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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

Old Oct 25, 2013, 7:07 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: ericdabbs
Please read the wiki before posting a question.

UPDATE 01/17/15

BeFrugal: 1.5%
Big Crumbs: 0.9%
TopCashBack: 1.5%


For other cash back or airline portals, check here: http://www.cashbackmonitor.com/Cashb...erican+express

Public Service Announcement: Do NOT use fee-free codes if you want portal cashback / miles. CB/Miles will post and then be clawed back.

FAQ

Will it post as a cash advance (CA)?

Citi - Yes.

Cards from Chase, BoA, FIA, Barclay, AMEX, CapitalOne, US Bank, Discover, HSBC, etc., have posted as purchase. PNC Visa Cashbuilder - posts as purchase but does not earn CC rewards

Note: Some issuers (Discover, US Bank, etc.) will decline the authorization if it exceeds your CA limit. This does NOT mean it will post as CA. It simply means you need to lower the purchase amount below your CA limit for authorization, but it ultimately posts as a purchase.

How do I set PIN on AMEX Gift Cards and use as debit to load Bluebird, buy MOs, etc.
You cannot set PIN or use them as debit to load Bluebird, buy MOs, etc. You can only use them as credit where AMEX is accepted.

How do I cash out AMEX Gift Cards?
Use manufactured spend techniques (load RB, buy Visa/MC GCs, VRs, AP, AFT, etc.) or normal spend where AMEX is accepted.

Why buy AMEX Gift Cards then?
To reduce the cost of manufactured spend, to mask your manufactured spend (i.e unusual high spend at Target or CVS), earn additional cash back on spend, or meet minimum spend targets faster.

Next day shipping that isn't?
The next day shipping is from when they ship the cards to UPS, which can be as long as 10 days from the order submission if you order personalized cards (more recently this has been under a week). For next day shipping, you are notified late night (once your card finishes processing, see above) and the package arrive that same morning before 10:30AM in your area.

What is with the charge disappearing from my credit card?
Once the order is placed you will see a pending charge on your CC account. Quite often once the card ships this pending is removed but does not show as a charge. Don't panic (or celebrate) it will show up as a charge within a day or so.

Personalized GCs?
Either Biz or Personal GCs can be personalized with your name. This helps when shaky cashiers who demand to see your card are prevalent. These take approximately 4 biz days to arrive compared to the non personalized which arrives as quickly as the next day.

UPS Tracking?
If you logged in to your AMEX account when placing the order you can get tracking info by logging in to your AMEX account and clicking on cards > gift cards > order history > order details. Unfortunately tracking information may not appear until well after your order has shipped so it's best to sign up for UPS My Choice to get faster tracking info and reroute your package if needed. Since UPS may drop your package off at the door if you're not home, it will be useful to know when your package will arrive.

The portal terms indicate that coupon codes will invalidate cash back. Is this true?
Yes (as of July 2014)

What are the purchase limits? (Updated Dec 2014)
10K personal every 14 days
100K business every 14 days

Do declined orders count toward the purchase limits?
YMMV

Do fees and shipping count toward the purchase limits?
No

Why was my purchase declined by AMEX?
There are several possibilities:
- Your billing address does not match 100% with what the credit card company has on file. This could be anything from apt/suite/condo # on the wrong line to zip code requiring 9 digits instead of 5. If your first purchase does not go through, call your bank or login to your acct to verify that this matches what you used.
- You have gone over the $10k every 14 day limit on personal gift card purchase.
- Even if you are sure the first two are correct as you have ordered before on that card and it's been more than 14 days, you might still get declined. No one has any idea why.
- You placed a business order and you don't really have a business (at some point AMEX does a background check for a valid business) or you have exceeded the 14 day limit for business orders.

My order was declined but my credit card still shows a pending authorization. How long until this falls off and my credit line is freed up?
I typically takes 1 week for the pending authorization to fall off after a declined order.

Can I order from the business side using a personal card? Or does it need to be a business card?
You can use whatever credit card you want to pay for business or personal orders. About the only restriction is you can't use an AMEX GC to buy another AMEX GC.

How long will it take the portal to track my order and confirm the pending cash back or points?
For non-Cartera portals (TCB, BC, Befrugal, etc) your order will usually track within a day or two.
For Cartera portals (Barclay Reward Boost, Lucky Rewards, USAA, Alaska, Delta) it will take 3-4 weeks to track.

My orders are not tracking. How can I maximize the chances the portal will track my order properly?
Use a browser you do not normally use (Chrome, Firefox, Opera), reset all browser settings to defaults, clear all browser cookies, disable all browser add-ons, and close/re-start your browser before navigating to the portal and placing your order. Do NOT use promotional coupon codes. The vast majority of tracking issues result from use of coupon codes, a bad browser cookie, improperly configured browser settings, or add-ons that interfere with cookie tracking.
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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:02 pm
  #6436  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Dang.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:21 pm
  #6437  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 103
Originally Posted by rockclimber
Yes I registered each AGC with name and address.At GCM, I spaced out each order so that when the transaction notification was sent from tcb, I placed the second, followed by the third order.
Hmm. Not sure then. Have you ordered a ton in the past from them?
BigB985 is offline  
Old Jun 9, 2014, 8:32 pm
  #6438  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IND
Programs: Hilton Dia, Hyatt Glbl, Marriott Lftm Plat, National EE
Posts: 316
Originally Posted by Domat
OMG you get click notice instantly with befrugal? Do the others do this to? Hoping and praying is what I was always doing with boost.

