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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 Oct 30, 2013, 1:58 pm
  #1186  
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Fort Myers, FL
Programs: Hilton Gold, SPG & IHG Plat, & every airline program that I can join
Posts: 2,279
Did you want to share the new code?
Cheers!
JudyJFLA

Originally Posted by rgar7
I just placed my first order through BC for a $3k gc with a $3.95 fee and free premium shipping. Just got an email from Amex saying my order was approved, and there was also a banner ad in the email with a promo code to use for "No Purchase Fee on every order through 3/31/14!"

Will using this promo code in the future negate the CB from BC? Sorry if this was already answered, I've read about 40 pages of the thread this morning and can't find a definitive answer.
JudyJFLA is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2013, 2:06 pm
  #1187  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: BGM
Programs: HHonors Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Platinum, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 771
I'm getting some odd behavior when I try to order these today. I go through BC, log into my amex account and place the order. The box comes up saying that it is processing the order and then it goes back to the order page with all the fields blanked out, my cart blanked out and I'm logged out.

I've tried clearing my cookies and trying again, but no order is ever even submitted. I tried this through Chrome and through IE and pretty much the same result both times.

Anybody else see anything like this happening?
SkinsFan0521 is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2013, 2:52 pm
  #1188  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 131
Originally Posted by rdover1
Report: The repurchase frequency for AGC is supposed to be 2 weeks. However I've been buying them every 5-7 days without issue. Less than 5 days and I get the error. However for my last 2 attempts I got the "cannot verify" message, so they are simply using this code for anything. Tried day 5, day 6 and then went through and approved day 8.
how much did you order each time?
Johnnycomeslater is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2013, 8:45 pm
  #1189  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 152
Originally Posted by pier11
Via personal site?
Yes
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2013, 8:48 pm
  #1190  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 152
Originally Posted by JudyJFLA
Did you want to share the new code?
Cheers!
JudyJFLA
Enter Code EMSVCA upon checkout to receive 100% off the purchase fee on every order through 03/31/2014
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2013, 11:35 pm
  #1191  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: MR,UR, UA, BA, AA, Hotels
Posts: 581
Originally Posted by iminsandiego
Enter Code EMSVCA upon checkout to receive 100% off the purchase fee on every order through 03/31/2014
Code hasn't worked for a while so I stopped trying to use it.

PM if you want a code that does work and gets through the cash back (both BC and TCB).
rdover1 is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 12:02 am
  #1192  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SAN
Posts: 152
Originally Posted by rdover1
Code hasn't worked for a while so I stopped trying to use it.

PM if you want a code that does work and gets through the cash back (both BC and TCB).
Sorry, I didn't realize it didn't work since I never use a code. That was just from my last order and thought it might help some.
iminsandiego is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 2:09 am
  #1193  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 322
Any data on the Barclay US Airways card?
flyertalkingallday is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 2:48 am
  #1194  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 94
Originally Posted by DaveInLA
Data point-- bought $5K with Ink Bold, about 10 days ago, cards arrived, got my $112.50 from BC, and Chase seems to be coding it as a purchase. No CA fee that I see.
I tried to order $1K with Ink Bold which has no cash access line. The charge showed up as pending transaction initially. Then I got an email from Amex saying that the order was denied. Not sure why. I wonder if you have any insight about that.
patrickfungusa is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 7:02 am
  #1195  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
How do you know if it's a CA purchase. I was looking at my Barclay acct last night and thinking about how someone said they didn't get on on Arrival. Yet, I don't know how you would know from the setup on their transaction history.
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 9:39 am
  #1196  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 157
how is everyone unloading these amex GC's? how do i cash out or BP?
ranjanrocks is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 10:01 am
  #1197  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: SEA
Posts: 1,887
Originally Posted by ranjanrocks
how is everyone unloading these amex GC's? how do i cash out or BP?
Just updated the wiki. Basically you will need to use manufactured spend techniques or normal spend to cash out.
HikerT is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 11:38 am
  #1198  
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: JFK
Programs: *$ Gold :)
Posts: 1,061
1*3k personalized, no discounts, on personal site via personal SPG via BC went through, approved by Amex.
15 days after previous purchase.

Edit 11/01: Cashback tracked on BC - $60.

Last edited by pier11; Nov 1, 2013 at 3:48 am
pier11 is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 6:42 pm
  #1199  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 30
Does anyone know of a coupon code that won't invalidate cash back via BC or TCB?
lolbombs is offline  
Old Oct 31, 2013, 6:43 pm
  #1200  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: Marriott Gold, Amex PR Gold, Hertz Gold, Delta Silver
Posts: 95
Does Amex send you a tracking number if you have premium shipping or just the email saying it shipped?
rgar7 is offline  


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