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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 Sep 24, 2014, 7:17 am
  #8716  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 122
Originally Posted by ntjane66
Then let it participate. You can come out ahead at 2%. May not be as profitable but we can only play what is out there. You can not make money on hope.
Not when there are other 5% (and the credit line) options available.
redarmy is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 7:22 am
  #8717  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 245
Originally Posted by ntjane66
Then let it participate. You can come out ahead at 2%. May not be as profitable but we can only play what is out there. You can not make money on hope.
1. There are liquidation costs so you are not netting 2%. You are better buying debit cards direct with the 2% card.

2. If we buy amex gift cards without cashback from portals then Amex has no incentive to offer cashback.
nmp0 is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 8:26 am
  #8718  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
Most of us serious ms'ers simply don't need Amex GCs unless a portal is offering decent cashback. We have many other ways to generate needed travel points and other ways to earn cashback. This used to be a good way to add to our methods, but I have no interest in it and can't afford to invest my time in liquidating AGCs unless the portal cashback makes it worthwhile. And now, there are some store chains that have told their employees not to accept Amex gift cards due to some fraud that happened a couple weeks ago that is not ms related. If stores continue to not accept these it just makes liquidation all that much harder. Haven't cared lately, but keeping an eye on recent developments.

There may be some here who will jump for joy if a portal offers even just 1 or 2% since it's been a desert. But, I and many others have other ways and it's not a big deal. Now, if I see 2.7% and higher in the future AND we can still order 1k and larger cards then they'll have my attention again and subsequently my other portal shopping business as well that my family does. Until then, we've slowed down our normal shopping through portals and started visiting actual brick and mortar stores again. It's actually been fun to see products in person again. Looking forward to Christmas shopping.
Churnman is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 8:40 am
  #8719  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
I agree. AGC can be a way to shake up the spending but without CB, it adds to costs.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 8:54 am
  #8720  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by ZzzzX
I agree. AGC can be a way to shake up the spending but without CB, it adds to costs.
How?
Stoughton is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 10:15 am
  #8721  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 427
You have the activation fee and usually a shipping fee, then usually you will unload at least some of it buying VGC or reloads (more fees) if you can find a store that will accept them and as a CC for payment. Even more so now that Amazon Payments are going away, and if you don't have AFT available in your area, even worse.
bigugly is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 10:24 am
  #8722  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
With fee-free codes the only real cost is the shipping. The other MS costs are irrelevant since they exist whether or not you buy AGCs.
HikerT is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 10:24 am
  #8723  
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by bigugly
You have the activation fee and usually a shipping fee, then usually you will unload at least some of it buying VGC or reloads (more fees) if you can find a store that will accept them and as a CC for payment. Even more so now that Amazon Payments are going away, and if you don't have AFT available in your area, even worse.
There's no reason for anyone here to be paying any fees associated with getting the Amex GC's. Any fees incurred after that are the same as if you'd use a CC instead.
Stoughton is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 11:07 am
  #8724  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: SAN
Posts: 234
Originally Posted by Stoughton
There's no reason for anyone here to be paying any fees associated with getting the Amex GC's. Any fees incurred after that are the same as if you'd use a CC instead.
True but why would you purchase with no cash back when they are sometimes harder to use than regular CCs
Chris92128 is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 11:09 am
  #8725  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by Stoughton
There's no reason for anyone here to be paying any fees associated with getting the Amex GC's. Any fees incurred after that are the same as if you'd use a CC instead.
Not everyone has free shipping though.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 11:25 am
  #8726  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by Chris92128
True but why would you purchase with no cash back when they are sometimes harder to use than regular CCs
Because there's no fraud alerts with Amex GC's
Stoughton is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 1:22 pm
  #8727  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 427
Originally Posted by Stoughton
Because there's no fraud alerts with Amex GC's
Good point, this would be a big plus for any high volume spenders.

I haven't been buying AGC, so I missed the lack of activation fee. Since I can't get AFT, I would be left with using AGC for buying other GCs and for normal spend, and unless I need reach an intro spending bonus quickly, or unless there is a huge portal bonus, it will not make sense for me since currently I have a vast supply of easy 5x without fooling with AGC.
bigugly is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 1:23 pm
  #8728  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Originally Posted by Stoughton
How?
Buy a large AGC, use it for spending. The charge on your CC account appears once instead of oh, I dunno, 10 back-to-back charges of $50x.95 at cvs.
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 1:25 pm
  #8729  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Let's face it: cash back is always good. Watch---when it does come back, this thread is going to be party central. :-)
ZzzzX is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2014, 1:37 pm
  #8730  
Suspended
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Originally Posted by ZzzzX
Buy a large AGC, use it for spending. The charge on your CC account appears once instead of oh, I dunno, 10 back-to-back charges of $50x.95 at cvs.
Obviously, but you claimed it added to costs - and that's only true if you're doing it wrong
Stoughton is offline  


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