Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
That didn’t take long! Earlier this morning I published a Quick Deal saying that TopCashBack had increased their cash back rate for Amex gift cards to 3%. In that post, I predicted that other portals would increase their rates too. I wrote: “I’ve noticed that TopCashBack deals often show up about a day in advance of deals through other portals. So, keep an eye out for the Arrival RewardsBoost portal to go back up to 4X or the Alaska Airlines portal to go back up to 3X if you prefer miles over cash back.” And, sure enough, the other portals have followed suit as predicted (but much faster than expected)! Here are the current best rates:
- Barclaycard RewardsBoost 4X (Requires Arrival card)
- Alaska MileagePlanShopping 3X
- Delta SkyMiles Shopping 3X
- TopCashBack 3% Cash Back
And, here are two codes to try for removing gift card fees other than shipping costs:
- FPADMIN (through April 29th)
- SYNCGIFT
- FPMOM (shown on the Barlays portal)
Questions?
Please read: Everything you ever wanted to know about Amex gift cards. And, if you still have questions, please ask via the comments of that post so that we can keep information about Amex gift cards in one place.
Important notes:
- The Barclay RewardsBoost rebate is in addition to your credit card rewards. So, when that portal offers 4X and you pay with the 2X-earning Arrival card, you’ll earn a total of 6X (worth 6.6% towards travel).
- Amex gift cards do not have PINs. They cannot be used to load Bluebird cards.
- Some credit card companies charge cash advance fees when purchasing these online. Please read Everything you ever wanted to know about Amex gift cards for details.
- Portals often state that using codes not found on their site will invalidate cash back / miles earned. This has not been my experience. I use codes for free gift cards every time. Try SYNCGIFT, for example.
- Some portals restrict the top card amount to $500. You can easily circumvent this by logging into your Amex account (after clicking through from the portal) and then you’ll see values up to $3000. Yes, you should still get cash back or miles (that has been my experience).
- Cash back can take several months to go from pending to payable.
- Miles often take several weeks or even a month or more to post, but then appear immediately in your mileage account.
See also:
- Everything you ever wanted to know about Amex gift cards
- How to Spend Down Amex Gift Cards
- Links to sign up for cash back portals (and other things), can be found here.
Never miss a Quick Deal. Subscribe here.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
5K order from 4/7 went to pending in the rewards portal sometime on 5/3 or 5/4.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I’m still waiting on Boost points from a 5k order on 4/7. Not yet showing as pending in my rewards history. Anyone else get their points for purchases around this time?
Its common for the Amex GC purchases to take a month or so to show up (even as pending)
Will this purchase count towards my minimum spend on Amex simplycash? any suggestions.
Yes, that should work
The website says the cashback will be granted only for card till $500 denomination. Is that a strict rule?
No. In my experience, they pay out for larger denominations. However, its always possible that they may start enforcing that at some point.
thanks. i will give it a try.
Suppose I sign in through my wife’s Barclay card, but make the purchase on my citi executive card and my name, using my Amex login.
Would that be ok?
I wasn’t sure if it is just the Barclay shopping portal cluck through that gets tracked or if it was all the info as well.
The Citi Executive counts Amex GC purchases from Amex as a cash advance, so you might want to rethink.
Right. As Ken says, its risky to do that with any Citi cards because the purchase will most likely count as a cash advance (and you’ll be hit with fees). However, the general idea of paying with a different credit card should work.
I tried the code FPADMIN but it said it was invalid.
Hmmm, I found that code on the TopCashBack website. Maybe it only works with that portal?
I used BRB, but I’m not sure.
I meant order, not offer.
I made an offer late 4/19 on topcashback when it was 2%. Is it their policy to adjust the %?
Not that I’m aware of but it can’t hurt to ask them
Barclaycard RewardsBoost did not post for me (I purchased AMEX cards on Apr 4). Did anyone had luck having their customer service fix this kind of problems?
Barclaycard RewardsBoost did not post for me either. I purchased on April 4 too.
@Deals tie. Just wondering, did you try to call?
I purchased on April 9, and Barclaycard RewardsBoost didn’t post for me either. I didn’t use my Arrival card, so I thought that might have been the reason why. I know that the T&C say that you were supposed to use the card to get the points, but I decided to chance it for once.
Its not unusual for Amex gc orders to take a month or longer to show up on portals. Its too soon to give up on early April orders.
@Dr. Matt Drake: I am routinely making purchases there using different payment methods and everything works. This is not the issue.
@Eugene G. No, I didn’t call.
This comment has been removed by the author.