topic Re: questions about Amex PRG in Credit Cards

questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 19:58:52 GMT

Hello everyone

I recently got a mailer with a code and invitation to apply for Amex Prg with 50k mr points if 2000$ is spent in the first three months . I have a possible trip coming up in early 2017 and i could use 500$ for a newyork trip . So i did more research and tried prequalify offers through incognito chrome window and this time i got same PRG 50K offer but for just 1000$ initial spend. i took this offer and got approved.

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance?

second question is after 6 months if i apply and get approved for everyday card ,can i transform Mr points from Prg to everyday and close PRG since i dont want to pay annual fee?

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this? .

I am just trying to maximize what i can get from this card. i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY . Please share your experience with this card. Thanks!

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 23:27:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone

I recently got a mailer with a code and invitation to apply for Amex Prg with 50k mr points if 2000$ is spent in the first three months . I have a possible trip coming up in early 2017 and i could use 500$ for a newyork trip . So i did more research and tried prequalify offers through incognito chrome window and this time i got same PRG 50K offer but for just 1000$ initial spend. i took this offer and got approved.

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance?

second question is after 6 months if i apply and get approved for everyday card ,can i transform Mr points from Prg to everyday and close PRG since i dont want to pay annual fee?

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this? .
I am just trying to maximize what i can get from this card. i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY . Please share your experience with this card. Thanks!

You don't want to pay a $195 annual fee on a card that gives you a $100 airline fee credit, free room upgrades, free hotel credits per stay, plus free roadside assistance, and a really good rewards program? I'll strongly advise against that but you do whatever makes you happy.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:22:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone

I recently got a mailer with a code and invitation to apply for Amex Prg with 50k mr points if 2000$ is spent in the first three months . I have a possible trip coming up in early 2017 and i could use 500$ for a newyork trip . So i did more research and tried prequalify offers through incognito chrome window and this time i got same PRG 50K offer but for just 1000$ initial spend. i took this offer and got approved.

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance? no it wont be a cash advance. you can do $1000/mo from amex, this also wont earn u MR points but will count towards your min spend

second question is after 6 months if i apply and get approved for everyday card try to get a 25k offer either wait for targeted or VPN ,can i transform Mr points from Prg to everyday and close PRG since i dont want to pay annual fee? your mr accounts will be the same and combined. you will get $100 now and $100 after jan1 in travel credits. FYI starting september 1st, you only have 30 days to get your annual fee refunded. and also at least in my experience they can be good with retention offers. I was offered either 5k mrs now and 5k mrs after spending 500 in 60 days, or 75 now and 50 after spending 500 in 60 days. Plus the amex offers are great especially if you have multiple cards. Just make sure you have each card pulled up in separate tabs before adding the offer. Right now they have 25 off 25 on hulu which is amazing!

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this? . I havent but yes it works, in increments of 50.
I am just trying to maximize what i can get from this card. i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY . Please share your experience with this card. Thanks! flying blue is usually the best transfer partner for flights, such as 30k miles for r/t to hawaii even from the east coast, and it flys on delta, vs the 45k price direct thru delta.

cancelling this card in 6 months is not going to look good. i do not advise that. especially if you stumble upon a 100k plat offer and a 25k ED offer!

Re: questions about Amex PRG

UncleB — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:41:10 GMT

Good into so far... I'll just mention that many folks have had their Serve accounts shut down from loading with a credit card to pay bills, so I would only do this as a last resort and if you're not worried about keeping the Serve long term.

You might get away with it to make your PRG spend requirement, but after that I would personally tread lightly. In your case the spend to get the 50k MR points is only $1k, so I would probably avoid funding Serve altogether.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:51:15 GMT

I also don't understand the OP's logic of having to load a serve card to pay bills in order to reach 1k spend. Just use your card on your merchant's website and use the card at the grocery store and everyday purchases like you should be, and 1k should easily be accomplished in less than a month's time.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 01:02:25 GMT

You have 3 months to spend a grand. my cell phone and cable bills put together for 3 months is a huge chunk of that. They accept amex, they earn mr points. Now municipalities bill pay almost never take amex, i get that. You also don't want to do some risky moves with a brand new card. A long-standing member loading a serve account up is not going to look the same.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 01:35:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone

I recently got a mailer with a code and invitation to apply for Amex Prg with 50k mr points if 2000$ is spent in the first three months . I have a possible trip coming up in early 2017 and i could use 500$ for a newyork trip . So i did more research and tried prequalify offers through incognito chrome window and this time i got same PRG 50K offer but for just 1000$ initial spend. i took this offer and got approved.

