 am
Last edit by: mcdullhk88
Dead as of 10/13/14
FAQ's
Is Amazon Payments treated as a cash advance? No CC issuer has been reported as treating an AP transaction as a cash advance unless the sender selected "Payment is for Cash Advance" on the Send Money screen.
What does it mean when your payment is "pending"? Your payment will be reviewed. We are unsure whether this review is done by a human or computer. It should take less than 24 hours but is usually within minutes.
How should you describe your payment? "Goods or services" will allow you to charge with a CC and it will not be treated as a cash advance. Note: If you choose cash advance, it may be treated as such by your CC issuer; always choose Goods/Services. There is no reason to put anything in the optional description field - leave it blank.
What is the monthly limit for sending CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What is the monthly limit for receiving CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What if it is not allowing me to send/receive more than $500 or any at all? You probably have not verified your bank and/or added a CC. In order to get the full $1,000 allowance for sending and receiving you must have a bank verified AND a CC added to your account as a payment method.
Does AP qualify for special spending categories? Specifically it qualifies for Discover's (usually 4th quarter) category of online purchases but so far, not Chase's "5% CB on Amazon.com purchases." Refer to thread for other options.
Can you get shutdown? Yes.
How do you get shutdown? No one knows. Anecdotes are found throughout the thread. Some suspicious behavior that MIGHT get your AP account(s) shut down is listed below.
Which transaction is most advisable? A -> B -> C -> A (see here)
Are any fees charged during this process? No, not by Amazon Payments. If your transaction is treated as a cash advance by your card issuer--fees are possible. Beware and always double check that goods/services is selected!
Can you liquidate Amazon GC via AP? NO!
Can you liquidate other gift cards via AP? Yes. Note that you cannot liquidate the full value of a GC because amazon places a $1 hold while it verifies the validity of the GC. You can sometimes (not always) avoid the hold by entering an incorrect expiration date for the GC when adding it to your AP account, and after you have added it, go to "Edit my account settings," then to "Add edit or delete my credit cards" and edit the expiration date there.
When does the month end? It appears as if Amazon is on pacific time, so midnight PDT/PST is when the month resets.
It bears repeating that no one knows the methodology amazon uses to police AP transactions, determines which transactions violate its T&Cs, or identifies violators. However, various people in this thread and elsewhere have confirmed that their AP account(s) were shut down for the following reasons:
Additionally, we have updated the terms and conditions of our User Agreement (https://payments.amazon.com/help/Personal-Accounts/User-Agreement-Policies/User-Agreement) that apply to your use of the products and services provided by Amazon Payments. Our updated User Agreement revises certain terms (including, among other things, the elimination of person-to-person payments). Our new User Agreement will become effective on October 13, 2014, which is more than 30 days from when we first posted our updated User Agreement. By continuing to use our services after October 13, 2014, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of our new User Agreement.
Is Amazon Payments treated as a cash advance? No CC issuer has been reported as treating an AP transaction as a cash advance unless the sender selected "Payment is for Cash Advance" on the Send Money screen.
What does it mean when your payment is "pending"? Your payment will be reviewed. We are unsure whether this review is done by a human or computer. It should take less than 24 hours but is usually within minutes.
How should you describe your payment? "Goods or services" will allow you to charge with a CC and it will not be treated as a cash advance. Note: If you choose cash advance, it may be treated as such by your CC issuer; always choose Goods/Services. There is no reason to put anything in the optional description field - leave it blank.
What is the monthly limit for sending CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What is the monthly limit for receiving CC payments? $1,000 per calendar month per AP account
What if it is not allowing me to send/receive more than $500 or any at all? You probably have not verified your bank and/or added a CC. In order to get the full $1,000 allowance for sending and receiving you must have a bank verified AND a CC added to your account as a payment method.
Does AP qualify for special spending categories? Specifically it qualifies for Discover's (usually 4th quarter) category of online purchases but so far, not Chase's "5% CB on Amazon.com purchases." Refer to thread for other options.
Can you get shutdown? Yes.
How do you get shutdown? No one knows. Anecdotes are found throughout the thread. Some suspicious behavior that MIGHT get your AP account(s) shut down is listed below.
Which transaction is most advisable? A -> B -> C -> A (see here)
Are any fees charged during this process? No, not by Amazon Payments. If your transaction is treated as a cash advance by your card issuer--fees are possible. Beware and always double check that goods/services is selected!
Can you liquidate Amazon GC via AP? NO!
Can you liquidate other gift cards via AP? Yes. Note that you cannot liquidate the full value of a GC because amazon places a $1 hold while it verifies the validity of the GC. You can sometimes (not always) avoid the hold by entering an incorrect expiration date for the GC when adding it to your AP account, and after you have added it, go to "Edit my account settings," then to "Add edit or delete my credit cards" and edit the expiration date there.
When does the month end? It appears as if Amazon is on pacific time, so midnight PDT/PST is when the month resets.
