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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 Aug 7, 2014, 5:59 pm
  #7921  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 407
Originally Posted by payeco
On Amex it takes a while for the CL to be restored on declines. On my Chase cards it seems like the limit is restored almost as soon as I get the email.
Hmm, youre right. Seems Amex is the only one that holds your CL hostage for a few days! I may end up just trying to put orders through everyday, until the UPS guy hates me
VizeL is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2014, 6:07 pm
  #7922  
Suspended
 
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 dyst0pia
Argh, I'm now 0 for 2 on tracking through TCB. I even used a new incognito window this time. Any other tips? I didn't see any warnings about not signing in to my Amex account to auto-populate the billing information; is that causing problems? Other merchants seem to be tracking fine (GCM, Marriott, etc).
How long have you waited? Lately it seems like all my TCB orders don't post until the next day.
payeco is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2014, 6:26 pm
  #7923  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 114
Originally Posted by mtlifeisgood
Hello:

I placed 2 American Express gift card orders over 2 weeks ago. I already received the GC but the orders did not register on TCB. In order to get cash back, I understand that coupon is not allowed. I did not include any coupon to waive the fee but I do have free shipping since I paid for the one year premium shipping service. Would TCB or American Express consider the free shipping (eventhough I paid the service) as "coupon" and thus cash back is not allowed?
Today I made another order and again, I was notified by American Express that the GC is shipped but it is still not registered in TCB. Does anyone has the same experience?

Thank you for sharing.
Do you use any Ad-Blocker? If yes that's problem.
but you can still claim missing cash back with TCB if your click has been monitored.
vah4883 is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2014, 10:43 pm
  #7924  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 240
Originally Posted by vah4883
Do you use any Ad-Blocker? If yes that's problem.
but you can still claim missing cash back with TCB if your click has been monitored.
Is that a rule just for TCB?

Unrelated question:
I saw on Fatwallet cash back portal (not that they pay a good cask back rate)..

Cash Back not available for consumer purchases totaling $5000 or more in 14 days, or business purchases totaling $75,000 or more in 14 days.

I always thought that the 75,000 rule was enforced at the "approved orders" level. I wonder if Amex will approve orders and then you get hit with no cash back.
Silverthunder is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2014, 10:54 pm
  #7925  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by vah4883
Do you use any Ad-Blocker? If yes that's problem.
but you can still claim missing cash back with TCB if your click has been monitored.
I asked my son and yes, my computer has ad-blocker. Thank you for pointing it out; I would not have known this. So, it is not the "free" shipping that caused the problem

Thanks again.
mtlifeisgood is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 8:10 am
  #7926  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 253
AGC Shipping -- Signature or No Signature Required?

I encountered my first delivery today where signature was required. I am in the premium shipping plan. On this particular order, I had business cards totaling $6K, whereas I have typically done $5K or less.

I am curious if this represents a change in policy or whether more than $5K crosses a threshold where shipping will require signature.
ronnyk is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 8:23 am
  #7927  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 407
AFAIK, it is supposed to be 5k requires a signature, but for some reason all my packages require a signature.
VizeL is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 9:06 am
  #7928  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: The Phoenix Desert
Programs: Hilton Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Fools Gold
Posts: 1,692
TopCashBack: 2.25% on Amex Gift Cards, but changes in fees, BigCrumbs 2%.

here's what I've noticed....

requires a signature:
- personalized business card of any amount

does not require a signature:
- non personalized 1k business card
- non personalized personal card of any amount
- personized personal card of any amount
skitch23 is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 9:41 am
  #7929  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 148
Originally Posted by skitch23
here's what I've noticed....

requires a signature:
- personalized business card of any amount

does not require a signature:
- non personalized 1k business card
- non personalized personal card of any amount
- personized personal card of any amount
this is my experience as well.
kenshinluo is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 10:02 am
  #7930  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
Originally Posted by kenshinluo
this is my experience as well.
I have never needed a signature for any card in any amount. Perhaps this is location specific?
hitman1420 is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 10:02 am
  #7931  
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: PHL
Programs: AA Exec Plat Hilton Diamond Marriott Diamond Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 102
Originally Posted by kenshinluo
this is my experience as well.
If you sign up for UPS MyChoice you can give a signature release online so the UPS driver may leave the package, even if a signature is required.

You will also receive notifications from UPS when packages have been sent from AMEX and are in transit.
martig4 is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 10:48 am
  #7932  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 226
After a few weeks of successful orders for $2k cards, I finally tried to place an order for a single $3k card again. Success! Seems like once you've done more than a few orders with them they start to trust you and let you go bigger.
dboston1 is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 10:53 am
  #7933  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 149
Originally Posted by dboston1
they start to trust you and let you go bigger.
Just like my wife
workaccounttoday is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 11:36 am
  #7934  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 234
Originally Posted by dboston1
After a few weeks of successful orders for $2k cards, I finally tried to place an order for a single $3k card again. Success! Seems like once you've done more than a few orders with them they start to trust you and let you go bigger.
Lol not really. This same thing just happened to me where they approved a single $3k card bit then denied my next order a few days later for a single $2k card
Chris92128 is offline  
Old Aug 8, 2014, 11:46 am
  #7935  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 149
I swear I'm going to die from old age before TCB or BF finally gives me my money
workaccounttoday is offline  


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