I for one am glad that Boost dropped out. Gave me an excuse to try another.

edit- or I could have just read the wiki.
*Not* instant. Just ordered my first time through befrugal and it took a *whole* 2 minutes for the click to show up in my account. I was just beginning to panic when it showed up.

I'd prefer not to wait 8 weeks (instead of 3 weeks through Boost), but at least the game goes on...
gloobnib is offline  
Old Jun 9, 2014, 9:36 pm
  #6439  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 39
Originally Posted by BigB985
Hmm. Not sure then. Have you ordered a ton in the past from them?
I would not say a ton so maybe that's the reason for the denials - account not being 'seasoned.'

Previously I was liquidating by OV at CVS. But the time necessary to do $25k monthly without drawing too much attention became too much.
rockclimber is offline  
Old Jun 9, 2014, 10:55 pm
  #6440  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 571
Originally Posted by rockclimber
I would not say a ton so maybe that's the reason for the denials - account not being 'seasoned.'

Previously I was liquidating by OV at CVS. But the time necessary to do $25k monthly without drawing too much attention became too much.
Meh, draw attention to yourself at CVS. Then again, I'm in a relaxed, boring part of the country where anything goes because almost nothing happens anyway.
carpentry4thought is offline  
Old Jun 9, 2014, 11:10 pm
  #6441  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 168
Haven't seen this mentioned in the thread but you can also get 2 points per dollar on AGC through the Best Buy Mall. The points are worth 2 cents each so it's 4% back right?

I know it's cash back in Best Buy certificates, so not that useful for all but just thought I would mention it.
IWOL is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 7:11 am
  #6442  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 160
Can anyone share some info about the Alaska port tracking ? My May 17th order hasn't been tracked yet.
vodafone is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 7:14 am
  #6443  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by vodafone
Can anyone share some info about the Alaska port tracking ? My May 17th order hasn't been tracked yet.
Anyone has long experience using AS portal? Has it always offered bonus for buying AGC? I plan on using it soon but afraid AGC might get dropped (like Barclay portal) before I accumulate a usable amount of miles.
kenshinluo is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 7:16 am
  #6444  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by vodafone
Can anyone share some info about the Alaska port tracking ? My May 17th order hasn't been tracked yet.
The wiki can:
How long will it take the portal to track my order and confirm the pending cash back or points?
For non-Cartera portals (TCB, BC, Befrugal, etc) your order will usually track within a day or two, but will not pay out for at month or more.
For Cartera portals (Barclay Reward Boost, Lucky Rewards, USAA, Alaska, Delta) it will take 3-4 weeks to track, but will pay out shortly thereafter.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:29 am
  #6445  
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Posts: 14,162
Originally Posted by PaulMSN
After being denied for a $2K business order Saturday night, I tried again today, first with a personal order for $2K at 2:58pm CDT, then a business order for $1K at 3:02pm. I got an approved email for the business order at 3:09pm, than a received email for the personal order less than a minute later. We'll see.
The personal order was approved eventually, too, so I'm back to no rhyme or reason.
PaulMSN is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:32 am
  #6446  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: The Phoenix Desert
Programs: Hilton Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Fools Gold
Posts: 1,692
I'm not sure why every morning I wake up I am confident that my confirmed cash back from April thru TCB will magically be payable. *sigh* It's like watching a pot of water waiting for it to boil.
skitch23 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:46 am
  #6447  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
So I'm starting to think that it's something that Amex doesn't like about my Chase cards. One straight week of denials between personal and biz. Today I did 1 biz $1k on Chase and 1 personal $2k on Barclay. Only the personal was approved. Grrr. And this is even using past order info. I think that this is just Amex's way of keeping purchases at bay. I would be highly pissed if I was a legitimate customer trying to make purchases for things like employee recognition or raffle giveaway, etc.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:59 am
  #6448  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 450
Originally Posted by skitch23
I'm not sure why every morning I wake up I am confident that my confirmed cash back from April thru TCB will magically be payable. *sigh* It's like watching a pot of water waiting for it to boil.
^

I do the same every day 2 or 3 times a day haha. I'm at day 49
newbynewbynew is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:14 am
  #6449  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 234
Originally Posted by cdancer20
So I'm starting to think that it's something that Amex doesn't like about my Chase cards. One straight week of denials between personal and biz. Today I did 1 biz $1k on Chase and 1 personal $2k on Barclay. Only the personal was approved. Grrr. And this is even using past order info. I think that this is just Amex's way of keeping purchases at bay. I would be highly pissed if I was a legitimate customer trying to make purchases for things like employee recognition or raffle giveaway, etc.
Do you have an actual business? I was putting my name in as my business for a while and eventually they checked and started declining my orders. I have used chase and Barclays on personal orders with great success though. Once I got my address down to what the system wants all of my orders get approved now
Chris92128 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:19 am
  #6450  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: PVD/BOS
Posts: 879
Originally Posted by skitch23
I'm not sure why every morning I wake up I am confident that my confirmed cash back from April thru TCB will magically be payable. *sigh* It's like watching a pot of water waiting for it to boil.
+1 I'm always so disappointed in the TCB timing.
ashap is offline  

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