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)
#5416
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
It varies, as I was able to get a new card (Everyday). So apart from what spending gets the card shut down, we can now speculate as to what sort of shutdown is a ban and what isn't!
#5417
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,506
For those that were shutdown, did you also have other Amex cards besides OBC that might have contributed to Amex's overall risk profile? Do you guys think it has any correlation?
#5418
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
I still have an open Delta card, and recently closed an SPG and Hilton cards, so I was low-risk. It was strictly MS related shutdowns. No idea if they can see the transactions, but they know what's up.
#5419
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Los Angles
Posts: 2,101
If other banks do it all the time should not mean AmEx should do too...those are run by banksters.....
#5420
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 291
So, is everyone almost ready to resume spending yet?
Then, if anything happens again, we can all feel a little bit better, knowing it didn't happen to just a few of us.
Then, if anything happens again, we can all feel a little bit better, knowing it didn't happen to just a few of us.
#5421
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
rewards abuse == they've determined you're a bad customer and they wanna fire you. not ifs, ands or buts... they dont wanna question you, they dont even wanna hear from you no more.
besides they DID email folks out of courtesy when their cards were deactivated. so they wouldnt be left hanging or feel embarrassed while trying to purchase $5k @ EP store and getting declined.
#5422
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Los Angles
Posts: 2,101
perceived risk == FR, formal notifications/requests, goin thru the motions. you get a 2nd chance cause all they're looking for is your ability/willingness to pay back and not leave AMEX with the proverbial bag in hand.
rewards abuse == they've determined you're a bad customer and they wanna fire you. not ifs, ands or buts... they dont wanna question you, they dont even wanna hear from you no more.
besides they DID email folks out of courtesy when their cards were deactivated. so they wouldnt be left hanging or feel embarrassed while trying to purchase $5k @ EP store and getting declined.
rewards abuse == they've determined you're a bad customer and they wanna fire you. not ifs, ands or buts... they dont wanna question you, they dont even wanna hear from you no more.
besides they DID email folks out of courtesy when their cards were deactivated. so they wouldnt be left hanging or feel embarrassed while trying to purchase $5k @ EP store and getting declined.
#5424
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast of FL
Posts: 115
Yep. I survived my recent statement closing and I'm going to put my foot back in the water.
Oh! Well, if it's for you...
Then, if anything happens again, we can all feel a little bit better, knowing it didn't happen to just a few of us.
#5425
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 225
called reconsideration line after being denied for amex biz card. The CSR said i was denied for "previous unsatisfactory relationship" (sounds just like the chase blacklist language I've gotten for the last 6 years). The CSR said there was no credit pull; just an automated rejection. If I am blacklisted, I have nothing to lose when suing for the reward balance.
#5426
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 44
I recently got OBC (10/2 was first charge) and hit the 6500 in spend in the first couple of days. I put about 10k mix of spending on it. I had reward $ post to the account twice, but it was 92 cents, then 49 cents. Anyone know what might be going on?
#5427
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 16
Please don't sue American Express.
called reconsideration line after being denied for amex biz card. The CSR said i was denied for "previous unsatisfactory relationship" (sounds just like the chase blacklist language I've gotten for the last 6 years). The CSR said there was no credit pull; just an automated rejection. If I am blacklisted, I have nothing to lose when suing for the reward balance.
Your time spent suing American Express can be better spent doing MS with your other credit cards. It's a lot less hassle, and you're almost certain to gain something from it. If you were to take it to court and lose the case, you would lose the money you spent in legal fees. Also, even if you were to win the case, it might cause American Express, or the other credit card issuers who hear about the case, to crack down on manufactured spending. I don't want you to risk catastrophic consequences.
#5428
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
Manufactured spenders have generally been able to stay under the radar. If you sue American Express, and cost them potentially thousands of dollars in legal fees, then you would draw attention to these deals.
Your time spent suing American Express can be better spent doing MS with your other credit cards. It's a lot less hassle, and you're almost certain to gain something from it. If you were to take it to court and lose the case, you would lose the money you spent in legal fees. Also, even if you were to win the case, it might cause American Express, or the other credit card issuers who hear about the case, to crack down on manufactured spending. I don't want you to risk catastrophic consequences.
Your time spent suing American Express can be better spent doing MS with your other credit cards. It's a lot less hassle, and you're almost certain to gain something from it. If you were to take it to court and lose the case, you would lose the money you spent in legal fees. Also, even if you were to win the case, it might cause American Express, or the other credit card issuers who hear about the case, to crack down on manufactured spending. I don't want you to risk catastrophic consequences.
Lots of people have sued Citi and Chase for rewards in the past without MS dying.
#5429
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: LAC
Programs: Regal Crown Club
Posts: 488
How can you have two complete billing cycles when you made the first purchase not even six weeks ago? How did you get the 92¢ and 49¢ at all?
#5430