It bears repeating that no one knows the methodology amazon uses to police AP transactions, determines which transactions violate its T&Cs, or identifies violators. However, various people in this thread and elsewhere have confirmed that their AP account(s) were shut down for the following reasons:
- Associating one credit card number with more than one AP account (Be Careful if authorized user card has the same number as the primary card holder - in some instances the CC numbers are completely different)
- Associating one bank account with more than one AP account
Amazon Payments
Aug 16, 2012 | 6:06 pm
#616
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
So what if I posted about it? I posted about it last year and it still lives!
There are active threads on using Amazon Payments on Fat Wallet and Slick Deals. It has been talked about on other blogs, and even made it to Life Hacker!
If Amazon wanted to close it down, they would have done so by now.
There are active threads on using Amazon Payments on Fat Wallet and Slick Deals. It has been talked about on other blogs, and even made it to Life Hacker!
If Amazon wanted to close it down, they would have done so by now.
Aug 16, 2012 | 6:12 pm
#617
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Programs: AA, BA, UA, Spirit, Delta, PC Plat, SPG Gold, HHonors Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,735
So what if I posted about it? I posted about it last year and it still lives!
There are active threads on using Amazon Payments on Fat Wallet and Slick Deals. It has been talked about on other blogs, and even made it to Life Hacker!
If Amazon wanted to close it down, they would have done so by now.
There are active threads on using Amazon Payments on Fat Wallet and Slick Deals. It has been talked about on other blogs, and even made it to Life Hacker!
If Amazon wanted to close it down, they would have done so by now.
Aug 16, 2012 | 6:26 pm
#619
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,506
Aug 16, 2012 | 6:32 pm
#621
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
Just out of curiosity have you ever come up with a deal own your own?
Aug 16, 2012 | 6:46 pm
#622
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: RDU
Programs: A few
Posts: 5,506
I worked out most of the deals here on miles buzz myself including the topic of this thread and have helped others both publicly, via pm and by email. Despite suggestions otherwise, none of this is rocket science
Aug 16, 2012 | 8:13 pm
#623
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Programs: AA, BA, UA, Spirit, Delta, PC Plat, SPG Gold, HHonors Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,735
I'm a little confused. You're saying the Mint deal is dead because of bloggers?
Aug 16, 2012 | 9:07 pm
#624
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
Bloggers, forums and members. None of them could keep their mouths shut. The great Mint deal that could not be killed. You should learn from your mistakes, not keep making the same ones over and over.
Aug 16, 2012 | 9:08 pm
#625
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Toledo, OH
Programs: Delta DM/2MM, Hilton, Wyndham and IHG DM, Marriott gold, Hyatt Globalist, Southwest A List
Posts: 15,565
A person from NPR contacted ppeople on the mint thread (myself included) wanting to interview them for a story. I didn't respond but a couple people wanted a couple minutes of fame. A lady bragged about all the coins she ordered from the mint and all the miles she was getting and a day or two after the story ran the program ceased. If all those media stories wouldn't have been published the mint deal would have lasted a lot longer.
Aug 16, 2012 | 10:47 pm
#627
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Programs: AA, BA, UA, Spirit, Delta, PC Plat, SPG Gold, HHonors Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,735
A person from NPR contacted ppeople on the mint thread (myself included) wanting to interview them for a story. I didn't respond but a couple people wanted a couple minutes of fame. A lady bragged about all the coins she ordered from the mint and all the miles she was getting and a day or two after the story ran the program ceased. If all those media stories wouldn't have been published the mint deal would have lasted a lot longer.
Forgive me, but blaming bloggers with their tiny number of followers compared to those national publications, is beyond ridiculous. The government killed the deal because the Mint was bleeding money, and someone somewhere had to stop it at some point. Would've happened with or without bloggers and NPR.
Aug 16, 2012 | 11:09 pm
#628
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,183
Nope, can't be that. Because aside of NPR, I also remember the articles in Forbes, LAT, Money Magazine, not even mentioning the WSJ article conspicuously called "Miles for Nothing: How the Government Helped Frequent Fliers Make a Mint" that was written in 2009! Yet, the festivities continued unabated for another two years after that. Why didn't that article kill Mint in 2009?
Aug 16, 2012 | 11:26 pm
#629
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, United States
Programs: AA, BA, UA, Spirit, Delta, PC Plat, SPG Gold, HHonors Diamond, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,735
Anecdotal evidence. During how much time of the duration of the Mint deal was there a major article running on it? Almost none. Yet during some of that very little period of time, the deal got killed. That's either a very big coincidence, or it's not a coincidence at all.
Aug 16, 2012 | 11:32 pm
#630
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,758
Forgive me, but blaming bloggers with their tiny number of followers compared to those national publications, is beyond ridiculous. The government killed the deal because the Mint was bleeding money, and someone somewhere had to stop it at some point. Would've happened with or without bloggers and NPR.