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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 17, 2014, 4:42 pm
  #8071  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: The Phoenix Desert
Programs: Hilton Cubic Zirconia, Marriott Fools Gold
Posts: 1,692
Originally Posted by retired7328
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
Check the GCM thread for your data points. This thread is for AGC's.
skitch23 is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2014, 11:30 pm
  #8072  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 407
What's the longest you've ever had an order processing?

I put in two orders on Thursday and it has not been denied/accepted yet. Generally has never taken more than 24 hours for me
VizeL is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 1:07 am
  #8073  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 62
Talking Aft vs vgc

From reading this and other threads it seems like AFT is the preferred way to liquidate AMEX GC's. Does this sound correct? From my calculations it seems like AFT just saves you a little bit of money(depending on the atm fee's) but introduces much more hassle with having to go to the atm multiple days a month and withdraw $400 at a time. Then you need to do something with that cash. But with VGC you can just load it to servet/BB. Is there some other advantage I am missing?

Here is my math.
MS $2500 per month
VGC cost $29.75 (5x$5.95 fee per card)
AFT cost $21 ($3 load, $3x6 aft atm fee, assumes $0 other atm fee's)

Thanks
muswei is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 4:53 am
  #8074  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 333
TopCashBack now shows 3%, BeFrugal 2.5%.
Adirondacker is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 4:57 am
  #8075  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: DC/NOVA
Programs: AA Gold, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 192
Originally Posted by VizeL
What's the longest you've ever had an order processing?

I put in two orders on Thursday and it has not been denied/accepted yet. Generally has never taken more than 24 hours for me
I had my longest last week: placed a personal order Friday and approved very early this morning.
picards007 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 5:25 am
  #8076  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 572
Originally Posted by VizeL
What's the longest you've ever had an order processing?

I put in two orders on Thursday and it has not been denied/accepted yet. Generally has never taken more than 24 hours for me
My business orders from Thursday and Friday got approved today at 2:08 am.
There must have been a power outage or something in India.
Zgirl is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 6:12 am
  #8077  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: PHL
Programs: SW CP, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 571
Originally Posted by muswei
From reading this and other threads it seems like AFT is the preferred way to liquidate AMEX GC's. Does this sound correct? From my calculations it seems like AFT just saves you a little bit of money(depending on the atm fee's) but introduces much more hassle with having to go to the atm multiple days a month and withdraw $400 at a time. Then you need to do something with that cash. But with VGC you can just load it to servet/BB. Is there some other advantage I am missing?

Here is my math.
MS $2500 per month
VGC cost $29.75 (5x$5.95 fee per card)
AFT cost $21 ($3 load, $3x6 aft atm fee, assumes $0 other atm fee's)

Thanks
Why 2.5K, that really doesn't make any sense. BB/Serve limits are 5K/mo as is AFT, when you have 2.
ftomasze is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 6:24 am
  #8078  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 84
I placed a 6k business order yesterday and it got approved early am today. Already shipped. Be frugal cash back already shows tracking.
adela77 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 6:28 am
  #8079  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 407
Originally Posted by picards007
I had my longest last week: placed a personal order Friday and approved very early this morning.
Originally Posted by Zgirl
My business orders from Thursday and Friday got approved today at 2:08 am.
There must have been a power outage or something in India.
Ah...

mine were denied.

I want to put in a few more orders...but may end up waiting for BF to go up again.
VizeL is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 7:17 am
  #8080  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 116
Topcashback is up to 3% again.
Deallover is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 7:33 am
  #8081  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,303
Order on June 30th for AGC through Befrugal, not confirmed. Order through TCB in middle of July, confirmed and payable.
DeltaNeutral28 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 7:42 am
  #8082  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 194
Damnit, just ordered yesterday at 2.5. Oh well.
bu08usc11 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 7:44 am
  #8083  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Originally Posted by Deallover
Topcashback is up to 3% again.
Sweet! thanks for the HU
Mamibear is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 8:01 am
  #8084  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by DeltaNeutral28
Order on June 30th for AGC through Befrugal, not confirmed. Order through TCB in middle of July, confirmed and payable.
Awesome! Thanks for sending me to TCB to check. Also Befrugal is pretty accurate about going to confirmation on the date that is stated next to the transaction. It's pretty much 60 days for AGC. TCB is more flexible and just have to continuously check.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Aug 18, 2014, 8:09 am
  #8085  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 319
Originally Posted by cdancer20
Awesome! Thanks for sending me to TCB to check. Also Befrugal is pretty accurate about going to confirmation on the date that is stated next to the transaction. It's pretty much 60 days for AGC. TCB is more flexible and just have to continuously check.
my TCB order from july also became payable today
how long does it take from requesting payment to money showing up in Paypal?
Pecan Pie is offline  


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