Update: Reader Nick H had this interesting chat conversation with an American Express rep.
A few readers (1, 2) have reported that their American Express Membership Reward points balances have been unfrozen and they can transfer their points to travel partners again. For those not familiar, American Express froze accounts that applied for the 100,000 Platinum offer that was recently leaked (Note, this was on the personal card and not the public 100,000 Business link that is still available).
This follows what happened last time they froze accounts, some people were unfrozen (others not) and then they clawed back the bonus on some accounts. If you signed up for this card and bonus, it’s extremely important that you give them no reason to claw back the bonus. Follow these tips:
- Do not use the card for any cash equivalents or anything that could be considered manufactured spending
- Do not return merchandise purchased with the card that would cause you to not hit the minimum spend requirement (I’d recommend spending over the minimum spend requirement so you can return items without worrying about losing the sign up bonus)
- If you’ve had another version of the American Express Platinum card they might also claw back points
Obviously not much you can do about point #3. Fingers crossed they don’t claw back points and people end up with their points unfrozen. If your points were frozen, let us know if they still are in the comments below.
Update: Some people that have had their accounts unfrozen have had them refrozen after they transferred a small amount of points. Probably not worth doing a test transfer as it might cause the account to get refrozen.
