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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, 9:27 pm
  #6481  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: DFW
Posts: 478
Originally Posted by pspaster
...Dumb question/confirmation please: FPDAD will work on business card orders, right? ...
Yes
spgbus is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:29 pm
  #6482  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 79
Thanks much, will be trying my first business order soon.
pspaster is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:30 pm
  #6483  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 829
Originally Posted by sosamo
100k for Emirate First 1 way.

I can do about 15k Alaska points a month. Probably take me a year or 2
and then you go to Emirates.

Happy trails.
MaineCoon is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 9:34 pm
  #6484  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 133
I've used fpdad on a 1k business card
doubleheader is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:11 pm
  #6485  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by PHX392
Have been using the Alaska portal consistently, but it takes the FULL 45 days for mileage to post into your account.....so don't bother looking for those Emirates J fares anytime soon
Thank you. 45 or 30 days still sound way better than befrugals 8 weeks. My only worry is this gets cut off for whatever reason before i accumulate anything
kenshinluo is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 10:51 pm
  #6486  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 129
my initial order of 5k Amex gc from boost on may17 finally posted tonight
took almost a month but at least its done, i was starting to worry a bit
now i am confident the rest should post soon
will the boost points eventually be added to my stash of barclay points?
jsmithj88 is offline  
Old Jun 10, 2014, 11:15 pm
  #6487  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New Jersey
Programs: Delta P, SPG G, Marriott S, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,007
Originally Posted by jsmithj88
my initial order of 5k Amex gc from boost on may17 finally posted tonight
took almost a month but at least its done, i was starting to worry a bit
now i am confident the rest should post soon
will the boost points eventually be added to my stash of barclay points?
Why would you worry? this is still the fastest payout out of the bunch, and great tracking.

3 weeks, not a month. =) And posted on schedule as usual.

Tomorrow it should hit the account.
maksimfa is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 5:22 am
  #6488  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: PVD/BOS
Posts: 879
Originally Posted by carpentry4thought
up to 5/22 in Boost for me
Same here
ashap is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 5:34 am
  #6489  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 394
Pending drops

Has anyone ever had a problem where the pending charges for an ACG purchase completely drop off the card used to buy them? My last two orders over 2 credit cards were approved via email, the charges showed pending at Chase and Barclay for two days, then dropped off this morning.

I tried reading the last 25 pages of the forum but didn't see anything. I haven't received any emails from either credit card company or anything from Amex saying the order was cancelled.


The orders were for personalized consumer cards and hadn't shipped yet. I have used the cards previously for successful orders on non personalized cards.

Thanks for any helpful replies.
givingitatry is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 5:45 am
  #6490  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 47
In the Wiki:
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.


Originally Posted by givingitatry
Has anyone ever had a problem where the pending charges for an ACG purchase completely drop off the card used to buy them? My last two orders over 2 credit cards were approved via email, the charges showed pending at Chase and Barclay for two days, then dropped off this morning.

I tried reading the last 25 pages of the forum but didn't see anything. I haven't received any emails from either credit card company or anything from Amex saying the order was cancelled.


The orders were for personalized consumer cards and hadn't shipped yet. I have used the cards previously for successful orders on non personalized cards.

Thanks for any helpful replies.
jc0726 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 6:00 am
  #6491  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 394
pending drops

Thanks for the quick reply jc0726. Typically I have purchased the non personalized cards and have them in my hand before the pending charges change to actual charges. This time I tried personalized and was a little concerned with the pending dropping completely. Maybe today I get the magical order shipped email from Amex.

again thanks for the help.
I must have missed that part of the wiki, as I knew the personalized added days to shipment time, etc.
givingitatry is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 6:11 am
  #6492  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
Barclays WAS certainly a good portal, but not without flaws. Have a 4/25 order that never posted and still waiting on a 5/12 order to post.
Churnman is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 6:13 am
  #6493  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Originally Posted by Churnman
Barclays WAS certainly a good portal, but not without flaws. Have a 4/25 order that never posted and still waiting on a 5/12 order to post.
Mine from 5/21 posted yesterday. Time to call?

On the other hand, a Home Depot order from 5/23 hasn't posted yet. And that was for only $36!
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 6:52 am
  #6494  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Warm, sunny Florida
Posts: 251
Question and a comment:

I've had nearly perfect success going the 5 x $1k AGC biz route. Any magic tricks (other than having a legit biz) to grabbing something higher than a $1k card? Just a pain mostly but still willing to do it.

Barclay's spooked me this morning. Got a fraud alert call but had to speak to an actual fraud detection adviser. Went smooth but was still a bit spooky. Don't care to have folks looking at my account. I think she was happy to see other charges other than AGC though on there.
nuclfusion is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 7:05 am
  #6495  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 404
Has barclays ever had AGC removed and then added again? Im just trying to speculate whether its coming back again. I liked using rewards boost best.
bar19900 is offline  


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