Bread Rewards Amex
While I love old cards and plays which are still alive, it’s nice when new stuff comes around. The latter’s the case with the Bread Rewards Amex card, one we recently tripped over. My wife picked up the card since I last wrote about it, and we’ve been off to the races since. It’s been less than two months or so, and interesting data points are already flowing in. Here’s what we’ve noticed so far.
A Quick Turnaround
Bread Rewards Amex transaction information and rewards post relatively quickly. The card has some attractive 3%/3x bonus categories, so how certain charges code is quite pertinent. (Confusingly, Bread advertises earning rewards as 3% and 1%, but rewards actually accrue as points – not Membership Rewards.)
There’s no waiting around for the statement to see how bonus transactions code. My wife’s online account reflects points earning for a given purchase just a few days after the transaction. Thus, we’re able to confirm that bonus categories appropriately trigger at given merchants. And it gets better.
Not only does the points earning info track, the actual rewards post, as well. This means a few days after a transaction, a cardholder can redeem the points. While the 25% bonus doesn’t seem to track as immediately, it’s great we can fully realize the 3x earning relatively quickly.
A Spending Bonus, Already!
Last week, Bread targeted my wife for an extra 1%/1x on all purchases by the end of this month, up to 7.5k bonus points. That brings bonus category earning to 4%/4x before taking into account the 25% bonus points for making at least 20 transactions in a statement period. Interestingly, my wife’s Bread Cashback Amex, which earns 2% cash back everywhere, is targeted for a similar extra 1% up to a $75 bonus in December. The caps are a bummer, of course, but it’s intriguing how we’re already receiving targeted spending bonuses.
Quirky Bread Rewards Amex Redemption
While rewards post quickly, how to redeem is a bit wacky. I’ll focus specifically on redeeming for cash back, as all other options are inferior based on my research. Cardholders can obtain cash back in three ways: statement credit, direct deposit, or erase a purchase. A direct deposit requires calling in to redeem – no, thanks! Erasing purchases requires a bunch of box checking online, but no phone call. I’ve found the simplest option to be a statement credit, which starts at 1k points per redemption.
Technical Limitations
Undoubtedly, technical wrinkles exist with Bread. I’ve found their website a bit clunky, and the Bread Financial app only supports the Cashback Amex. Upon a login attempt with Bread Rewards Amex credentials, we received the following message:
If you have a Bread Cashback card, please try again or select forgot username or password. Other credit cards, including Bread Rewards, aren’t supported on the app yet.
But it’s no big deal to us that Bread still hasn’t taken the technical training wheels off yet. Given the Bread Rewards Amex’s generous rewards structure, we have no problems holding our nose with these technical limitations.
Conclusion
I must remind everyone of the Bread Rewards Amex’s big catch which still exists. According to the Bread Financial website, the Rewards Amex is currently available by invitation only. But I’m confident the card will be widely available to all down the road. In the meantime, I’ll share future developments with this card, particularly on the rewards side. Have you been targeted and applied for the Bread Rewards Amex? If so, how has your experience been so far?
Information about American Express products mentioned in this post was collected independently by Miles to Memories and the author.
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