"Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
"Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
This has been covered before, but I haven't seen it mentioned any time lately and my family just used it to good effect, so I thought I'd remind folks.
As many here know, there is an excellent cashback reward on groceries on AMEX Blue Cash (3%) and AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6%). As you probably also know, nowadays many grocery stores sell gift cards for a whole host of retailers (Amazon, Home Depot, etc. -- you name it). So buying gift cards at the grocery store is an easy way to get 6% on purchases at these retailers.
As many here know, there is an excellent cashback reward on groceries on AMEX Blue Cash (3%) and AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6%). As you probably also know, nowadays many grocery stores sell gift cards for a whole host of retailers (Amazon, Home Depot, etc. -- you name it). So buying gift cards at the grocery store is an easy way to get 6% on purchases at these retailers.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Great cards - just remember that the 6% back is only on the first $6000 spent annually at supermarkets because some people had to abuse the gift card thing.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I was wondering if that would work, but wasn't sure if they had some way to void those purchases. They don't report rewards for some ridiculously long amount of time, so I haven't yet been able to confirm which stores I shop at are being counted or see whether rewards are reported on a granular enough level that I would be able to tell if gift card purchases would be counted. Have you been able to confirm that they are?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Yes. Anyone who used it more than me!alpenglow wrote:because some people had to abuse the gift card thing.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Have that card, and had not thought about this trick. Unless it's not legit (as per terran's comment), this is a slick idea for expanding the 6%.Mr. Meow wrote:This has been covered before, but I haven't seen it mentioned any time lately and my family just used it to good effect, so I thought I'd remind folks.
As many here know, there is an excellent cashback reward on groceries on AMEX Blue Cash (3%) and AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6%). As you probably also know, nowadays many grocery stores sell gift cards for a whole host of retailers (Amazon, Home Depot, etc. -- you name it). So buying gift cards at the grocery store is an easy way to get 6% on purchases at these retailers.
"Happiness is not about doing, it’s about being." - R Branson
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
As previously mentioned, the 6% cash back on groceries is capped at $6000 of purchases (so $360 cash back) on a rolling 12-month window. As far as I understand it, the 3% back on gas and department store purchases are not capped.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
astrohip wrote:Have that card, and had not thought about this trick. Unless it's not legit (as per terran's comment), this is a slick idea for expanding the 6%.Mr. Meow wrote:This has been covered before, but I haven't seen it mentioned any time lately and my family just used it to good effect, so I thought I'd remind folks.
As many here know, there is an excellent cashback reward on groceries on AMEX Blue Cash (3%) and AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (6%). As you probably also know, nowadays many grocery stores sell gift cards for a whole host of retailers (Amazon, Home Depot, etc. -- you name it). So buying gift cards at the grocery store is an easy way to get 6% on purchases at these retailers.
It works. What I do
12 gift card (visa/american express/ mastercard). First 11 are for $500, last one for $429 (the fee for buying the cards add up)
= $360 in rewards
5.95 fee per card = $71.4
$75 yearly card fee
=$213.6 in net rewards or 3.56% back from the total cost of $6075
Use the $5929 in prepaid credit cards (technically "gift cards") over the year.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Thanks for the info, very helpful. I am aware of the $6K cap. I usually hit around $4k, and this seems like a great way to get that last $2,000.
Wasn't aware of GC fees, as I can't recall ever buying any. Do all stores, or all cards, have them?Paul78 wrote: 5.95 fee per card = $71.4
"Happiness is not about doing, it’s about being." - R Branson
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
The credit card ones do. At least the credit cards they allow you to buy with a credit card.astrohip wrote:Thanks for the info, very helpful. I am aware of the $6K cap. I usually hit around $4k, and this seems like a great way to get that last $2,000.
Wasn't aware of GC fees, as I can't recall ever buying any. Do all stores, or all cards, have them?Paul78 wrote: 5.95 fee per card = $71.4
Gift cards for specific stores do not. But I do not like to by a specific store because it encourages to over spend at the place simply because I have the gift card.
I guess an amazon gift card would be ok (basically like cash) but I would not wanna get anymore specific (ie a gc to a restaurant) than that.
