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)
#5446
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHL
Posts: 930
Just out of curiosity, did any of you who were shutdown buy into the "if I do normal spending, AmEx will ignore my MS" myth? I always hear about how people purposely use the BC for 1% spending because they think it will deter AmEx from shutting them down.
#5447
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
I never bought into that, so all (well, I think there was a ~ $50 charge from a place that unexpectedly didn't count as a supermarket) my charges were 5%. But since I was shutdown, may be I SHOULD have bought into that myth!
#5448
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,507
It depends on who you ask. Personally for me I try to add other transactions on my Amex BC to mix in the spending profile but that is just for my comfort level. Most others will probably say it won't make a difference and you are a marked man and blah blah blah that you should only put 5% categories on your Amex BC and charge all your other transactions to a better card to maximize rewards. I am not shutdown.
#5449
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: LAC
Programs: Regal Crown Club
Posts: 488
If on the other hand someone spends north of twenty grands a month in supermarkets and another twenty grands at drugstores, then I can't see the benefit of having some small change post off-category bonus...
#5450
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Socal
Posts: 133
I agree, and this is why I don't think there's much chance of lawsuits working in people's favor. The rules stated no cashback on gift cards. Despite the fact that they didn't enforce that condition in the past, it seems like a really hard sell to claim damages because they decided to finally address it.
#5451
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 825
I was not shutdown and use this card for most of my everyday spending as well as for MS.
$24k CL, most I've used in a month is ~$23k
$24k CL, most I've used in a month is ~$23k
#5452
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: SF Bay area
Posts: 269
I agree, and this is why I don't think there's much chance of lawsuits working in people's favor. The rules stated no cashback on gift cards. Despite the fact that they didn't enforce that condition in the past, it seems like a really hard sell to claim damages because they decided to finally address it.
If their legal team has already been involved, why not achieve a little more?
#5453
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
Seems like most of those who were shut down were spending over their monthly limits and also had large cb in recent months. A 4 figure cb per month is large even though some that get used to that don't think so. It's easy to get accustomed to higher levels of ms'ing and not realize you're starting to stick out like a sore thumb.
#5454
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 293
Why stop there? Why wouldn't they also try to recover for past due interest and penalties for all of those account balances that were not paid in full by the due date (after pulling back application of the reward dollars to the account).
#5455
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
My account is still open, but I still think those with closed accounts should consider pursuing legal action. Amex may eventually cancel many more accounts, anyway. Is anyone going to feel any better going forward, knowing Amex has already confiscated the rewards of others? Earlier in this thread, Marathon Man posted his view of pursuing legal action, a few times. Here is one of them:
but dont heed caution, go ahead and poke the AMEX bear... see how that turns out for ya.
#5456
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
which was clearly some of the dumbest things MM has ever said, and he babbles quite a bit, anyone with half a brain would see that... his incitement for others to act is obviously very one sided, and he would be singing a COMPLETELY diff tune had he personally not been shutdown (all of his OBCs) ... but honestly, what do folks like him expect when they put up numbers north of $2M a mo in MS...
but dont heed caution, go ahead and poke the AMEX bear... see how that turns out for ya.
but dont heed caution, go ahead and poke the AMEX bear... see how that turns out for ya.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23572481-post1857.html
#5457
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
be that as it may, in general I do not agree with his philosophy. sure the banks can handle your rewards, something that amounts to chump change for em. but it is not a wise path to tread on. be happy with the multitude of rewards you've already reaped in bounds and move on.
anyways, silver are you taking AMEX to SCC?
anyways, silver are you taking AMEX to SCC?
#5458
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
be that as it may, in general I do not agree with his philosophy. sure the banks can handle your rewards, something that amounts to chump change for em. but it is not a wise path to tread on. be happy with the multitude of rewards you've already reaped in bounds and move on.
anyways, silver are you taking AMEX to SCC?
anyways, silver are you taking AMEX to SCC?
I would prefer to file in the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, as Amex might not like the publicity of being sued for war crimes, but finding it hard to make a case. (Yes, making jokes about genocide, that's me....)
#5459
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IND
Programs: Hilton Dia, Hyatt Glbl, Marriott Lftm Plat, National EE
Posts: 316
Probably not at this stage as I don't seem frozen out by Amex so have more to lose.
I would prefer to file in the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, as Amex might not like the publicity of being sued for war crimes, but finding it hard to make a case. (Yes, making jokes about genocide, that's me....)
I would prefer to file in the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, as Amex might not like the publicity of being sued for war crimes, but finding it hard to make a case. (Yes, making jokes about genocide, that's me....)
"You see, your honor, Amex is practicing (financial) crimes against humanity perpetuated on a small, defenseless and misunderstood minority. This persecution, this GENOCIDE, of Manufactured Spenders should, nay, MUST be stopped and these WAR CRIMINALS brought to justice.
Now, I may be a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer, and I don't know many things. But the one thing I *DO* know, is that in addition to the life sentence I am seeking against their CEO, I am also FULLY entitled to triple the amount in question due to deep, emotional, scars that Amex has inflicted upon me and my compatriots!"
Now, I may be a simple unfrozen caveman lawyer, and I don't know many things. But the one thing I *DO* know, is that in addition to the life sentence I am seeking against their CEO, I am also FULLY entitled to triple the amount in question due to deep, emotional, scars that Amex has inflicted upon me and my compatriots!"
#5460
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 253
I agree, and this is why I don't think there's much chance of lawsuits working in people's favor. The rules stated no cashback on gift cards. Despite the fact that they didn't enforce that condition in the past, it seems like a really hard sell to claim damages because they decided to finally address it.
Many people bought Amex gift cards to quickly fulfill their $6500 annual purchase requirement to jump up to 5% on preferred categories. The cardholder terms state no rewards are payable on gift cards and cash equivalents, and I suppose the reason the termination letters are worded as they are-- in terms of purchases beyond personal use-- is because while Amex can speculate, in most cases they don't know what exactly is being purchased from grocery stores and pharmacies; just that the amounts are, in its opinion, excessive. However, if you bought Amex gift cards directly from Amex, there is no way that Amex can credibly contend that it did not know what you were purchasing, yet it paid out awards anyway.