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)
#1096
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,060
The best rewards program that lists the purchases and the rewards earned BY FAR is Wells Fargo card and man did we load up on it for 6 months, now it is in the sock drawer and we truly miss the program's transparency.
#1097
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: NYC
Posts: 415
If that could be combined with ability for instant redemption like TD, we would be talking holy grail rewards program.
Oh yea, transfer partners too
#1102
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Barclaycard and US Bank Cash+ both have full transparency as well. I love it! I hate when I have to do my own math to make sure I get everything.
#1103
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: New Jersey
Programs: Delta P, SPG G, Marriott S, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,007
Posts like this are EXACTLY why FT is such a friendly and helping community.
#1104
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 970
You could have asked "I haven't had success applying thru the link, can anyone see the application/help?" etc etc
But no. We get these definitive and authoritative posts effectively saying "its dead" without a shred of evidence back up to support the claim. And, unsurprisingly, usually from people new to whatever they are doing.
#1105
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 374
On the Recent Charges page, choose Current Statement in the Time Period dropdown list. A Your Rewards panel appears on the right with View Summary and View Bonus Details links. Keep in mind that the rewards take up to a couple of billing periods to post, e.g., right now on my newest card I can see totals by category in the summary but no individual transactions are showing in the details yet.
#1106
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: DEN
Posts: 502
Didn't mean to cause offense, I just get annoyed seeing generic/vague false alarms routinely like "BC is gone..." when I still check the application link almost everyday.
In the spirit of trying to make this more friendly/helpful community, more details on what's happening when the application page doesn't load will help us to hopefully find another backdoor more quickly when and IF the application link ever goes down.
In the spirit of trying to make this more friendly/helpful community, more details on what's happening when the application page doesn't load will help us to hopefully find another backdoor more quickly when and IF the application link ever goes down.
#1107
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA, BA, CX, DL, EK, F9, GA, HA, IB, JL, KE, LH, MH, NH, OS, PG, QR, RJ, SA, TG, UA, VN, WN, ZH
Posts: 927
On the Recent Charges page, choose Current Statement in the Time Period dropdown list. A Your Rewards panel appears on the right with View Summary and View Bonus Details links. Keep in mind that the rewards take up to a couple of billing periods to post, e.g., right now on my newest card I can see totals by category in the summary but no individual transactions are showing in the details yet.
Although it seems to only show transactions that qualify for the 5% reward, not the 1% ones like AP.
#1108
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 514
PCing to Blue Cash was not working neither from another family of AMEX cards nor from Blue Cash Family. If it started working in one or the other way, something has changed.
#1109
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Los Angles
Posts: 2,101
Didn't mean to cause offense, I just get annoyed seeing generic/vague false alarms routinely like "BC is gone..." when I still check the application link almost everyday.
In the spirit of trying to make this more friendly/helpful community, more details on what's happening when the application page doesn't load will help us to hopefully find another backdoor more quickly when and IF the application link ever goes down.
In the spirit of trying to make this more friendly/helpful community, more details on what's happening when the application page doesn't load will help us to hopefully find another backdoor more quickly when and IF the application link ever goes down.
#1110
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Posts: 271
Nobody has access to your data which is in your mind unless you share it. And if you like to share your data in thread, it might be good to follow it.
PCing to Blue Cash was not working neither from another family of AMEX cards nor from Blue Cash Family. If it started working in one or the other way, something has changed.
PCing to Blue Cash was not working neither from another family of AMEX cards nor from Blue Cash Family. If it started working in one or the other way, something has changed.
Ok. Plz go ahead and continue to believe its not possible to PC.
A few of us will go against the 2012 wisdom.
Dont feel that I am trying to force u to revalidate your data.
Last edited by Fico2Go; Mar 2, 2014 at 3:21 pm Reason: new data