-And clearly it is much better to actually buy groceries to get a rate much closer to 6%. But in my case the vast majority of groceries I get are blue apron and Costco. Neither is coded as a "grocery store" thus I do not get the 6% back.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Main caveats for doing the Gift card thing, specifically visa/mastercard are:
1)make sure you keep the receipt in case there is any need to verify purchase. I used a GC for a billpay service (Evolve money) and the biller never received funds. There was a lot of back-and-forth but the $500 was eventually credited back to my account. However, the GC bank (I believe it was USBank) thought this was suspicious so shut-down the card. I then had to provide proof that I purchased it. Kind of a headache.
2)higher chance for fraud (anecdotal personal experience) - I bought 3 gift cards at once but didn't register them immediately. When I did register, I had the cards lingering for about 2 months after purchase.. then realized someone had used up all the funds. Again, lots of calls to the GC bank and time spent but was able to get a new GC issued to me. Another headache
3)Customer service ain't great if you do need to call the bank
4)Having money returned to the gift card can sometimes be tricky depending on the merchant. Some don't allow refunds back to a gift card.
1)make sure you keep the receipt in case there is any need to verify purchase. I used a GC for a billpay service (Evolve money) and the biller never received funds. There was a lot of back-and-forth but the $500 was eventually credited back to my account. However, the GC bank (I believe it was USBank) thought this was suspicious so shut-down the card. I then had to provide proof that I purchased it. Kind of a headache.
2)higher chance for fraud (anecdotal personal experience) - I bought 3 gift cards at once but didn't register them immediately. When I did register, I had the cards lingering for about 2 months after purchase.. then realized someone had used up all the funds. Again, lots of calls to the GC bank and time spent but was able to get a new GC issued to me. Another headache
3)Customer service ain't great if you do need to call the bank
4)Having money returned to the gift card can sometimes be tricky depending on the merchant. Some don't allow refunds back to a gift card.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Thanks, good info.
"Happiness is not about doing, it’s about being." - R Branson
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
In general, when one uses a credit card to purchase a gift card, does the credit card company categorize the transaction as a cash advance?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Just purchased AMEX gift cards and they cost $4.95 each. $1.00 cheaper than Master Card.
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
It counts as a purchase.Tabulator wrote:In general, when one uses a credit card to purchase a gift card, does the credit card company categorize the transaction as a cash advance?
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Note: the "bonus" applies to supermarkets; not grocery stores. Grocery stores only qualify for the baseline 1%.
Growtch, grinch; paranoid contrarian
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
What is considered the difference between a grocery store and a supermarket for credit card purchases?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Not sure - AMEX has a partial list of qualifying "supermarkets" on their website. FWIW - I usually shop for food at Krogers & Albertons; both show up as "grocery stores" on my monthly statement, but neither qualify for the bonus.Almost there wrote:What is considered the difference between a grocery store and a supermarket for credit card purchases?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
That is interesting. My local Kroger qualifies for the bonus cash-back on my BCP.scotthal wrote:Not sure - AMEX has a partial list of qualifying "supermarkets" on their website. FWIW - I usually shop for food at Krogers & Albertons; both show up as "grocery stores" on my monthly statement, but neither qualify for the bonus.Almost there wrote:What is considered the difference between a grocery store and a supermarket for credit card purchases?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
All the stores I shop at for groceries show up as "grocery stores" on my Amex statements and they all qualify for the bonus.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Again, what's the difference?scotthal wrote:Note: the "bonus" applies to supermarkets; not grocery stores. Grocery stores only qualify for the baseline 1%.
Kroger definitely shows up on the 6% bonus. As does every other grocery store I use (HEB, etc).
"Happiness is not about doing, it’s about being." - R Branson
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Fred Meyer doesn't seem to qualify for the six percent bonus, at least for me. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods do, though.
Gordon
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I've never seen anything qualify as "grocery" but not a "supermarket" under my AMEX - Safeway, Giant, Food Lion, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Korean Korner, and Great Wall have all received the bonus. Even the local ice cream shop that lists as a "grocery" on credit card bills gets the cashback. The bigger problem using this card for grocery cashback IMO is the large number of smaller groceries that don't even accept AMEX.
