Question r.e. minimum spending to achieve bonus

[mondo84]

Hey all, like many of you Iike to focus on cards with decent bonuses that match my spending.

I recently opened up Blue Sky with American Express. I can get 30,000 bonus points (worth $400 off travel) if I spend $500 in the first 3 months. In order to reach this safely I'll probably need to do something "extra" since I have been buying groceries on another card with 5% cashback.

I can't think of any gift cards I really need/want. I was wondering if I can do a Paypal transaction to my bank account and charge it through the AmEx - does that qualify? From the terms:

"Qualifying purchaes must appear on a billing statement without being subject to a purchase credit."

Any tips are appreciated for how people reach spending minimums but avoid excessive/unnecessary purchases. Thanks!

[barbaralee]

I would just forego buying groceries on the other card and use the Amex.

[n777ua]

Are you talking about charging through your own PayPal, ie like a round-about cash advance?  A friend of mine did this with his gold card once and his account was immediately closed and he was told he would never be able to open any Amex accounts again...ever.  So....I wouldn't do this.

[mondo84]

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@n777ua wrote:

Are you talking about charging through your own PayPal, ie like a round-about cash advance?  A friend of mine did this with his gold card once and his account was immediately closed and he was told he would never be able to open any Amex accounts again...ever.  So....I wouldn't do this.

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Haha yikes! I thought I could send a payment to a friend or something like that, and he/she would later write me a check. But I'm not sure if these are even "qualifying" purchases. I assume they are not, since it's a cash advance like you said.

This page has some straightforward suggestions: http://www.helpmetravelcheap.com/credit-card-minimum-spend-requirement/

I wonder about the Amazon Payments option...

[drsmith]

So you want to scam a bank out of rewards you don't actually deserve?

I hope you've never complained about banks taking advantage of people, because that would make you a hypocrite. Also if AmEx has reason to suspect you're doing something that they don't approve of, they will most likely submit your accounts to a F/R, and possibly close your accounts. 

[mondo84]

I never said anything about scamming...I'm interested in other, less obvious ways to make qualifying purchases other than direct retail or gift cards. I'm ASKING if certain Paypal transactions or other types of payments qualify. If they don't, then I'm not interested.

Not sure where your anger is coming from...

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@drsmith wrote:

So you want to scam a bank out of rewards you don't actually deserve?

I hope you've never complained about banks taking advantage of people, because that would make you a hypocrite. Also if AmEx has reason to suspect you're doing something that they don't approve of, they will most likely submit your accounts to a F/R, and possibly close your accounts. 

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[drsmith]

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@mondo84 wrote:

I never said anything about scamming...I'm interested in other, less obvious ways to make qualifying purchases other than direct retail or gift cards. I'm ASKING if certain Paypal transactions or other types of payments qualify. If they don't, then I'm not interested.

Not sure where your anger is coming from...

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@drsmith wrote:

So you want to scam a bank out of rewards you don't actually deserve?

I hope you've never complained about banks taking advantage of people, because that would make you a hypocrite. Also if AmEx has reason to suspect you're doing something that they don't approve of, they will most likely submit your accounts to a F/R, and possibly close your accounts. 

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I apologize. Recently there was a thread about coin churning so perhaps that thread was still lingering with me. Just spend your money on the Amex. Buying gift cards, purchases from the mint etc. aren't what credit card companies had in mind when they offered you their reward structure. If your legitimate spending doesn't meet the requirements for the bonus, then you don't meet the requirements for the bonus.

[mondo84]

Fair enough, thanks.

So gift cards don't even count?

[drsmith]

Gift card purchases wouldn't show as a gift card purchase. It would show as a purchase from the store you visited. It just seems like a silly thing to do. If getting the Amex bonus is so important to you, then sock drawer your other cards.

[Walt_K]

http://thepointsguy.com/2011/05/mr-pickles-guest-blog-post-using-big-crumbs-to-get-cash-back-on-cred...

I agree that it would be easiest just to use this card until you hit the $500 spend.  You're getting a lot more rewards for the bonus than the 5% cashback.  But if you're not so inclined, the above link talks about additional ways to hit spend threshholds and save money.  Just remember that he warns that your card could code the purchase of Amex gift cards as a cash advance so start with a test transaction.