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.
Aug 11, 2014, 8:47 am
#7967
Join Date: May 2002
Location: LEESBURG, VA, USA
Posts: 254
TCB is down to 2% this morning. It shows 3% on the first screen but when you click on it, next screen shows 2%.
Aug 11, 2014, 8:51 am
#7968
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,303
For the first time, my personal order declined for AGC . Waited the 2 weeks as usual... Address was entered in correctly as always...Any other explanation? Am I done for the next two weeks regardless due to the initial decline?
Last edited by DeltaNeutral28; Aug 11, 2014 at 8:55 am Reason: .
Aug 11, 2014, 11:27 am
#7969
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
Deltanuetral28, you may have still been within the 14 day period even by just an hour according to when they approved your previous order. I know it's worked differently for others, but they have declined orders before for what they thought was an order being placed within the 14 days from the time they approved), when it really was on time. Place another order tomorrow and see if that gets approved. It is frustrating.
Looks like I won't become a new member of topcashback since they lowered their payout down to a figure I will never accept. 2% is not ever worth my time especially figuring in the liquidation cost of about 1% and even though I'm making points from a card.
Looks like I won't become a new member of topcashback since they lowered their payout down to a figure I will never accept. 2% is not ever worth my time especially figuring in the liquidation cost of about 1% and even though I'm making points from a card.
Aug 11, 2014, 11:50 am
#7970
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 415
I personally don't have a problem using TCB but they have jaded a lot of people. Their support ticket process is pretty bad. They also claim 100.0% satisfaction with AMEX tracking which is a flat out lie. A while back they also tried to cancel a lot of people's accounts. They backpedaled after they got slammed on social media. There is more to it than how quickly you get paid.
I have 2 TCB accounts, one mine and one DW's, opened because I wanted to do a Walmart deal before I started MS'ing. I did a couple Amex GC orders on my account. I've been receiving their emails on both accounts as of 7/31. Starting last week, I can't login to my account, can't go thru forgot password link (even though I know password) and now can't even submit a ticket. I went on twitter but eventually I'll just have to threaten them. They're holding at least a couple hundred of my money. Wife's account still works.
Aug 11, 2014, 2:13 pm
#7971
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,303
Deltanuetral28, you may have still been within the 14 day period even by just an hour according to when they approved your previous order. I know it's worked differently for others, but they have declined orders before for what they thought was an order being placed within the 14 days from the time they approved), when it really was on time. Place another order tomorrow and see if that gets approved. It is frustrating.
Looks like I won't become a new member of topcashback since they lowered their payout down to a figure I will never accept. 2% is not ever worth my time especially figuring in the liquidation cost of about 1% and even though I'm making points from a card.
Looks like I won't become a new member of topcashback since they lowered their payout down to a figure I will never accept. 2% is not ever worth my time especially figuring in the liquidation cost of about 1% and even though I'm making points from a card.
Aug 11, 2014, 6:15 pm
#7972
Join Date: May 2014
Location: PHL
Programs: SW CP, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 571
Delete.
Last edited by ftomasze; Aug 11, 2014 at 6:17 pm Reason: Wrong post.
Aug 12, 2014, 8:48 am
#7973
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 90
I am new to this AGC, just received my first $3000 card, do I need to activate it? or buy little something first, or I can just run to my favorite drug store get 6 x 495.05 OV with it right out of UPS envelop.
Aug 13, 2014, 8:44 am
#7979
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
If you receive shipping email at 6AM in the morning, will the cards arrive today or tomorrow?
I usually get the email at 4AM and cards come in on that day. 8AM email means cards coming next day. Never had 6AM before...
I usually get the email at 4AM and cards come in on that day. 8AM email means cards coming next day. Never had 6AM before...
Aug 13, 2014, 8:57 am
#7980
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: The Phoenix Desert
Programs: Hilton Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Fools Gold
Posts: 1,692