Amex Gold 50K points, 2-yr fee waiver

DEAD AS OF 1st Sept!!!



Pre-Sept Info
if you call and get routed to the indian call center, hang up right away. they are one of the worst, deny everything, patrick with the indian accent even offered me 5,000 instead of a standard 65,000 on top of the 10k... hung up, dialed again and got a friendly canadian lady who said they will honor the promotion and noted the account for the 65k without any problems

(as of 05/24/2011)
Called the Member Reward csr 800(297-3276) today.
A lady told me the promotion id 5894 is for the FIRST-time Amex customer ONLY, and not eligible for online application.


Current WORKING AMEX Promos: (as of 5/18/2011)

Platinum Amex: 25K points when you spend 1K in the first three months. LINK [americanexpress.com]
(has annual fee, waived the first year and if you call to "cancel because of the annual fee" they may reverse it, every year)

Gold Amex: 10K points when you spend $500 in the first three months. americanexpress.com]
(has annual fee, waived the first year and if you call to "cancel because of the annual fee" they may reverse it, every year)


UPDATE:

Ok, so I have some more interesting information about this whole ordeal and what it means for us. American Express is definitely well aware that this special offer has gone viral. I also confirmed that it was in fact only meant to be targeted to a small group of people (recent Columbia Graduates). It was also (supposedly) supposed to only be valid until 5/11 (two days prior to the posting on SD). But as we all know, for some reason none of that was ever mentioned in the T&C nor the application. It never stipulated any target group, limitations or expiration.

Outside of maybe the first group of people who applied, everyone else was defaulted to the 10k/1year promo. So when you receive your cards and/or call to activate, that is what you will be told you have been given. But all is not lost!

Obviously the impact to Amex is definitely substantial. God knows how many people applied and got approved for a card. The matter is currently being handled by the "Recovery Department". From what I understand, this is basically the highest level group in the customer service area and reports directly to executive management. They are actually higher in rank then the "Executive Team". At this point, due to the scope of the situation, these are the ONLY people who are going to be able to approve or disapprove the application of the special promotion to our accounts. They have already issued out an internal company memo, so every employee is well aware of what's going on. There is NO POINT in arguing or asking for anything to the people you speak with on the phone. They will not be able to help you until the Recovery department makes it's ruling. And you will not be able to speak with them directly.

The Recovery group is currently evaluating the situation to determine how to proceed. I imagine their decision will greatly depend on the number of people who took part in their offer. They are trying to figure out exactly what happened, why it happened, how it happened, and what to do about it.

I personally feel that we are in a good positiion. First, the T&Cs support us, and they would have to invalidate them in order to deny the promotion. Something I doubt they would want to do (can you say class action lawsuit?). Second, as it has been discussed before, American Express does pride itself on superior customer service and putting customers first. Not honoring the promotion, regardless of their original intent for it, would be contrary to this policy. Third, when errors like this have occured in the past, Amex has honored them.

So my advice to everyone is to be patient. It will take time for them to make a decision, and there is nothing that can be done until that's made. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. If in the end they decide in our favor, great. If not, then we will have to cross that bridge if it comes to it and decide how to proceed. I imagine the only way to get a negative ruling reversed is with either an EECB, bad media exposure, or legal recourse.

For now, we just need to sit back and wait...

not OP, but after talking to reps at the rewards points call center as well as cancellations and CSR supervisors, somewhere in the T&C it shows that to qualify, you have to be solicited for this offer. This offer is solicited ONLY to recent columbia grads, and therefore most of us are not eligible.

http://www.americanexpress.com/ireland/personal_cards/american_express_what_is_charge_card.shtml

"If you would like more control over your finances and greater financial flexibility an American Express Charge Card can meet your needs. Unlike Debit and Credit Cards, with an American Express Charge Card you can enjoy no pre-set spending limit and you must repay your full balance at the end of each month giving you total control over your expenses".

So, if you have an AMEX credit card, you can still apply for this offer


Slickdeals Rule #1:
DO NOT CALL!!!

Wait until after you get the card and try to activate it before asking if you got the deal. Save the screenshot and T&Cs and if there is a problem down the road, deal with it then. Calling now, over a WEEKEND when everyone who can do anything is at home will do nothing other then start showing a trend that something might be wrong.

DO NOT CALL!!!


AMEX is saying offer is targeted to Columbia graduates. YMMV if you actually get the 50K points.


Delta Bonus Mileage Link:
http://dmn.delta.com/offers/getmore/

Transfer 50k Amex Membership rewards to 75k Delta Skymiles + 25k mqm(which will give you silver level Delta Medalion status)

For each conversion of points(membership rewards) into the SkyMiles program, a fee of $0.0006 per point, or $30 for 50k points.

The deadline to request the 50% mileage bonus is May 31, 2011!!! After that, it will be a simple 1:1 transfer.

Silver Medallion status benefits
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_skymiles/benefits_at_glance/index.jsp

-SkyMiles Medallion® Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond members, Million Milers, Air France & KLM Elites, and Alaska Air MVP & MVP Gold Members traveling in Economy may check up to two bags up to 70 lbs (32 kg) each at no charge on Delta and Delta Connection operated flights. The benefit applies to up to 9 people traveling in the eligible member's reservation.

screen shot


Both me and my wife got instantly approved and just called in to make sure we were on the right track of getting the 50,000 pts. Surprisingly, seems like at this point, they don't see the 50,000 promotion even though given the Bonus ID 5889 as mentioned on the application website. We were both told to call the 800 number on the back of the card again when we receive it to check on the promotion.

I called in to confirm whether or not my account was indeed for the 50k points and the 2 year waived membership. I was on hold for awhile but they did see that the application was submitted for that offer. As long as you see on the side of the application that it's for the 50k and 2 years, you should be fine.
Please post your experiences/results when you get the card and speak to customer reps. make sure they confirm the 50k promo "before" you activate your card. otherwise they might not be able to change your terms.

Screen Shot of Application added to attachments

Quote from phonic : Listen up people. Stop calling Customer Service. Stop sending emails. Stop trying to escalate issues. You are just wasting time and confusing everyone. All you need to do is call Membership Rewards and let them know you want the proper bonus code marked in your account. That's all. Don't ask them to give you points, because they can't and won't. Then spend the $500 within three months, wait eight weeks from the statement date of your $500 in transactions, and call them up to get the points added. Period. You don't even need to call up now to have it documented, because you would still qualify anyway. There is no "if" or "maybe". You will get your points if you are patient. Just relax and follow instructions. Or don't and keep calling every department over and over again. But stop whining here and asking questions that have been asked and answered a dozen times.

call Membership Rewards before you activate the card

--------

Updated: 6/20/2011 (Onsalenow) - I called 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276) and told the rep that I got the card and wanted to check to make sure my reward point was entered correctly. I gave the rep the promo ID: 5894 and said I supposed to get the 75K points if I spend $500 in the 1st 3 months. She said "sure, I will change your account. You should see 75K points within 6 to 8 weeks after you pay the $500 balance"



Related Flyertalk thread:


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1204440-targeted-no-fee-1st-yr-american-express-gold-card-75-000-bonus-reward-points-signup-31.html