Jan 10, 2015, 10:11 pm
Last edit by: ChrisFlyer66
This is the Amex Blue thread for 2015. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread is here.
The 2016 thread is here.
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 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. There are reports that the new limits will apply to existing cardholders on the month containing your anniversary after March 1.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of June 11, 2015, shutdown reports continue.
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.
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.
Excessive MS on this card may sever your ties with Amex.
Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
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/c...lue-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 $6,500ą spend in a reward year˛, you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchasesł (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)
ą First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
˛ 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
ł 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
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.
The 2016 thread is here.
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 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. There are reports that the new limits will apply to existing cardholders on the month containing your anniversary after March 1.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex. As of June 11, 2015, shutdown reports continue.
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.
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.
Excessive MS on this card may sever your ties with Amex.
Consider factors that may have led to these closures when sharing personal experiences.
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/c...lue-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 $6,500ą spend in a reward year˛, you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchasesł (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)
ą First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
˛ 'Reward year' is the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs.
ł 'everyday purchases' refers to U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores, not all purchases.
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 (2015)
Jan 3, 2015, 2:48 pm
#31
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
I had the same question so I called Amex. The terms and conditions state "reward year" and I had no idea what that meant. I called and was assured that reward year is synonymous with calendar year but as you said who knows how reliable that is.
Not sure why they have to use such confusing terminology if it is, indeed, calendar year.
Not sure why they have to use such confusing terminology if it is, indeed, calendar year.
The reward percentage is based on the type of purchase and your prior spend during the reward year at the time of purchase. For your first $6,500 of eligible purchases in the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one that starts in the calendar month in which your Card account anniversary occurs (reward year), you will receive a reward of 1% on Everyday Purchases and a reward of 0.5% on all other eligible purchases.
ETA: Part of the CSR confusion is probably because reward year is different from the BCP/BCE (and probably ED/EDP) where it is 12 consecutive billing months beginning with the cycle that includes Jan 1
Last edited by silver6054; Jan 3, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Jan 3, 2015, 4:39 pm
#34
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
So you don't think much of TBB's call to CSR?
Jan 3, 2015, 8:37 pm
#36
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 35
So I just checked my benefits on my amex account online for the BC card and there is no longer any mention of the 5% cashback. The BCP still mentions the 6% for up to 6k.
Ride over?
Ride over?
Jan 3, 2015, 8:41 pm
#37
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
No, someone commented about this on the Amex forum site. It is showing the benefits for the Blue card, if you click on Show All Benefits, you will see it talks about paying with MR points.
Jan 4, 2015, 5:05 am
#38
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Dayton, OH
Programs: CarlsonGold,HHDiamond, SPGGold,ChoiceGold, *Silver, WNCompanionPass, ASMVPGold, HyattDiamond,IHGPlat
Posts: 255
Agenda?
Ok, I'm reading back some posts and this "agenda" doesn't glare out at me. Other than - 'stop using OBC'... which doesn't seem like an agenda considering the cancellations. Anyone wanna share?
Jan 4, 2015, 6:46 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 197
You either do or don't see an agenda here. Nobody can prove anything like that because it's all opinion and conjecture. Your best bet is to think about the benefits of the card for you and forget about what everyone else's opinion on the value of this card is.
Jan 4, 2015, 9:38 am
#40
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
All it talks about is how Membership Reward Program works.
In fact I could not find anywhere the earning structure is. This is the only mentioning of how you earn points
<<For every eligible dollar you spend on purchases, you can get one Membership Rewards® point that can be used towards travel, dining, shopping, and merchandise. Points have no expiration date and there's no limit to the amount of points you can receive. To learn more about the program, please visit the Membership Rewards site.‡>>
No mentioning of any category whatsoever. I also cannot find the online T&Cs of my card. If anyone knows where it is hidden, please post.
This is bothersome because a Chat Rep told me the 6500 is based on Calendar Year which is of course different from how we understand it. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to verify this online any more.
Last edited by Happy; Jan 4, 2015 at 9:57 am
Jan 4, 2015, 10:33 am
#41
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: South NJ
Posts: 263
Old Amex Blue (2015)
It USED to have the earning structure listed on the left side of the benefits screen. Now it is gone. Even click open the tiny tiny benefit terms and conditions, the earning structure is not listed at all.
All it talks about is how Membership Reward Program works.
In fact I could not find anywhere the earning structure is. This is the only mentioning of how you earn points
<<For every eligible dollar you spend on purchases, you can get one Membership Rewards® point that can be used towards travel, dining, shopping, and merchandise. Points have no expiration date and there's no limit to the amount of points you can receive. To learn more about the program, please visit the Membership Rewards site.‡>>
No mentioning of any category whatsoever. I also cannot find the online T&Cs of my card. If anyone knows where it is hidden, please post.
This is bothersome because a Chat Rep told me the 6500 is based on Calendar Year which is of course different from how we understand it. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to verify this online any more.
All it talks about is how Membership Reward Program works.
In fact I could not find anywhere the earning structure is. This is the only mentioning of how you earn points
<<For every eligible dollar you spend on purchases, you can get one Membership Rewards® point that can be used towards travel, dining, shopping, and merchandise. Points have no expiration date and there's no limit to the amount of points you can receive. To learn more about the program, please visit the Membership Rewards site.‡>>
No mentioning of any category whatsoever. I also cannot find the online T&Cs of my card. If anyone knows where it is hidden, please post.
This is bothersome because a Chat Rep told me the 6500 is based on Calendar Year which is of course different from how we understand it. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to verify this online any more.
