Update: Sorry, deal is dead. Portals have reverted to old rates
A number of portals are currently offering great rates for the purchase of American Express gift cards. Here are the current best rates:
- Barclaycard RewardsBoost 4X (Requires Arrival card)
- Alaska MileagePlanShopping 3X
- Delta SkyMiles Shopping 3X
- BeFrugal 3% Cash Back
Hat tip: Vinh
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:
- 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.
- Don’t be surprised if your order is declined. This happens frequently, usually without any useful explanation. My orders seem to get approved only about half the time. I have no idea why.
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.
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Any idea when the expiration date is for this?
Also how often do we see as high as 4X on Barclay?
Trying to gauge my sense of urgency for filling up on Barclay points
Sorry, it already expired. These increased rates seem to appear about once a month or maybe once every two months, but there’s no way to know if that will keep happening
I see notes about only being able to make only one purchase every 15 days. Is this per purchasing card? Or per AMEX account? For example, I have two AMEX accounts (1 business, 1 SPG). Can I sign into both and do two purchases every 15 days on different cards?
There’s no limit of one purchase every 15 days, but rather a limit to how much you can spend every two weeks. Personal card orders are supposedly limited to $5K and business card orders $75K. I regularly order business gift cards day after day during specials like these.
Ok great. So to make sure I’m clear. I currently have 4 cards I am meeting minimum spend on. Through the barclay shopping portal, I can perform 4 separate transactions, one a day. On each, I can spend $3000 with a different card, but using the same Barclay and AMEX login.
That would meet my spend on the cards (no cash advance) as well as provide 12000 x 4 = 48000 barclay points?
That’s mostly right. First, make sure that the credit cards you pay with are on the safe list in my post “Everything you ever wanted to know about Amex gift cards”. Second, you’ll have to buy business gift cards to do that many purchases. Third, don’t be surprised if/when Amex declines orders. It may take several tries before each order goes through successfully.
I think the SS# requirement for amounts over $1K is a known thing.
Ok so I take it that isn’t an issue since others have been hitting above $1000 pretty hard?
When I tried for a $1500 card to test the waters, I saw on the checkout that social security card was required. It said “For any orders over $1000, a social is required”.
Anyone ever have issues with giving a SSN?
I haven’t seen any problems with giving an SSN. If you’re worried about it, though, simply stick with $1K cards.
is there a limit per person or per address? anyone know?
I personally alternate orders and CC. I order biz gc today using amex. 15 days later use a visa or MC to buy personal amex gc. I make sure that my name and address in all of them , the cc accounts and the order, match exactly to the point. When you don’t let 14 days pass, the system will automatically cancel the order and for each attempt you will, not only get canceled orders , but also extend the 14 day ban period.
Why alternate orders?
When I was trying to get my orders completed and all got cancelled, I got to talk to some kind of manager from India . He explained that I was not going to be able to input an order for 14 days because the system will cancel the orders. At that time The order was for a personal GC. But he told me to try in 8 days with a business GC, It would go through. So I concluded the two kinds of GC are somewhat independent, I don’t know how much. Also, I alternate CC to avoid suspicious activity. Since I do that, I never had problems again.
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Has anyone had issues yet with churning ~$3000-$5000 every two weeks on the Barclay card with this? As in, shutdowns or financial reviews from either Barclay or AMEX?
Also, what do you recommend at the preferred method to liquidate given the change in CVS policy?
I haven’t heard of any such issues. I plan to use the Amex cards to buy $500 Visa gift cards.
AMEX cancelled all 3 biz purchases I tried to make too. Pers ones seem to work just fine.
I’ve had no trouble lately with business cards. It seems to vary tremendously from one person to the next!
AMEX has cancelled my last 3 orders of $3,000 business gift cards. How do you prevent them from cancelling orders?
I’m not sure. Lately I’ve been paying with Amex credit cards in which I’ve enrolled in the Amex Gift Card “Offers for You” (with code SYNCGIFT). Maybe by enrolling in the promo I’ve been more likely to be approved?
@Greg The Frequent Miler, did you purchase the BusinessGC with an Amex Business CC? I spoke to a CR from India and he claims BusinessGC can only be purchased with a Business CC, which doesn’t make sense, because how can they tell?
I’ve used both personal and business Amex credit cards to pay for business gift cards and both have worked.
will barclayboost using arrival card net me 6x for travel minus expenses?
Yes
Do you know how often Befrugal pays out cash back on Amex gift card purchase? Any feedback on this site would be appreciated.
I don’t know