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Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

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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.

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Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:44 am
  #6451  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: AA,BA,JB
Posts: 9
I just got my Amex statement, and on the card I used to buy the gift cards I got hit with a finance charge!
Were the gift card treated as CA?
Anyone else seeing this?
li200 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:50 am
  #6452  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 571
Originally Posted by li200
I just got my Amex statement, and on the card I used to buy the gift cards I got hit with a finance charge!
Were the gift card treated as CA?
Anyone else seeing this?
How can anyone know without seeing the statement? Ask someone near to you.
carpentry4thought is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:51 am
  #6453  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: AA,BA,JB
Posts: 9
Originally Posted by li200
I just got my Amex statement, and on the card I used to buy the gift cards I got hit with a finance charge!
Were the gift card treated as CA?
Anyone else seeing this?
Nevermind - it's my own fault. It looks like my payment to them posted right on the day after the due date, therefore they charged me the finance charges.
I guess I have to call them now to see if I can get it adjusted..
li200 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:52 am
  #6454  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: AA,BA,JB
Posts: 9
Originally Posted by carpentry4thought
How can anyone know without seeing the statement? Ask someone near to you.

Very funny.
I meant if anyone else is seeing it showing up as CA.
But I answered my own question - the finance charge was for my own mistake.
li200 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:59 am
  #6455  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by Chris92128
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
Thanks. True this could be the reason for my biz. I was using my name too. Doesn't explain all the personal declines though with Chase.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 11:36 am
  #6456  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 450
Originally Posted by cdancer20
Thanks. True this could be the reason for my biz. I was using my name too. Doesn't explain all the personal declines though with Chase.
I've had no problem with my Chase BA card, personal or biz orders using name as business. Try $500 or $1000 gc and only 1 at a time. I've had to do that with some other bank's cards to get orders through. It's just totally YMMV. Frustrating yes, but helps this deal continue to go on since most people probably give up!
newbynewbynew is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 12:00 pm
  #6457  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by newbynewbynew
I've had no problem with my Chase BA card, personal or biz orders using name as business. Try $500 or $1000 gc and only 1 at a time. I've had to do that with some other bank's cards to get orders through. It's just totally YMMV. Frustrating yes, but helps this deal continue to go on since most people probably give up!
Thanks. I have only been doing $1k though. I will just chalk it up to f#(#*$#($#@&#@*k Amex's system.

Edit: Woohoo I finally got approval for my Chase BA. It took a while though (like a few hours) but w/e. I will take my approval and run with it. Maybe it's from the different way I changed my address. Been trying multiple combinations over the past few months (different ones have worked) so maybe they are just cracking down more.

Last edited by cdancer20; Jun 10, 2014 at 12:20 pm
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 12:28 pm
  #6458  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
does anyone know how USAA works? I have their checking account. If I go through the USAA portal and use a non-usaa credit card to pay (say arrival), do I get 4%? and how does USAA payout? will they mail me a check?

TIA
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 12:35 pm
  #6459  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Originally Posted by Pecan Pie
does anyone know how USAA works? I have their checking account. If I go through the USAA portal and use a non-usaa credit card to pay (say arrival), do I get 4%? and how does USAA payout? will they mail me a check?

TIA
Read their portals website.... It'll tell you.
Not to mention, I reported how it works in this very thread.

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f0xx is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 12:41 pm
  #6460  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 157
is there anyway to use more than 1 coupon code while ordering Amex GC? my 3 month free shipping trial ended and I can either use the code to remove the purchase fee or the shipping fee....

I guess i am going to use the free shipping code if there is no work around to apply 2 coupon codes
ranjanrocks is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 12:43 pm
  #6461  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS
Programs: SPG Plat. Marriott Plat. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Diamond. IHG Plat.
Posts: 2,580
Originally Posted by ranjanrocks
is there anyway to use more than 1 coupon code while ordering Amex GC? my 3 month free shipping trial ended and I can either use the code to remove the purchase fee or the shipping fee....

I guess i am going to use the free shipping code if there is no work around to apply 2 coupon codes
Can't have your cake and eat it too.
f0xx is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 1:16 pm
  #6462  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 253
Lucky Rewards just posted my eligible cashback from 5/24 AGC purchase. I also have a 5/26 purchase, but that has not shown up-- hopefully, that will pop up in a day or two.
ronnyk is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 2:02 pm
  #6463  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
Originally Posted by ronnyk
Lucky Rewards just posted my eligible cashback from 5/24 AGC purchase. I also have a 5/26 purchase, but that has not shown up-- hopefully, that will pop up in a day or two.
That is very fast for any portal. How long have you been using that portal to get to Amex to order GCs? If you have history with them, what is your average wait between the order placed and the cb posting to your portal account with Lucky?
Churnman is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 2:12 pm
  #6464  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 253
Originally Posted by Churnman
That is very fast for any portal. How long have you been using that portal to get to Amex to order GCs? If you have history with them, what is your average wait between the order placed and the cb posting to your portal account with Lucky?
To be clear, the money is not yet available. The eligibility indicates that Lucky Rewards tracked the click and verified the purchase. Unlike some of the other portals, LR does not do this immediately or coincidental to the transaction like BF or TCB. One of the reasons I am not crazy about LR is that you pretty much have to wait several weeks just to see if the click-through tracked.
ronnyk is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 2:39 pm
  #6465  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,036
Originally Posted by ronnyk
Lucky Rewards just posted my eligible cashback from 5/24 AGC purchase. I also have a 5/26 purchase, but that has not shown up-- hopefully, that will pop up in a day or two.
I have an order on lucky from 5/24, nothing showing up in my account.
ibleed0range is offline  


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