Update: The below promotion is now expired. The New Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN now offers 3X points on airfare, 2X points on advertising, gas, and shipping and 1X point on everything else. The annual fee for this card is $175 but it is waived for all new cardholders. You can also get unlimited additional gold cards for an extra annual fee of $50 but this fee is waived for the first year as well.
If you’ve got a business, even if it’s just a small home-based side business, here’s a juicy offer for the New Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN:
? Apply for the Business Gold Rewards Card and make a purchase by 12/31/07. Upon the Basic Cardmember’s first purchase, a one time bonus of 25,000 points can be earned toward the Basic Business Gold Rewards Cardmember’s Membership Rewards? account and may appear as separate credits of 5,000 and 20,000 bonus points. The maximum 25,000 bonus points are available to first?time Basic Business Gold Rewards Cardmembers only; they are not available if you transfer an existing account. Welcome bonus points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account 6 to 8 weeks after your first purchase appears on your monthly billing statement. The bonus 25,000 Membership Rewards points may be redeemed for one domestic round?trip airline ticket. Cardmembers transferring points to participating domestic airlines will be charged a fee of $.0004 per point, up to $50. This charge is to offset the excise taxes American Express currently pays to the government on such transactions. Bonus ID: 2329.
Also, see here for more details and a how-to about applying for business cards as an individual.
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What do you suggest one should do for credit card with such high annual fee. 125$ a year is a lot of fee to pay. Do you usually cancel such credit cards? Wouldnt that hurt the credit history?
I would call after a few months, and call to cancel saying just that – the fee is too high. They may waive it for a year, offer other perks, or just let you cancel. I’d definitely cancel as opposed to paying $125.
Do they report this business credit card account on our personal credit report? If not, will they do hard credit check when we apply for it?
For my firm, our business credit card counts for our personal credit score. I think that is generally true.
Check out the last link in my post for more info, but in general:
Virtually all the time, it will result in a hard credit check on your personal account.
Most of the time, business cards do not report to your personal credit score. But it can vary.
I’m thinking of doing this… but what’s the easiest way to convert those points to cold hard cash? Converting them to AmEx gift cards means cutting the value in half (20,000 points = $100 gift card). It’s not until you get down into the smaller denominations at places like Home Depot and Barnes & Noble that you get a 1:1 conversion rate, it seems.
Any hints?
Hmm… cold hard cash… Home Depot gift card -> sell on eBay? You’d probably net about 80% or so after all fees?
I’d check eBay and see which stores has the best selling ratio.
hmmmm….feel like applying! thanks for the info
After comparing this card with Citi Business AAdvantage card, I think I will go for the Citi Business card just because it gives me 20,000 bonus miles after the first $750 of purchase. (additional bonus miles also apply). But the problem is : I AM NOT IN THE BUSINESS. When I called the Citi Business card line (1888-328-7759), the guy asked me to SIMPLY come out with A company name. And he kept telling me that he doesn’t mind waiting or putting him on hold and that it only takes 5 minutes to get me approved. HELP~ I kind of hesitate a little bit because it sounds so easy to apply for a Citi Business card even if you’re NOT really in the business field! I don’t wanna get myself into any trouble in the future. But do you guys think it is still safe to go ahead and apply? No bad record will be shown on my credit report?
I’ve asked this before but have had little in the nature of responses…. Can you easily transfer LIMITS between business and personal cards within the same family?
I’m attempting to build very high total credit limit with Citi. This is so that I can work a 0% BT with the consolidated limit in Feb 08 with a recently opened Citi/Att Universal card.
This Amex is tempting but I certainly would cancel. Also I would cancel probably before I planned a flight w/ the reward points so I suppose I’d lose them or convert for cash/store cards before the termination. My cards are currently as follows:
– Chase Visa ? limit $500.00
– Chase Freedom Visa ? limit = $500.00. This is a REWARDS Card. (got 250$ after 1st purchase)
– Chase Flexible Rewards Visa – limit = $24,000, Balance = $24,000.00, This is a REWARDS Card. (This card was used to fund ?Rate Edge? credit union account, 24000 reward points) This Card is a 0% APR card for introductory period of 12 months.
– Citibank Platinum Select MasterCard – limit = 6,100, Balance = $0
– Citibank/ATT Universal Rewards MasterCard – limit = $2,000, Balance = $0.00, This is a REWARDS card. This Card is a 0% APR Balance Transfer card anytime within the introductory period of 12 months. (got 50$ gift card 1st purchase)
– Citibank Drivers Edge MasterCard – limit $2000, Balance = $0.00, This is a REWARDS card. This Card is a 0% APR card for introductory period of 12 months.
– Citibank Professional MasterCard – limit $15,000, Balance = $0.00, This is a REWARDS card. This Card is a 0% APR card for introductory period of 12 months. (got $150 in gift cards after 1st purchase)
So, basically I want to work my next “free money” game from Citi but I am undure about movement to or from the “professional” card. I’d like to get some credit lines w/ AmEx but am wondering the best to work with. Again I’d like to open 2 or 3 then consolidate and BT to Citi and then deposit to FNBO. Timing seems to be the largest issue for me since so much has happened in such a small time (all accounts with the exception of 1 Citi and 1 Chase card have been within the last 2months.
