Jan 8, 2014, 2:22 pm
Last edit by: TheDapperDon
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50k per year for new accounts. For now, this does not apply to existing cardholders, although Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. This card is less viable as an MS instrument. Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of Dec 13, 2014, shutdown reports continue. Shutdowns appear to be triggered by spending on the card or upon statement closure, but not always
Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
Others have succeeded in getting new cards, including new OBCs, but consider your relationship with Amex and how much you value that and this card when deciding how to use it.
There might be some impact with other issuers. If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
So, if you still feel it is worth it:
Application Link: Copy & paste the following link into a incognito window in Chrome or InPrivate Browsing in IE, Private Session in Firefox. There have been reports of people who got the card in the last couple of months getting shut down because of the rush to spend the initial $6,500.
Do NOT post "Link isn't working" until you have tried it incognito/private browsing and it fails there.
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
² 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
* Read the fine print for 'gas' purchases! Right from AMEX T&C's:
...Everyday Purchases are: ... $400 or less of gasoline at gas stations located in the U.S. (superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations)... A >$400 purchase at a gas station will get 5% for the first $400 and 1% thereafter. E.g., for something, say, $503.95, you would earn $21.04 CB [($400*5%)+(103.95*1%)].
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of Dec 13, 2014, shutdown reports continue. Shutdowns appear to be triggered by spending on the card or upon statement closure, but not always
Some who have been shutdown are reporting back that AMEX is declining new non-OBC card applications due to "unsatisfactory relationship". (However, see here for an example where reconsideration was successful.) It is unclear at this time the length/extent of this Adverse Action/Ban.
Others have succeeded in getting new cards, including new OBCs, but consider your relationship with Amex and how much you value that and this card when deciding how to use it.
There might be some impact with other issuers. If AMEX sends you a cancellation it goes on your record as a cancellation by AMEX, not a cancellation by cardholder. While FICO score does not distinguish between closed by issuer and closed by cardholder, on manual review it may raise questions. However, issuers close cards for benign reasons as well (such as non-use) so unless several cards have been closed it probably won't cause a rejection by itself.
So, if you still feel it is worth it:
Application Link: Copy & paste the following link into a incognito window in Chrome or InPrivate Browsing in IE, Private Session in Firefox. There have been reports of people who got the card in the last couple of months getting shut down because of the rush to spend the initial $6,500.
Do NOT post "Link isn't working" until you have tried it incognito/private browsing and it fails there.
Code:
https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/blue-cash/25330
Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (5% after 6500⁴), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.
Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply. (Presume these T&Cs are standard and that all credit cards state this)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
² 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
³ 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
* Read the fine print for 'gas' purchases! Right from AMEX T&C's:
...Everyday Purchases are: ... $400 or less of gasoline at gas stations located in the U.S. (superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs that sell gasoline are not considered gas stations)... A >$400 purchase at a gas station will get 5% for the first $400 and 1% thereafter. E.g., for something, say, $503.95, you would earn $21.04 CB [($400*5%)+(103.95*1%)].
⁴ 5% kicks in immediately after hitting $6500.(mid-statement). In fact, it will even kick in mid-purchase and a portion of the purchase will credit at the higher rate.
* Reward dollars for the previous statement period show up a day or two after the current statement period closes.
* Most cash back redemptions will be applied to your statement within 2–3 days.
* Helpful post regarding moving CL between cards. Thanks lad2
* How to Visually Distinguish the Three Types of Blue Cash Cards:
Blue Cash (old) has a "<" character to the left of the word CASH
Blue Cash Everyday has a circle to the right of the word CASH, with the "Everyday" wording at the back.
Blue Cash Preferred has the word PREFERRED printed vertically on the extreme left side.
If you get the error message "You cannot be logged in. Please contact the number on the back of your card." when trying to redeem Reward Dollars online, it may be because you have too many closed accounts still showing in your scrolling images of cards. Delete the closed ones, then try to redeem again.
Old Amex Blue (2013-2014)
Oct 28, 2014, 7:16 pm
#4863
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 355
Given that college tuition, mortgage payments and similar large dollar outlays can and absolutely are consistent with many families' household expenses, I'd be very interested in seeing someone taking that approach to arbitrating a $100k+ MS.
If you are going to cancel my account for breaking a rule ... articulate the rule in clear and unambiguous terms.
If you are going to cancel my account for breaking a rule ... articulate the rule in clear and unambiguous terms.
Oct 28, 2014, 7:26 pm
#4864
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: SFO/OAK, LAX, TPE
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC, DL Gold
Posts: 134
Count me in as the 3rd person in this thread recently to join the OBC game. Was much more incentivized as it looks like many of the HH have been speared, and it's been a while since my WF 5CB's time limits came up.
Some of you just want to kill a golden goose, glad to see it's you guys who were removed first.
Some of you just want to kill a golden goose, glad to see it's you guys who were removed first.
Oct 28, 2014, 7:47 pm
#4866
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: 212
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Hilton Gold, UA Silver
Posts: 502
Oct 28, 2014, 7:50 pm
#4867
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: wilmington, nc, usa
Posts: 27
Clawbacks
Been lurking around here since the ax dropped last week. Only MSing I’ve ever done was with SkyMiles and savings bonds about 20 years ago. Had been considering jumping back in. Glad I haven’t. But…
--to all who are considering any form of litigation to get their justly “earned” rewards, consider clawback:
“1. A financial or other benefit that is given, but is later taken back due to unique circumstances. A common example of this is when particular investments are purchased, they provide taxable benefits to the purchaser, but if the investments are sold before they mature, these benefits are required to be returned.” Do you think if you throw up a flag and publicly claim that AMEX owes you $6K, that they are going to ignore the fact that you are admitting they have paid you $250K (or much more) in what they now will claim as fraudulently obtained rewards? I’d say some need to be looking for ways to mortgage the house to pay AMEX back.
