Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Programs > Manufactured Spending
Reload this Page >

Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
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.
Print Wikipost

Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jun 11, 2014, 7:23 am
  #6496  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Originally Posted by nuclfusion
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.
Right now, Barclay's is our "go to" daily spend card. It's also the "go to" travel card so this summer we have two work-related trips to Europe on it, including all the spend while there.

Points are adding up pretty fast but I'm thinking that maybe I'll cash some out. I'd hate to have points disappear because some computer doesn't like my spend patterns.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 7:53 am
  #6497  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 567
TopCashBack: 2.25% on Amex Gift Cards, but changes in fees, BigCrumbs 2%.

Anyone have any issues lately with chase business cards? How much is safe? Planning to do $5k orders.
bobby21 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:21 am
  #6498  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 572
Originally Posted by bobby21
Anyone have any issues lately with chase business cards? How much is safe? Planning to do $5k orders.
I use Chase Ink Plus business CC for $3K orders of business AGCs without any problems.
Zgirl is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:26 am
  #6499  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by bobby21
Anyone have any issues lately with chase business cards? How much is safe? Planning to do $5k orders.
However make sure that you have a legitimate EIN. While you can use your SSN, there are stories of people getting shutdown/denied when they couldn't prove their actual business. No personal experience here but people have posted. If you do $1k or less per purchase, then you don't have to enter this information.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:48 am
  #6500  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by cdancer20
However make sure that you have a legitimate EIN. While you can use your SSN, there are stories of people getting shutdown/denied when they couldn't prove their actual business. No personal experience here but people have posted. If you do $1k or less per purchase, then you don't have to enter this information.
Per 1 order, or per card?
kenshinluo is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:48 am
  #6501  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by kenshinluo
Per 1 order, or per card?
$1k per order. You can do whatever combination that you want though. I tend to just do $1k cards.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:53 am
  #6502  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,060
Originally Posted by cdancer20
However make sure that you have a legitimate EIN. While you can use your SSN, there are stories of people getting shutdown/denied when they couldn't prove their actual business. No personal experience here but people have posted. If you do $1k or less per purchase, then you don't have to enter this information.
You can buy 4 o 5K of 1K cards and then you do not need SSN or EIN, much better and works great still at drug stores or department stores...
raccah is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 8:59 am
  #6503  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Re: TCB - Has anyone been paid for orders in April (or later)?
Stoughton is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:01 am
  #6504  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by raccah
You can buy 4 o 5K of 1K cards and then you do not need SSN or EIN, much better and works great still at drug stores or department stores...
Oh. Never tried that. Thanks. And lol 1 $1k card works just as good as 4 or 5 $1k cards at drug stores. Just requires more orders from Amex.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:02 am
  #6505  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 415
Originally Posted by cdancer20
Oh. Never tried that. Thanks. And lol 1 $1k card works just as good as 4 or 5 $1k cards at drug stores. Just requires more orders from Amex.
I've done this too - got several $1k personal cards. Works fine for me.
ttlmmky is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:18 am
  #6506  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,060
Originally Posted by cdancer20
Oh. Never tried that. Thanks. And lol 1 $1k card works just as good as 4 or 5 $1k cards at drug stores. Just requires more orders from Amex.
Yeah was not so clear - sorry but u got the point, multiple 1K cards work great
raccah is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:28 am
  #6507  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: DFW
Posts: 478
Originally Posted by raccah
Yeah was not so clear - sorry but u got the point, multiple 1K cards work great
Keep in mind, UPS requires signature for any order > 5k
And, Amex will contact you to verify business eventually after you are ordering certain# of multi-1k biz cards.
spgbus is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:28 am
  #6508  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 450
Originally Posted by Stoughton
Re: TCB - Has anyone been paid for orders in April (or later)?
Nope, a few of us mentioned i think earlier this week we are still waiting. On day 50, but who's counting
newbynewbynew is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 9:45 am
  #6509  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 567
Do you do 3k orders weekly? Or monthly? What frequency? I have a legit business with EIN.
bobby21 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 10:15 am
  #6510  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Warm, sunny Florida
Posts: 251
Originally Posted by spgbus
Keep in mind, UPS requires signature for any order > 5k
And, Amex will contact you to verify business eventually after you are ordering certain# of multi-1k biz cards.
Can you elaborate a little bit on the AmEx contact? Do you recall after how many multi 1k cards the contact occurred?
nuclfusion is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.