January 20th, 2013
New Rules? What New Rules?
Lots of people have been talking about language AMEX added to their apps early last year about new rules that specify getting the bonus if you haven’t had the card in the past 12 months. While some have had these enforced it’s been haphazard. Some people have been told they wouldn’t get points and they wound up getting them once completing the spending and paying off the bill. Many others were even denied the points, wound up closing their cards, and were then sent checks in the mail for a value of 2 cents for every point they didn’t wind up receiving…go figure?
All I can do is report my own experience.
Last May I did a 3BM for 1 pull and got a Platinum card, a Delta card, and a Premier Rewards Gold card. I had all 3 of those cards previously and got the points for them automatically.
Last August I did a 4BM for 1 pull and got a Premier Rewards Gold card, a Starwood Consumer card, a Starwood Business card, and a Delta business cards. I had all 4 of those cards previously and currently even had 3 of them open but I got the points for them automatically. I did use a new Starwood number though.
Earlier this month I was approved for a 2nd Platinum card. I was denied for additional credit cards though as apparently there’s a new rule (and this new rule they actually did enforce as I tried calling multiple times) that you can have as many charge cards as you want (Gold, Platinum, Green, etc) but just 4 total credit cards. So if I wanted to get that additional Starwood app approved I’d have to close 3 other credit cards. Time to find some more charge card opportunities!
Today I’ve got quite the beautiful site on my new Platinum account though:
That just about covers the 2 suites we flew on Singapore on our dash to Paris last month.
And so on top of 13 active Chase cards and dozens of other cards I now have 10 active American Express cards, as follows. You can read more about them and my strategies in this post.
-Platinum #1
-Platinum #2
-Premier Rewards Gold #1
-Premier Rewards Gold #2
-Starwood Consumer #1
-Starwood Consumer #2
-Delta Consumer
-Starwood Business #1
-Starwood Business #2
-Delta Gold
1
January 20th, 2013 at 1:37 am
Do you open a new mr acct with each new card?
2
January 20th, 2013 at 1:45 am
I don’t understand something. How do you explain why you need a second card of the type that you already have open?
3
January 20th, 2013 at 1:48 am
dan I have a question if I have a platinum card and a prg card and I get signup bonus for both if I cancel my platinum to avoid paying the annual fee do I lose my points from the signup bonus if it is under the same mr Account as my gold which is still open and active? Tx!
4
January 20th, 2013 at 1:48 am
Also, why do you prefer the regular Plat and not the MB which has a lower spending requirement?
Thank you.
5
January 20th, 2013 at 1:49 am
How did you got 2 platinum?
Did you got twice 200 dollars airline credit??
6
January 20th, 2013 at 2:06 am
they enforced these rules for me. on first prg card they refuse to give me 25k points. because had a green card.
7
January 20th, 2013 at 2:09 am
Nice! But how did you get 100,000 bonus points for spending only $1.00??
Wasn’t there a $3,000 spend requirement?
8
January 20th, 2013 at 5:18 am
What is 3bm, 4bm mean ?
9
January 20th, 2013 at 6:28 am
which offer gave 100k points after first purchase?
10
January 20th, 2013 at 8:03 am
Hi, Just a question – I just got my chase ink bold and was wondering when they say you can get 5% on the first $50,000 of office supplies annually – does annually mean from January 1 – December 31 or does the year start from when you received the card?
11
January 20th, 2013 at 8:47 am
Is it possible that BOTH platinums have to have been applied for after the language started appearing clearly on the app page?
12
January 20th, 2013 at 8:53 am
@Dan Did you have to pay off your bill before the 100k bonus points posted? Or did they just post after a certain amount of time
13
January 20th, 2013 at 9:21 am
How long after you paid the the $3000.00 did you see the bonus
14
January 20th, 2013 at 10:12 am
did your points appear as pending from when your first 3000 spend was hit or did it only come in after you’re your statement closed
15
January 20th, 2013 at 10:15 am
Hi Dan, can I get the 10K bonus if I applied for Plat while I still had the PRG? I know some have met the 3K spend on Monday but still no points posted. How you made it?
16
January 20th, 2013 at 10:26 am
arn’t there six CC here?
didn’t you say only 4?
17
January 20th, 2013 at 10:52 am
Is Amex honoring the recent 100,000 points for the platinum? Also, how do you designate which Starwood number you want to use on a card?
18
January 20th, 2013 at 11:02 am
i opened a second starwood business card ( the first one over 6 years ago) and they did not want to give me the 25k. after the 3rd attempt and they gave it to me as a courtesy for spending about 5-10k per month on the card since i got it a couple of months ago. it showed up on my account as “good will”.
19
January 20th, 2013 at 11:22 am
@Chaim:
Sometimes you need to keep certain spend separate.
20
January 20th, 2013 at 12:05 pm
This mileswhore missed out on the 100k platinum because my credit bureaus were locked and it wouldn’t give me the offer!
21
January 20th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
i have a MB platinum and a MS platinum that i just opened in november. they gave me 50k for MS platinum , but don’t want to give me 50k for MB platinum b/c i had this card opened w/in the past 12 months. i also had the MS platinum but they gave me the points on that.
I tried calling a few times, but keep getting shot down. Any suggestions on how to get the points? or should i give up?
22
January 20th, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Anybody have a similar experience? I opened another personal SPG card after having one that is still open for about a year… Originally I had a new number number given to me because I left the application blank…. About 2 months after I opened the card they merged my accts on their own. And now I have reached the required spend and both the 10k for opening it and the 20k bonus have not posted…..
