Amex Reward Dollars

[CEOriginal]

SnackTrader,

I'm confused now. If you have statement credit, but still have to make payment from your bank account, then what's the point of the credits. Do they apply to the following month? How long before do they take effect? What exactly are the statement credits for?

So many questions!!!!!!!! Hahahah

[SnackTrader]

It works like this for all cards. Rewards count towards reducing our balance because they are a statement credit. However, earning rewards dollars does not represent the borrower's ability to pay, so the rewards redemption doesn't count towards the minimum payment that tells the lender the person has enough money to pay their bills.

Think of it this way, all you would have to do with a BCP is hold onto the $150 signup bonus and use it towards a $25 minimum payment every month for 6 months. That way you just charged a ton of money, and made minimum payments without ever reducing the amount in your bank account. Therefore, it doesn't work this way. You can redeem rewards for statement credits all you want, you still need to make a minimum payment every month you use the card.

[Creditaddict]

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@SnackTrader wrote:
It works like this for all cards. Rewards count towards reducing our balance because they are a statement credit. However, earning rewards dollars does not represent the borrower's ability to pay, so the rewards redemption doesn't count towards the minimum payment that tells the lender the person has enough money to pay their bills.

Think of it this way, all you would have to do with a BCP is hold onto the $150 signup bonus and use it towards a $25 minimum payment every month for 6 months. That way you just charged a ton of money, and made minimum payments without ever reducing the amount in your bank account. Therefore, it doesn't work this way. You can redeem rewards for statement credits all you want, you still need to make a minimum payment every month you use the card.

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I think you should test this... The statement credit with Amex I think is a little different... Cash in for your total due and see what happens.  worse case you do have to pay and then request a refund but I think it will count.

[SnackTrader]

If it does work differently (need others to verify because my Amex closed with $0 balance) it is because they wait a billing cycle to post reward balances so that rewards obtained for spending in month A can't be used until month B.

CapOne and Barclays work in the way I previously described. But their rewards post immediately.

[Open123]

For the BCP, rewards become available after a payment has been made. 

Once accrued, they can be used as a cash redemption at any time.  If you had $100 points available with a new balance of $35, can you apply it to the balance instead of paying? This, I'm not sure.

[Mailak]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

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@SnackTrader wrote:
It works like this for all cards. Rewards count towards reducing our balance because they are a statement credit. However, earning rewards dollars does not represent the borrower's ability to pay, so the rewards redemption doesn't count towards the minimum payment that tells the lender the person has enough money to pay their bills.

Think of it this way, all you would have to do with a BCP is hold onto the $150 signup bonus and use it towards a $25 minimum payment every month for 6 months. That way you just charged a ton of money, and made minimum payments without ever reducing the amount in your bank account. Therefore, it doesn't work this way. You can redeem rewards for statement credits all you want, you still need to make a minimum payment every month you use the card.

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I think you should test this... The statement credit with Amex I think is a little different... Cash in for your total due and see what happens.  worse case you do have to pay and then request a refund but I think it will count.

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I am testing this. I put in for a $75 statement credit. I owe those $75 in AF. I will see if my minimum due payment comes down. I'm already set up for automatic payment of minimum amount due. If the statement credit doesn't "count", the minimum shouldn't change and they should take the minimum out from my bank account. I hope this protects me from anything being late. So, at worse, I think I should end up with a negative balance, if the statement credit doesn't "count."

[HiLine]

Doesn't the automatic payment get canceled if you make a payment in excess of the amount you signed up for?

[indiolatino61]

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@Mailak wrote:

What's the best use for Amex Reward Dollars - can their value be enhanced through gift cards or something else? I know I have seen that with Discover but not on Amex. Just wanted to check if I had missed something - not sure I found anything on the forum either.

If I use them as statement credit, will they apply immediately? Will it count towards the montly payment? I only have a $75 payment due, which is the Annual Fee in its entirety - was wondering if it was safe to take a $75 statement credit and if that'll cancel out the entire payment for sure.

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I can't think of anything of more value than applying the reward dollars towards your payment. If anyone lists something better, I will most definitely give it a try.

[Mailak]

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@HiLine wrote:

Doesn't the automatic payment get canceled if you make a payment in excess of the amount you signed up for?

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Yes, it would get cancelled. But SnackTrader says that the statement credit would not apply towards the minimum payment / fees (and the entire balance consist only of the AF). So, if what SnackTrader contends is true, then it wouldn't get canceled. Otherwise, it would apply and the minimum payment would come down to zero and the automatic payment would be canceled.

I'll watch what happens and report here! :-)

[withaspark]

@SnackTrader is correct--speaking from experience. A few months ago I tried to PIF before the statement cut but my wife made a small charge at the end of the cycle; I redeemed $50 in cash back (had a negative balance) and still had to pay the couple dollar minimum payment (the amount she spent). However, if you get the cashback applied before the statement cuts, that will reduce your minimum payment but will not count towards your next months minimum payment. If that makes sense.

Regarding getting your cashback the next payment after the statement in which it was earned cuts, I have yet to get cashback rewards to post any faster than the statement after the earning statement; so it requires both having made the minimum payment and the close of the following statement period, whichever comes last. I PIF almost always and I still won't get the cashback reward to post until the following statement closes--even with no balance. AMEX does not post points once earned like US Bank, Chase, Barclays, Bank of America, etc.; they wait until the end of the following statement period...which makes it much harder to check them.