How to get the most out of Amex BCE?

[expatCanuck]

The only additional 'benefit' that I receive from the BCE (which I use only for groceries and regret applying for) is an additional 10K in aggregate CL (tho' I haven't requested a CLI yet).

Except when our son visits, our grocery bill doesn't justify the BCP AF.

[wasCB14]

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wrote:

The BCE gets you a free membership with ShopRunner,  which gives you free 2 day shipping and free returns at "hundreds of stores". Hey, it's a free perk, amazon makes you pay an annual fee for free 2 day shipping lol.

Also apparently there's something called American Express Presales which seems to have to do with getting tickets to events and what not early, and is only available to Amex card holders, including the BCE.  There's also a thing called Entertainment Access, which looks pretty similar tbh.

And if you're looking to buy a car, there's the American Express Auto Purchasing Program. The long and short of it is it could get you a discount on a new car, but the details are in the BCE terms & conditions.

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ShopRunner comes on some MCs now....might just be WMCs or WEMCs, don't recall. Anyway, it's not what it once was as several merchants have added dollar minimums to use it.

There's the usual Amex stuff...good return/purchase protection, dispute resolution, etc.

[Gregory1776]

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Aside from plain grocery, gift cards that code as grocery & easy 3x cli there's not much more to get out of them.

We spend a crap ton of groceries having a toddler & the two of us, so combined with a local stores 5% discount for registering with your student ID and sales/coupons we get anywhere from 8-20+% and that makes it useful despite the stupid redemption process and restrictions.

Initially I thought I'd load gift cards up max my earning rate until I realized the extra % in doing so is arguably trivial at best and not worth the effort or risk of looking like manufactured spend to Amex. My Amex blue is solely used at trader Joe's, Harris Teeter or whatever random grocery store I happen to visit.

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6% back for gift cards doesn’t count, its in the terms... i was sad too 😟😟😟

[Gregory1776]

BCP and BCE do not give you 6% or 3% on gift cards at grocery stores. 

[Anonymous]

I spend a few hundred on gift cards every year. Buy them at the grocery store I have always received the 6% and the purchase codes as groceries.

[Gregory1776]

Blue Cash Preferred® Cash Back | Card Benefits | American Express

[Gregory1776]

BCP

[Anonymous]

Amex can't see my receipt, how would they know if it's a gift card or bread I purchased?

[Gregory1776]

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I spend a few hundred on gift cards every year. Buy them at the grocery store I have always received the 6% and the purchase codes as groceries.

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That’s odd! I’m going to have to buy a couple App Store gift cards, during one statement and let it cut as the only purchase, check and see if I get the 6%. I seriously couldn’t know how they would know if your purchasing a gift card or jelly and gift cards.

[Gregory1776]

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wrote:
Amex can't see my receipt, how would they know if it's a gift card or bread I purchased?

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Exactly, perhaps we should get a group of people whom would like to test this out during a statement....🤔🤔