Don’t Procrastinate…American Express Consumer Card Window Is About To Slam Shut

No doubt this had absolutely nothing to do with consistent abuse of the system…

only consumer? if ive had all the consumer and just opened a business, does that mean i have at least one go around with all the business cards?

If you apply for (and receive) card you already own, are you able to consolidate the account/credit line onto the new card?

Any reports of getting “undeserved” bonuses due to the “window”?

Any good ways to meet large spending thresholds?

Is SPG included as I think it was a hard one until now
Will new FF help? (same for Delta do you need new FF?)

What about if you never had the starwood card? Should I get one now or wait for a possible greater sign up bonus after May 1st?

Any idea if I currently have prg open if I could get another one ? & what about the 90 day rule ?

@ari:
The business cards still have the 12 month rule, not the lifetime rule.

@chaim:
Amazon Payments, buying gift cards and unloading onto Bluebird/Money Orders, unloading gift cards onto Evolve Money, etc, etc.

@moshe:
New FF and address can’t hurt.

@Sam:
Usually in August or so they offer an extra 5K.

@Joe:
The 90 day rule for consumer cards is gone.

For whatever reason the 12 month rule was never applied on my account and I’ve never had an issue getting a 2nd PRG or SPG card even though I had previous ones open.

Dan, if I currently have a SPG Personal CC can I apply for another one?
Thank you

@ari: This new rule is for consumer cards

Thanks for the heads up Dan! I currently have an open SPG consumer card. If I put in a new SPG #, what are the chances of getting another card approved?

@Sam:

I have the same question!

but I’ve had the business Starwood card would they count that as a card? I’ve never had the consumer one though

What if I just cancelled card? how long should I wait to apply again?

1 if i have a business Platinum can i apply for a personal as well?

2 A friend of mine got a mail invitation “TODAY” for a personal platinum with sign up bonus of 100K!!

How long before other banks start to follow?

I currently have the delta skymiles reg not plat, do i need to cancel delta reg to get pts for plat or its 2 seperate cards and so i would get pts without cancelling existing card?

Dan, can you please clarify. If someone has right now a starwoods card can he apply for the same card while the first one is still active?

When applying for a new SPG (closed my last one Dec 31st) should I leave the SPG account, empty, old number or get a new one?

you might find this interesting, when I click on your links I got the following message in red lettering:

“You have been identified as a current American Express Card Member. You may have seen an offer advertised for this product previously, but the offer is not available to current American Express Card Members.”

@@dan:
That’s an easy workaround, just browse incognito and try clicking on it again.
To open incognito in Chrome hold down Ctrl, Shift, and N and the same time. In IE and Firefox hold down Ctrl, Shift, and P.

Is it worth trying a MB Plat with a regular Plat?

That’s the kind of long term thinking most people here aren’t accustomed to doing..:

Last month I applied for 2 Chase cards which I got approved. 4 days ago I applied for 2 Amex cards (one approved, and one pending) – I wish I knew about this 3 days ago… Is it highly advisable to NOT apply for anymore Amex cards at this point? Or should I take my chances? CreditKarma says my score is 745

Same question as gw, if I cancelled both my personal and business SPG cards in December can I reapply now and still get the signup bonus?

Saw this T&C on the Plat Card:

“OFFER TERMS
If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had a Platinum Card® account enrolled in the Membership Rewards® program.”

@ilan @gw

Did you read the post:

“There’s one more interesting twist. The card applications no longer mention the old 12 month rule. Chat reps are saying that the 12 month rule has already been removed from consumer cards. Does that mean that we are in a very small window where no signup bonus rules are being enforced? Impossible to say, but with an era coming to a close there’s not much to lose.”

This only applies to consumer cards? I have several personal & Business &not the consumer. Either way if I have a card and apply now and get approved before 5/1 but only accumulate the required after 5/1 will I still get the bonus points?

