I love credit cards so much!

[SBWB48]

@SBWB48, @kmc8826, @amalone1013, and anyone else considering the 100k MR Amex Biz Platinum call-in offer,

and @calypso726, @tink1970, @platamama, @CaliforniaGirl09, and whoever else has the Biz Plat but has never had the BGR or Biz Green,

READ THIS: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/92bkky/daily_discussion_thread_july_27_2018/e34qs6j

Last month, I posted about a loophole that /r/churning discovered where you can use your Biz Plat (or other biz charge cards) to refer yourself to Amex's other MR business charge cards (the BGR and Biz Green), and earn the bonus for self-referral and the other card's sign-up bonus, assuming you don’t have and haven’t had that other card before. The big points are with self-referrals from the Biz Plat because a referral bonus from that card is worth 20k MR.

I didn't think much about it at the time because I didn't have a Biz Plat. Now I do. Redditor l3veraged put two and two together and has an excellent write-up about how to maximize the MRs you can get out of these two deals before the call-in offer is supposed to expire at the end of this month and the 20k referral bonus ends on 8/8/18.

The sweet spot seems to be to get the 100k MR/$10k offer on the Biz Plat, refer yourself (and hey, maybe even P2) to the Biz Green for 20k MR per referral; make a single purchase on the Biz Green for another 5k MR and sockdrawer that card [edit: the Biz Green seems to have a quirk that double credits the 5k MR]; meet the $10k MSR on the Biz Plat for another 10k MR. ~140k MR.

Personally, I'm holding off on referring myself or applying for the BGR. The BGR has a public/referral offer of 50k MR (add another 20k MR for the self-referral), but requires another $5k MSR in 3 months, which is not in our budget. While applying for the Biz Plat, the Amex rep pitched me on a 75k MR/$10k/4 months offer on the BGR, and told me to call in for that offer when I'm ready. I don't know if the 75k offer will still be around when I'm ready (it comes and goes), but I know I'm not ready to tackle an additional $5k or $10k MSR on the BGR when we've already got the Hilton Biz and Biz Platinum to work on, and am considering the CIU or SPG Lux for DW and Marriott Premier Plus for me next month.

@Lain Congrats on your new card! I've been out most of the last few days so I've not read every post but curious how you are able to self-refer for the Biz Green?

Definitely felt you missing around here this week haha. Tagged the post from @Lain on this the other day. Think he and I are the only ones who have actually pulled the trigger on the Biz Plat at the moment, and gone ahead to self-refer the Biz Green, but long story short, a redditor (and @Lain previously) put 2 and 2 together and have found what appears to be a small window of opportunity for those with the biz plat to self-refer to the Biz Green for essentially 35K MRs if you can get the stars to align.

Step One (unless you are the rare birdie with a Biz Plat already : Call in for the 100kMR/$10K Biz Plat offer; appears to be available through the end of July and hence, the frenzy since it’s also only available by calling the dedicated line that is floating around and posted by DOC.

I’ll let @lain’s post above explain the rest with the self-referral and the window of opportunity that exists

 

[Lain]

Both great points about adding the Green and referring the P2. DH also doesn’t have any MR cards. And now the wait for the referral to post begins. Any idea how soon Amex MR referrals post? When I referred DH for the SPG Biz, it was rather quick.

Yeah, it should be quick. When this loophole was first posted last month, people were reporting DPs of the referral bonus posting within 1-2 days.

 

[kmc8826]

@PolyRob read the last couple pages of this thread and then post your thoughts. If you are going to buy DVC direct making a minimum spend on a new card for points and/or miles is the way to do it!

 

[kmc8826]

You don't have time to get it set up for Aug's payment. I typically pay mine around the 22nd of the month. My mortgage is due by the 5th so that allows for any delay in the delivery.

Thanks! You just do the check payment instead of ACH since it is the mortgage? Just to keep it off the radar?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Ahh ok I’ll keep peeking

Hilton reservations open 365 days ahead, so you can look for next July, but not Aug 2019 yet.
Here is a list of when hotel chains open booking

https://awardwallet.com/blog/far-advance-can-book-hotel-reservations/

 

[Artygal90]

Is there a way to use UR points to cover spending money at Disney/Universal (short of cashing out at 1cpp)? I'm thinking no...but wanted to check. I believe the CSR credit is triggered when you pay your final hotel bill at checkout, right? So I can charge all my Food and Wine purchases to my Magic Band and have those accounted for, at least.

It's Saturday night, so naturally I'm watching the Trackers and working out my budget for the next couple years for travel. Gotta start saving those pennies now for all those expenses rewards can't/won't cover!

 

[wendow]

Thanks! You just do the check payment instead of ACH since it is the mortgage? Just to keep it off the radar?

