Questions and Answers

Hi Ben,

I’m not much of a traveler but I follow you vicariously because you provide invaluable insight into the world of credit cards and points.

I recently got the Amex Gold, mostly because of the limited-edition rose gold metal card (lol) and it came with the standard 25k rewards points after $2k spend in the first 3 months. Then I read one of your articles about how some people are getting 50k points for the same spend. I’ve called Amex twice and both times they say it’s automated and they can’t manually increase the bonus offer. I don’t believe them.

I mentioned that a similar situation had occurred when I got my CSR 3 years ago and Chase happily increased my bonus from 50k to 100k, no questions asked. Amex didn’t care.

I’m firmly in the Chase ecosystem with my CSR and CFU. I got the Amex Gold primarily because of the 4x grocery points. Their lack of flexibility is getting our relationship off on the wrong foot and I’m ready to cancel even though I just got it.

Is Amex being truthful when they say they can’t manually increase my bonus to match other competitive offers out there? Do you have any suggestions how I might persuade them to match 50k?

Thank you and keep up the great work. Happy and safe travels!!

unfortunately i don’t think this can be changed. the signup bonus depends on how you applied for the card or the link you clicked. you only get 50k if you clicked on a targeted link (or specific referral link i believe). I don’t think they can match the targeted bonus if you applied via standard link

How could you have CSR 3 years ago? The card didn’t exist until late 2016. The 100k bonus was a standard bonus, not targeted, and once the 100k bonus is gone, it’s gone. I asked chase and they told me they are not allowed to even discuss the old signup bonus, let alone offer it.