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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 Jul 21, 2014, 10:36 am
  #7606  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: South NJ
Posts: 263
Wiki updated to reflect TCB @2%
Zamboni Driver is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 1:38 pm
  #7607  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 226
Originally Posted by vodafone
got 9 3k orders declined in a row, no lucky.


guess need to back to 1k
Yeah I'm giving up on the $3k orders. My $2k card order today went through just fine.
dboston1 is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 5:07 pm
  #7608  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 160
good choice

Originally Posted by dboston1
Yeah I'm giving up on the $3k orders. My $2k card order today went through just fine.
vodafone is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 7:48 pm
  #7609  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 13
Read through the entire thread and just placed my first order! Got the dreaded "order received" e-mail and it still shows as "processing" on Amex but my transaction is tracking on BF. Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually? or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined. Does anyone have a datapoint on this? Thanks!!
latetotheparty is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 7:51 pm
  #7610  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
Read through the entire thread and just placed my first order! Got the dreaded "order received" e-mail and it still shows as "processing" on Amex but my transaction is tracking on BF. Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually? or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined. Does anyone have a datapoint on this? Thanks!!
Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually?
no

or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined
yes


Does anyone have a datapoint on this?
it happened to me
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 7:57 pm
  #7611  
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
Read through the entire thread and just placed my first order! Got the dreaded "order received" e-mail and it still shows as "processing" on Amex but my transaction is tracking on BF. Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually? or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined. Does anyone have a datapoint on this? Thanks!!
Getting an ordered received email is normal. Not sure why you're calling it "dreaded". I get that email for orders that end up approved and ones that end up declined. No one gets instant approval emails. Not that I've ever heard of at least.
payeco is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 8:12 pm
  #7612  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 13
Originally Posted by payeco
Getting an ordered received email is normal. Not sure why you're calling it "dreaded". I get that email for orders that end up approved and ones that end up declined. No one gets instant approval emails. Not that I've ever heard of at least.
Thanks, I tried to do everything right since this was my first "test" order. I had read that even if I get the received e-mail I should get the approved/declined order in the next hour. It's been 3 hours since my order and have heard nothing, I guess my order is one of those that just gets lost in the shuffle. BTW, customer service says 48 hours for each order...ya right!!
latetotheparty is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 8:36 pm
  #7613  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,044
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
Read through the entire thread and just placed my first order! Got the dreaded "order received" e-mail and it still shows as "processing" on Amex but my transaction is tracking on BF. Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually? or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined. Does anyone have a datapoint on this? Thanks!!
Welcome.

You really read 500 pages of this?

That must be something like 2000 instances of "my order was declined."
josephstern is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 8:41 pm
  #7614  
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
Thanks, I tried to do everything right since this was my first "test" order. I had read that even if I get the received e-mail I should get the approved/declined order in the next hour. It's been 3 hours since my order and have heard nothing, I guess my order is one of those that just gets lost in the shuffle. BTW, customer service says 48 hours for each order...ya right!!
People are all just guessing at this stuff since no one really knows. I've had orders take way longer to get approved than an hour.
payeco is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 8:54 pm
  #7615  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 13
Originally Posted by josephstern
Welcome.

You really read 500 pages of this?

That must be something like 2000 instances of "my order was declined."
Yuppers! And a 1000 instances of "my rewards posted today" :-)
latetotheparty is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 9:34 pm
  #7616  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
If you get "order received" instead of "order approved" it means your order wasn't auto-approved and will go thru some sort of secondary review / approval. To the extent you have not exceeded the 5K / 14 day limit on the personal side your order will most likely be approved, at least this is my experience.
HikerT is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 9:35 pm
  #7617  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
Read through the entire thread and just placed my first order! Got the dreaded "order received" e-mail and it still shows as "processing" on Amex but my transaction is tracking on BF. Does this mean my order will go through on Amex eventually? or will the BF thing get clawed back if the order gets declined. Does anyone have a datapoint on this? Thanks!!
If you really read the entire thread, you'd know that this is normal and has nothing to do with if your order has been approved or not
Stoughton is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 9:46 pm
  #7618  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
To be fair, I don't think someone reading the entire thread would be able to decipher what is urban legend vs. reality.
HikerT is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 9:51 pm
  #7619  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,044
Originally Posted by HikerT
To be fair, I don't think someone reading the entire thread would be able to decipher what is urban legend vs. reality.
Plus, a lot has changed over time. 90% of the first 10,000 messages are probably 100% useless.
josephstern is offline  
Old Jul 21, 2014, 10:59 pm
  #7620  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
BF showing 2.5% back. Updating Wiki.
amolkold is offline  


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