This is the second go round for this offer. My wife did it last time. Converted her $250 into Talbots Gift Cards. Suggestion on Fat Wallet was to use your name & associates as the business name. She told them she had a business selling on Ebay when she called to activate the card. You have to call to activate if I remember right. No programmed activation. Lot of people put in two applications: one for each spouse. $500 bucks ain’t bad!
I just tried to move some of my limit from a Citi professional card to a personal card and Citi refused. Citi will not move limits from prof to pers and vice versa. So I canceled the card. Chase has a similar restriction but they moved all of the limit over and canceled the prof card. Maybe Citi would have done the same thing but I didn’t know so I didn’t ask.
Rewards cards are tempting but I’m “making” 4-8k a year with the 0% APR cards so I watch what I apply for.
Thanks for the heads up. I signed up with my name as my business with no problems.
Hey Jonathan, I saw this posted over at fatwallet also (and slickdeals) 2 days ago. Is that how you noticed it? If so, how come no credit to the original posters?
If you were the one who first picked it up, just ignore this 😉
Keep up the good work.
“Can you easily transfer LIMITS between business and personal cards within the same family?”
Usually, no. I have heard of some exceptions, but not regularly.
“If you were the one who first picked it up, just ignore this”
These days I seem to get multiple e-mails in addition to seeing multiple forum posts afterwards elsewhere whenever a good offer comes in. If someone really “scooped” it I give credit, but if I can’t tell then I just let it be.
What kind of gift cards can you get from the 25K reward points ($250)??I tried to find the cards on AMEX’s website, but I couldn’t. I’m hoping AMEX has gift cards for Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. If anyone could post a list of available cards, that would be great. Thanks.:)
membershiprewards.com
Just a thought, you can flip those points for a Southwest Rapid Reward roundtrip ticket (with a 1000 pts left to spare). While you are not allowed to sell those SWA tickets, you can transfer them to a friend. And a great way to meet a friend is to have them give you $350 on ebay… hint hint.
Awesome Deal Jonathan! I already have a BlueSky Rewards card from AmEx, so it took 2 seconds to apply and get the Business Gold card! Too bad my girlfriend won’t still be away interning for the summer, otherwise I’d use the flight to see her!
Never would have seen it with out ya. Thanks again.
I’m in the process of applying for the Amex card and I just noticed the following in the terms and conditions:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION
The information in this application is accurate through 06/15/2007. This information may have changed after that date. To find out about any changes, please call us at 800-628-2244.
I’m trying to get the details from customer service on the phone, no luck yet, just thought I’d send the warning in case they try to change the offer for those after 6/15…
Just to follow up-I was just told by the American Express customer service rep that the offer did expire on the 15th, and applying after the 15th means you don’t get the 25k bonus points! I have a feeling they’re going to have some annoyed customers on their hands…unless the rep I spoke to was wrong?
That’s weird. I just did the online chat (at the top of the application) and they said it was good until 8/31. I also just checked over at Fatwallet and it’s the same thing they found. Here’s my chat transcript:
Please feel free to confirm yourself, they seem to respond pretty quickly.
I just called back to apply and this time the Customer Service rep(Shana, ID # 4373) checked with a supervisor and told me I’m still eligible (she said until 8/10, so this is weird that they’re giving out such conflicting info each time).
Thanks for the tip Jonathan, I’m looking forward to getting those points!
Eric with all the cards:
“- Citibank Professional MasterCard – limit $15,000, Balance = $0.00, This is a REWARDS card. This Card is a 0% APR card for introductory period of 12 months. (got $150 in gift cards after 1st purchase)”
Can you point me to this deal? I’m basically trying to find any card that offers some sort of gift card/cash back right off the bat as well as an intro 0% apr on purchases/balances. I’ve found these offers individually for the card you mention here, but not *together* – any help?
Jonathan – please provide input as well – thanks to both of you!
Citi Professional Card info
yea, thanks, unfortunately that doesn’t have a 0% apr for purchases (for anytime) and doesn’t have a 0% apr for BT for 12 months (as the offer eric described apparently does). any thoughts?
hi
I called the Amex open representative, as I got an e-mail saying please contact us to finish your application etc…
Anyhow the specialist said that you get 5000 bonus points on first purchase and 20,000 once your account reaches 50,000 dollars of monthly usage.
Now i am thinking this is completely off from the offer described here, maybe it has something to do with the 6/15 deadline.
A second question
I did apply for the EIN number and was issued one by the IRS right away when i turned in my application online.
So from here on out, can i use the EIN only for business cards or can i also use it for personal cards? its an Sole proprietorship EIN.
Do i have to rebuild “credit” on this new EIN?
How is your information fron your ssn, and EIN kept separately?
As in, I have one 0% apr card on my ssn to earn interest, but i want to apply to about 2-3 more cards, can i solely do it on the EIN number? Will it show up on my ssn credit report? Will i get same credit line on EIN as the SSN?
just a bit confused, if you could write an blog post on this that would be great
thanks a lot
This will be the fourth credit card that I’ve had for these kind of offers since becoming aware of this site. What I do is make my qualifying purchase something that I would have bought anyway; I buy one item and pay it off immediately.
