Update: It seems Extrabux hasn’t been paying out on Amex gift card purchases, despite what their terms state.
I’ve been getting a lot of comments about my American Express gift card buying habit from readers, who are under the impression that there are no more shopping portals offering cash back on on American Express gift card denominations over $200. There have been so many emails and blog comments, I thought it best to address the topic in a post.
As you all remember, last month the majority of shopping portals began limiting cash back on American Express gift cards to denominations of up to $200. With gift card and shipping fees, this hardly made it worthwhile to keep purchasing them. However, Extrabux continues to pay out cash back on American Express gift cards purchased in denominations of up to $2,000. This means, it’s still worthwhile to incorporate American Express gift cards into your manufactured spending strategy, as it can reduce the cost of acquiring miles significantly.
Not only is Extrabux the only portal still offering 1% cash back on $2,000 Amex gift cards, but for the next two weeks they are also offering two coupon codes:
- FSBUS = Free shipping on business gift cards
- PFWED = 100% off order fee
Using the PFWED coupon code offers the most savings. On a $10,000 order, you will save $19.75 in gift card fees. Liquidating these gift cards via PIN-enabled Visa gift cards will incur the following fees:
- $5.95 – $8.95 American Express gift card shipping fees
- $79 – $119 Visa gift card fees ($3.95 – $5.95 per card)
- $7 Walmart money order fees ($0.70 per $1,000)
Factor in the $100 cash back earned through Extrabux and your total out of pocket cost for 10,000 – 50,000 points will be $34.95 at most, depending on your shipping fees and method of liquidation. Just make sure you do not use a coupon code from a website other than Extrabux. Doing so will disqualify you from earning cash back. Additionally, I recommend taking screenshots throughout the transaction in case it doesn’t get tracked. This way, you can provide proof that you did in fact click through the portal to make your purchase.
If you don’t have an Extrabux account yet, you can earn a $5 reward by using my referral link to join and make a purchase. I will also earn a $5 credit along with 5% of the cash back you earn. This does not come out of your earnings. If you’d like to share your own Extrabux referral links, feel free to do so in the comment section.
Will you incorporate American Express gift cards into your gift card churning strategy while Extrabux continues to offer cash back on large denominations?
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This is a timely post. I’ve been experimenting with various portals to see which still give cash back for Amex gift cards and which do not. In my case, ExtraBuxx initially tracked my order fine for a 9/2 order, but now shows status “Returned” (not true) and $0 pending. I submitted a support ticket.
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Do you have any purchases from around that time that still show pending cash back?
I placed a 4k order through extrabux on 8/31. 2 cards at 2k each non-personalized. The order tracked but shows $0.00 pending cashback. I’ve sent them 4 emails and have yet to hear back from them. Someone on flyertalk placed a similar order at the same time for personalized cards that tracked correctly with correct pending cashback. It shouldn’t matter if they are personalized or not according to the terms but I’m going to stay away from extrabux unless I hear back from them and get the $40 they owe me.
They seem to be overwhelmed with emails lately, so I would try reaching out to them on Twitter. Let me know how it ultimately works out for you.
I have four $10k orders purchased on 8/22 and 8/28 across four Extrabux accounts. All of them are currently showing as pending until 11/20 and 11/26. Hopefully that doesn’t change.
What kind of AGCs are you ordering? Business or personal? Personalized or non-personalized?
Personal cards, non-personalized.
If you are buying 10K in Amex gift cards, how are you getting 10K to 50K points?
It depends on which credit card you use. Most of them pay out 1 point per $1, but the Club Carlson Rewards Visa Business Card and Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature both pay out 5 points per $1 on all spending. Thus, a $10k order can generate up to 50k Club Carlson points.
Any experience purchasing AGC to meet minimum spending requirements for Starwood biz AMEX and Starwood Personal amex? My cash advance in $0, but I was wondering if it will qualify for minimum spend requirements… thanks
I don’t think I used AGC’s to meet the spend on my SPG cards, but by all accounts it still works despite what the terms state.
I’ve been using Extrabux to get cash back on Amex Gift Cards. I’ve ordered a total of 3 $2000 gift cards so far. The first two were in a combined order, and it was showing $0 cash back on a $4000 order. I e-mailed Extrabux after 7 days with the order information, and they put in a “Pending and unconfirmed” $40 cash back. I placed another order for 1 $2000 gift card. I got the same $0 cash back. I plan to e-mail them about this error too. Even though they claim that you get 1% cash back, I have a feeling that in order to get it, we will really have to fight for it. I’m not sure if it’s really worth it with the risk of not getting the cash back and the fighting with Extrabux to get it. They don’t seem as reliable as other cash back portals.
I would hold off on placing any new orders if that’s the experience you’re having. A few people have now informed me they’re having issues with tracking and getting a response from Extrabux. My orders are still showing up as pending until November, so hopefully that doesn’t revert to “returned” as some people have reported. Be sure to let us know what happens with the orders you’ve placed.
I agree about Extrabux not seeming as reliable. I emailed customer support more than 24 hours ago to inquire if indeed its posted T&Cs on $200+ denominations are still accurate and if these coupon codes will invalidate cashback. I’ve yet to receive a reply. Befrugal, by contrast, which has excellent customer service, replies promptly.
I strongly suspect that ACG is dead for MS purposes. On 9/2 I made AGC purchases via Shopathome (who doesn’t have any restrictions for AGC purchases). All my purchases were tracked correctly, but after 10 days a CB was reversed. Shopathome replied to my request, that store (Amex) took back a credit from them for my purchases, so Shopathome adjusted my CB as well.
Since there is coupon code for 100% off the order fee would it not be safer to just order a bunch of $200 gift cards? They would obviously be harder to liquidate but if you’re trying to reach a minimum spend it seems like a good option.
That’s an interesting idea though at that rate I wouldn’t bother. It’s going to be pretty time consuming liquidating 50 gift cards in $200 denominations. I already get enough strange looks at CVS when I pulls out two AGC’s to pay for my Visa/MC gift cards.
Not sure why you included _both_ VISA GC and Walmart money orders to liquidate teh AMEX GC’s. Perhaps you meant to say that only one of the 2 are to be used?
I included Walmart money orders because if you’ve maxed out your Redbirds, you’ll need another option for unloading your Visa gc’s. Including MO’s in the equation also gives a more comprehensive view of the maximum amount you’ll spend liquidating AGC’s.
I also purchased $4k in personalized business AGC’s which initially showed the cashback on 9/7 but is now showing $0 with a status of returned. I emailed EB and I’m waiting for a reply back as well.
Extrabux has been terrible to deal with-3 family members placed orders, all for cards that are’eligible’ for cash back- none show any cash back, and Extrabux can’t decide what they want for documentation-sent in screen shot and they refused, sent in an attachment and they refused. I recommend NOT dealing with them at all-
the promo codes are not working for me. trying to buy 3 $2k custom business cards
Stay away from Extrabux… they screw me out of a totally legit $1500+ Home Depot order… totally shady… I’ve used 6 different portals for various orders, Extrabux is the only one I absolutely refuse to do business with. I’d be willing to wager money that they end up paying out 0% due to the new $200 limit… AGC is dead, simple as that, and Extrabux sure ain’t going to be stepping up just because they’re being extra slow to update their T&C like everybody else.
Clicking through from Extrabux I find the highest denomination of AGC to be $200.
You can get around this by logging into your Amex card first. However, Extarbux hasn’t been paying out on these orders lately (see today’s post), so I would avoid it.