Jan 4, 2015, 10:40 am
#42
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 91
Jan 4, 2015, 11:12 am
#43
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
It USED to have the earning structure listed on the left side of the benefits screen. Now it is gone. Even click open the tiny tiny benefit terms and conditions, the earning structure is not listed at all.
All it talks about is how Membership Reward Program works.
In fact I could not find anywhere the earning structure is. This is the only mentioning of how you earn points
<<For every eligible dollar you spend on purchases, you can get one Membership Rewards® point that can be used towards travel, dining, shopping, and merchandise. Points have no expiration date and there's no limit to the amount of points you can receive. To learn more about the program, please visit the Membership Rewards site.‡>>
No mentioning of any category whatsoever. I also cannot find the online T&Cs of my card. If anyone knows where it is hidden, please post.
This is bothersome because a Chat Rep told me the 6500 is based on Calendar Year which is of course different from how we understand it. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to verify this online any more.
All it talks about is how Membership Reward Program works.
In fact I could not find anywhere the earning structure is. This is the only mentioning of how you earn points
<<For every eligible dollar you spend on purchases, you can get one Membership Rewards® point that can be used towards travel, dining, shopping, and merchandise. Points have no expiration date and there's no limit to the amount of points you can receive. To learn more about the program, please visit the Membership Rewards site.‡>>
No mentioning of any category whatsoever. I also cannot find the online T&Cs of my card. If anyone knows where it is hidden, please post.
This is bothersome because a Chat Rep told me the 6500 is based on Calendar Year which is of course different from how we understand it. Unfortunately there is NO WAY to verify this online any more.
Because we cannot get to the right page, we can't see T&Cs online, just able to request one.
But going to the app site, the T&Cs there clearly state the rewards year as I posted earlier. Looks like ED is calendar year, BCE/BCP is the year starting with the billing periond containing Jan 1. Not sure why they made it so complex.
Jan 4, 2015, 1:45 pm
#44
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
Check your last statement to see if the Reward Year is mentioned there. When I inquired (a while back), I was told it started on the anniversary date of my card opening (so neither calendar year nor the statement following the card's anniversary - instead a specific date listed on the statement). It has held true for this year.
My understanding is it goes by the Date of your anniversary, so the earning could change mid-cycle when you start a new anniversary year.
Yes, I know it used to show it. However, the Explore All Benefits link goes to https://www.americanexpress.com/us/c...l/blue#revisit which is clearly (from title and header) the section for the Blue card. So I am viewing this as a programming issue rather than a real change (although if they do convert all OBC to Blue, that would be very bad!)
Because we cannot get to the right page, we can't see T&Cs online, just able to request one.
But going to the app site, the T&Cs there clearly state the rewards year as I posted earlier. Looks like ED is calendar year, BCE/BCP is the year starting with the billing periond containing Jan 1. Not sure why they made it so complex.
Because we cannot get to the right page, we can't see T&Cs online, just able to request one.
But going to the app site, the T&Cs there clearly state the rewards year as I posted earlier. Looks like ED is calendar year, BCE/BCP is the year starting with the billing periond containing Jan 1. Not sure why they made it so complex.
OBC does not go by either of the above cards you mentioned. OBC goes by the Anniversary Date as far as I remember.
There is no T&Cs to be viewed any more for the existing OBC. It is wiped clean by AMEX. and I dont believe it is a programming issue but a deliberate act. You cannot even see your anniversary date on your statement as of now.
Jan 4, 2015, 1:51 pm
#45
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,944
There is no mentioning of Reward Year on the statement of last cycle. Current cycle is not closed yet until 2 weeks+ from now.
My understanding is it goes by the Date of your anniversary, so the earning could change mid-cycle when you start a new anniversary year.
Yes, it is under the correct card but the content is totally irrelevant and actually is wrong.
OBC does not go by either of the above cards you mentioned. OBC goes by the Anniversary Date as far as I remember.
There is no T&Cs to be viewed any more for the existing OBC. It is wiped clean by AMEX. and I dont believe it is a programming issue but a deliberate act. You cannot even see your anniversary date on your statement as of now.
My understanding is it goes by the Date of your anniversary, so the earning could change mid-cycle when you start a new anniversary year.
Yes, it is under the correct card but the content is totally irrelevant and actually is wrong.
OBC does not go by either of the above cards you mentioned. OBC goes by the Anniversary Date as far as I remember.
There is no T&Cs to be viewed any more for the existing OBC. It is wiped clean by AMEX. and I dont believe it is a programming issue but a deliberate act. You cannot even see your anniversary date on your statement as of now.
From: https://www304.americanexpress.com/p...dBenefitsTerms
You earn a reward based on a percentage of the dollar amount of eligible purchases you make each billing period. On purchases in certain categories, called Everyday Purchases, you can earn a higher percentage reward. The reward percentage is based on the type of purchase and your prior spend during the reward year at the time of purchase. For your first $6,500 of eligible purchases in the 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one that starts in the calendar month in which your Card account anniversary occurs (reward year), you will receive a reward of 1% on Everyday Purchases and a reward of 0.5% on all other eligible purchases. For each dollar spent on eligible purchases in excess of $6,500 in that same reward year, you will receive: (a) a reward of 5% on up to $50,000 of Everyday Purchases; (b) a reward of 1% on Everyday Purchases in excess of $50,000; or (c) a reward of 1% on all other eligible purchases. If your billing cycle changes, the length of your reward year will also change.
I still think it is a mistake, pointing to Blue. Changing it online has no real legal impact anyway, your old T&Cs apply until you are notified.