I do. I am afraid trying to do an ACH would get my payment denied real fast! Maybe others do it different. The check option has never failed me but you do have to plan ahead.

 

[wendow]

Definitely felt you missing around here this week haha. Tagged the post from @Lain on this the other day. Think he and I are the only ones who have actually pulled the trigger on the Biz Plat at the moment, and gone ahead to self-refer the Biz Green, but long story short, a redditor (and @Lain previously) put 2 and 2 together and have found what appears to be a small window of opportunity for those with the biz plat to self-refer to the Biz Green for essentially 35K MRs if you can get the stars to align.

Step One (unless you are the rare birdie with a Biz Plat already : Call in for the 100kMR/$10K Biz Plat offer; appears to be available through the end of July and hence, the frenzy since it’s also only available by calling the dedicated line that is floating around and posted by DOC.

I’ll let @lain’s post above explain the rest with the self-referral and the window of opportunity that exists

Thank you for all this! My dd15 has been in a dance camp all this week (and last) but the performance was last night, and I've been so busy helping her prepare for that. Anything else going on in life makes it so hard to keep up here! I appreciate you giving me all the info Off to read!!

 

[wendow]

Wow, 10k spend for the biz Plat!?! I just don't think I can do it. I just got the Amex BBP so still have 2k on that. How are you guys doing this? MS? Even if I could get my mortgage through, which I did with all our SPG's, I'm still not sure.

 

[jhoannam]

Is there a way to use UR points to cover spending money at Disney/Universal (short of cashing out at 1cpp)? I'm thinking no...but wanted to check. I believe the CSR credit is triggered when you pay your final hotel bill at checkout, right? So I can charge all my Food and Wine purchases to my Magic Band and have those accounted for, at least.

It's Saturday night, so naturally I'm watching the Trackers and working out my budget for the next couple years for travel. Gotta start saving those pennies now for all those expenses rewards can't/won't cover!

You can add the dinning plan to thr reservation made through Chase’s UR travel agency.

 

[mmmears]

I have AMEX Platinum. Would you recommend calling the concierge dept directly for tickets instead of trying to book online?

We did the HP Studio Tour a few years ago. It is FANTASTIC! Plan on spending spending several hours there!

Wonderful to hear about the studio tour. We have early afternoon tickets and are planning to stay there until they close if necessary.

I don't know if it'll be as crazy getting Hamilton tickets the next time around, but I know people who were on hold for hours to get their seats (and that was the presale). After DH had to hang up we just waited and that evening called concierge and it took less than an hour and we had our tickets. I know plenty of people who weren't able to get any tickets at all, so IMHO it was the way to go. And we paid face value for the seats, so I don't see a downside to it really.

 

[Haley R]

Completely OT but Dh and I just got to see collective soul and 3 doors down for free. His parents have a lot of “points” by going to the casino often so they got us free tickets. We were in row 10 right in the middle so it was a lot of fun! It was a great show!

 

[Lain]

@Lain Congrats on your new card! I've been out most of the last few days so I've not read every post but curious how you are able to self-refer for the Biz Green?

Wow, 10k spend for the biz Plat!?! I just don't think I can do it. I just got the Amex BBP so still have 2k on that. How are you guys doing this? MS? Even if I could get my mortgage through, which I did with all our SPG's, I'm still not sure.

How To Get A 100,000 Point Offer For The AmEx Platinum Business Card - DoC

This call-in offer popped up again earlier this week with a lot of successful DPs on reddit, and @SBWB48 and me here getting approved for it. This is one of the best offers on the Biz Plat. People usually have to call in with a RSVP code, or BS and see if they're targeted in the system for this offer. From what we can tell, this offer is available to anyone who calls in, and the ~15 mins call is actually quite easy if you have your story and numbers ready. Rumor is this offer runs until the end of this month. The current public offer on the Biz Plat is "up to" 100k MR after a tiered MSR totaling $25k in 3 months, so $10k in 3 months for the same 100k MR is a lot less.

As for how I'll manage it, cost of living in SF. I'll need to sideline my CIP off Plastiq for the next 3-4 months as I'm trying to hit this and other MSRs, but our haul should be pretty awesome. Crossing my fingers 3x Plastiq on the CIP is still going strong when I finish the MSRs on this and other cards.

I floated the idea of using Amex cards to buy $500 MCGCs with a 1.19% fee to load into Masterpass for no fee payments up to $250 each through Plastiq until 9/30/18. I'm pretty sure this will work because I've seen discussion of it on reddit. And because there are no meaningful restrictions on payments using MasterCard, you might want to suspend your CIP payments to your recipient, set up a new payment to your mortgagor’s info already in Plastiq's system as a new recipient and pay in $250 increments using Masterpass. I’m going to try this with our student loans, which I can’t otherwise pay with an Amex.

