Oct 25, 2013, 7:07 pm
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.
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.
Cashback on Amex GC through TopCashBack, BigCrumbs, etc.
Jul 31, 2014, 8:54 am
#7726
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 226
I have an AmEx business card, so I'm not sure why I'm not in their database. And of course their outsourced phone support is absolutely no help. The last time I called in they did say they would investigate why the orders aren't going through and said I can call back in 3-5 days. That was on Monday so I'll call back today and see if they have an answer.
Jul 31, 2014, 9:46 am
#7727
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 572
I have an AmEx business card, so I'm not sure why I'm not in their database. And of course their outsourced phone support is absolutely no help. The last time I called in they did say they would investigate why the orders aren't going through and said I can call back in 3-5 days. That was on Monday so I'll call back today and see if they have an answer.
I'm not 100% sure but I think to get approved for business Amex GCs you have to have a real business.
Jul 31, 2014, 10:58 am
#7728
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 174
Will report back in a couple weeks when statement closes.
Last edited by dgilligan02; Jul 31, 2014 at 11:01 am Reason: Grammar!
Jul 31, 2014, 11:23 am
#7729
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: The Phoenix Desert
Programs: Hilton Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Fools Gold
Posts: 1,692
Big crumbs is at 2.7% today thru noon eastern on 8/2 (Saturday)
Jul 31, 2014, 11:30 am
#7730
Suspended
Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
Same here. 100% approval for $1K orders. I just feel bad for the cashier when I'm making large VGC purchases and they keep having to input stuff on the register since it's getting split in to $1K payments, even if it is auto deducted. No one has seemed to care so far but still.
Jul 31, 2014, 11:31 am
#7731
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,047
Jul 31, 2014, 12:08 pm
#7732
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 51
Incidentally, for those of us who signed up for bigcrumbs long, long ago, before we even knew how any of this stuff worked, is there any way of retroactively adding referrers? It seems kind of sad, letting that money go to waste. (I'd rather not have to create a new account and blah blah blah, it's such a hassle.)
Dunno, it's a sitewide thing for Bigcrumbs so maybe not.
I wonder if this is the beginning of something . . .
Jul 31, 2014, 12:46 pm
#7733
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 633
Incidentally, for those of us who signed up for bigcrumbs long, long ago, before we even knew how any of this stuff worked, is there any way of retroactively adding referrers? It seems kind of sad, letting that money go to waste. (I'd rather not have to create a new account and blah blah blah, it's such a hassle.)
Dunno, it's a sitewide thing for Bigcrumbs so maybe not.
Dunno, it's a sitewide thing for Bigcrumbs so maybe not.
Jul 31, 2014, 12:56 pm
#7734
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
Just refer from your old account to a new account, and then refer from that new account to a 2nd new account, and then do all your ordering from the 2nd new account you created. I did this with different family members and different paypal accounts. Not sure how it would work if you tried all with your own name and same paypal address, etc.
Jul 31, 2014, 12:57 pm
#7735
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 633
Earlier on, with this same DIL, who ordered at that time with a different cc and a different last name due to the recent marriage, caused me to get a call from Amex where they wanted to verify the order was OK due to different name/address on the same business account. I cleared that up on the phone call that it was OK and then for the most part it has been clear sailing. Maybe the manual intervention by Amex on their initiation cleared me up to do all of these orders. I really don't know, but am happy I don't have the same frustration many of you need to go through!
Jul 31, 2014, 1:05 pm
#7736
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 633
I guess the question is what is blatant and what is a true referral? Perhaps if the original referrer never orders themselves it could be construed as being set up for abuse, which is mostly true in my case, though the adult kids have done some orders.
I think I have heard that BC wants all to be to different paypal accounts as well.
Edit: Thinking through this again, I could see as well in the situation where the deep referrer was doing lots of ordering, then two new accounts were added, and now all the ordering is done at the deep referred account, that this could pop up as an abuse.
I am just not sure what they are checking for. In my case the original one and a referral were set up a couple of years ago and neither did much ordering. When I started with the Amex buing, I added a third level, and that has been doing the bulk of the orders. That seems like a reasonable plausible referral situation to me. You refer someone and then they start doing a bunch of buying, which should make BC happy.
Last edited by FlyingBoat; Jul 31, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Jul 31, 2014, 1:29 pm
#7737
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
Well, how is daughter living at different address referring my son at a different address, who then referred me blatant abuse? I guess then we shouldn't refer our relatives? Is that your point?
I guess the question is what is blatant and what is a true referral? Perhaps if the original referrer never orders themselves it could be construed as being set up for abuse, which is mostly true in my case, though the adult kids have done some orders.
I think I have heard that BC wants all to be to different paypal accounts as well.
Edit: Thinking through this again, I could see as well in the situation where the deep referrer was doing lots of ordering, then two new accounts were added, and now all the ordering is done at the deep referred account, that this could pop up as an abuse.
I am just not sure what they are checking for. In my case the original one and a referral were set up a couple of years ago and neither did much ordering. When I started with the Amex buing, I added a third level, and that has been doing the bulk of the orders. That seems like a reasonable plausible referral situation to me. You refer someone and then start doing a bunch of buying, which should make BC happy.
I guess the question is what is blatant and what is a true referral? Perhaps if the original referrer never orders themselves it could be construed as being set up for abuse, which is mostly true in my case, though the adult kids have done some orders.
I think I have heard that BC wants all to be to different paypal accounts as well.
Edit: Thinking through this again, I could see as well in the situation where the deep referrer was doing lots of ordering, then two new accounts were added, and now all the ordering is done at the deep referred account, that this could pop up as an abuse.
I am just not sure what they are checking for. In my case the original one and a referral were set up a couple of years ago and neither did much ordering. When I started with the Amex buing, I added a third level, and that has been doing the bulk of the orders. That seems like a reasonable plausible referral situation to me. You refer someone and then start doing a bunch of buying, which should make BC happy.
Your original post sounded like you were making all these accounts yourself and you were using your family member's identities to do so.
It did not sound like you were actually referring family members.
I don't think I need to tell you which is blatant abuse and which is not.
Jul 31, 2014, 2:48 pm
#7739
Suspended
Join Date: May 2014
Location: ILG/PHL
Programs: Amex Plat, AA Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Gold, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold
Posts: 1,075
Finally got a call about the 1x $3K personal order I made two days ago, asking me to verify. Hopefully they get it out soon so it gets here by Saturday.
Tried placing two 1x $3K orders for business using both my SSN and my new EIN as the tax id number. I only used the address info Amex has on file for me, nothing was entered manually. As usual, both were still denied.
Tried placing two 1x $3K orders for business using both my SSN and my new EIN as the tax id number. I only used the address info Amex has on file for me, nothing was entered manually. As usual, both were still denied.
Jul 31, 2014, 2:51 pm
#7740
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: PDX & PHX
Programs: AA,AS,HH,HY,IB,LH,IHG,MAR,WN
Posts: 199
New problem:
My $3k biz cards now have to be activated by swiping for any amount as a POS transaction somewhere, before they can be registered and used online. That activation was not needed with my biz $1k or personal $3k cards in the past.