By the way, some cashback cards - I can't remember if AMEX is one of them - put in small print that "cash equivalents" don't qualify. I read a tip on a blog once that when trying the gift card / cashback trick to always purchase something else as well so the total purchase isn't a nice round number like $25 or $50. So far, my gift card purchases have always counted for cashback using this method. YMMV
By the way, some cashback cards - I can't remember if AMEX is one of them - put in small print that "cash equivalents" don't qualify. I read a tip on a blog once that when trying the gift card / cashback trick to always purchase something else as well so the total purchase isn't a nice round number like $25 or $50. So far, my gift card purchases have always counted for cashback using this method. YMMV
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Double check your bonus category totals. While I only have the original Blue Cash, not the Blue Preferred, Albertsons purchases are included in the supermarket category total.scotthal wrote:Not sure - AMEX has a partial list of qualifying "supermarkets" on their website. FWIW - I usually shop for food at Krogers & Albertons; both show up as "grocery stores" on my monthly statement, but neither qualify for the bonus.Almost there wrote:What is considered the difference between a grocery store and a supermarket for credit card purchases?
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I would caution you not to go nuts with it. I've never messed with it myself, but there are whole forums dedicated to so-called "manufactured spending" designed to game the system to capture bonus rewards via purchases of gift cards or cash debit cards. Frequently, Amex/etc closes accounts if they suspect this activity. I remember fifty forum posts on the same day with a lot of members being banned for this activity. These people were pushing $10,000/mo in manufactured spending or more, which obviously raised a huge red flag. I doubt you would have any trouble buying an occasional gift card, though.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
For those with lower monthly grocery spending, the Sallie Mae Barclay Mastercard offers 5% on gas, groceries, bookstores (amazon has worked for this), and possibly more (that's all I use/care about).
No annual fee. Limited to $250/month for cashback in those categories. I've never exceeded that, but may not be high enough for households.
I kept the non preferred amex blue cash and have taken advantage of many of the amex offers this season.
No annual fee. Limited to $250/month for cashback in those categories. I've never exceeded that, but may not be high enough for households.
I kept the non preferred amex blue cash and have taken advantage of many of the amex offers this season.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
It's not really a matter of "supermarkets" versus "grocery stores". As with most rewards programs it's a matter of how the merchant is coded. There are certainly supermarkets and grocery stores that are properly coded to qualify. There's some information here:scotthal wrote:Note: the "bonus" applies to supermarkets; not grocery stores. Grocery stores only qualify for the baseline 1%.
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/cont ... etail.html
Kroger also qualifies for me. I don't think we have Albertson's any more. HEB and Whole Foods also qualify for me.scotthal wrote:FWIW - I usually shop for food at Krogers & Albertons; both show up as "grocery stores" on my monthly statement, but neither qualify for the bonus.
Unfortunately, it is not available to new applicants.surfstar wrote:For those with lower monthly grocery spending, the Sallie Mae Barclay Mastercard offers 5% on gas, groceries, bookstores (amazon has worked for this), and possibly more (that's all I use/care about).
+1 Small amounts are probably no big deal but there are those that run into trouble with manufactured spend even on the BCE or on the BCP even with it cap.Intrepyd wrote:I would caution you not to go nuts with it. I've never messed with it myself, but there are whole forums dedicated to so-called "manufactured spending" designed to game the system to capture bonus rewards via purchases of gift cards or cash debit cards. Frequently, Amex/etc closes accounts if they suspect this activity.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Wow, did not realize that. I will have to stop recommending this card and hope my rewards program continues!takeshi wrote:Unfortunately, it is not available to new applicants.surfstar wrote:For those with lower monthly grocery spending, the Sallie Mae Barclay Mastercard offers 5% on gas, groceries, bookstores (amazon has worked for this), and possibly more (that's all I use/care about).
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I'm using that card right now but the limit on grocery spending ($250) is too low for me. I'm planning to open the BCP card in the new year.surfstar wrote:Wow, did not realize that. I will have to stop recommending this card and hope my rewards program continues!takeshi wrote:Unfortunately, it is not available to new applicants.surfstar wrote:For those with lower monthly grocery spending, the Sallie Mae Barclay Mastercard offers 5% on gas, groceries, bookstores (amazon has worked for this), and possibly more (that's all I use/care about).
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
We have no trouble reaching the annual $6000 limit by October or so, just with grocery spending.
