I never receive the target offer of 50,000 sign-up bonus points from American Express. My hypothesis is that my profile is not in their radar because of lack of American Express membership reward history. My FICO score is excellent (+750). My holding of regular American Express reward cards (SPG, Costco, Blue, Hilton) does not seem to help either. I decided to apply for the 25,000 sign-up bonus points from American Express Premier Rewards Gold card, with first year $125 membership fee waived, to get inside the AMEX radar. I plan to be an excellent card member.
In anticipation of much higher spending for upcoming Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas, I would like to apply a couple more credit cards with sign-up bonuses, particularly American Express membership rewards. It is time to experience and enjoy about the famous American Express membership Rewards Program.
After I signed in with my American Express online account, the follow screen showed,
You have been identified as a current American Express Cardmember. You may have seen an offer advertised for this product previously, but the offer is not available to current American Express Card members.
Applying for a new card is not desirable unless its sign-up bonus is guaranteed. Another risk is that this application would be my 14th personal credit card within the last 24 months, starting to feeling uneasy about too many credit card applications.
I decided to call American Express to find out.
Apply credit card via phone: 1.800.243.3888 (24/7)
Customer care phone number: 1.800.528.4800 (24/7).
I believed I asked the customer support at least four times, "am I eligible for the 25,000 sign-up bonus?" Each time she confirmed "yes", so it was not a slip of her tongue. She offered to help me to apply via the phone which guarantees the 25,000 sign-up bonus. After about 15 minutes conversation, the card was approved over the phone.
I received the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card in 5 days (they FedEXed the package). Then, I called customer support again. They said my account on their side automatically showed a message, "eligible for 25,000 sign-up bonus"
25,000 sign-up bonus is real. A plus on my 14th credit card. (I actually applied three more and approved.)
Update: Nov 15, 2013
This is the first time I receive an email promotion from American Express regarding Gold Card. Guess my profile is successfully in their radar now.
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