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)
#751
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: CHS
Programs: Delta, AA, BA, United, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond, SPG Marriott Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,148
I am happy with dollars to help pay for rental car, non reward hotel stays, meals and drinks.^
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#752
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 96
It looks like Delta is offering 3x points again on the purchase of Amex gift cards. You could buy those (with Amex Blue or any other credit card). You still need to liquidate by purchasing VR or GC but 3x points is a pretty quick way to top up your Delta account if needed.
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#753
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,385
I applied early Jan, and the app was immediately cancelled as a duplicate (BCE Nov 2014). Called in and the app was reopened and moved to manual review. Three weeks later, cancelled again as a duplicate. Called in again, and was told that they would consider my app for an exception. I couldn't get the CSR to tell me what that meant. Received snail mail today saying the exception was denied. Online app status still says in progress, but I assume it will change to no go soon.
My questions:
Does anyone know what the policy is that they had been considering giving me an exception to? My guess is a certain number of days between applications, but I'm not sure.
If I wait a bit and apply again, assuming the card is still around, will I have the same issue?
My questions:
Does anyone know what the policy is that they had been considering giving me an exception to? My guess is a certain number of days between applications, but I'm not sure.
If I wait a bit and apply again, assuming the card is still around, will I have the same issue?
![cdancer20 is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#754
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 190
I want to open this card too but wanted to wait at least 3 months since I applied and got the BCP in Dec 2013. I talked to a rep the other day about something else and I asked if I could have multiple Blue Cash products and if so how long should I wait. She said there is no limit and that I could apply at any time.
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#755
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,385
![cdancer20 is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#756
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: DTW
Programs: UA, SW, AA
Posts: 93
Applied, got instantly declined, I called reckon line and they put my app for review. It stayed in "in progress" and was denied this weekend.
Bummed out.
Bummed out.
![kryton2005 is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#757
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: CHS
Programs: Delta, AA, BA, United, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond, SPG Marriott Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,148
It looks like Delta is offering 3x points again on the purchase of Amex gift cards. You could buy those (with Amex Blue or any other credit card). You still need to liquidate by purchasing VR or GC but 3x points is a pretty quick way to top up your Delta account if needed.
![beachmiles is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#758
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: CVG
Programs: Hyatt Giraffe
Posts: 1,670
When I finally cornered a supervisor, he suggested unofficially that the denial reason was because of apps too close to each other, and to wait 90+ days after BCP.
![sam_goh is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#759
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 415
There's a legit reason, since people are getting denied. I also got denied after a BCP app in November. Kept going round and round and different excuses, forwarded to a different team etc. First, app got denied because duplicate app, then you can't be an authorized user of the same type of account, then BCP and BC are same product families, etc.
When I finally cornered a supervisor, he suggested unofficially that the denial reason was because of apps too close to each other, and to wait 90+ days after BCP.
When I finally cornered a supervisor, he suggested unofficially that the denial reason was because of apps too close to each other, and to wait 90+ days after BCP.
![redbirdsj is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#760
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: DEN
Programs: SPG Gold; HH Diamond
Posts: 223
My wife and I were each approved recently for the BC, and we're each AUs on the other's card. We also have the same arrangement with the BCP card.
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#761
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: CVG
Programs: Hyatt Giraffe
Posts: 1,670
It's BS but it wasn't helping in my case. Wife applied, added me as AU. I then applied, but it cancelled by app because it thought it was a duplicate app. They were just coming up with a variety of boilerplate denial reasons.
![sam_goh is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#762
Join Date: Jun 2004
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 190
There's a legit reason, since people are getting denied. I also got denied after a BCP app in November. Kept going round and round and different excuses, forwarded to a different team etc. First, app got denied because duplicate app, then you can't be an authorized user of the same type of account, then BCP and BC are same product families, etc.
When I finally cornered a supervisor, he suggested unofficially that the denial reason was because of apps too close to each other, and to wait 90+ days after BCP.
When I finally cornered a supervisor, he suggested unofficially that the denial reason was because of apps too close to each other, and to wait 90+ days after BCP.
![Henry II is offline](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif)
#763
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 113
I am curious if anyone has an update on the 5% cash back for gift cards at grocery stores.
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