AMEX offer

[mk-ultra]

18 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Lots of "tricks" to offset $550 annual fee but it's not everyone.

 

Quick tip if you have both a personal AMEX platinum and a corporate AMEX (travel or p-card) provided by your employer.

 

Call AMEX and ask for your personal card to be enrolled in the "Corporate Advantage" program.  Your annual fee for your personal card will be dropped to $400/yr, saving you $150 annually.  You'll still get hit with the $550 annual fee, but $150 will be refunded within 90 days.

Edited October 17, 2020 by mk-ultra

[Essiesmom]

6 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Interesting.  I haven't had the plain old green one for many, many years.  Once upon a time it was free.  I do also have the Hilton one which is free.

Hilton card has fees, depending on which one you opt for.  Hilton Honors card is free, but the Hilton Honors Aspire card is $95 and the Surpass card is more.  EM

[Essiesmom]

21 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Hilton card has fees, depending on which one you opt for.  Hilton Honors card is free, but the Hilton Honors Aspire card is $95 and the Surpass card is more.  EM

Need to amend this:  I have the surpass card, which is $95.  When I got it, it was Surpass, then they changed it to Aspire, then back to Surpass.  As[ire card is $450.  EM

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

Need to amend this:  I have the surpass card, which is $95.  When I got it, it was Surpass, then they changed it to Aspire, then back to Surpass.  As[ire card is $450.  EM

Accurate and it should probably include the card benefits; aspire card gives you the top Hilton status of diamond

[Dsciorti]

On 10/16/2020 at 6:36 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Lots of "tricks" to offset $550 annual fee but it's not everyone.

1) $200 Uber credit, you simply have to ulitize the uber credit, if you don't, it's difficult to justify keeping this card.

2) $50/6 month Saks credit, assuming you don't shop there, every six months you buy a $50 physical gift card at a physical location.  You can then sell them on gift card resellers, usually in the range of $35-$40 per $50 GC.

3) $200 incidental credit, each airline is different and can have different credit triggers; often the a trigger is paying for airfare with the AMEX Plat for under $100 and paying the rest with another credit card.

4) TEMP $20/mo cell phone and $20/mo steaming service credit, should help offset the airfare credit for those who don't credit

5) Offers, often can save money on AMEX offers; with that being said, perhaps you can receive the same offers on another AMEX with a lower annual fee

6) Bonus 1, there's value to all the perks you receive including AMEX, Delta, priority priority pass, (etc) lounge access.  Status at hilton, bonvoy, Hertz and Uber VIP; should be noted that many hotel chains will match to hilton/bonvoy status yet if they do often it's an one time offer

 

In summary, the AMEX can certainly pay for itself with minimal effort yet I hold both the CSR and the AMEX Plat.

I have a positive value on my Platinum, Gold and Delta Platinum. So all very good points.  

[Dsciorti]

On 10/16/2020 at 3:09 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I haven't seen any such offer on my AmEx Platinum card.  Maybe I should just quit paying a premium for that and get the freebie green one!

 

Check both online and in the app. Also if you have more than 100 offers you might have to add some to see extra ones. As well if you have an authorized user check their offers. Both my husband and I got the offer so we are going to make two separate payments. 

[Alabaster Cruiser]

We have used these offers on previous cruises with other lines.  At present we have several cruises booked with Celebrity but no outstanding balances to use it on final payments.  We do have several without the drink packages.  Does prepayment for drink packages reflect as a Celebrity charge that would be eligible?  This as worked with other lines.

 

[wrk2cruise]

It had worked on Celebrity when they did this previously.   Pretty much any charge which comes up as "Celebrity".  It would be worth at try, if you don't get the credit you could always cancel and pay later.

[gdpups]

I just used it to purchase shore excursions and received an email immediately from AMEX that my transactions qualified and I would receive the bonus, so should also work for beverage package purchases.

[islandgirlejfan]

I just checked mine as I have a Gold AMEX and a Blue Cash.  I got spend $500 for a $125 credit with Celebrity on the Gold AMEX....a Norwegian offer is on the Blue Cash.

