Jan 26, 2016, 7:19 pm
Last edit by: ChrisFlyer66
This thread includes all posts for 2016 onwards. The previous 2013- 2014 megathread is here. The 2015 thread is here.
This card is no longer available to new applicants!
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 per year.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex.
Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. 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.
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.
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.
This card is no longer available to new applicants!
Bonus category spending is now capped at $50,000 per year.
Oct 22, 2014 onwards: Many people getting cancellation email from Amex.
Amex may continue to close accounts for excessive spend in bonus categories. 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.
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.
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 (2016 onwards)[not taking new applications]
Dec 21, 2017, 5:31 pm
#331
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 582
I haven't been following this thread exactly, but I haven't seen any indication that amex is cracking down on this card (outside of the yearly limit). I spread out my purchases because I'm timing them with gas deals. However I believe the winning strategy is to not spread it out over the full year... better to get your money now since you don't know what the future will hold in 8 months, when they may be cracking down. My purchases are usually over 5K on this card. I have better things to do than to wait in a line to buy one card.
Dec 21, 2017, 9:17 pm
#332
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 65
I haven't been following this thread exactly, but I haven't seen any indication that amex is cracking down on this card (outside of the yearly limit). I spread out my purchases because I'm timing them with gas deals. However I believe the winning strategy is to not spread it out over the full year... better to get your money now since you don't know what the future will hold in 8 months, when they may be cracking down. My purchases are usually over 5K on this card. I have better things to do than to wait in a line to buy one card.
Dec 22, 2017, 5:13 am
#333
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 582
I get a bunch of gift cards. My experiences in MS have taught me that all things being equal, go big, and don't waste time trying to fool the system. Most of the people that try to be "helpful" by making small purchases get shut down with the rest of us. The biggest danger is something going away, or wasting away your profit margin by making countless trips. Economy of scale is the way to go. Statistically you are unlikely to be the first one to get caught if they are manually targeting, and unlikely to avoid being caught if it is systematic.
Dec 22, 2017, 8:25 am
#334
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 160
I get a bunch of gift cards. My experiences in MS have taught me that all things being equal, go big, and don't waste time trying to fool the system. Most of the people that try to be "helpful" by making small purchases get shut down with the rest of us. The biggest danger is something going away, or wasting away your profit margin by making countless trips. Economy of scale is the way to go. Statistically you are unlikely to be the first one to get caught if they are manually targeting, and unlikely to avoid being caught if it is systematic.
Dec 22, 2017, 8:28 am
#335
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 103
Not necessarily true. With the WF 5% card, after I got the initial warning, I went slow, 1 gc at a time, and survived closure and got all my cashback. The previous time I had the WF card, after I got the initial warning, I slowed down only a little, and got shut down within days. Not sure about other cards, but true for WF after their initial warning.
Dec 22, 2017, 10:50 am
#337
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 103
Don't want to threadjack or go too off topic but had an interesting conversation with an Alliant rep yesterday. I just set up a checking account and called in regarding some questions and she asked if I would be interested in the Alliant 3% Visa Signature. She was pushing the card pretty hard and actually stated "someone earned $2700 in cashback with this card last month alone." Wonder if they're more lenient to MS now or she just failed to mention that someone is now an ex-customer.
Dec 22, 2017, 11:35 am
#338
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 116
Don't want to threadjack or go too off topic but had an interesting conversation with an Alliant rep yesterday. I just set up a checking account and called in regarding some questions and she asked if I would be interested in the Alliant 3% Visa Signature. She was pushing the card pretty hard and actually stated "someone earned $2700 in cashback with this card last month alone." Wonder if they're more lenient to MS now or she just failed to mention that someone is now an ex-customer.
Dec 22, 2017, 1:48 pm
#339
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 582
Not necessarily true. With the WF 5% card, after I got the initial warning, I went slow, 1 gc at a time, and survived closure and got all my cashback. The previous time I had the WF card, after I got the initial warning, I slowed down only a little, and got shut down within days. Not sure about other cards, but true for WF after their initial warning.
Jan 26, 2018, 7:58 am
#340
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Is anyone having trouble having their cash back credits applied?
I made a small payment, ordered cash back, and though I have email confirmation and it appears in activities and in cash back, the amount due and the total on my account has NOT changed. I've had the card for a long time so I'm not new to how it works. But there does seem to be a glitch of some kind.
I made a small payment, ordered cash back, and though I have email confirmation and it appears in activities and in cash back, the amount due and the total on my account has NOT changed. I've had the card for a long time so I'm not new to how it works. But there does seem to be a glitch of some kind.
Jan 26, 2018, 8:51 am
#341
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
Is anyone having trouble having their cash back credits applied?
I made a small payment, ordered cash back, and though I have email confirmation and it appears in activities and in cash back, the amount due and the total on my account has NOT changed. I've had the card for a long time so I'm not new to how it works. But there does seem to be a glitch of some kind.
I made a small payment, ordered cash back, and though I have email confirmation and it appears in activities and in cash back, the amount due and the total on my account has NOT changed. I've had the card for a long time so I'm not new to how it works. But there does seem to be a glitch of some kind.
Jan 26, 2018, 9:49 am
#342
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,273
Cashback applies only to NEW charges generated after it has posted. You can't apply it to the charges of a statement that has just closed. Tricky ba$stards I even have a spreadsheet where I plan out my purchases of GC for the year accounting for the 2 month delay and that redemption rule.
Jan 26, 2018, 10:01 am
#343
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,837
Maybe I wasn't clear---it's not showing up at all. It shows as a credit but the total amount of new charges hasn't changed and I though that it would appear there, as an adjustment. I laid off the card for awhile to focus on other...things. But my memory is that once the cash back is ordered, then the total in new charges changes. Was I wrong about that? If so, my bad. (And yes, I am aware of the delay in cash back)
the credit takes a few days to show up on mine.