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance? no it wont be a cash advance. you can do $1000/mo from amex, this also wont earn u MR points but will count towards your min spend

second question is after 6 months if i apply and get approved for everyday card try to get a 25k offer either wait for targeted or VPN ,can i transform Mr points from Prg to everyday and close PRG since i dont want to pay annual fee? your mr accounts will be the same and combined. you will get $100 now and $100 after jan1 in travel credits. FYI starting september 1st, you only have 30 days to get your annual fee refunded. and also at least in my experience they can be good with retention offers. I was offered either 5k mrs now and 5k mrs after spending 500 in 60 days, or 75 now and 50 after spending 500 in 60 days. Plus the amex offers are great especially if you have multiple cards. Just make sure you have each card pulled up in separate tabs before adding the offer. Right now they have 25 off 25 on hulu which is amazing!

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this? . I havent but yes it works, in increments of 50.
I am just trying to maximize what i can get from this card. i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY . Please share your experience with this card. Thanks! flying blue is usually the best transfer partner for flights, such as 30k miles for r/t to hawaii even from the east coast, and it flys on delta, vs the 45k price direct thru delta.
cancelling this card in 6 months is not going to look good. i do not advise that. especially if you stumble upon a 100k plat offer and a 25k ED offer!

I resemble that!! hahaha

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 12:04:35 GMT

Thanks every one for your inputs. I agree with some suggestions here that its not worth taking risk with serve account loading etc. i dont want a FR from amex. i guess i will just use amex for everyday expenses and meet the minimum spend. right now im using discover and quick silver for all my expenses like rent, utilities etc for rewards. i can use amex for a while instead of them. btw i tried purchasing amazon gift card with mileage plus x app from united , amex processed the transaction no problem , but got some error from united mpx app. did some research and found out that i have to wait for a week after i create a new account with mileage plus programme before purchasing anything through them. there is 1$ pending charges on amex for this failed transaction which probably wont post. but after 7 days i can buy up to 100$ amazon gc via this app and it will be coded as united airlines expenses as it is showing on my pending charges & will be reimbursed. i will probably wait right before the annual fee hits to close this card . i really dont want to pay af. i want the 500$ tickets to ny like i said. i probably will apply for everyday after 10 months or so.

im glad that amex provides experian fico 8 . i have transunion fico 8 and bankard equifax fico from synchrony and citi . i was wondering if there is any card that provides equifax fico 8? thanks for your inputs again. please keep it coming

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 22:56:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks every one for your inputs. I agree with some suggestions here that its not worth taking risk with serve account loading etc. i dont want a FR from amex. i guess i will just use amex for everyday expenses and meet the minimum spend. right now im using discover and quick silver for all my expenses like rent, utilities etc for rewards. i can use amex for a while instead of them. btw i tried purchasing amazon gift card with mileage plus x app from united , amex processed the transaction no problem , but got some error from united mpx app. did some research and found out that i have to wait for a week after i create a new account with mileage plus programme before purchasing anything through them. there is 1$ pending charges on amex for this failed transaction which probably wont post. but after 7 days i can buy up to 100$ amazon gc via this app and it will be coded as united airlines expenses as it is showing on my pending charges & will be reimbursed. i will probably wait right before the annual fee hits to close this card . i really dont want to pay af. i want the 500$ tickets to ny like i said. i probably will apply for everyday after 10 months or so.

im glad that amex provides experian fico 8 . i have transunion fico 8 and bankard equifax fico from synchrony and citi . i was wondering if there is any card that provides equifax fico 8? thanks for your inputs again. please keep it coming

So you'll pay a $39 annual fee on your Quicksilver One, but won't pay $195 for a card that actually has the annual fee pay for itself and then some... Alrighty then.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Kenny — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 03:28:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks every one for your inputs. I agree with some suggestions here that its not worth taking risk with serve account loading etc. i dont want a FR from amex. i guess i will just use amex for everyday expenses and meet the minimum spend. right now im using discover and quick silver for all my expenses like rent, utilities etc for rewards. i can use amex for a while instead of them. btw i tried purchasing amazon gift card with mileage plus x app from united , amex processed the transaction no problem , but got some error from united mpx app. did some research and found out that i have to wait for a week after i create a new account with mileage plus programme before purchasing anything through them. there is 1$ pending charges on amex for this failed transaction which probably wont post. but after 7 days i can buy up to 100$ amazon gc via this app and it will be coded as united airlines expenses as it is showing on my pending charges & will be reimbursed. i will probably wait right before the annual fee hits to close this card . i really dont want to pay af. i want the 500$ tickets to ny like i said. i probably will apply for everyday after 10 months or so.

