American Express has quietly changed their rewards policy so that Membership Rewards are issued as soon as your statement closes and the minimum payment requirement is met. Previously, points posted when the following statement closed.
This change appears to only affect Membership Rewards, not cash rewards cards. Those still wait until the following statement closes, apparently. I’m unsure whether there’s been any change to partner cards, like Hilton, Marriott, etc.
This move comes along with completely revamping their online portal, see American Express Revamps Their ‘Rewards’ Tracking Portal And It’s Beautiful.
Hat tip to nadogm1 on r/churning
The 50% bonus points for this month on the edp card did not post ( when making 30 purchases). The regular points did. I called and they said it is a known issue and will post in a week or so. It is a glitch in the new updates I was told.
We’ll see ……
Uhmmm, people eventually are getting their points 5 days earlier than before if they wanna keep money in their pocket as long as possible~
What about Blue Cash?
I’m seeing this on my ED card but not on Green.
I also noticed that I didn’t get charged the excise tax fee when I recently did a redemption. I don’t know if it’s part of the new program, but it’s nice that they finally have parity with Chase and Citi in this respect.
Thanks Apple card for the push.
How about HILTON points and MARRIOT BONVOY points? Anyone know?
Hilton and Marriott points already post to your respective frequent guest accounts within a day or two of that statement cutting.
not always. sometimes the spending pattern prompts a “hold” that can last 8-12 weeks from when the points are supposed to post (even if the statement shows the points as already being earned)
I guess this isn’t happening for everyone just yet….meaning getting the points for the last statement already. It shows the amount from that statement with a pop-up box that says it’ll be credited within 24 to 72 hours of paying the bill….which I did 2 weeks ago. It’s the small number that says “Available on Payment”. Maybe the 24-72 hours kicks in now with that change.
This ‘enhancement’ is worse, not better.
?
because now he can’t spend an hour on the phone with the rep every month ‘accelerating’
I did notice under the revamp: it makes salient that they claw back points from amex offers. I’m sure they did that before too, but I never realized it. So, if you got 40 dollars back on an amex offer, for example, they take 40 dollars worth of points away.
This makes sense, since you didn’t actually spend the money.
How is getting rewards earlier than before worse?
Haters gonna hate
I checked yesterday and it was “Points Accelerated” under summary. Was wondering what that was about and I guess this is it!
I saw the same thing yesterday and could no longer finding pending points or bonuses.
I saw the same descriptor at the anniversary of one of my cards a few months ago.
I’ve gotten “Points Accelerated” in the past when I’ve paid my bill early (like if the bill is $20 I’ll pay it now rather than in 25 days it is due… interest on $20 is not worth coming back to it later). Not sure where the cutoff used to be between “Accelerated” and normal posting.