[Cpamomma]

On 10/16/2020 at 7:26 AM, EvoUSA said:

 

Thanks for this!

 

I see a Celebrity offer for 12,500 bonus Membership Points on my AMEX Platinum for spending $500+ by December 31. I value the points at 1.5 cents each, so that'd be $187.50 in value. And it's pretty easy to redeem for 1 cent each which would put the value at $125, just like your offer.

 

I think I'll use this as an opportunity to put down more money on my Fall 2021 Canada/New England cruise (which I hope happens).

No cruise offers, Celebrity or otherwise. on my other AMEX cards (Hilton Aspire, Delta Gold, Blue Cash Everyday).

Thanks!  I just added it to my AMEX Platinum card.  I had no idea until I saw this.  We are also on the Fall 2021 Canada/New England cruise.  Hope to see you onboard!!!

[EvoUSA]

23 hours ago, Cpamomma said:

Thanks!  I just added it to my AMEX Platinum card.  I had no idea until I saw this.  We are also on the Fall 2021 Canada/New England cruise.  Hope to see you onboard!!!

 

Hope to see you onboard, too!

[drowelf]

On 10/17/2020 at 3:49 PM, Lonedaddy said:

thats alot of travelers checks - the spend is something like 200-300 K for a 12 month period

Can you even get Amex Travellers Cheques anymore? I used to be able at the local AMEX Office, but they have all disappeared, then I switched to my local bank, but they have stopped issuing them too. 

 

I realize they are outmoded, but they were a great way to take a bunch of cash on the cruise, without actually taking the $$$ as they could be cashed at the front desk without any issues. 

 

[HS2BS]

Booked a Princess Cruise for 8/22, and used the $500 offer. Got notification from ae(blue card) that I got the $100 benefit within an hour. The Princess offer expires 12/31/2020.

 

Hal

[wrk2cruise]

Edit:   I guess I found the older Amex offer thread, sorry

 

Well I used my Amex card for my onboard account on Summit for the 11/3 sailing.  When the transactions were posted as pending they were from "Summit OB" when the final transaction was posted as Celebrity Cruises with the Summit OB listed in the description.  It was $505 and didn't qualify.  There was originally a note on the transaction that rewards can take 5-7 days to post, then that message went away and my regular 1% reward showed up.

 

The T&C does specifically say onboard spending doesn't qualify, maybe I'll call just to see.

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by wrk2cruise

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

Edit:   I guess I found the older Amex offer thread, sorry

 

Well I used my Amex card for my onboard account on Summit for the 11/3 sailing.  When the transactions were posted as pending they were from "Summit OB" when the final transaction was posted as Celebrity Cruises with the Summit OB listed in the description.  It was $505 and didn't qualify.  There was originally a note on the transaction that rewards can take 5-7 days to post, then that message went away and my regular 1% reward showed up.

 

The T&C does specifically say onboard spending doesn't qualify, maybe I'll call just to see.

 

Does purchases through the cruise planner pre boarding show up the same way? I have a similar offer for Royal and I'm shy about $50 minimum spend with my final payment due next week. I'm wondering if I purchase something through the cruise planner will it qualify?

 

[jy0ung1]

22 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Does purchases through the cruise planner pre boarding show up the same way? I have a similar offer for Royal and I'm shy about $50 minimum spend with my final payment due next week. I'm wondering if I purchase something through the cruise planner will it qualify?

 

 

[jy0ung1]

It has worked for me to purchase onboard credits prior to sailing with both NCL and Celebrity.  It is a refundable credit.

[graphicguy]

On 10/16/2020 at 9:36 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Lots of "tricks" to offset $550 annual fee but it's not everyone.

1) $200 Uber credit, you simply have to ulitize the uber credit, if you don't, it's difficult to justify keeping this card.

2) $50/6 month Saks credit, assuming you don't shop there, every six months you buy a $50 physical gift card at a physical location.  You can then sell them on gift card resellers, usually in the range of $35-$40 per $50 GC.