What about open & active SPG cards, can you get another?

so are you saying if I cancelled my starwood card several months ago I can get a new one now? if yes, should I apply online or on the phone?

Are Gold and platinum different. If I had a gold card will I be able to apply for Platinum ?

Can I apply for Platinum if I had Gold and vice versa ?

should I do a 4bm if i currently only have the delta and prg just recently cancelled the spg? if yes which ones should i apply for?

I did a 3bm with Amex…
1 – Charge card
2 – Credit

All 3 initially said they will get back to me in 14 days. I called up got the Charge card approved, called back got 1 credit card approved.

I called back twice and both reps said they can’t approve a 2nd card within 5 days (due to the computer locking the system or something) and after 5 days the card should be approved. 1 rep said she will call me back in 5 days, the other said he marked it to expedite and if there are any issues he will call me.

Should I call back or is this some policy the Amex has?

are targeted offers good :1-outside the zip code of original target?
2-for more than 1 person to use?

will a a 4bm of 1- buiz plat 2-buiz gold 3-mercedez benz 4-spg buiz work? will i get all 4 bonuses under the new 12 month guidlines?

do we need to finish the spending by may 1st or just open the card before that date?

@dan whats this evolve money u mentiond… how does it work? how o u mfr miles with it? is it a new vr/bb concept

i would also like a bit of an explanation please about evolve what do you use it to pay? how do you use it?

@dude:

Google it on DD Forum or Flyertalk, really easy to find out lots more info. Useful for liquidating debit cards to pay mortgages, student loans, etc

first line of terms in bold:
“If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product.”

@moshe:
Read comment 22.

after just 1 1/2 years of credit i got approved for the platinum card and the spg card together!!!
just one question since i was approved before may does that mean that i will be able to get another bonus offer in the future?

There’s already multiple reports of people getting denied the bonus the last few weeks since they had the card in last twelve months. No window here 🙁

I have a costco amex, is that a consumer card? Will that allow me to be eligible for a bonus in the future?

Hey Dan,
The one question ppl. are asking over and over again:
Can i apply for the personal SPG Card now if i have 1 currently open??

cosign, I have the same question

Same question. SPG open. Should I keep it open and apply for another one?

@APoshiterYid:
Where?
I saw DDF’ers with written confirmation that the bonus code was perperly attached to their account.

@isaac:
There are consumer and business versions of that card.

@Brenda:
I don’t think anyone knows for sure at this point.

@dan I closed my account a few months ago and was thinking of reapplying now. How do i know if i am approved that i will get the bonus miles or not if I do it online?

With the recent change in written policies, during this window, is it possible to get the Plat MB and the regular plat bonuses if I apply at the same time?

@Dan:
I opened a SPG card back in September under the 30k promotion. None of the bonus points have appeared on my account to date (spending threshold was completed in December). I spoke with a SPG rep who told me to contact AMEX. Amex rep said I opened this card less than a yr (9 months) after I closed a previous SPG card and therefore I am not eligible for the promotion – Is this true? Can I push back on this?

@AtallD
When you opened in September the 12 month rule was in place effectively restraining you from getting the bonus twice within a year. It was on the app you filled out, and discussed all over this and many other threads.

decided to give this a try – I am not an Amex guy, but have had Blue for 10 or so years.
Did a 4 browser trick, literally 4 (chrome/safari/ie/ff) – for some reason anon mode in chrome was choking up on second step. A good indicator that it would fail was city not filling in based on zip code.
Instantly approved for 3, but SPG gave me “system not responding”, tried couple of times and same result.
Finally applied via “existing member” – I never had this product. Got 14 day approval pending.
I may have used up 2 pulls… hopefully ill get approved…

Just got approved for 3 cards from erev shabbos I hope now that the points post

@ds: I applied on Friday and also got the system not responding message. I called in and found out they did get my application, but there was a system glitch. I was approved automatically.

Question: If you did a product change such that you didn’t receive a bonus for the card because you never specifically applied for it, can you later (after May) apply for it and get a bonus?