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
This would be true for us also, except some of our grocery stores are being categorized as 99999999999 instead of GROCERY STORES, SUP. I'm talking about you Sprouts. I should shift these stores to another card until this gets fixed.Ninnie wrote:We have no trouble reaching the annual $6000 limit by October or so, just with grocery spending.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
We exceed the limit and use a pair of BCP's, switching midyear.Ninnie wrote:We have no trouble reaching the annual $6000 limit by October or so, just with grocery spending.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I buy Amazon GCs generally, and pick up store specific cards when my grocery store (Kroger's/King Soopers) has discounts, e.g. 20% off Gap cards which are very versatile. In addition, King Sooper's offers 4x fuel points on gift card purchases periodically throughout the year. $250 in GC's yields 1000 fuel points which gets $1 off per gallon. I get 20+ gallons a fill-up, saving $20+ on top of the 6% cashback, $250 for ~$225, if not less if there's 20% off a particular GC. Works great.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
How can you tell when/if you hit the cap? I have the preferred card, but I'm not sure where to look for this.Ninnie wrote:We have no trouble reaching the annual $6000 limit by October or so, just with grocery spending.
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
stupidkid wrote:
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Which credit card are you using?I buy Amazon GCs generally, and pick up store specific cards when my grocery store (Kroger's/King Soopers) has discounts, e.g. 20% off Gap cards which are very versatile. In addition, King Sooper's offers 4x fuel points on gift card purchases periodically throughout the year. $250 in GC's yields 1000 fuel points which gets $1 off per gallon. I get 20+ gallons a fill-up, saving $20+ on top of the 6% cashback, $250 for ~$225, if not less if there's 20% off a particular GC. Works great.
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Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
There may be an easier way, but login to your account. Go to Statements & Activity, fill in the dates on Recent Activity, then click on Merchandise & Supplies, and you should see Groceries broken out.azanon wrote:How can you tell when/if you hit the cap? I have the preferred card, but I'm not sure where to look for this.Ninnie wrote:We have no trouble reaching the annual $6000 limit by October or so, just with grocery spending.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Just to clarify, and because the end of the annual cycle for everyone is coming up, here's what AMEX says about it in the card T&Cs. It is not a rolling window.Rob Bertram wrote:As previously mentioned, the 6% cash back on groceries is capped at $6000 of purchases (so $360 cash back) on a rolling 12-month window. As far as I understand it, the 3% back on gas and department store purchases are not capped.
"An annual reward year is 12 billing periods in a row beginning with the one that includes January 1st; if your billing cycle changes, the length of your annual reward year will also change."
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I have several different cards for this:
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday Preferred (27,000 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday (14,400 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year with my Blue Cash Preferred ($360 cash back)
This nets out to $214 in gift card fees and I also have a $75 annual fee and a $95 annual fee. So I view it as buying 41,592 Membership Reward points for about $16 total plus about 2 hours total spent in a Walmart getting rid of the gift cards. I may sprinkle in Amazon gift cards as needed now and then which increases my return.
I should note I'm also trying to get my wife onboard with getting all of these cards as well so I can double the return. I would just be an authorized user and do all the leg work myself. 83,000 membership rewards plus our regular spend throughout the year gets us to Europe and back once a year.
I buy 1 $250 Shop Rite Gift Card/mo with my Sallie Mae Card (5% cashback/mo with $250/mo limit on this card)
After I exhaust that $250 gift card the rest of my regular grocery spend goes on my Amex Premier Rewards Gold card for 2 points/dollar--unlimited for the year.
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday Preferred (27,000 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday (14,400 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year with my Blue Cash Preferred ($360 cash back)
This nets out to $214 in gift card fees and I also have a $75 annual fee and a $95 annual fee. So I view it as buying 41,592 Membership Reward points for about $16 total plus about 2 hours total spent in a Walmart getting rid of the gift cards. I may sprinkle in Amazon gift cards as needed now and then which increases my return.
I should note I'm also trying to get my wife onboard with getting all of these cards as well so I can double the return. I would just be an authorized user and do all the leg work myself. 83,000 membership rewards plus our regular spend throughout the year gets us to Europe and back once a year.
I buy 1 $250 Shop Rite Gift Card/mo with my Sallie Mae Card (5% cashback/mo with $250/mo limit on this card)
After I exhaust that $250 gift card the rest of my regular grocery spend goes on my Amex Premier Rewards Gold card for 2 points/dollar--unlimited for the year.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
AMEX BCP. A "downside" is the king sooper's gas station doesn't qualify for the BCP 3% on gas, but I have another card which works fine.Almost there wrote:
Which credit card are you using?