--to Marathon Man—ironically your FT bio reads “Work is the price you pay for money.” You would not have become addictedly-engaged this unless you thought it was easy work and therefore easy money. Not sure how the ego got so inflated over what is such a truly niche arena. It really doesn’t do you any good to disparage others for bringing down your house of “cards”, when you knew the risks of your actions from day one. You’ll just have to find your next easy money trick.
Looks like this work of manufacturing money may end up coming at a very high price to many individuals and their families.
--to all who are considering any form of litigation to get their justly “earned” rewards, consider clawback:
“1. A financial or other benefit that is given, but is later taken back due to unique circumstances. A common example of this is when particular investments are purchased, they provide taxable benefits to the purchaser, but if the investments are sold before they mature, these benefits are required to be returned.” Do you think if you throw up a flag and publicly claim that AMEX owes you $6K, that they are going to ignore the fact that you are admitting they have paid you $250K (or much more) in what they now will claim as fraudulently obtained rewards? I’d say some need to be looking for ways to mortgage the house to pay AMEX back.
--to Marathon Man—ironically your FT bio reads “Work is the price you pay for money.” You would not have become addictedly-engaged this unless you thought it was easy work and therefore easy money. Not sure how the ego got so inflated over what is such a truly niche arena. It really doesn’t do you any good to disparage others for bringing down your house of “cards”, when you knew the risks of your actions from day one. You’ll just have to find your next easy money trick.
Looks like this work of manufacturing money may end up coming at a very high price to many individuals and their families.
Oct 28, 2014, 7:58 pm
#4868
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
Been lurking around here since the ax dropped last week. Only MSing I’ve ever done was with SkyMiles and savings bonds about 20 years ago. Had been considering jumping back in. Glad I haven’t. But…
--to all who are considering any form of litigation to get their justly “earned” rewards, consider clawback:
“1. A financial or other benefit that is given, but is later taken back due to unique circumstances. A common example of this is when particular investments are purchased, they provide taxable benefits to the purchaser, but if the investments are sold before they mature, these benefits are required to be returned.” Do you think if you throw up a flag and publicly claim that AMEX owes you $6K, that they are going to ignore the fact that you are admitting they have paid you $250K (or much more) in what they now will claim as fraudulently obtained rewards? I’d say some need to be looking for ways to mortgage the house to pay AMEX back.
--to all who are considering any form of litigation to get their justly “earned” rewards, consider clawback:
“1. A financial or other benefit that is given, but is later taken back due to unique circumstances. A common example of this is when particular investments are purchased, they provide taxable benefits to the purchaser, but if the investments are sold before they mature, these benefits are required to be returned.” Do you think if you throw up a flag and publicly claim that AMEX owes you $6K, that they are going to ignore the fact that you are admitting they have paid you $250K (or much more) in what they now will claim as fraudulently obtained rewards? I’d say some need to be looking for ways to mortgage the house to pay AMEX back.
Oct 28, 2014, 8:00 pm
#4869
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 970
Amex is on shaky ground if it really intends to claim that gift cards are cash equivalents. If they're correct, then why are people earning points for buying Amex gift cards with Amex credit cards? That is a purchase that Amex fully controls and where Amex knows exactly what people are buying, but it awards points. It apparently even needs to incentivize people to buy them by awarding cash back through portals. We can argue nuances (pin vs no pin), but the bottom line is that neither Amex nor MC/Visa gift cards can be deposited at a bank, nor can you withdraw cash from them at an ATM or a point of sale. A true cash equivalent is something like a money order, cashiers check, dollar coins, currency, etc.
I suspect that Amex understands this and will eventually credit all reward dollars, though I think it will take several months for this to happen.
I suspect that Amex understands this and will eventually credit all reward dollars, though I think it will take several months for this to happen.
Oct 28, 2014, 8:06 pm
#4870
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: wilmington, nc, usa
Posts: 27
Clawbacks are varied
You think they won't come after individuals who have cost them whatever they deem to be "enough"?
Oct 28, 2014, 8:09 pm
#4871
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
The definition is just to show how a clawback works. I've known of cases where crooks obtained money fraudulently and made big contributions to religious organizations. When those guys went down, the (already disbursed) gifts were "clawed back" from those institutions. Names came off buildings and loans were taken out as money was turned over to the courts by those nonprofits.
You think they won't come after individuals who have cost them whatever they deem to be "enough"?
You think they won't come after individuals who have cost them whatever they deem to be "enough"?
Oct 28, 2014, 8:45 pm
#4872
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 377
Marathon Man's advice is very good. While I think we're right that we were not buying prohibited items, the fact is that Amex has gone about this all wrong. If one calmly explains how they were just using a rewards program to maximum advantage and paid all bills on time, and characterizes Amex's actions in colorful but accurate terms, I think Amex can look very bad. And that's assuming that Amex even shows up in court.
For those thinking Amex will come after us, there are some sophisticated folks on here, and if Amex does anything to open itself up to civil discovery, it can get very messy and expensive for them.
For those thinking Amex will come after us, there are some sophisticated folks on here, and if Amex does anything to open itself up to civil discovery, it can get very messy and expensive for them.
Oct 28, 2014, 9:45 pm
#4873
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL PM, SPG Plat
Posts: 885
What a mess! So, today was round 2 then? With round 1 taking place on the 22nd? My statement closes on the 17th so I'm not safe, am I?
Oct 28, 2014, 9:52 pm
#4874
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 457
Deleted.
Last edited by MsArbi; Oct 30, 2014 at 12:31 am
Oct 29, 2014, 5:05 am
#4875
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 224
Those still alive - anyone get their RD to post yet?