Now we all know this will be effective in May for the personal cards. I have’t seen any discussion about business cards yet. When I applied a personal SPG last week, I was told by a CSR that this rule was applied to the business cards already in February. Do you have any news on the business cards?

“If we identify you as currently having an American Express® Card account, you may not be eligible for this welcome bonus offer. This offer is also not available to applicants who have or have had this product.”

Does this mean that if you have any American Express card, you will not be able to get the bonus for opening a new American express card, even if you have never had that card before? For example, if I have the Amex Blue, and now apply for the JetBlue Amex which I have never had before, will I not be eligible for the 20,000 signup points?

referral offers state 12mo rule…

@Brenda:
I applied for new SPG consumer card with a new number even though I have an SPG consumer card open and was approved. Hopefully will get bonus

@Brenda:
I applied for a new consumer SPG card with a new number and was approved and I have an existing consumer SPG card. Now let’s hope I get the points!

…Also, I have 4 inquiries on my Experian report from Feb 11th.

If you apply for (and receive) card you already own, is one able to consolidate the account/credit line onto the new card?

I don’t have any amax cards, what to i gain by applying now and what do I loose if I don’t? To me it looks like this post is for guys that have amax already

Dan, you previously speculated that even those whom have had a card less than 12 months ago may be eligible for the bonus, but you seem to have removed that text from this post. Does this mean that under 12 months is a definite no?

If I already have four personal AMEX (my understanding is that this is the max)m would you cancel one or two and apply for one or more?

Does the “had this product within last 12 months” rule refer to date of application, or date of closing the card?

hey dan how can I find out when I closed my card not sure if it was more or less than 12 months ago… thanks.

@ABC:
Note that charge cards don’t count towards the 4.

@leifinseoul:
Closing.

@benny:
Call or chat with them.

Didn’t you say that the 12 month rule isn’t there anymore ? I’m confused

I have a spg open for a couple years. Can I apply for another one now? I thought there was a rule that I have to close it and wait 12 months. But Dan I read that you have more than one.
Does the 12 month rule not apply to SPG?

I too noticed that the 12 month exclusion not being enforced is no longer in the post. However, it also has not been rewritten to say that is no longer true. Nor is Dan answering that question when asked here. One possibility is that AMEX has applied pressure to stop telling us that. My best guess is that its still true. I feel an AOR coming on. 😉

This heinous action by American Express is nothing short of a massacre.

When I click on the SPG link for 25K points – it only shows 10K after first purchase. Where does it say additional 15K after 5K spend?

So I closed my SPG consumer card 6 months ago. If I apply for a new SPG consumer card now, will Amex give me the bonus once I meet the spend requirement? I’m confused.

I just got a letter for pre approved on the blackcard visa. Any idea how that card is? Says it compares to platinum. It gives 25000 points(equivalent to 500 airfare dollars) after 1500 spending in 90 days.

@robert Hanson
There have been people with personal experience that have confirmed his theory wasn’t true.

@Yaks

where did you hear that? any source?

I applied for a Amex card online and didn’t get approved instantly does that mean I’m forsure not approved? Do I lose points on my credit?

Hi Dan,
Should i sell my AMEX points now or will they go up in value after the new rules take effect due to the shortage of available points. I am not in a rush to sell.

Anyone have experience with morgan stanlet plat? Do i really need a account with them to open and receive bonus?

Bonus terms on Plat and SPG already state that bonus not given if already received once….anybody?

Dan, I currently have a British ajrways and chase sapphire credit cards. I’m looking for better rewards what do you recommend? I just got the Amex guest Starwood rewards card and am thinking about applying for the chase ink or bold. Please advise. Ty

Anybody know how to get 100k and 75k offers on Amex Business Platinum and Business Gold cards. People advertise and get these offers for the public when they spend for you and take a commission. Obviously there is a way to do this. I called Amex and tried but they wouldnt budge.