Congrats! How did you get the offer to pull up? On card match I only get Chase and CapOne offers -- not any AmEx at all . . . is there another route?
I’d love to know how you managed, too. I tried the incognito with cleared cookies, etc all evening and couldn’t pull it up.
I was hoping to get it before I fly to England tomorrow so it would be waiting for me when I got home. Maybe I’ll have better luck on a computer there.
It took multiple attempts over a couple of days before I could get it to pull up. Incognito on Chrome did not work and clearing cookies on explorer did not work, neither did any attempts on my iPhone or iPad. I did not try firefox but that was going to be next. Private browsing on IE finally worked.
Nice! My P2 really wanted to get this card, but it would put him at 5/24 so I told him to wait and think about it. Serious FOMO here, though. It must be very liberating not to have to worry about the x/24 number. Congrats!
I picked it up because I was able to pull it up at 50K which I've never been able to do before. It is liberating to not worry about the x/24 number to be honest. At the same time though, if Chase comes out with something new and exciting, I have to watch on the sidelines. Holding 10 Chases cards and being at 10-14/24 at any given moment means I don't churn Chase cards and I don't apply for Chase cards even the ones that aren't subject to 5/24 anymore. That boat has sailed for me.
Congratulations! Great bonus and first year benefits, and it looks like it’s
going to be a keeper!
But how do you not already have, or have you never had the PRG?!
Thank you and yes it is! Once 4x on dining kicks in, assuming it goes as we all expect it will replace the CSR for dining. Fortunately, the majority of restaurants we frequent do take Amex. The CSR is always in the wallet so if we come across one that doesn't it isn't a big deal. DH was approved last night too. Each of us can also easily swing by a Cheesecake factory and/or a Ruth Chris to see about picking up a $10 GC each month. Heck, even if they don't sell at $10 denominations I'd be fine with a $20 GC each month. I'd let them pile up like we do with the AA gift cards and then go out to dinner. If I wind up with 1/2 off with stock piled GCs that would be great.
With the exception of the Everyday card and the BBP card which are no fee, I've never bothered with an Amex MR card unless I was getting 100K or better. The only exception was when I was able to get the personal platinum without the lifetime language for 60K a few months after I cancelled the one I'd picked up for 100K. The other Amex cards I've focused on were SPG, the old Hilton Surpass, and my new favorite, the Aspire.
I have to acknowledge that we were SUPER fortunate with how things worked out for us. We barely beat the 48 month rule and shutdown purge (and I'm still sweating that one). I hammered AMEX before their whole popup debacle started...Heck I'm probably part of the reason the popup exists. I went and hit 14 AMEX cards in 16 months without spending a dime over the MSR on each card, LOL!
I'd guess I could come up with a strategy now to make it work again but it would look different and be much less lucrative. I honestly can't even begin to ponder how I'd go about it as I'm so happy to be where I am now, LOL! It's hard to look back and think what that was like. My wife is now 2/24. I'm 13/24 but I have 7 cards dropping off in Oct/Nov so I will be 6/24 come December.
I'm still very excited for what we can do with this < 5/24 status in 2019 & 2020. My wife can still hit CIC, CIU, SW Biz, SW Personal and she'd still be at 3/24 after all of that. I've got designs of a CIP, CIC, CIU, CSR or CSP, SW Biz, SW Personal. We may even cross-refer CF and CFU. It could be a great run for the next 18 or so months!!
I couldn't in good conscience advise somebody who was sitting at 15/24 to attempt to go under 5/24 (even if they were in 2 player mode). I'm not saying it would be a bad decision, it's just with the way things seem to change on a moment's notice, I wouldn't want to responsible for that strategy. If somebody wants to go with it though and has a good plan then I'd say good for them!
I think it is awesome they way you have managed to stay in the game and navigate your way below 5/24.
I was just checking out the AwardHacker site thanks
@Albort and saw the DoC post regarding Amex 40% transfer credit for British Air right now. Would it be stupid of me to transfer points to take advantage of the 40% even though I do not have a specific flight in mind? I saw possible awards for CHI to Orlando (15k r/t), which would be pretty easy for me to use and CHI to Dublin (40k r/t), which would work for a trip planned for 2020 if I didn't use the transferred points before then. I don't have a BA cc though so need to see when they would expire. Just seemed like a way to capitalize on the MR points not doing anything at this point.
I would not transfer to BA speculatively without checking to see what the award will cost you in taxes and fees on flights across the pond. I'm guessing by CHI you mean Chicago. If so, your flight to Dublin will cost you 49K Avios $492.25 RT in taxes and fees in economy, and 138K Avios plus $1,186.25 in taxes and fees in business on BA.
We have flown and will continue to fly BA to Europe but we generally try to do it with a travel together ticket so only one of us is using Avios for the flight and we use it for first class only. The taxes and fees cost the same in business as they do in first, so there isn't a point to going for a business class flight with a travel together ticket.
If you plan to use it on domestic short haul flights, then go for it.