23
January 20th, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Could you answer ayre’s question,
24
January 20th, 2013 at 2:09 pm
They denied me a second PRG biz card signup bonus, b/c i previously had the same card in the past 12 months
25
January 20th, 2013 at 2:43 pm
@chaim:
It’s opened automatically for me that way. ASAP I spend, pay off, and SM for the pending points to be expedited.
@Chaim:
All of these have been approved automatically for me.
But if needed I’d explain how I need a separate card for HSA spending or to keep track of certain expenses on a dedicated card.
@benny:
If they are on the same MR account you won’t lose the points.
@Chaim:
Seems to be easier to churn, and I got 100K this time.
@Matt:
Automatically.
Yes, but airline credits is passe. Now you can just get $400 refunded, see DDF.
@david g.:
The enforcement seems to be YMMV. Happens to some but not others.
@hunch:
The 100K went into pending as soon as I spent $3,000 so those are what they were able to expedite.
@Josef:
http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=8028.0
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=23990.0 (Login to view Wiki)
@Jason Smith:
SM them.
@Lamdan:
They were, the language came in the beginning of last year.
@kotel:
Yes.
And I checked to see if I had points pending and then SM’ed them to post them.
@yitz1:
They were pending as soon as the charge posted and they posted as soon as I paid it and SM’ed them.
@martin:
4 is the new rule.
Thus to comply with the new rule I’d have to close 3 to get 1 approved.
@dan:
Did you apply with a new number?
@help platinum man:
MB card appears hard to churn.
@Yaks:
Should have opened a new SPG account and applied with the number.
26
January 20th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
i checked if i was pre-approved for the 100k plat amex when you posted the site and was but now they’r just showing me the 25k any hints
27
January 20th, 2013 at 3:11 pm
dan,
how can I get two MR account?
thanks
28
January 20th, 2013 at 3:15 pm
Dan, do you ever close your cards? Am I wrong in my understanding that you should never close a card because it’s bad for your credit? I remember reading a post of yours that explained that you should always downgrade to a free card instead of closing. Is that right?
29
January 20th, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Sending an SM with chase is a simple process. I can’t figure out how to do it with AMEX though. Can someone please point me to the right location? Thanks!
30
January 20th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Dan, can you explain how to open a new mr account? Whenever I get a new mr earning card, it is linked automatically to my existing mr account. Is there a way around this, and is it possible to have two accounts at once?
31
January 20th, 2013 at 5:19 pm
@Dan:@Matt:
Automatically.
Yes, but airline credits is passe. Now you can just get $400 refunded, see DDF.
Is it possible to get a link?
32
January 20th, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Thanks Dan for the answers.
If I closed my MB Plat in June 2012, do you think I’d have a problem getting approved now? (It’s about 7 1/2 months).
33
January 20th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
@dan! how many cards do you have in total??? where do u store them all??!!
)
34
January 20th, 2013 at 7:37 pm
@dan is there ever any harm that can come from paying a card off the day the txn posts (or even the day you actually make the transaction)? I’m thinking specifically about preventing amex FR with high spending on a new card…
35
January 20th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
if i have a gold card and spg open, do you suggest to close both of them and how soon can i apply for them again? or have to wait the full 12 months?
36
January 20th, 2013 at 8:29 pm
I just got the Amex plat, can I get the MB plat right away?
37
January 20th, 2013 at 9:36 pm
Ok anyway way to get around that now that they merged them on their own?
38
January 20th, 2013 at 11:45 pm
Dan, I did a 3bm with the recent 100,000 point offer and a gold 50,000 point offer and a spg 25,000. I called to have them expedite the points after I paid, and they said since I had a plat before I won’t get any points.
Can you please tell me what I should do? Huca? Am I a lost case?
39
January 21st, 2013 at 12:11 am
How do you get more than one Starwood personal Amex?
40
January 22nd, 2013 at 10:36 am
@bob I just had the same experience. They told me that they will not honor my signup bonus for my platinum and gold because I had a gold card 10 months ago. Any help would be appreciated.
41
January 23rd, 2013 at 1:29 pm
Dan,
You said that Yaks Should have opened a new SPG account and applied with the number. Will that prevent them merging those accounts?
42
January 24th, 2013 at 10:59 am
@chased:
Same here- i applied and got approved hoping to get the 100K but they are saying im only gonna get 25K
anything i can do besides for HUCA? dont have the time and patience for that anymore….
43
January 25th, 2013 at 4:43 pm
what does 3 4 bm mean? How about spg? HUCA? YMMV? If one transfers to Avios with bonus do you have to use the points there? How soon? tx
44
February 18th, 2013 at 8:13 am
Hey Dan now how’s about an apology for telling me I was wrong on FT
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/998586-how-many-amex-cards-possible-8.html. I reported this first back in June 2012… I am glad at least they weren’t just singling out me 
45
February 19th, 2013 at 11:54 am
@MilesAbound:
Right, but I got more than 4 after that point. Perhaps enforcement took a while to ramp up.
46
February 22nd, 2013 at 1:36 am
I GOT A BUSINESS GOLD MX LAST NOVEMBER. IS STILL OPEN. THEY KEEP OFFERING ME(VIA SNAIL MAIL) TO UPGRADE TO BUSINESS PLATINUM FOR 100,000. I KNOW IF I UPGRADE I DO NOT GET THE BONUS. IF I DO OR DO NOT CLOSE THIS GOLD BUSINESS CARD NOW, CAN I APPLY FOR THE PLATINUM BUSINESS FOR 100,000 SINCE I WAS TARGETTED?
WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST STRATEGY?
47
February 22nd, 2013 at 1:37 am
I MEANT NOV 2011 NOT NOVEMBER 2012, BY THE WAY.
IE IT HAS BEEN OPEN OVER 15 MONTHS.