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 $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (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)
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
³ '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 $6,500¹ spend in a reward year², you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases³ (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)
¹ First '$6,500' is spend on all purchases.
³ '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]
Apr 1, 2016, 11:06 am
#121
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 133
No kidding - my bad I didn't check - took it for granted since the terms were different on my card and the the terms listed in the wiki showed the same. Too busy working a different card before 6 months were over and didn't pay attention.
Apr 9, 2016, 7:10 am
#122
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,427
I've been doing MS on my Old AMEX Blue for a few years, and decided to continue last year even with the $50K cap. But my anniversary date is coming up and I think I'm going to pass this year on spending the $6500 to trigger the 5% bonus. It's kind of a combination of the cap making it less lucrative, the demise of Bluebird making it more hassle to get rid of gift cards, the risk of AMEX shutting you down, and the lack of fun in earning relatively modest cashback (I find it more fun to earn comparable miles and points).
For those who have "moved on" from Old AMEX Blue, what cards have you replaced it with? I have an AMEX Gold card that earns me 3x membership rewards points at gas stations, and that seems pretty decent (I can buy GCs at local gas stations). For supermarkets, I think I'll use my Hilton Surpass card which earns six points per dollar, which I consider to be a 3% return. I could use those HHonors points, but I wouldn't mind finding something more lucrative. I'm not sure what to use for pharmacy spend (where I won't buy any more GCs unless I come up with something).
For those who have "moved on" from Old AMEX Blue, what cards have you replaced it with? I have an AMEX Gold card that earns me 3x membership rewards points at gas stations, and that seems pretty decent (I can buy GCs at local gas stations). For supermarkets, I think I'll use my Hilton Surpass card which earns six points per dollar, which I consider to be a 3% return. I could use those HHonors points, but I wouldn't mind finding something more lucrative. I'm not sure what to use for pharmacy spend (where I won't buy any more GCs unless I come up with something).
Apr 9, 2016, 9:21 am
#123
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: All of them
Posts: 1,664
I've been doing MS on my Old AMEX Blue for a few years, and decided to continue last year even with the $50K cap. But my anniversary date is coming up and I think I'm going to pass this year on spending the $6500 to trigger the 5% bonus. It's kind of a combination of the cap making it less lucrative, the demise of Bluebird making it more hassle to get rid of gift cards, the risk of AMEX shutting you down, and the lack of fun in earning relatively modest cashback (I find it more fun to earn comparable miles and points).
For those who have "moved on" from Old AMEX Blue, what cards have you replaced it with? I have an AMEX Gold card that earns me 3x membership rewards points at gas stations, and that seems pretty decent (I can buy GCs at local gas stations). For supermarkets, I think I'll use my Hilton Surpass card which earns six points per dollar, which I consider to be a 3% return. I could use those HHonors points, but I wouldn't mind finding something more lucrative. I'm not sure what to use for pharmacy spend (where I won't buy any more GCs unless I come up with something).
For those who have "moved on" from Old AMEX Blue, what cards have you replaced it with? I have an AMEX Gold card that earns me 3x membership rewards points at gas stations, and that seems pretty decent (I can buy GCs at local gas stations). For supermarkets, I think I'll use my Hilton Surpass card which earns six points per dollar, which I consider to be a 3% return. I could use those HHonors points, but I wouldn't mind finding something more lucrative. I'm not sure what to use for pharmacy spend (where I won't buy any more GCs unless I come up with something).
If you do any kind of MS at gas or groceries, why not max out the BC card first for around 4% profit?
Apr 9, 2016, 1:50 pm
#125
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: NYC
Posts: 415
I think I understand, though. With points, you're forcing yourself to use your awards for travel. With CB, I hesitate using the cash a lot more. At least that's what I get out of it when he said "more fun". Sometimes the best value doesn't always coincide with what you want.
Apr 12, 2016, 11:03 am
#127
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,837
Rewards are 1 statement behind. So the rewards you see this month were for last month's statement.
Apr 12, 2016, 12:08 pm
#129
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 374
Similar here - I met the $6500 in Jan-Feb as shown on my March statement, and my April statement still shows 0.5%/1%. It's obviously an error. I'd rather not have eyes on my account so I'm going to wait a while and see if they fix it on their own.
Apr 12, 2016, 1:21 pm
#130
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 16
As others said, I will wait till they figure it out and fix it. There is no point in poking a sleeping (yet quite aware) dog.
Apr 12, 2016, 3:25 pm
#131
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: California
Posts: 264
Did one of your earlier statements give you 5% when it should've been 1%? That's what seems to have happened in my case; i.e., they made an error in my favor before, and later corrected it. You might not've noticed the earlier error, if it was in your favor.
Apr 13, 2016, 9:11 am
#132
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 16
Great point. I checked and they didn't make that mistake before. This seems to be random.