If you’re sure you can’t hit another $10k in MSR, you can still refer yourself to the Biz Green from your BGR. However, a referral from the BGR is only 10k MR per referral, but you’ll get 5k MR from the Biz Green after you make your first purchase (no minimum), and there seems to be a quirk on the Biz Green that double credits another 5k MR bonus. The AF on the Biz Green is waived for the first year, so you can get a total of 20k MR for no cost (and no effect on 5/24) by referring yourself to the Biz Green from your BGR.

Follow the below instructions, but obviously the 20k MR will be 10k MR on your BGR, and you should see the Biz Green and Biz Plat at the bottom.

[F]rom your "Home" screen, scroll down to the "Refer Friends. Get Rewarded" section, confirm You can earn: 20,000 Membership Rewards® points for each approved referral – up to 55,000 points per calendar year.* Limited Time Offer! Ends 08/08/2018. Terms Apply, and click the "Refer Now" button.

Copy the referral link.

Paste the referral link into an incognito window. You should see a checkmark in a circle next to "You've been referred!"

Scroll down to where you see the Biz Green and BGR. You should see the message:

More American Express OPEN Cards
Looking for something different? Both you and your friend can still get rewarded if you select one of the cards below.

Click the card you want to apply for, and Apply!

Congratulations!

Good luck!

 

[Angrose]

If you’re sure you can’t hit another $10k in MSR, you can still refer yourself to the Biz Green from your BGR. However, a referral from the BGR is only 10k MR per referral, but you’ll get 5k MR from the Biz Green after you make your first purchase (no minimum), and there seems to be a quirk on the Biz Green that double credits another 5k MR bonus. The AF on the Biz Green is waived for the first year, so you can get a total of 20k MR for no cost (and no effect on 5/24) by referring yourself to the Biz Green from your BGR!

@wendow, I don’t have the Biz Plat and won’t be able to get it for awhile due to too much MSR that I’m currently working on so I followed @Lain ’s advice above. Actually I saw when he posted about this a few weeks ago. I referred myself and DH to the Biz Green and earned an insanely easy 40K MR. That’s a cool $500 when I cash it out via Schwab...just for buying 2 packs of gum!

@Lain, i never thanked you for that amazing advice...THANK YOU!!!

ETA: actually, I only got 30k and DH got 10k. I’m the one with the Schwab acct so will cash out for $375. Still a great deal!

 

[Lain]

@wendow, I don’t have the Biz Plat and won’t be able to get it for awhile due to too much MSR that I’m currently working on so I followed @Lain ’s advice above. Actually I saw when he posted about this a few weeks ago. I referred myself and DH to the Biz Green and earned an insanely easy 40K MR. That’s a cool $500 when I cash it out via Schwab...just for buying 2 packs of gum!

@Lain, i never thanked you for that amazing advice...THANK YOU!!!

Glad to be of service! And really happy to read about those 40k MRs!

@wendow, you might also want to consider referring DH to the Biz Green. The referral bonus goes until 8/8/18.

 

[amalone1013]

I sold 2 items on Ebay last night and no one has complained about the shipping yet, fingers crossed...

It's too late now to get tickets in London (plus we aren't there for long enough this time) but we do have tickets to the HP Studio Tour one afternoon.

I missed this last night, but I did the tour a few years ago too and it was amazing!

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Thanks to you guys I dipped my toes in the business credit card world. I did the Amex GBR and got autoapproved. I know I might have been able to call in for a higher sign up but I wasn’t comfortable speaking to a rep. So @wendow I used your referral link...
I debated between that and the Hilton and the Blue preferred. Hope I made a good choice!!!

 

[havaneselover]

We just saw Hamilton for the first time a few weeks ago in London. WE LOVED IT!!! DH and I agreed it’s the best thing we’ve ever seen. It’s coming to SF again Feb-May 2019. How were you notified of the presale last time? Did you sign up for a mailing list? I am not throwing away my shot to see it again!!!


I have AMEX Platinum. Would you recommend calling the concierge dept directly for tickets instead of trying to book online?

We did the HP Studio Tour a few years ago. It is FANTASTIC! Plan on spending spending several hours there!

HP studio tour is on our list for next summer when we go to Europe. Glad to here it is worth it.

 

[amalone1013]

HP studio tour is on our list for next summer when we go to Europe. Glad to here it is worth it.

Loved the studio tour too. So cool. If I get DH back over there I plan on going back... went last time with a friend, at the time DH wasn't a big fan anyways. Now he is a big fan of the movies. He's not a reader, so he won't read the books

 

[amalone1013]

Uh, for those who might prefer a condo for their Disney trips, I'd just like to let you know that Luke Skywalker's Private Home is on the UR portal