im glad that amex provides experian fico 8 . i have transunion fico 8 and bankard equifax fico from synchrony and citi . i was wondering if there is any card that provides equifax fico 8? thanks for your inputs again. please keep it coming
So you'll pay a $39 annual fee on your Quicksilver One, but won't pay $195 for a card that actually has the annual fee pay for itself and then some... Alrighty then.

Everyone has their own journey. Everyone makes their own decisions. No one needs to justify any rationale to you or to me. Live and let live.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 03:56:40 GMT

to whoever assumed that i pay 39$ for quick silver. take a step back dude . dont assume. mine is quick silver master card without any annual fee. i pcd it long back from platinum mc. i dont pay any annual fee , nor interest on any cards. i pay it in full . and yes 195$ annual fee for prg seems a lot to me since i dont fly as much and i dont get frequent benefits as much from it. personally i dont want to pay annual fee for credit cards. i want rewards and maximize what i can get for my purchases

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 04:14:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance?

I can't remember the latest as my serve cards were shutdown (twice!) but I think online loading is limited to $200 a day, $1000 a month. So you have to do several transactions, which, while they won't post as cash advances, might draw too much attention. In theory, using an Amex issued card (rather than just a card on te Amex network) to load Serve allows Amex to see the complete transaction and decicde if they should get annoyed.

ETA: and the transcation won't earn MR points, but will count towards min spend

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 04:23:15 GMT

good points . Thanks for sharing.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 07:04:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
to whoever assumed that i pay 39$ for quick silver. take a step back dude . dont assume. mine is quick silver master card without any annual fee. i pcd it long back from platinum mc. i dont pay any annual fee , nor interest on any cards. i pay it in full . and yes 195$ annual fee for prg seems a lot to me since i dont fly as much and i dont get frequent benefits as much from it. personally i dont want to pay annual fee for credit cards. i want rewards and maximize what i can get for my purchases

It's not really wrong to assume you have a $39 annual fee on a Quicksilver One seeing as that is the card in your profile signature. In fact, it makes sense and is a factual point to assume you're paying an annual fee on it since the card is advertised with the AF, so let's be a little more respectful of others and not tell them to "step back dude." Thank you.

Let us remember I am here to help you and not put you down, and didn't see the logic behind paying an annual fee for one card with zero benefits over a card that has a higher (but not super high) annual fee I think the PRG is a great card and is a keeper. I think many people don't travel enough, and traveling once a year would more than offset the card's annual fee.

What exactly did you PC your QS1 to? The big brother QS is a Visa Signature, not a MasterCard. I'm not following you here.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

UncleB — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 07:21:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
to whoever assumed that i pay 39$ for quick silver. take a step back dude . dont assume. mine is quick silver master card without any annual fee. i pcd it long back from platinum mc. i dont pay any annual fee , nor interest on any cards. i pay it in full . and yes 195$ annual fee for prg seems a lot to me since i dont fly as much and i dont get frequent benefits as much from it. personally i dont want to pay annual fee for credit cards. i want rewards and maximize what i can get for my purchases
It's not really wrong to assume you have a $39 annual fee on a Quicksilver One seeing as that is the card in your profile signature. In fact, it makes sense and is a factual point to assume you're paying an annual fee on it since the card is advertised with the AF, so let's be a little more respectful of others and not tell them to "step back dude." Thank you.

Let us remember I am here to help you and not put you down, and didn't see the logic behind paying an annual fee for one card with zero benefits over a card that has a higher (but not super high) annual fee I think the PRG is a great card and is a keeper. I think many people don't travel enough, and traveling once a year would more than offset the card's annual fee.

What exactly did you PC your QS1 to? The big brother QS is a Visa Signature, not a MasterCard. I'm not following you here.

You can have a Quicksilver that is a MasterCard... I have one myself. You can also have a Quicksilver One that is a Visa, although they are rare.

