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 $6,500ą spend in a reward year˛, you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchasesł (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)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
ą First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
˛ 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
ł '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 $6,500ą spend in a reward year˛, you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchasesł (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)
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
ą First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
˛ 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
ł '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)
Nov 26, 2014, 9:29 am
#5701
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 16
You got to love how they shut people down right before statement close so you lose two months worth of RD.
Nov 26, 2014, 9:34 am
#5702
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 212
For those closed, any reports on successful attempts in getting Amex to pay reward dollars owed? Or dollars still owed for Amex sync promos?
Nov 26, 2014, 9:46 am
#5703
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
I urge everyone to do the same. You have nothing to lose.
Nov 26, 2014, 9:53 am
#5704
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 109
Personally I think it's more a matter of RD accumulated = shutdown. AMEX can easily see what RDs for the year look like with a "normal" (average across families/accounts) spend. Seems to me it's easy for AMEX to determine who gets the boot. Here's some hypothetical numbers:
Say, $4k spend/mo is the average, however, not everyone spends THOUSANDS at the grocery store / pharmacy. Majority of that $4k is not in the 5% category.
Average family spends $4k / mo ...not including the $6.5k requirement: $1k/mo @ 5% + $3k @ 1% = $80 RD / mo * 12 months = $960 RD/yr. If your account has > $960 RD at any time during the year then you're flagged and your spending is irregular.
Even if we fly under the radar and spend $2k / mo - our $2k is in the 5% categories. $2k/mo @ 5% = $100 RD / mo * 12 months = $1,200 RD/yr = irregular = shutdown.
It's only a matter of time before their "RD earned" threshold gets lower and lower and we all get canned.
Say, $4k spend/mo is the average, however, not everyone spends THOUSANDS at the grocery store / pharmacy. Majority of that $4k is not in the 5% category.
Average family spends $4k / mo ...not including the $6.5k requirement: $1k/mo @ 5% + $3k @ 1% = $80 RD / mo * 12 months = $960 RD/yr. If your account has > $960 RD at any time during the year then you're flagged and your spending is irregular.
Even if we fly under the radar and spend $2k / mo - our $2k is in the 5% categories. $2k/mo @ 5% = $100 RD / mo * 12 months = $1,200 RD/yr = irregular = shutdown.
It's only a matter of time before their "RD earned" threshold gets lower and lower and we all get canned.
We're you guys also spending normal amounts at gas stations and grocery stores each month as well, or just hammering drugstores?
Nov 26, 2014, 9:58 am
#5705
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
For those using Walmart as a major part, a lot of spend moved from drug-stores to supermarkets (first as VR weren't easily available with cc at CVS, then as Vanilla cards no longer worked reliably at Walmart) so over time the spending pattern changes. Prior to my shutdown, the vast majority of spend was at supermarkets, probably 90% MS, the rest real. (Unfortunately most of our real grocery spend is at WF, which doesn't sell V/MC gift cards, so the split between real and MS is easy to see!)
Nov 26, 2014, 10:20 am
#5706
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,036
i believe it's a combination of factors with the spend to CL ratio the most important with i think ratio to income...i have a few counterexamples:
1. first friend had a CL of 5K, claimed income of 50K, and spent 10X CL for 3 months, received over 10K in RD, shutdown a month ago.
2. second friend had CL of 7K, not sure on what income claimed, spent maybe 1.5X CL for 3 months, was shut down yesterday
3. me - CL of 17K, claimed income of 100K, 3X CL for 3 months, received well over $12,500 in RD and STILL not shutdown
i think the claimed income plays a big factor in this also.
1. first friend had a CL of 5K, claimed income of 50K, and spent 10X CL for 3 months, received over 10K in RD, shutdown a month ago.
2. second friend had CL of 7K, not sure on what income claimed, spent maybe 1.5X CL for 3 months, was shut down yesterday
3. me - CL of 17K, claimed income of 100K, 3X CL for 3 months, received well over $12,500 in RD and STILL not shutdown
i think the claimed income plays a big factor in this also.
Nov 26, 2014, 10:21 am
#5707
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Long Beach
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,171
I wonder if it makes a difference in shut downs if purchases are at or under 1000 or if many have 1500+ in charges
Nov 26, 2014, 10:47 am
#5708
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Los Angles
Posts: 2,101
Nov 26, 2014, 10:56 am
#5709
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 16
Not sure if I understand what you mean. I can't even log into my reward account anymore. How am I going to redeem the RD?
Nov 26, 2014, 11:16 am
#5711
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IND
Programs: Hilton Dia, Hyatt Glbl, Marriott Lftm Plat, National EE
Posts: 316
Do you have teenagers? If not, have you ever seen just how much a growing teenager eats?? I have two (one of them a football player). We go through about $2k / mo in legitimate grocery expenses.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Nov 26, 2014, 11:26 am
#5712
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 71
Do you have teenagers? If not, have you ever seen just how much a growing teenager eats?? I have two (one of them a football player). We go through about $2k / mo in legitimate grocery expenses.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Nov 26, 2014, 11:27 am
#5713
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: DC
Posts: 360
I routinely spends upwards of $500 a month in groceries a month and there's just 2 of us. If we had children (or entertained a lot at home, which we don't) I don't think it would take much to routinely be over $1000.
Nov 26, 2014, 11:30 am
#5714
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,036
Do you have teenagers? If not, have you ever seen just how much a growing teenager eats?? I have two (one of them a football player). We go through about $2k / mo in legitimate grocery expenses.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Similarly, I think a lot of people underestimate just how expensive medications can be. 'Name Brand' newish medications can easily exceed $500 for a 30 day supply. Some are considerably more expensive than that. Multiply that by a family of 5 and you are talking some serious cash outlay. Sure, it gets reimbursed eventually, but again it is easy to come up with scenarios of $2k-$5k of legitimate CVS spend.
Just playing devils advocate here. I'm also abusing the OBC shamelessly! But I don't think it is as easy as you think to draw a line and say "Nobody legitimately spends over $x per month in Groceries and Pharmacy".
Point is, Amex risks pissing off some VERY affluent customers if they draw that line too low. As someone else up-thread said, I think annual income probably plays a significant role here as well.
Nov 26, 2014, 11:33 am
#5715
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 286
Got my cancellation notice this morning...Since the mass cancellation I've only used the card a few times..none for MS..I have no idea what I stated my income as, as I've had the card for 10~ years. I MSed 10K~ on avg. with a CL is 25k.
Bummer
Bummer
