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 $6,500¹ 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)
Mar 14, 2014, 2:49 pm
#1216
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,509
That only sounds good in theory if you actually have true $6.5K to spend that month so that you can start cashing in on VRs at 5%. For me, I was able to scratch up about $3-3.5K in spending without having to sacrifice part of my first month's VRs to meet the $6.5K. If you wait for true spending to hit $6.5K, you will not get there quickly. What you described is ideal but probably not practical for most cases especially if you want to get started on buying VRs at CVS.
Mar 14, 2014, 4:02 pm
#1217
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Down South, The Desert
Programs: Marriot Rewards, Southwest Rapid rewards, Emerald Club, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,871
Does anyone have BCP and BC? I've got both along with SPG. My issue is maxing out rewards with limits I currently have. My SPG has a $15k limit I can't move that till my account is 12 months old.
My BC limit is $2k.
My BCP limit is $11k.
I was originally going to finish off BCP's $6K annual spending then transfer as much as possible to BC. Anyone see any reason for me to keep BCP? I would like to limit the number of cards I have but don't want to leave anything on the table either.
My BC limit is $2k.
My BCP limit is $11k.
I was originally going to finish off BCP's $6K annual spending then transfer as much as possible to BC. Anyone see any reason for me to keep BCP? I would like to limit the number of cards I have but don't want to leave anything on the table either.
Mar 14, 2014, 4:51 pm
#1218
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 301
I don't have 6.5K true spending per month, as I mentioned before, purchasing online GCs helps to meet the first $6.5K without much incurring opportunity cost.
For me personally, I'm not in a hurry to use BC yet, I'm still milking TY.
For me personally, I'm not in a hurry to use BC yet, I'm still milking TY.
That only sounds good in theory if you actually have true $6.5K to spend that month so that you can start cashing in on VRs at 5%. For me, I was able to scratch up about $3-3.5K in spending without having to sacrifice part of my first month's VRs to meet the $6.5K. If you wait for true spending to hit $6.5K, you will not get there quickly. What you described is ideal but probably not practical for most cases especially if you want to get started on buying VRs at CVS.
Mar 14, 2014, 5:52 pm
#1219
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,509
Believe me most people (including myself) have thought about how to do as much spending as you can without having to touch VRs initially as part of their 6.5K. If you aren't clearing about 6.5K by the first/second month then you are spending too many months trying to find other ways to meet your 6.5K. Again in your case it may make sense since you still have TY points to use. To each their own.
Mar 14, 2014, 6:00 pm
#1220
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
thanks. Unfortunately my card is still very new so I guess this will be a no go.
Mar 14, 2014, 6:37 pm
#1222
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 301
There are options to meeting 6.5K in a month without sacrificing CVS spending, online GCs is one of the options, which is what I did to quickly get 6K in the first month.
Yes that is my point. Most people don't have true 6.5K spending per month so trying to find 6.5K before using your Amex BC for VRs at CVS is useless. I sacrificed about 3K of my first month's VR's and got 1% instead of 5% because I wasn't going to waste any more time waiting another 2 months trying to find other things to charge to meet 6.5K before buying a single VR at CVS. The faster you get to 6.5K the better you can start to reap the rewards.
Believe me most people (including myself) have thought about how to do as much spending as you can without having to touch VRs initially as part of their 6.5K. If you aren't clearing about 6.5K by the first/second month then you are spending too many months trying to find other ways to meet your 6.5K. Again in your case it may make sense since you still have TY points to use. To each their own.
Believe me most people (including myself) have thought about how to do as much spending as you can without having to touch VRs initially as part of their 6.5K. If you aren't clearing about 6.5K by the first/second month then you are spending too many months trying to find other ways to meet your 6.5K. Again in your case it may make sense since you still have TY points to use. To each their own.
Mar 14, 2014, 6:45 pm
#1223
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,509
Its a matter of preference but I only see this as a benefit if you can find 6.5K without having to touch loading into BB or AP or any prepaid account at ALL. Btw if you bought Amex GC's you would be earning only 0.5% CB anyways. At least with CVS for VRs, I would still be earning 1% CB.
Mar 14, 2014, 7:05 pm
#1224
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 301
Well, portal CB varies quite a bit from time to time, there was Amex GC at Barclays for 4x that made the effort worthwhile..
Its a matter of preference but I only see this as a benefit if you can find 6.5K without having to touch loading into BB or AP or any prepaid account at ALL. Btw if you bought Amex GC's you would be earning only 0.5% CB anyways. At least with CVS for VRs, I would still be earning 1% CB.
Mar 14, 2014, 7:37 pm
#1225
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,509
You are digressing from the point. How does Barclays card help with meeting the Amex BC $6.5K spending? I understand how the Amex GC route can help you assuming you want to get going on the Amex BC card. This is the Amex BC thread and I was just trying to point out that unless you have an immediate way of charging $6.5K to a CC for some bill that you have, its just better to sacrifice the part of or the first month of VRs just to meet it quickly.
