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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 11, 2014, 10:27 am
  #6511  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Originally Posted by ronnyk
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.
Boost also takes 3+ weeks to begin tracking.
Originally Posted by pspaster
Dumb question/confirmation please: FPDAD will work on business card orders, right? Obligatory 'yes, I've read the entire thread through' - I just can't remember if this has been addressed before...Apologies for asking, please consider my above data point an offer to the gods, and don't kill me

Thanks.
Yes, the codes will work for personal/biz orders.
Superorb is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 10:28 am
  #6512  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
I just had an idea...do you think that Barclay taking Amex down could have anything to do with that new thread on Slickdeals? We have been talking about it a lot here but it's been hidden under the "Topcashback Bigcrumbs" thread title. Now, you have a whole group of newbies doing it that got this info from a thread directly titled Barclaycard card Boost.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 10:33 am
  #6513  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
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.
I have a 4/29 order that isn't tracking. After back and forth with Barclays telling me to wait 8 weks after a later CB posted they finally called me and sent it to their rewards dept. who then sent it to Cartera. I'm not holding my breath, however.
Originally Posted by ZzzzX
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!
If you call they will tell you to wait 8 weeks, or 45 days, or whatever number pops into their head at the time. Barclays tends to be terrible with rewards since Cartera owns/runs the portal for Barclays and there's no way to get in touch with Cartewra from our end.
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.
I've needed to sign for Biz orders of 2x$1,000 before, yesterday in fact.
Superorb is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 10:34 am
  #6514  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Originally Posted by cdancer20
I just had an idea...do you think that Barclay taking Amex down could have anything to do with that new thread on Slickdeals? We have been talking about it a lot here but it's been hidden under the "Topcashback Bigcrumbs" thread title. Now, you have a whole group of newbies doing it that got this info from a thread directly titled Barclaycard card Boost.
I wouldn't doubt it. The SD crowd tends to require lots of hand holding and are more likely to screw stuff up which lends itself to human oversight. Never a good thing for us.
Superorb is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 10:41 am
  #6515  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: PA
Posts: 126
Originally Posted by bobby21
Do you do 3k orders weekly? Or monthly? What frequency? I have a legit business with EIN.
Why only bother with 3K orders if you have a legitimate EIN?

Side note, my bonus points for last 3 orders have taken about 3 weeks +/-1 day to post to Arrival account.
met152 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 11:08 am
  #6516  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 268
TCB

Originally Posted by newbynewbynew
Nope, a few of us mentioned i think earlier this week we are still waiting. On day 50, but who's counting
I am still waiting for my order placed on April 5th and April 20th.
ramamosn is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 11:09 am
  #6517  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 466
Originally Posted by met152
Why only bother with 3K orders if you have a legitimate EIN?

Side note, my bonus points for last 3 orders have taken about 3 weeks +/-1 day to post to Arrival account.
So, when everyone talks about "time to post," are they referring to time between ordering and points posting, or time between the charge actually hitting the CC and points posting?

Because (like stated in the wiki), I received my cards long before they actually posted as charges on my CC.
Tuppins is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 11:19 am
  #6518  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by Tuppins
So, when everyone talks about "time to post," are they referring to time between ordering and points posting, or time between the charge actually hitting the CC and points posting?

Because (like stated in the wiki), I received my cards long before they actually posted as charges on my CC.
Points posting from cashback portal i.e. nothing to do with the credit card used for purchase.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 11:58 am
  #6519  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 466
Originally Posted by cdancer20
Points posting from cashback portal i.e. nothing to do with the credit card used for purchase.
Right, I get that. I'm wondering how people are counting "time to post" - time from purchase through the portal (e.g. bought & approved on 5/31), or time from charge being posted on the CC (e.g. finally hit my CC on 6/6).
Tuppins is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:07 pm
  #6520  
 
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 Superorb
I wouldn't doubt it. The SD crowd tends to require lots of hand holding and are more likely to screw stuff up which lends itself to human oversight. Never a good thing for us.
I agree. I don't share anything with SD or FW. And, if anyone reading this is a serious ms'er (meaning you ms for more than just meeting spend requirements to get bonuses) then you're being careful about spilling on other sites. Does that stop the bloggies from reading your posts here and regurgitating? Of course not. But, the more you limit your own blurting out of your discoveries in forums heavily used by the non-serious ms'er the better longevity the serious ones will have with certain methods. No method lasts forever, but there is a trend of method closures that are connected with certain blog/SD/other regurgitations of things spelled out too easily in some places. I like how this thread is set up.
Churnman is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:20 pm
  #6521  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: DFW
Posts: 478
Originally Posted by Superorb
...I've needed to sign for Biz orders of 2x$1,000 before, yesterday in fact...
Was the order for Personalized biz cards? If so, yes, it needs signature no matter of the amount. I have never been asked to sign for any non-Personalized order upto 5x1k.
spgbus is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:35 pm
  #6522  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by Tuppins
Right, I get that. I'm wondering how people are counting "time to post" - time from purchase through the portal (e.g. bought & approved on 5/31), or time from charge being posted on the CC (e.g. finally hit my CC on 6/6).
From purchase to receiving cashback confirmation on the portal. Sometimes, like in the case of Barclay Boost, this can include time of purchase to posting on Boost to being available on Arrival Barclay card.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:43 pm
  #6523  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 274
i bought via lucky rewards on 6/6...is there a way to see the click purchase? or when can i expect to see the cashback?
oozze is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:46 pm
  #6524  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by oozze
i bought via lucky rewards on 6/6...is there a way to see the click purchase? or when can i expect to see the cashback?
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.
Stoughton is offline  
Old Jun 11, 2014, 12:58 pm
  #6525  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 274
Originally Posted by Stoughton
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.
Thks!

I should have probably move away from Cartera portals sincce befrugal is offering the same rate.
oozze is offline  


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