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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 16, 2014, 6:16 pm
  #8056  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by dgilligan02
FWIW I now have the answer as to if Citi AA Exec treated my AMEX GCs ordered online as cash advance. Answer is NO.

Made 2 orders (500, 4000), period now closed and Citi monthly statement issued. Both came through as Standard Purchases, no cash advance or interest fees.
this is great news. I wonder if this is the same for other citi cards. May test out my prestige
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 6:17 pm
  #8057  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by wwwwww717
TopCashBack: 2.25% on Amex Gift Cards.

What about the Visa Gift cards?

It says Online Purchase - 2%
Please note: Hess Gasoline, Gulf, Arco, Safeway, BP and Best buy giftcards are not eligible for cashback

Visa Gift Card - 0.25%

Am i missing something here?
I think you got it
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 6:37 pm
  #8058  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: SoCal
Programs: SPG PLAT, AA Plat (2MM), BA, UA/CO
Posts: 442
Originally Posted by DaveInLA
. . . I can liquidate them at 1% most of the time.
Care to elaborate? Most of my methods (GCM, mcrch online, GCs @ local stores) are a bit more and mall GCs in person has it's limits, at least for me.

Xlax
xlax is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 6:59 pm
  #8059  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Chicago
Programs: UA Gold,Hyatt Platinum,Marriott Platinum,Etihad Gold
Posts: 132
Originally Posted by Pecan Pie
I think you got it
is it 0.25 or 2 % ?

I tried to buy 2 gift cards using my chase sapphire preferred card at GCM using TCB. the Order total was 2 X 500 + 2 X 3.95 + 2 X 3.74(shipping) = 1015.38 . What will be my cash back and how is it worth? from buying the same gift card from jewels or kroger with a 5.95 activation fee?

Am little confused with this math..... need some help.
wwwwww717 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 7:54 pm
  #8060  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: North Jersey
Posts: 31
Just wanted to share. I have not had a declined order since about 15 orders ago. I order pretty much everyday 3x $1k business cards per order, sometimes twice a day. About a week ago an employee called me to verify my business address. I have an online business (ebay) registered at my old apartment and he wanted to confirm since my new address is different (guess they checked records) and he said I will no longer have any problems.
I always login and there is no longer a section to enter the EIN, only my business store name.

I pay with 5 different cards, AMEX BCP, AMEX Business, Fidelity, CSP, Chase Ink.
Smooth sailing so far~ (>'.')>

PS: All my gift cards are used to purchase merchandise at stores
tokkifierce is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 8:06 pm
  #8061  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by wwwwww717
is it 0.25 or 2 % ?

I tried to buy 2 gift cards using my chase sapphire preferred card at GCM using TCB. the Order total was 2 X 500 + 2 X 3.95 + 2 X 3.74(shipping) = 1015.38 . What will be my cash back and how is it worth? from buying the same gift card from jewels or kroger with a 5.95 activation fee?

Am little confused with this math..... need some help.
your cash back from TCB will be 1000*0.25%=$2.5
your earn 1016 UR points for this purchase

And this is the AGC thread. There is another thread talking about GCM and VGC.
You need to read both threads more carefully and figure out what people are actually doing.
Pecan Pie is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 8:46 pm
  #8062  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 51
Originally Posted by Bob John
No as stated reformatting your SSN to EIN format does not work. At least every 1k order has always gone through for me (EIN required only on orders > 1k) and no orders > 1k have with an SS instead of EIN have gone through. One liquidation route currently requires address verification so registration is needed.
Of course, it works. If you look at the form, it asks for your 'Tax ID' and not 'EIN'. I know they try to fool you by formatting the field like an EIN, but as other posters have mentioned upthread, your SSN will work. I actually have a higher approval rate using my SSN rather than my EIN, and I've been filing taxes for my MS business using my EIN for a few years now. If you go back a few pages and read, you will see that it is hard for most people to get approved for the higher denom. cards even if they have legitimate business EINs associated with their AMEX cards. If you are still not convinced, why don't you just get an EIN. It's not that big of a deal. You seem to be conflating getting an EIN with incorporating with various other taxation issues. As for address verification thing, it was actually a hint at how to find an unpublished deal for those who are clever enough to read between the lines and do the legwork.
learning2fly is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 9:04 pm
  #8063  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 151
Of course, it works.
It works for some. It doesn't work for others.

Don't assume your personal experience is what everyone experiences.
Lobachevsky is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 9:28 pm
  #8064  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 465
I can't seem to find "Premium Shipping (Next Day) $99/year" as your shipping method on your order" when I buy a personal AGC, where do you sign up for it?

Also I read online you can have $5k but for some reason am only able to select up to $3k.
ChuckMango is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 10:07 pm
  #8065  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: S Cal
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, United Silver, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,142
When you get to the page that says "Choose a shipping method," look down a bit and you'll see an icon of a truck speeding by. Click the link to the left of the truck that says "Learn more" for instructions.
GetawaysRus is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2014, 10:43 pm
  #8066  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: MSP/DFW
Programs: Priority Club PLT, Marriott Titanium, AA EXP
Posts: 480
Originally Posted by ChuckMango
I can't seem to find "Premium Shipping (Next Day) $99/year" as your shipping method on your order" when I buy a personal AGC, where do you sign up for it?

Also I read online you can have $5k but for some reason am only able to select up to $3k.
From the screen where you about to check out, you need to select "login", then you must log in with your americanexpress.com credentials. Then you will get the option for the $99 trial.

It is a perk for amex customers.
genotonda is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2014, 1:01 am
  #8067  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: PHL
Programs: SW CP, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 571
Only saw a few posts on this and no real information. Just purchased 5K worth of AGC and it coded as "Amex Travel Funds Direct." Anyone know why the change in coding or if it has any signifigance?
ftomasze is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2014, 5:41 am
  #8068  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: AA, SPG, MR, UR, Cash Back!
Posts: 606
Originally Posted by ftomasze
Only saw a few posts on this and no real information. Just purchased 5K worth of AGC and it coded as "Amex Travel Funds Direct." Anyone know why the change in coding or if it has any signifigance?
Never seen that before.
Fuerza is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2014, 8:21 am
  #8069  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Originally Posted by jhuck
In other words, IME the 99$ shipping plan ( most of us got for free), is tied to the login ID used, not the card. You just have to have some AMEX card assigned to that account.
I was late so I didn't get that but got $99 plus a "thank you" Amex GC for $25. I'll take it.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2014, 9:16 am
  #8070  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: GSP
Posts: 129
Is it for sure that GCM GC's no longer pay 2% thru the portals....Mine is still pending from BeFrugal on the 3rd..need some datapoints
retired7328 is offline  


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