Also keep in mind that the QS/QS1 cards do have benefits (1.5% cash back) and are a good fit for many (obviously the no-AF QS is preferable).

The PRG is a good match for some, but whether it's AF is high or not is relative (and subjective) and whether somebody travels enough (or not) is also subjective, and is really beyond the scope of the original question.

If the OP has decided that the PRG isn't for him long term, as Kenny mentioned that's the OP's decision to make.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 08:50:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone

I recently got a mailer with a code and invitation to apply for Amex Prg with 50k mr points if 2000$ is spent in the first three months . I have a possible trip coming up in early 2017 and i could use 500$ for a newyork trip . So i did more research and tried prequalify offers through incognito chrome window and this time i got same PRG 50K offer but for just 1000$ initial spend. i took this offer and got approved.

Now my question is about using PRG to load Amex serve to pay car loan stallment & other bills. Has any one tried this and if i use prg to lead serve will it be considered as cash advance?

second question is after 6 months if i apply and get approved for everyday card ,can i transform Mr points from Prg to everyday and close PRG since i dont want to pay annual fee?

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this? .
I am just trying to maximize what i can get from this card. i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY . Please share your experience with this card. Thanks!

The PRG was, in my case, no AF for the first year, so, if you're going to have it, keep it until you get the ED card so that way your MR points don't go POOF!

Chuck the Serve and put your expenses on the PRG.

BTW, The PRG's AF is well worth the expense, IMO...

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:04:38 GMT

' what exactly did you pc your qs1 to'? again. do take a step back and please read what i wrote clearly . i wrote i pcd my capital one platinum master card to qs master card without annual fee.i never even mentioned 'qs1'. my point is , you assumed i am paying an annual fee of 39$ . fine . but your comments were " So you'll pay a $39 annual fee on your Quicksilver One, but won't pay $195 for a card that actually has the annual fee pay for itself and then some... Alrighty then" sounds not so respectful to me. please be respectful and sure i will mirror you back that. btw on my fico you can see there are many many cases of people pc ing there platinum mc to qs mc with no af. so a picture of qs mc does not only mean its an annual fee card. there are other possibilities . 195$ for some of us as annual fee is hefty. so please do read clearly , that way we can communicate clearly without problems. i appreciate all feed back as long as they respectful and understanding of what i actually wrote. have a great day!

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:11:46 GMT

'chuck the serve and put your expenses on Prg'. I agree. this exactly what i am going to do. the more i read ,i am begining to understand serve is not worth the risk. and yes i am planning to keep it until i get ed , i want my free tickets

Re: questions about Amex PRG

takeshi74 — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:16:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

my third and last question is i remember reading an article which says that milage explorer App codes the purchase of a 100$ amazon gift card as airline fee expense and thus i can get reimbursed for that from prg yearly 100$ statement credit for airline fee . has anyone tried this?

Don't overlook prior threads. I think tha'ts an option. I generally use the airline specific AmEx Airline Fee credit threads over on FlyerTalk as they collect data points in one place for each airline though the United gift registry has always worked for me to max out the airline fee credit each year so far.

@Anonymous wrote:
i dont need this card with its hefty annual fee in the long run , i just need it for free tickets to NY .

Hopefully you carefully researched the MR program and calculated what sort of value you can get with the redemption options you can use before applying. All of your questions should have been part of your research prior to applying. Don't just respond to offers. Sort out your needs/wants and use that to find cards that suit you.

@Anonymous wrote:
im glad that amex provides experian fico 8 . i have transunion fico 8 and bankard equifax fico from synchrony and citi . i was wondering if there is any card that provides equifax fico 8? thanks for your inputs again. please keep it coming

Citi provides an EQ FICO 8 Bankcard. It is not the same thing as an EQ FICO 8.

@Anonymous wrote:
and yes 195$ annual fee for prg seems a lot to me since i dont fly as much and i dont get frequent benefits as much from it. personally i dont want to pay annual fee for credit cards. i want rewards and maximize what i can get for my purchases

Always consider and calculate total cost/benefit for your spend. Don't just look at AF's.

Re: questions about Amex PRG

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:27:12 GMT

The PRG just popped up a 65,000 offer for me. 40k after 2k first 3 months then 25k second year first 3 months 2k spend. I have the CF, DC, QS, BCE, Buypower, Discover IT, nfl card (which is worthless for me now) so maybe I should join the garden...I've been lurking for awhile