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Old Jan 8, 2014, 2:22 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.

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 6500), 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%)].

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.
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Old Amex Blue (2013-2014)

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Old Mar 15, 2014, 11:36 pm
  #1231  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
K, so I thankfully passed my FR.

went 3x CL in second month, got call soon afterwards. I'd advise a slow ramp.
hitman1420 is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2014, 11:39 pm
  #1232  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 207
My spouse got a FR at 1.5 X CL in the second month. I am almost at 3 X CL but no FR yet.
cyclotron is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 1:35 am
  #1233  
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 367
Serve CVS swipe loads (no VR) = points? bonus?
st.exupery is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 6:18 am
  #1234  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 757
Originally Posted by Fuerza
Does anyone have BCP and BC?
I have both and am keeping both. If they ever put a cap on BC, I'll still have the BCP's $6k @6% in addition to whatever may be done with BC.
dcpilgrim is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 8:30 am
  #1235  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 11
Originally Posted by hitman1420
K, so I thankfully passed my FR.

went 3x CL in second month, got call soon afterwards. I'd advise a slow ramp.
Hitman1420, what was the pattern on the card and did they press you on large/frequent drug store purchases (assuming there are a bunch of those)? I'm my 3rd full month with the card and have been over 2x limit so far, but I have lots of every day spending, which sometimes is pretty large, but also a ton of drug store spend, by far the highest category.

Thanks,
Warpork
warpork is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 10:32 am
  #1236  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 825
You people saying you're going x.x over your CL, it would be useful to know your CL.

Going over a 5K CL versus a 15K CL is very different...
exarkun is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 2:03 pm
  #1237  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Midwest U.S.A
Programs: Too many to list. Since the early 90's.
Posts: 1,407
I'm treating this card very carefully; not going over CL, varied spending, gradual ms'ing, slow but safe. I want Amex to be glad I'm using the card for everyday purchases and I will reap with ms'ing too. But since this is 5% anything of importance to me (drugstores, grocery, fuel) and no limit to CB, once a person reaches $6500, it is a rare card indeed. I'm interested in longevity. I will request a cl move from one of my other Amex at the appropriate 31 days from approval and possibly a cl increase at that time (if can't move cl). I'm also being careful about what I buy with this. I'm doubtful about swiping this at CVS to load Serve (Amex) and expecting 5%cb. It is possible, but if someone does that a lot, a pattern emerges and why risk shut down when there are other ms methods not involving buying Amex products with Amex Blue to load your Amex BB or Serve? At least mix things up and certainly don't pay your Blue with your Serve or BB. Some try to swipe Blue at CVS to load their Serve then pay their Blue from the Serve. That's shutdown waiting to happen. The Blue will become my everything card for fuel, groceries and of course drugstores (amazing how expensive rx's are) and so forth so that I am a valuable customer to Amex and I'll receive 5% without problem even with regular ms mixed in.

Last edited by Churnman; Mar 16, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Churnman is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 2:38 pm
  #1238  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
Originally Posted by warpork
Hitman1420, what was the pattern on the card and did they press you on large/frequent drug store purchases (assuming there are a bunch of those)?
No questions at all about what I was spending on. They just stated that I had gone over my CL 3x and they wanted to FR.

Originally Posted by exarkun
Going over a 5K CL versus a 15K CL is very different...
True, my CL is <$5k

Originally Posted by Churnman
But since this is 5% anything and no limit to CB, once a person reaches $6500, it is a rare card indeed.
Only 5% drugstore, grocery, and gas
hitman1420 is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 2:45 pm
  #1239  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHL
Posts: 930
I have searched the first 40+ pages of this thread and have not found anything concrete. Is the $400 gas limit a per transaction limit or is it a yearly limit?
commdiver is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 2:47 pm
  #1240  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 340
Originally Posted by commdiver
I have searched the first 40+ pages of this thread and have not found anything concrete. Is the $400 gas limit a per transaction limit or is it a yearly limit?
Of course per transaction
ericliujian is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 3:17 pm
  #1241  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
Originally Posted by hitman1420
No questions at all about what I was spending on. They just stated that I had gone over my CL 3x and they wanted to FR.



True, my CL is <$5k
Interesting. My CL is > $40K (by transferring from other cards), but I am still cautious about going more than $15K per month. I wonder if there are triggers for ratio of CL but also absolute amounts.
silver6054 is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 3:43 pm
  #1242  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PHL
Posts: 930
Originally Posted by ericliujian
Of course per transaction
Thank you!
commdiver is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 3:44 pm
  #1243  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 920
Originally Posted by silver6054
Interesting. My CL is > $40K (by transferring from other cards), but I am still cautious about going more than $15K per month. I wonder if there are triggers for ratio of CL but also absolute amounts.
I would imagine there's an algorithm in the system searching first for a CL ratio, not too sure about absolute amount though.
hitman1420 is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 3:49 pm
  #1244  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 207
Spouse's CL is 20K.
Did ~ 11K first month.
In the second month did ~ 32 K and got FR.

My CL is 5K. No FR yet at 3 X CL

Last edited by cyclotron; Mar 16, 2014 at 3:54 pm
cyclotron is offline  
Old Mar 16, 2014, 4:14 pm
  #1245  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 825
Originally Posted by commdiver
I have searched the first 40+ pages of this thread and have not found anything concrete. Is the $400 gas limit a per transaction limit or is it a yearly limit?
Read the terms...
exarkun is offline  


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