This has a nine-page thread on Flyertalk already, so it may be destined for a short life, but here it is: according to multiple FT posters, who picked up on it from the MyFico forums, it’s still possible to get the old Amex Blue card, the one which gave 5% on gas, groceries, and drugstores after your first $6,500 in annual spend. Go to this link in anonymous browsing mode and voila!
Happy new year, folks! Here’s to a great 2014.
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Got the application and it went through, thanks! I think you meant “for your first $6,500”, not “after your first $6,500”.
Happy new year!
Some friends of mine say they got the 5% blue by converting an SPG over the phone
Bingo! Thanks, and happy new year! I watch FT but it’s hard to catch everything.
Nope, it’s correct. It is 1% at the everyday spend categories until you hit $6500, then it jumps to 5% for all spend after that. Though, if this takes off again, I’d expect they’ll cap that at some point.
Yes, it is, my mistake. This is an even better card than I expected. I got one for both myself and my girlfriend.
Wow. I had no idea this card even existed. Brilliant.
Application worked like a charm for me. Thanks for the heads-up!
I also just applied (and was approved), but when I went into the terms & conditions, it states:
Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Additional terms and restrictions apply.
Hopefully will still work for MS anyway, but we’ll see next month.
Every issuer has T&C’s like that, but they usually don’t hold to them too well.
Hi,
Just a head’s up that your link here did not work but the one on the FT wiki still does.
A question for those of you who enjoy math (from someone who is not-really-math-challenged but prefers a novel to a calculator):
The blurb on the landing page say: “Up to 5% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. gas stations & select U.S. drugstores (Everyday Purchases). Up to 1% Cash Back on other purchases. For your first $6,500 in purchases in a reward year, you will earn 1% on Everyday Purchases (5% thereafter), and 0.5% on other purchases (then 1%).”
So I assume this means you can spend the first $6500 on anything and then the higher %s kick in. But I do not do huge amounts of MS and I have no CVS stores in my state. We only drive about 8,000 miles a year in our hybrid car. And I don’t travel enough to figure I can buy VRs while on the road. Most of my grocery spending is at Costco, except for fresh vegies and things I buy at more upscale/organic stores. Occasionally there will be a nice GC offer at grocery stores – like the recent and current ones at Safeway – which boosts my grocery store spend, but it is generally not a huge spending category for my family of just two adults. So is it worth spending $6500 at rather low rates of cash back to get the higher rate? Am I better off to put spending on a card like the Barclay Arrival and leave it at that?
Has anyone run any numbers of when this card becomes worth it? Just wondering if tomorrow’s churn should include it instead of the AMEX SPG…. although I suppose I could do the SPG first and toss in the BC afterwards to see if I can get both.
Thanks!
Just found you and really enjoy your non-elite style. Is there still a working site for the 5%
Last I heard it’s still active, but I don’t know for sure. I’d check the FT thread.