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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 19, 2014, 6:58 pm
  #1381  
wcj
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 784
Or, read the TCB thread, take a risk....save a bunch of fees.
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Old Mar 19, 2014, 7:01 pm
  #1382  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by oohaahouch
3k+2k AGC fee free should be the first order, once processed hit the pharmacy
Originally Posted by commdiver
I think VR is the cheapest way.
I figured I could do AP and then I wanted to do AGC. Yet something about my first couple of orders being so big at Amex GC just sings "flag this acct" to me. LOL. Have other people had success with it in the beginning?
cdancer20 is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2014, 7:03 pm
  #1383  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Right now isn't necessarily the time to be taking risks ordering Amex GCs with TCB lol. Luckily I have free shipping right now so that cuts down on that fee.
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Old Mar 19, 2014, 7:08 pm
  #1384  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,506
Originally Posted by cdancer20
I figured I could do AP and then I wanted to do AGC. Yet something about my first couple of orders being so big at Amex GC just sings "flag this acct" to me. LOL. Have other people had success with it in the beginning?
Which is why I didn't do it for the Amex BC... not to mention that it probably says on your transaction "AMEX Gift Cards". At least "Amex Gift Cards" is what it said on a transaction on my Chase statement when I was just dabbling in TCB just to try out the CB portal. Boy way to start out a relationship with Amex by showing them that you are already ramping up spending by buying gift cards which they say they don't want you to do. If this was November or December this would have made more sense but not right now.

I guess people are so reluctant to give up part of their first month's VRs just to meet the $6.5K OR aren't willing to settle at any point for 1% CB. The extra effort of draining $500 Amex GCs wasn't something enjoyable from my experience.
ericdabbs is online now  
Old Mar 19, 2014, 7:49 pm
  #1385  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist No More..., Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,375
Originally Posted by ericdabbs
Which is why I didn't do it for the Amex BC... not to mention that it probably says on your transaction "AMEX Gift Cards". At least "Amex Gift Cards" is what it said on a transaction on my Chase statement when I was just dabbling in TCB just to try out the CB portal. Boy way to start out a relationship with Amex by showing them that you are already ramping up spending by buying gift cards which they say they don't want you to do. If this was November or December this would have made more sense but not right now.

I guess people are so reluctant to give up part of their first month's VRs just to meet the $6.5K OR aren't willing to settle at any point for 1% CB. The extra effort of draining $500 Amex GCs wasn't something enjoyable from my experience.
Yea true. I haven't done much amex GCs with my BCP but mainly b/c I get better rates from other cards. Nonetheless though I don't mind the draining of $500, it's just like you said not a great way to start a relationship. Hmmm.
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Old Mar 19, 2014, 11:12 pm
  #1386  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: AZ
Programs: AA, UA, US
Posts: 525
Originally Posted by Majuki
I was thinking about going out hard with this one too. I'm hoping it's just a fraud alert too. Let us know how it goes.
Read upthread, undergoing an fr right now.
oohaahouch is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2014, 11:15 pm
  #1387  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: AZ
Programs: AA, UA, US
Posts: 525
Originally Posted by ericdabbs
Which is why I didn't do it for the Amex BC... not to mention that it probably says on your transaction "AMEX Gift Cards". At least "Amex Gift Cards" is what it said on a transaction on my Chase statement when I was just dabbling in TCB just to try out the CB portal. Boy way to start out a relationship with Amex by showing them that you are already ramping up spending by buying gift cards which they say they don't want you to do. If this was November or December this would have made more sense but not right now.

I guess people are so reluctant to give up part of their first month's VRs just to meet the $6.5K OR aren't willing to settle at any point for 1% CB. The extra effort of draining $500 Amex GCs wasn't something enjoyable from my experience.
On a second thought, if you start relation with 5k agc, the expectations will be set
No more fraud alerts etc..
oohaahouch is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 12:51 am
  #1388  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 3,506
Originally Posted by oohaahouch
On a second thought, if you start relation with 5k agc, the expectations will be set
No more fraud alerts etc..
Yeah except that you only will use AGC for that one month. After that it doesn't make sense to use AGC.
ericdabbs is online now  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 3:14 am
  #1389  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 970
Originally Posted by oohaahouch
if you didnt lie on the app, why fear the FR?
Because verifying income isn't everything. If you are deemed to be abusing the card for MS, they will give you a nice lecture and a warning not to continue - at your peril.
farwest101 is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 6:17 am
  #1390  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,060
Originally Posted by oohaahouch
Read upthread, undergoing an fr right now.
Ah, right. It got buried into the mix. Do let us know how it goes. You were supposed to send them the forms by the end of this week, right?
Majuki is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 7:29 am
  #1391  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: AZ
Programs: AA, UA, US
Posts: 525
Originally Posted by Majuki
Ah, right. It got buried into the mix. Do let us know how it goes. You were supposed to send them the forms by the end of this week, right?
ya, faxed them, they say verdict should be out in 5 days.
oohaahouch is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 10:58 am
  #1392  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 142
Anyone have any more data points on Serve CVS loads with BC? Just got approved for this card (confirmed it's plain BC, then cancelled my BCE) and I'm wondering what the risk factor is? It should show up as a regular CVS store purchase, right?
I have a good relationship with Amex, and don't want to rock the boat with an FR...
ccohen322 is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 11:05 am
  #1393  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: AZ
Programs: AA, UA, US
Posts: 525
Originally Posted by ccohen322
Anyone have any more data points on Serve CVS loads with BC? Just got approved for this card (confirmed it's plain BC, then cancelled my BCE) and I'm wondering what the risk factor is? It should show up as a regular CVS store purchase, right?
I have a good relationship with Amex, and don't want to rock the boat with an FR...
i have a good relation with AMex, FR doesnt rock the boat, account closure will.
oohaahouch is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 1:56 pm
  #1394  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 29
Can you buy VR with Amex GC, then use VR to purchase more Amex GC? (sorry for the potential newbie question)
fmakpartners is offline  
Old Mar 20, 2014, 2:00 pm
  #1395  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 121
Originally Posted by fmakpartners
Can you buy VR with Amex GC, then use VR to purchase more Amex GC? (sorry for the potential newbie question)
No.. it can only be loaded to BB or other vanilla cards..
knn9413a is offline  


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