Any site with a list of rewards cards by MCC?

[Ghoshida]

Ok I need to vent.

So I booked a $250 hotel using Priceline. It shows up on my CSP as PLN PRICELINE HOTELS. So far so good, as I got the same merchant two months ago for a $300 transactions, which coded all fine, and got me 2X UR. 

This time, it shows 1X UR. WTH? Checked the transaction details, provided the merchant name and zipcode on the link for Visa MCC, and it shows up as business services. Can a company just change its coding like that? Are they trying to save on taxes? 

I was already a bit mad because I bought some starwood points to top up for a vacation and that didn't code as travel. Could not even locate the vendor on that site, so didn't try bothering Chase. I've sent an SM but don't expect much from it.

What's the course of action? Is there a way to ensure that the merchant brings back the right code? Did others have a similar problem recently, especially with Priceline? 

[Revelate]

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@Ghoshida wrote:

Ok I need to vent.

So I booked a $250 hotel using Priceline. It shows up on my CSP as PLN PRICELINE HOTELS. So far so good, as I got the same merchant two months ago for a $300 transactions, which coded all fine, and got me 2X UR. 

This time, it shows 1X UR. WTH? Checked the transaction details, provided the merchant name and zipcode on the link for Visa MCC, and it shows up as business services. Can a company just change its coding like that? Are they trying to save on taxes? 

I was already a bit mad because I bought some starwood points to top up for a vacation and that didn't code as travel. Could not even locate the vendor on that site, so didn't try bothering Chase. I've sent an SM but don't expect much from it.

What's the course of action? Is there a way to ensure that the merchant brings back the right code? Did others have a similar problem recently, especially with Priceline? 

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Ah: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Who-decides-how-businesses-get-coded/m-p/4087177#U40871...

I'm finding more and more online transactions are getting coded as Business Services or in Amex world Business Services - Internet.  Some oddities like playing with the Visa lookup tool linked earlier, some merchants at the same location had two MCC's associated with them.  Strange.

I'm not sure how it's going to play out as obviously there's some evolution in MCC's over time; really really thinking of picking up the Amex Enhanced Business Gold card now as I'm getting the impression it's more than just my cloud and computer spend which may trigger the bonus structure with how things look by inspection of my own transactions.  Sadly my 70K MR offer expires end of this month and my mortgage theoretically closes a week later.

[Ghoshida]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@Ghoshida wrote:

Ok I need to vent.

So I booked a $250 hotel using Priceline. It shows up on my CSP as PLN PRICELINE HOTELS. So far so good, as I got the same merchant two months ago for a $300 transactions, which coded all fine, and got me 2X UR. 

This time, it shows 1X UR. WTH? Checked the transaction details, provided the merchant name and zipcode on the link for Visa MCC, and it shows up as business services. Can a company just change its coding like that? Are they trying to save on taxes? 

I was already a bit mad because I bought some starwood points to top up for a vacation and that didn't code as travel. Could not even locate the vendor on that site, so didn't try bothering Chase. I've sent an SM but don't expect much from it.

What's the course of action? Is there a way to ensure that the merchant brings back the right code? Did others have a similar problem recently, especially with Priceline? 

---

Ah: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Who-decides-how-businesses-get-coded/m-p/4087177#U40871...

I'm finding more and more online transactions are getting coded as Business Services or in Amex world Business Services - Internet.  Some oddities like playing with the Visa lookup tool linked earlier, some merchants at the same location had two MCC's associated with them.  Strange.

I'm not sure how it's going to play out as obviously there's some evolution in MCC's over time; really really thinking of picking up the Amex Enhanced Business Gold card now as I'm getting the impression it's more than just my cloud and computer spend which may trigger the bonus structure with how things look by inspection of my own transactions.  Sadly my 70K MR offer expires end of this month and my mortgage theoretically closes a week later.

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I'm going to be a conspiracy theorist.

Banks (a la Chase) get customers by luring them into this 2X, 3X etc with the disclaimer that merchants coded as XYZ gets the nX while ABC gets 1X.

Then they go and ask the most heavy hitting merchants to change their coding in exchange for a cut, which it seems is pretty easy to do. 

Voila! Banks don't need to pay nX anymore, just 1X. 

Whatever the Banks save, Visa (or MC) also gets a cut from it so they happily let the merchant go along and change MCCs.

The customer gets a classic bait-and-switch.

Of late, this is happening to me a lot.

Went to Seattle, took the Duck Tour, the ticket got coded as travel. Paid for the photo, got coded as something else.

Buy Sheraton stay, probably get coded as travel. Buy Sheraton points from the same site, get coded as completely different. 

Buy bus ticket at city office, get coded as travel. Buy the same ticket on online app, get zilch. (Ok, 1X)

I might just use my new Venture for everything (whenever it comes) and keep the CSP only as a point trasnferring mechanism for the Freedom (30k UR points in a year valued at even 1.5cpp will give me $450, $150 more than Freedom's 1cpp, and thus will cover CSP's annual fee.) Less headache that way.