3) $200 incidental credit, each airline is different and can have different credit triggers; often the a trigger is paying for airfare with the AMEX Plat for under $100 and paying the rest with another credit card.

4) TEMP $20/mo cell phone and $20/mo steaming service credit, should help offset the airfare credit for those who don't credit

5) Offers, often can save money on AMEX offers; with that being said, perhaps you can receive the same offers on another AMEX with a lower annual fee

6) Bonus 1, there's value to all the perks you receive including AMEX, Delta, priority priority pass, (etc) lounge access.  Status at hilton, bonvoy, Hertz and Uber VIP; should be noted that many hotel chains will match to hilton/bonvoy status yet if they do often it's an one time offer

 

In summary, the AMEX can certainly pay for itself with minimal effort yet I hold both the CSR and the AMEX Plat.

Used to be I used ALL of the perks.  Then again, I racked up about 100,000-150,000 miles/year flying, too.  The Delta, Centurion and Priority Clubs access alone were worth it.  Uber credit was useful, too (although, not so much lately given their unreliability).  TSA fee payment was nice.  Hotel premium access was a nicer perk.

 

But, really cut back on traveling since I retired.  Thinking of downgrading the Platinum to Gold card.

[Kreative03]

Adding to this topic - I had a spend $500 get $150 for Celebrity on my Amex Plat. Just did a MoveUp and it is posted as Celebrity Cruises, so i triggered it and got $150 back from the moveup. Not half bad 🙂

[NutsAboutGolf]

21 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Used to be I used ALL of the perks.  Then again, I racked up about 100,000-150,000 miles/year flying, too.  The Delta, Centurion and Priority Clubs access alone were worth it.  Uber credit was useful, too (although, not so much lately given their unreliability).  TSA fee payment was nice.  Hotel premium access was a nicer perk.

 

But, really cut back on traveling since I retired.  Thinking of downgrading the Platinum to Gold card.

 

A lot of perks changed, $200 fine hotel credit, possible separate $200 airfare credit if bundled with the fine hotel, credits for walmart+ and XM radio and an increased annual fee.  The newest best bang for the buck is the Cap1 Venture + card.

[seabreeze0389]

On 10/17/2020 at 12:47 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

Interesting.  I haven't had the plain old green one for many, many years.  Once upon a time it was free.  I do also have the Hilton one which is free.

Do you have the regular Amex Platinum or the Amex Delta Skymiles Platinum.  I called and was told this offer not valid for the Skymiles Platinum.  😞

[sasset]

I called and the AMEX rep said that many of the offers are targeted to specific cardholders. It was not one the 106 available offers for my platinum card and she couldn't add it to my card.

[crusinthrough]

4 hours ago, seabreeze0389 said:

Do you have the regular Amex Platinum or the Amex Delta Skymiles Platinum.  I called and was told this offer not valid for the Skymiles Platinum.  😞

The offers are usually not on travel cards.

 

2 hours ago, sasset said:

I called and the AMEX rep said that many of the offers are targeted to specific cardholders. It was not one the 106 available offers for my platinum card and she couldn't add it to my card.

You can add current offers so that new ones show up.   It may be one of the new offers. There is usually 100 offers available.  I added 145 offers to my card for the RC offer and never got it.  I am still disappointed 😂.  I was able to get Celebrity, Delta and NCL added.  I would have much rather RC over Delta and NCL.  I won't use either.  

[sasset]

53 minutes ago, crusinthrough said:

The offers are usually not on travel cards.

 

You can add current offers so that new ones show up.   It may be one of the new offers. There is usually 100 offers available.  I added 145 offers to my card for the RC offer and never got it.  I am still disappointed 😂.  I was able to get Celebrity, Delta and NCL added.  I would have much rather RC over Delta and NCL.  I won't use either.  

The AMEX rep looked at my card and said it hadn''t been offered for me to add. I'll try adding a bunch and see if the offers me more.