Credit card issuers have all kinds of restrictions when it comes to getting approved for and earning the bonuses on cards. In this post, I’d like to talk about one major restriction for earning the welcome offers on Amex cards, which might not be quite as cut-and-dried as it sounds.
Continue reading: Amex “Once In A Lifetime” Rule For Card Welcome Offers: How Does It Work?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Data point: I've gotten welcome bonuses for the Amex. Plat twice in the last 10 years. Both times were after I'd downgraded to green a couple of times and then re-upped to the Plat. by calling in. I never closed my Amex account for downgrading or upgrading, it's always been by phone. Obviously YMMV.
Very timely article. My spouse just received an offer for the AMEX Delta card. If we apply, this would be the third bonus earned on the card...2016 and 2019. The last one was cancelled in November, 2021. This is the 3-4th person I know who has received this offer after having the card in the past.
Also, I've heard a rumor that the cost of the points is being absorbed by Delta. The argument being that because United has been making a huge push for their CC, we receive almost weekly offers, Delta is trying hard to capture its share of customers. No idea about the validity of that claim, but it certainly has some merit.
Amex sends me a targeted offer for a 125k MR for 15k Biz Gold offer multiple times a year. I've had 4 or 5 at this point. Bless your generosity, Amex - never change
@Ben Schlappig - You know, Amex may have been the first and most notorious to come up with the "once in a lifetime" rule, but other credit card issuers now also have the general rule....but unlike with Amex, there's little known about how the others actually define the length of a so-called "lifetime". How about helping us out with that?
OK, so for Amex, a lifetime is 7 years. How about for Chase? (While Chase used to let you churn cards frequently and predictably, now you can only get the SUB for many Chase cards - you guessed it - "once in a lifetime"...that's true for Sapphire cards and most Ink cards). Other financial institutions probably have their own definitions of a "lifetime". Can you write up and post what a "lifetime" means to Chase and any others that have "lifetime" rules? That would be really useful information for those of us who play the long game...
I get business card offers constantly for cards I already have, but they always say "for your other business."
Same! I feel we all know what’s going on. Amex wants more cards in circulation, I want more points. We both win