One Day Only! Increased Payout at Big Crumbs Portal for American Express Gift Cards

Update:

The deal has started and Big Crumbs is now offering 2% cash back on the purchase of American Express gift cards for today 10/20/2014 only. At 2% back, I personally am not going to take part in this deal considering how difficult American Express gift cards are to get rid of. You can find more details on my thoughts and how to liquidate the cards below.

American Express Gift Cards Big Crumbs Increased Payout

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the return of American Express gift cards to shopping portals. Pretty consistently since then Top Cashback & BeFrugal have had the best cash back rates at 1.5% while Big Crumbs has lagged slightly behind at 1.2%. While those rates are pretty good, they really aren’t high enough to get me to buy.

Tomorrow though Big Crumbs (personal referral link) is promising an increase in the cash back percentage for American Express gift cards. Unfortunately the only information we have is that the increased cash back will run for 24 hours on October 20, 2014. We don’t know what the increased rate will be.

Proceed with Caution – American Express Gift Card Drawbacks

Unfortunately American Express gift cards are difficult to get rid of. They do not come with pin numbers and thus cannot be used to load your Bluebird or Serve card. Some people including myself used American Express gift card to buy Visa gift cards at Gift Card Mall, however that no option longer works. Gift Card Mall has blocked the card numbers as shown above.

You can use these American Express gift cards for normal credit purchases. This would only make sense if the cash back rate goes high enough and you are combining it with a cash back credit card. (Think 4% portal cash back plus a 2% card = 6% total cash back.) Also, some people have had success using American Express gift cards in stores to purchase Visa gift cards. I personally have always had trouble doing this, so YMMV. I am sure there are other more creative methods as well. 😉

Update: I forgot to mention that Citi has been known to charge cash advance fees for the purchase of American Express gift cards. I would suggest not using one of their cards for the purchase. Thanks to Points with a Crew for the reminder.

Conclusion

If you have been waiting for an increased payout on American Express gift cards, then tomorrow is your day. We have seen portal payout rates as high as 4% on these cards, so there really is a possibility of a big jump. On the other hand, be cautious and make sure you have a way to liquidate these cards. American Express gift cards are not a “low hanging fruit” method of manufacturing spend.

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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