All information about The American Express Hilton Honors Business, Bonvoy Business, Bonvoy Brilliant, and Amazon Business cards has been collected independently by Miles to Memories.
Amex Spend Offers
Little by little, Amex has recently been trending downward. In my view, family rule implementation, higher MSR’s, and hiked annual fees add up to something noteworthy. So with that backdrop, the targeted Amex spend offers just announced may be the good news many were seeking. While I didn’t receive any, these bonuses certainly grabbed my attention. Today, I’m taking a look at a few of them and the potential risk of falling for these offers.
Significant Amex Spend Offers
Two substantial targeted Amex spend offers were just announced in the same week. Certain Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex cardholders are eligible for a huge 85k free night award by simply spending $4k by mid-March. Amex Hilton Honors Business cardholders can earn 15k bonus points for every $3k spent, up to 45k points by late March. The recently-expired Amazon Business card spend offer provided 10% back on all purchases for every $2k spent, up to a $4k threshold. Marriott Bonvoy Business cardholders can earn 5k or 15k bonus points by spending $1.5k or $5k, respectively, by the end of March. I, and others on the MtM crew, couldn’t recall such a group of significant targeted Amex spend offers historically. That Brilliant targeted spend offer particularly stands out.
Those offers are excellent for many exisiting cardholders who spend on these cards, anyway. And naturally, many individuals who sock-drawered those cards may have good reasons to pull them back out now. But in the background, I think something more sinister may set in.
Hope Can Work Against You
In Shawshank, Andy Dufresne tells Red, “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” More often than not, I man-cry while watching this film, buying into that line along the way. I think it applies to much, but not all. Sometimes, hope can work against you.
I recently talked with a big traveler who casually participates in points and miles. Sooner or later we arrived on the Chase topic, where I eventually shared how moving past the draconian 5/24 rule was the optimal move for us and still is for many. The individual mentioned that they’d considered applying for other banks’ cards for additional signup bonuses, but they wanted to stay under the 5/24 rule for one simple reason. This individual is hoping that Chase eventually offers a “premium” Hyatt card. The individual went on to explain their reasoning, clearly conscious of their own bias. Regardless, they’ve self-selected into Chase prison, hoping for something that may never come. In exchange for hope, they’ve given up control to Chase.
Back To Amex
Something similar is at play with these targeted Amex spend offers, in my view. Those who aren’t currently targeted for these spend offers may opt into keeping these cards longer term, hoping that they eventually arrive on their cards. Many would have closed these cards otherwise. Amex knows this. Meanwhile, Amex collects more card annual fees without doing anything else.
Those who decide to park such Amex credit cards in the long term lot have less flexibility. Given Amex’s general five credit card limit, they have less capacity to pursue other significant Amex welcome offers and maximize other benefits. Turning over cards less frequently means less signup bonuses. Just the potential of a targeted spend offer, not actually receiving it, may lead many to stick around longer with their current dust-collecting cards.
Conclusion
Of course, many targeted can do big things with these offers, particularly if they’re in cardmember year one and/or won’t have to pay another annual fee in order to receive the payout. But we can’t ignore Amex’s manipulation here, either. If or when I’m targeted in the future, balancing gains with other factors will be key. I’m up for the challenge, and I’m confident many of you are, as well. Everyone be careful out there!
Did Amex target you for any of these spend offers? Are you pursuing or ignoring them? How did you decide?
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[…] Is It a Trap? The Dark Side of Those Targeted Amex Spend Offers. […]
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