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My Potential 100k point mistake
Earlier in the year I signed up for the American Express Hilton Surpass 100k offer. It was a 100k bonus HHonors after $3k spend and the annual fee wasn’t waived. AHHHHH the annual fee wasn’t waived…this is a big thing to remember because I had been tracking my payments. This was an extremely busy time during the year for me: I was filming a movie, traveling constantly, and also in the process of moving and completing a renovation. It was hectic. A little brainfart may have cost me 100k bonus points. This the story of my potential Amex 100k point mistake!
I contacted Amex in September to ask about the points
I had an extensive discussion with them via online chat in regards to the offer and it was THEN that I realized what I had done. The mistake I made was that I had counted the annual fee in my spend – I was $30 short of $3k. This is clearly stated in the terms and is consistent across the board, but I just forgot to exclude it. I applied in April, hit the $3k in early July, and kept looking for the bonus points. I couldn’t believe it – I knew the terms and it was my fault. The rep could not have been nicer. He submitted a claim and told me that if it were up to him he would just give me the points, but his hands were tied because of the offer terms.
It’s December and I’ve never heard a response – so I called.
After 40 mins on the phone and providing my Application Reference number I was given a Marketing Case ID Number. If this ever happens to you, please write both of these down. If I didn’t have my application reference number I would never have gotten this far. I spent 40 mins on the phone speaking to a rep and she said there was no bonus offer ever associated with my account!!!OMG!!!! What was happening – things were getting worse! BUT THEN I REMEMBERED I HAD MY APP REF #. It wasn’t until after the I provided the Application Reference number that she located it. PHEW! She said there were no updates. I asked if I could speak with Marketing. Nope. Ok. I thanked her for her time and she wished me luck.
HUCA, BABY, HUCA
Yep, I HUCA’d. I explained the situation and provided the case ID. This rep was also able to pull up the online chat I had back in September and could see the claim had been filed with marketing. He put me on hold for 10 minutes. He came back with the same news! NO UPDATES. ARGH!!!!! I asked him if there was any way of speaking with marketing, and got the same response. He did, however, say he would speak to his manager. BACK ON HOLD.
He came back 5 minutes later and said I should have a response by Friday as they put an extra note on it. He said he really hoped they honored the points. I also mentioned that I’d like it to mention on the account that I realized that it was my error, but was hoping that my long history with Amex ( over 14 years now ) and how much I valued our relationship would convince to overlook the error and award me the points. He told me not to worry and people make mistakes – again a super nice rep.
I’ll let you know how it ends – but fingers crossed.
Annual fees never count towards a spend requirement. I was silly enough not even think to look for it, just to pay attention to my cumulative spend. I’ve been accustomed to fees being waived the first year, unless it’s a $450 super premium card, that I just didn’t think twice about it. I saw the cumulative spend over $3k and stopped spending on it. I had a lot on my plate and made a mistake. I’m really hoping that my history with Amex and the spend I consistently put on other cards is enough for them to do me this solid. But we shall see.
Hopefully this will be a lesson to every one reading this! My potential loss is your gain.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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