jsmit209

Hi, I'm new to these threads so please be gentle is this question seems dumb.

I was approved for the Southwest Premier and Plus personal credit cards in November 2014 with a 50,000 point bonus on each. I want to time my spending so I earn the two spending bonuses ($2,000 min spend) as early in 2015 as possible. I'm using a combination of actual spending and manufactured spending (thru Amex Serve) to hopefully accomplish this. This is a run down of what I've done so far:

Premier Card:

11/14-12/14: Actual Spending - $1,640

1/2/15: Serve Load - $200
1/3/15: Serve Load - $200 (tomorrow)

Total: $2,040

Plus Card

11/14-12/14: Serve Loads - $1,800
1/2/15: Serve Load - $200 (using wife's Serve acct, she is authorized user on CC)

Total: $2,000

This should meet the $2,000 bonus spending requirements for both cards as of 1/3/15. My concern is that I set my cash advance limit to $0 for these cards on 12/30/14 to prevent accidentally incurring a cash advance fee if the system changed (as some have seemed to do). My transactions on 1/2/15 were declined. When I called Chase, the rep indicated the transactions were declined b/c they were processed as Cash Advances or "quasi-cash" transactions. She further stated that none of the transactions she saw on the Plus account (all Serve loads) would count toward the $2,000 spending bonus.

I went ahead and increased the cash advance limits and processed the Serve loads for 1/2/15 and 1/3/15. All prior loads showed as purchases and earned points. Was the rep misinformed about the spending bonus, or should I find another way to manufacture the remaining spending before the 3 months run out? I really don't want to miss the companion pass by accident!

Sorry this was so long... TL;DR - Can anyone confirm that Serve loads count toward Chase Southwest Visa $2,000 spending requirement for 50,000 point bonus?

Thanks!

Ritley572

You got that message because Chase visa cards pend as Cash Advances but actually post as purchases that earn points. So if you have your Chase CA limit set to 0 the transaction will decline.

You can see that very clearly in the Serve thread wiki.

jsmit209

Thanks for your reply. I thought that may be the case, and I checked the Serve wiki. Unfortunately, that thread is now 500+ pages, so it is very difficult to pin point a direct answer.

Since these Serve loads post as purchases and earn points, will they definitely count toward the minimum spending bonus?

Ritley572

Taken directly from the wiki:

As for your other question, my chase cards all counted towards min spend with online serve loads. But that doesn't mean the policy hasn't changed since then. You can check in your Chase UR dashboard. If the transactions have posted and you are over the $4,000 spend requirement it will show the points that will post to your account when the next statement closes (which should include the bonus points) within a few days of the transactions posting.

jsmit209

Again, thank you for following up. Unfortunately, these points are not Chase UR, but Southwest Points. They don't show up in the Chase UR dashboard. My statement for the SW Plus card closes on 1/5/15, so I will hopefully find out whether that card will get the bonus.

Ritley572

Right about the SW cards, my mistake. Was just thinking about my own Chase cards for whatever reason.

riversidetom

I used Serve to meet both my Chase Southwest and British Airways min spends over the last 3 months

jsmit209

Great! How quickly were the 50,000 points added to your Southwest Account after you spent the final dollar?

riversidetom

I don't recall exactly. I want to say a week or so.

lumangoy

my chase statement posted 1/1/15, and I received the rapid rewards on 1/3/15

jsmit209

Wow! You literally timed that perfectly. Did your statement show the 50,000 bonus points? I spent my 2,000th dollar on 1/2/15... the transaction posted on 1/4/15... and my statement was 1/5/15. The statement showed the transaction and the points from the transaction, but not the 50,000 bonus points. I called chase to confirm that I would get the points. The rep said she saw that I was supposed to get them, and I should expect them in 6-8 weeks. I'm not sure why the bonus did not show up on this statement, even though the transaction did...

lumangoy

Yes my statement showed 50000. Your min spend might be to close to your statement date.

I requested my statement to close on the 1st and timed my spending so I hit the minimum by the time I got my statement on 1/1/15

ericdabbs

I always chuckle when people set their CA limit to $0 and then ask why their Serve online CC load doesn't work. Reading the Serve wiki would have helped them.

solstys

It has been stated in other threads that Chase's system will often not count spend for the signup bonus that is too close to the statement date until the following statement. So that's why you'll get the bonus points on the next statement.

ICEE45

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...ts-offers.html
from the wiki
"6. When will my signup bonus post to my Rapid Rewards account?
If you have met the spending threshold at least several days before your statement date, the bonus will normally post 2 days after your statement date, not when you actually spent the money! Cutting the timing or the spending amount too closely is not advisable. Mistakes can happen."