I also keep all the paperwork with the card, and I write the date that I activated the card on the envelope. That way, I can be sure to cancel before the fees kick in (on the AMEX cards).
Note that I do not carry these cards with me. I keep them in a steel lock box and after my qualifying purchase I don’t use them again. I then cancel them after six months.
Hi, I have a question about annual fees for credit cards. Are they charged at the end of the calender year or one year from when the card was activated? Thanks for any answers.
If I remember correctly, isn’t there also an annual fee to be enrolled in the membership rewards program? I thought it was $50/year.
I’ve applied for a similar offer at the end of April (25k after first purchase, and even more points if you spend more). Still waiting for any points to show up in my rewards account… It did say 8-12 weeks, but most other rewards I got from applying for CC were posted right after the first statement. Just FYI…
Anyone who ordered a card on or after 6/15/2007 CHECK THE DOCUMENTATION THEY SEND YOU!
I just received my card in the mail, and, sure enough, those rat-bastards changed the terms of the deal. The fine print on the material actually sent to me offered only 5000 points within 8-12 weeks of first purchase, instead of 25,000 points within 6-8 weeks.
I called them and bitched for twenty minutes about how the deal they gave me is not the deal I signed up for. Eventually I got them to promise to still give me the 25,000 points and 6-8 week turnaround. You’ll have to tell them that the bonus promotion code you signed up for is 2329.
If they are leaving antiquated promotions up on their website trying to get people to sign up for them without specifying how material terms have changed (and only obliquely mentioning the possibility of a change), I think they are behaving extremely unethically.
Anyway, you have all been warned. It’s entirely possible that you aren’t going to be getting the deal you think you signed up for if you don’t immediately do your due diligence and call them up to verify that you’re on bonus program 2329.
I signed up… beware if you have another AMEX card. You will get nailed with an annual 10 dollar membership reward “linkage fee”, whatever the hell that is.
catch is that you get first 5000 miles after first $50 charge, then you get 20,000 miles after a $50,000 purchase!!!
I’m cancelling now.
Don’t cancel! I don’t think the folks at American know what they are talking about. They don’t see what kind of application you signed up for, just the card name that you signed up for. I asked about the bonus number 2329 too and they said if I signed up under that then I would get the 25,000 bonus miles after first purchase. I’m waiting it out for sure.
I just received this offer in the mail, with an application deadline of July 27, 2007. The 25,000 bonus miles after first purchase is listed in the fine print as “Bonus ID: 9238.”
The only thing that’s not mentioned specifically is whether or not this offer waives the fee for being in the Membership Reward program. If I sign up for it, I’m calling and doing it over the phone, just to be sure.
I just applied over the phone… It was quick & easy, and the very knowledgeable customer service rep was able to answer all my questions quickly and easily.
BTW, there’s no cost to participate in the Membership Rewards program with this card. It’s bundled into the annual fee, which is waived for the first year with this offer.
And since my Platinum Cash Back card isn’t part of the Membership Rewards program, there was no $10 linking fee, either… No fees for me! 🙂
I just received my card in the mail, and sure enough the literature I received contradicts the offer I signed up for (it says 5,000 after first purchase, 20,000 after spending $50,000), I just spoke extensively with a phone rep who stated that the bonus code 2329 means nothing to her because she needs an 8 digit code (??). She said to print out the offer and send it if (when) I don’t get the points. I reluctantly decided to activate the card, but this is frustrating. Has anyone actually received the card in the mail with the correct literature to back it up? Thanks.
I have the same problem: received the card with the wrong offer, 5000 points aftre 1st purchase etc. Can anybody tell me what to do ?
When I called in to activate my card, I asked the rep about this offer (she originally stated that I would get my 5000 pts, then an additional 25k after 50k in purchases). She said it is indeed active, and that CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS CANNOT SEE ON THEIR END WHICH PROMO OFFER YOU SIGNED UP WITH. That’s why when you speak with customer service reps they don’t know what you are talking about (I’m assuming that a lot of them haven’t heard/remembered each and every promo offer Amex offers). As for the paperwork that comes with the card, it is just the standard paperwork they send out with every card. They don’t include different paperwork with each and every promo that they do. In summary: calm down people, it’s legit.
Okay, what I just learned is…. Always call and check. I figured everything was fine, but just out of curiosity I called to see if everything was up to par. Apparently, as my account was previously, I was getting 10,000 reward points for the Business Gold Card, and NONE for the Personal Gold Card. I provided the promotion numbers, and was able to get the proper 25,000 setup for the Business, but she said the 10,000 for the Personal card had ended, but since it’s still up on American Express’ website, she gave me 7,500. I’m settled for that. Always call and check, because she mentioned to me that American Express botches these promotions a lot.
Got approved, got the card, my paperwork says ?earn 25,000 bonus points on your first purchase – enough for a roundtrip domestic airline ticket.?
I hope we get these points soon!
do you need to sign up for the membership rewards program to get the points?