Almost there
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I just went back through my billing records ... it looks like my local Fred Meyer qualified for the 6% until June of this year and then it suddenly stopped. Would have been nice to realize this six months ago.gkaplan wrote:Fred Meyer doesn't seem to qualify for the six percent bonus, at least for me. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods do, though.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
Sprouts only has "9999999999" in its "Additional Information" field. The additional information field is not how AmEx categorizes stores for the cash back. That's just something the merchant provides to AmEx, which AmEx may or may not use to determine the category for the merchant. For example, Trader Joe's provides its phone number in the additional information field, but it's still counted as a U.S. Supermarket for purposes of cash back.testing321 wrote:This would be true for us also, except some of our grocery stores are being categorized as 99999999999 instead of GROCERY STORES, SUP. I'm talking about you Sprouts. I should shift these stores to another card until this gets fixed.
What you want to look at, at least through the online interface, is the "Category" field. That's the important one for cash back. You want to see "Merchandise & Supplies - Grocery" on a merchant to get the U.S. Supermarkets cash back percentage. And that is the category for Sprouts, at least for my original Blue Cash card. I also just went through my recent statements and verified that Sprouts is included in the U.S. Supermarkets total for my cash back calculations.
Unless they use different categorization for Blue Cash Preferred and Everyday, you should be getting the U.S. Supermarkets cash back percentage for your purchases at Sprouts.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
How do you manage 30 transactions per month on the EDP and 20 transactions per month on the ED card? I never make 50 transactions per month. Do you do all of the MS in one month to help with total transactions that month?Jags4186 wrote:I have several different cards for this:
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday Preferred (27,000 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday (14,400 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year with my Blue Cash Preferred ($360 cash back)
This nets out to $214 in gift card fees and I also have a $75 annual fee and a $95 annual fee. So I view it as buying 41,592 Membership Reward points for about $16 total plus about 2 hours total spent in a Walmart getting rid of the gift cards. I may sprinkle in Amazon gift cards as needed now and then which increases my return.
I should note I'm also trying to get my wife onboard with getting all of these cards as well so I can double the return. I would just be an authorized user and do all the leg work myself. 83,000 membership rewards plus our regular spend throughout the year gets us to Europe and back once a year.
I buy 1 $250 Shop Rite Gift Card/mo with my Sallie Mae Card (5% cashback/mo with $250/mo limit on this card)
After I exhaust that $250 gift card the rest of my regular grocery spend goes on my Amex Premier Rewards Gold card for 2 points/dollar--unlimited for the year.
Re: "Bonus" on AMEX Blue Cash and Blue Cash Preferred
I reload my Amazon balance $0.50 at a time to hit my transaction amount.sharpjm wrote:How do you manage 30 transactions per month on the EDP and 20 transactions per month on the ED card? I never make 50 transactions per month. Do you do all of the MS in one month to help with total transactions that month?Jags4186 wrote:I have several different cards for this:
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday Preferred (27,000 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year on my Amex Everyday (14,400 Membership Rewards Points)
I buy $6000 visa gift cards a year with my Blue Cash Preferred ($360 cash back)
This nets out to $214 in gift card fees and I also have a $75 annual fee and a $95 annual fee. So I view it as buying 41,592 Membership Reward points for about $16 total plus about 2 hours total spent in a Walmart getting rid of the gift cards. I may sprinkle in Amazon gift cards as needed now and then which increases my return.
I should note I'm also trying to get my wife onboard with getting all of these cards as well so I can double the return. I would just be an authorized user and do all the leg work myself. 83,000 membership rewards plus our regular spend throughout the year gets us to Europe and back once a year.
I buy 1 $250 Shop Rite Gift Card/mo with my Sallie Mae Card (5% cashback/mo with $250/mo limit on this card)
After I exhaust that $250 gift card the rest of my regular grocery spend goes on my Amex Premier Rewards Gold card for 2 points/dollar--unlimited for the year.
I should also point out that grocery stores around me have stopped selling Visa Gift Cards to people with credit cards. So I have been looking into different options. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will just be a temporary thing until these stores implement EMV technology.