Mar 14, 2014, 7:52 pm
#1226
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
You are digressing from the point. How does Barclays card help with meeting the Amex BC $6.5K spending? I understand how the Amex GC route can help you assuming you want to get going on the Amex BC card. This is the Amex BC thread and I was just trying to point out that unless you have an immediate way of charging $6.5K to a CC for some bill that you have, its just better to sacrifice the part of or the first month of VRs just to meet it quickly.
Mar 14, 2014, 8:02 pm
#1227
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,509
I think that the OP is trying to point out that getting Amex GCs you can cut down on the sacrificing other cashback and meet the spend quicker, e.g. if you use your card at CVS, then you are only getting 1% which is possibly 1+% less than using a card that gets better rates at CVS. For instance, my US Bank is 2% at pharmacy. However, if you use your card to purchase online, than you are only sacrificing 0.5% cashback over that same card since it would be only 1% outside of its bonus areas. Plus if you do Amex GCs, then you can use cashback portals like Barclay Boost with any card and get an additional 2-4% cashback for the same purchase that would have only gotten 1% at CVS. So 2.5-4.5% cb trumps 1% cb and also that 2% card that you would normally use at the pharmacy.
Mar 14, 2014, 8:13 pm
#1228
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 139
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdancer20
I think that the OP is trying to point out that getting Amex GCs you can cut down on the sacrificing other cashback and meet the spend quicker, e.g. if you use your card at CVS, then you are only getting 1% which is possibly 1+% less than using a card that gets better rates at CVS. For instance, my US Bank is 2% at pharmacy. However, if you use your card to purchase online, than you are only sacrificing 0.5% cashback over that same card since it would be only 1% outside of its bonus areas. Plus if you do Amex GCs, then you can use cashback portals like Barclay Boost with any card and get an additional 2-4% cashback for the same purchase that would have only gotten 1% at CVS. So 2.5-4.5% cb trumps 1% cb and also that 2% card that you would normally use at the pharmacy.
I understand that other cards may be better in certain situations and reap more rewards. I get that. I am not saying that you should waste anymore money getting 1% at CVS if you don't have to. But the facts remain that you have to at some point charge up to $6.5K earning at most 1% on your Amex BC (assuming no other double dipping) so you can start clearing 5%. Sure if you have other major bills that you can double dip or triple dip and can charge to Amex BC other than CVS then by all means go for it. My point is saying that a decent amount of folks can't find $6.5K in mandatory spend and the GC route paid for by a Barclays card for example doesn't help in this situation. Sure you get more points with Barclays that doesn't help meet the Amex BC $6.5K minimum. Whether you charge at CVS or somewhere else you need to get to $6.5K.
Originally Posted by cdancer20
I think that the OP is trying to point out that getting Amex GCs you can cut down on the sacrificing other cashback and meet the spend quicker, e.g. if you use your card at CVS, then you are only getting 1% which is possibly 1+% less than using a card that gets better rates at CVS. For instance, my US Bank is 2% at pharmacy. However, if you use your card to purchase online, than you are only sacrificing 0.5% cashback over that same card since it would be only 1% outside of its bonus areas. Plus if you do Amex GCs, then you can use cashback portals like Barclay Boost with any card and get an additional 2-4% cashback for the same purchase that would have only gotten 1% at CVS. So 2.5-4.5% cb trumps 1% cb and also that 2% card that you would normally use at the pharmacy.
I understand that other cards may be better in certain situations and reap more rewards. I get that. I am not saying that you should waste anymore money getting 1% at CVS if you don't have to. But the facts remain that you have to at some point charge up to $6.5K earning at most 1% on your Amex BC (assuming no other double dipping) so you can start clearing 5%. Sure if you have other major bills that you can double dip or triple dip and can charge to Amex BC other than CVS then by all means go for it. My point is saying that a decent amount of folks can't find $6.5K in mandatory spend and the GC route paid for by a Barclays card for example doesn't help in this situation. Sure you get more points with Barclays that doesn't help meet the Amex BC $6.5K minimum. Whether you charge at CVS or somewhere else you need to get to $6.5K.
Mar 14, 2014, 8:59 pm
#1229
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
My point is saying that a decent amount of folks can't find $6.5K in mandatory spend and the GC route paid for by a Barclays card for example doesn't help in this situation. Sure you get more points with Barclays that doesn't help meet the Amex BC $6.5K minimum. Whether you charge at CVS or somewhere else you need to get to $6.5K. Advocating using other CCs just because they give better rewards than CVS at 1% during the initial $6.5K is not the solution.
This is simply a question of what is the best method for doing MS on a 1x card because before 6500 that is really all the BC is. So is it better to spend 6500 on VR and get $65 back or go through the hassle of portals to get 32.50 from BC plus your portal money? IMO this is a silly argument.
Last edited by cdancer20; Mar 14, 2014 at 9:04 pm
Mar 15, 2014, 9:14 pm
#1230
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,427
I have a Citi 5x card with about 2 more months to go, so I've been following this discussion with keen interest, and thinking of applying. Is there any feel for how AMEX is likely to react to various spending levels? I'm a little skeptical that AMEX will be as tolerant as Citi has been to most cardholders.