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Hey Y'all,
I have been gardening for about 8 months and will be looking to apply for a BCP at the end of Jan of 2013, mainly waiting for my inquiries to drop off. I was just browsing the AMEX site and there seems to be 'reviews' for the BCE/BCP. This is surprising because about a week or two ago there were no reviews for both cards. Well, my curiosity got the best of me and I began to read a few, but the more I read the less appealing the BCP looked.
It seems that some card members are stating that there are limits to the rewards you can receive, some stating that only $6,000 will be applied for the 6% groceries cash back bonus. After reading the above I began to panic, my dream card was slowly being knocked down off its pedestal. I was under the impression that there is an unlimited cash back on the BCP. One hour later, with the help of Google, I was still unable to find a definite answer to whether or not there is a limit to the BCE/BCP.
So I ask all the sages of myFICO for assistance in this rather unfortunate predicament....
Its true. The first 6,000 in groceries on the bcp earn 6%, but all grocery purchases thereafter earn only 1%.
The same cap is in place for the bce as well- 3% on the first 6k and 1 % thereafter
This was never the case before but was implemented within the last month or so
Just wanted to add- I got a notice with my last statement that said the changes would take effect on January 15th,2013
That is very unfortunate I hope this is not the end of 'unlimited' rewards... The BCP was a great card, I guess I will have to really study up on my cards.
As I said only a few days ago the last time this got brought up:
"the only people AmEx BCP has actually "worsened" for are the ones spending more than $6k per year on groceries. For everyone else, the value proposition of the card remains the same - if you're earning enough from it to justify the annual fee, hooray! Life goes on, and your card still rocks.
If you're not earning enough to justify that annual fee, the Discover is one worth looking at. Know where your money is going, and it's easy to choose among the various 5%+ cards like Citi Forward, Discover More, Chase Freedom, AmEx Blue Cash Preferred, etc."
You still get unlimited rewards in all the other categories; it's only groceries that is limited. Yes, it's a limit on a card that was previously totally unlimited, but it's a pretty high limit. The sky is not falling, and it's still one of the best rewards cards out there,
It was to prevent gift card buying.
$500 per month on groceries at 6% back is still pretty good.
$600 per year for groceries is not enough to cover my grocery bill. I have a household of 5 with two teenagers and live in a major metro area with higher prices. I have BCP and will be impacted by the change. My plan is to use Discover when it has grocery month, use Freedom during its 5% quarter. We have 2 discovers, mine and DH's so we will get a double punch then.
When I reach the cap, I will use a card with 2% back instead of the 1% back. I find 1% to be an insult. It is a grocery cash back card with an AF that will now net me way below the 6% when you calculate in the AF.
for a single person $6000 should suffice as most people do quite a bit of shopping at super walmart and targets these days as well, and if you have a family you can always get your wife or husband to get one of their own as well. Also remember if you have a good card like Discover more, Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend they have 5% cash back on groceries atleast for 1 quarter usually. So just switch it out with those then and you should be fine.
Also remember if you catch Freedom grocery quarter + checking + sapphire you'll get 10 points more per swipe then 5% back + 20% extra used for travel so that's potentially little over 6% as well. It sucks but too many people were abusing giftcard buying.
Although a CSR told me if you get the card before January you'll have unlimited 6% for 1 full year until the annual fee is accessed.
@distantarray wrote:for a single person $6000 should suffice as most people do quite a bit of shopping at super walmart and targets these days as well, and if you have a family you can always get your wife or husband to get one of their own as well. Also remember if you have a good card like Discover more, Chase Freedom, Citi Dividend they have 5% cash back on groceries atleast for 1 quarter usually. So just switch it out with those then and you should be fine.
Also remember if you catch Freedom grocery quarter + checking + sapphire you'll get 10 points more per swipe then 5% back + 20% extra used for travel so that's potentially little over 6% as well. It sucks but too many people were abusing giftcard buying.
Although a CSR told me if you get the card before January you'll have unlimited 6% for 1 full year until the annual fee is accessed.
That is very good news, I will try to jump on that. I have both Chase Freedom and Discover More, so I should be in good hands. I hope Amex dosen't mind losing a bit of profit from me .
@Anonymous wrote:
@distantarray wrote:
Although a CSR told me if you get the card before January you'll have unlimited 6% for 1 full year until the annual fee is accessed.
That is very good news, I will try to jump on that. I have both Chase Freedom and Discover More, so I should be in good hands. I hope Amex dosen't mind losing a bit of profit from me .
Also remember that Chase Freedom + Chase Checking + Chase Sapphire if you have all 3 it'll get you more points than BCE for grocery months =)
10 points per transaction + 5% grocery + 20% more for travel with sapphire = 6% + 10 points per transaction