Amex SPG, Hilton & Delta Cards Add 12-Week Waiting Clause for Rewards

In the September statements for the SPG, Delta and Hilton Honors card, there are new terms mentioned which allow Amex to delay issuing rewards for up to 12 weeks. The change is effective November 1, 2017.

Bonus Starpoints received from your Card will be posted to your SPG account up to 12 weeks after the end of each month. Your account must not be cancelled or delinquent at the time of bonus fulfillment.

Currently, regular spend usually shows up in your SPG account a few days after statement close. Other bonuses usually post a few days after requirements are met, I believe (as with all Amex cards).

I’m a bit unsure if the new language is targeting bonus offers specifically, like signup bonuses and AU bonuses, or if it includes regular spend as well.

Is this the RAT team at work? It’s odd they started with a co-branded card; typically crack downs start on their own cards where they maintain stronger controls. In a similar move, Amex might be cracking down on using gift card purchases toward spend requirements. Could it be they want more time to review for MS purchases? Time will tell.

Hopefully, it’s some sort of SPG-specific thing co-branded thing which warrants more time, and isn’t related. If it is a broader crack down, I imagine we’ll soon see updated terms on other Amex cards too.

Hat tip to reader VK

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Dreamer
Dreamer (@guest_516729)
November 16, 2017 03:06

Here is my data point:

Met the spending requirement on Aug 19th
Received my bonus Delta Points on Nov 13th.
This makes it almost exactly 12 weeks.

Did not call Amex at all. Met the requirement organically except $500 checking account funding.

Travelasflyguy
Travelasflyguy (@guest_509978)
November 7, 2017 01:28

Looking for DPs on this. My statement closed three nights ago and the points haven’t posted for Nov like they usually do. I’ll update again if they post in the next 1-2 days, but I think that the new policy has taken effect.

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_509218)
November 5, 2017 22:09

as everyone has statements that close in NOV, lets post some DPs. mine will close soon. cant imagine waiting 3 months for the points to post. holy crap…

Mark
Mark (@guest_483808)
September 27, 2017 22:05

I posted this on a old comment thread a couple weeks ago, but reposting my experience with BCE here. It’s now been over 18 weeks since hitting the minimum spend for a statement credit. If anyone has any suggestions on how to proceed, I would love to hear them.

Back in April, I checked the Amex website for personalized offers and applied for the BCE with a $250 statement credit upon $1,000 spend in first 3 months. Per their terms, I should have received the credit 6-8 weeks after spending the $1,000 (which was 100% organic spending in my case). Amazingly, it’s been almost 16 weeks. I contacted them 3 times, each time the response being that they are working on it and to be patient. I filed a CFPB complaint last week and they just responded acknowledging my application was associated with the offer. In addition, they stated:

“We have identified an issue which, regrettably, may have impacted your account. We have record of your contacting us July 20, 2017, August 2, 2017, and on August 28, 2017. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience. You will receive separate notification about this issue and appropriate remediation once it has been resolved, if you are eligible for the bonus.”

After googling some of the language in my letter from Amex, it seems I’m not the only one experiencing issues.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1855485-amex-hhonors-surpass-bonus-not-posted-over-month-2.html

Luke Vader
Luke Vader (@guest_482449)
September 25, 2017 09:13

Just saw this post/thread today. I signed up for the SPG Amex back in March, and after exceeding the spend requirements for the 25K-point + 10K-point bonus thresholds within 3-4 months, noticed that the bonuses were never awarded (which was disappointing/concerning, obviously). Which is odd, since the bonus points for my Hilton Surpass card posted immediately (which was opened after the SPG Amex was). I had to IM and also call Amex support, who said they would look into it. The SPG bonus points finally posted in the past week or so (about 2-3 months later than I expected), so maybe this rule above came into play.

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_482745)
September 25, 2017 19:44

well did you MS at simon? or another location? all organic?

Luke Vader
Luke Vader (@guest_482887)
September 26, 2017 00:57

I don’t do MS and not sure who/what Simon refers to. IIRC, I did purchase an Amazon gift card, but my total spend was comfortably over the bonus threshold, so the gift card shouldn’t have mattered. (Not sure about your organic question either, although I’m happy to eat organic if the price premium isn’t too far above regular fare.)

sdsearch
sdsearch (@guest_482094)
September 24, 2017 10:30

On the other hand, having a clause like this makes it possible for them construct more complex bonuses which requires a periodic “sweep” to award them (not possible to award as the purchase is made). Things like: Buy flights to (or stay in hotels at) 5 different destinations in the next 3 months to get X bonus miles (points).

Sarah
Sarah (@guest_481401)
September 22, 2017 12:28

We applied for the SPG Amex in April and met the spending requirements for the 25k bonus in May. We are still waiting for the bonus and it’s nearly October. We’ve called Amex customer service 4 times since the end of July, and they keep telling us it’s a “glitch” and they’ll expedite our case to their marketing department, which handles the bonus points. Our last call was 2 weeks ago and still nothing. Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?

Luke Vader
Luke Vader (@guest_482901)
September 26, 2017 01:27

Didn’t read your post before, but I was in a similar boat (as posted below). I contacted Amex first via IM/chat and then via phone call, and both times they said they’d check into it. My 35k (25k plus 10k) SPG bonus points finally hit, which must have occurred within the last week or so. Hopefully your points will be credited soon.

If not, I would keep calling every week (and ask for a supervisor) until resolved and try alternate channel (IM, Tweet, etc.). And post updates to this thread also. Good luck.

Sarah
Sarah (@guest_483985)
September 28, 2017 08:49

Thanks. We’ve asked for a supervisor before and were told they wouldn’t be able to help because marketing applies the points. We’ll call again today.

cm
cm (@guest_480657)
September 21, 2017 03:43

I only ever had AmEx Blue Cash Everyday as far as AmEx cards go. Already takes like a few billing cycles for the normal points to show up; really annoying, especially after dealing with all the other banks that post the points pretty much immediately. (The bonus, however, did post pretty quickly, IIRC.)

MarcoPolo
MarcoPolo (@guest_480599)
September 21, 2017 00:01

Looks like RATs are working overtime.

Matt
Matt (@guest_480349)
September 20, 2017 17:00

I suspect that non-MS’ers won’t see any change — we’ll still get the points within a couple days of statement closing like before. This feels to me like it is just giving Amex the option to clamp down on folks abusing the system by MSing…