American Express offers some great statement credits – not only do they have Amex Sync Offers (look out for the current Grocery store one… $10 off $50) , but also certain cards, such as the Platinum and Platinum Business and co branded Delta cards offer statement credits for Airline Incidentals.
As I have discussed in the past, I received a statement credit of $500 from American Express when they stopped allowing Platinum Card holders access to Admirals Club Lounges. For those interested, I believe I received the $500 (rather than lower amounts) because I was proactive when I called in, and when I also found my agent read out loud the policy on ‘up to $500 would be granted…’ my actual annual spend on this card is far less than $500.
Sometimes, manual statement credits don’t automatically apply to the account. In the case of this $500, I purchased my $500 incidental expense back in March, and it still hadn’t shown a credit. Of course as a Business (Charge) card that means that the balance was paid in full already, as it should also be if it was a credit card. So when I called in this week to ask where my credit was, they applied it to my average monthly spend of $30 and I had a positive balance of $470.
Dismayed by this I took to twitter, where many suggestions came up, the runner up for best suggestion was call them up and request a check be mailed to me. This normally may work, but I personally dislike checks in the mail (I like receiving them, I just don’t like not receiving them) also, as I have just moved and am in a temporary rental property, I dislike mailing things even more. Yes I have mail forwarding, but just like a game of Chinese Whispers, each step allows potential error, that I want to avoid.
Amex Chat – swap the credit to another card
Helpful reader Mike G suggested this route – not even worrying about a phone call, I can just open up Chat and request the swap it over, as you can see the duration was fast and easy. I moved it from the card I wouldn’t use to my Amex Blue that always seems to have large balances on it no matter how hard I strive to pay it down..
Starting Chat is very easy, after logging into your account you can do so here:
The Chat itself was very fast, here is what I said to get this done:
Neil: Hello! Welcome to American Express online chat. I’m here to answer your questions and help with your account. How can I help you today?
you: Hello, I have a credit balance on my Platinum Amex of about $470, is it possible to transfer this to another card?
Neil: Yes, absolutely
Neil: I’ll be glad to process the request for you.
Neil: Just to confirm, AM I chatting with Matthew?
you: Yes
Neil: Thank you! One moment please.
Neil: Matthew, I reviewed your account and see that you have credit balance of $470.84
Neil: May I know the last five digit of the account number on which you wish to transfer the amount ?
you: 6xxxx
Neil: Thank you for the information.
Neil: Let me quickly process your request, please allow me a moment.
Neil: Done (Smile)
you: Thank you!
Neil: I’ve successfully submitted the request for the transfer, it will be transferred in 7 business days
Neil: Is there anything else, that American Express can do to ensure that you’re leaving with a smile today?
you: How about giving me 100,000 free membership rewards?
Neil: I would also like to share with you that we have a dedicated department for Membership Rewards (MR) you can check with them. I can provide you with the phone number for them.
you: Ah, ok then, thanks!
Neil: Please call them at 1-800-297-3276, Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – midnight ET, Saturday – Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. ET
Neil: You’re welcome.
Neil: I really appreciate your kind understanding and co-operation in this regard!
Neil: Thank you for your trust as AMEX is always there to back you up!!!
Neil: It was a pleasure to assist you today, please click here to end this chat and take a brief survey.
I personally think that this is the best way to deal with those pesky large credit balances, the other option would be to actually use the Amex Platinum.
Well that left me with a smile at least.
I couldn’t ask for more!
How long does the transfer take? I was quoted 7 to 10 business days.
I will check- it was weird that my email hit within 10 mins for a very similar amount ($478 or something) within minutes of this- but I think that was regular autopay… Will monitor
Matt – this is very timely as Hilton double-billed me for a hotel stay and my AMEX statement closed. Now I’m on the hook for the full amount to AMEX and will have a few hundred dollars in credit balance.
Thanks!
I posted it just for you! Glad it could help, Mike G was the guy who showed me how, it’s a great little trick
I just tried to do the same thing. Interestingly, the rep said she couldn’t a credit less tahn $3000.00 to another card. I don’t know if I should have HUCA, or if this was because it was transferring a credit from a business card to a personal card, or something else. Instead, I just took the offer of a check mailed to my home. Oh, well, was worth a try.
Sounds like the agent, unless there had been a rule change in the past week or two.. My transfer was from Biz to personal.