When combing through my statement this month on my Old Amex Blue Cash Card I noticed the $50K Catergory Limit mentioned previously and also saw an interesting positive development. Amex will now allow $400+ purchases to count towards 5% spend after meeting the first $6,500 in purchases starting March 1, 2015.
This means if you have any stores nearby that code as gas stations, you can now (March 1st) purchase of $500+ and have them earn 5% cash back.
UPDATE BELOW
Another interesting development I stumbled upon is when the 5% limit resets for cardholders. After speaking with George from TravelBloggerBuzz he mentioned that his $6500 limit reset with the calendar year on January 1st after speaking with an Amex agent (He applied for his card in 2014):
@mileswhip Per Amex rep, my card is based on calendar year.There are some card versions based on opening dates. Learn something new everyday
— George (@FlyerTalkerinA2) January 2, 2015
On the other hand, I spoke with an agent regarding my reset date for the $6500 in purchases and it will be in mid February, which is my anniversary date (approved in 2007).
From these data points it seems that if you applied for the card before it went extinct a couple years ago, your reset date is your anniversary date; While any application via the ghost/phantom link that most people applied for last year your reset date is the calendar year (Jan 1st).
UPDATE: It seems from the comments below that an overwhelming amount of people have been informed by Amex that the reset date is based on the Anniversary date. This is a positive development, thank you to all who commented with these data points. If you still haven’t checked with Amex, whenever you do please leave a response below, thank you.
It is always best to be sure and check this with an Amex agent (via phone or chat) if you are not sure. If anyone has any other data points regarding this please post them in the comments below.
will the old blue cash be turned into the new one once the old one is phased out?
No they are separate products and it looks like American Express is continuing to service the old ones for good.
I applied for Blue Cash this year and my reward year is based on the date I applied, not the calendar year. Just chatted with an AmEx CSR.
Where are you seeing the mention of the $50k category/bonus limit? My latest statement was December 26th and there is no mention of that anywhere. Was it on your January statement?
Yes, it was on the last 2 pages on my January Statement.
Per AMEX terms and conditions (amended 2.2013)
For your first $6,500 of eligible purchases in the 12 billing periods in a row beginning
with the one in which the anniversary of your Card Account occurs (reward year), you will
receive a reward of 1% on Everyday Purchases and a reward of 0.5% on all other eligible
purchases.
My anniversary date is 9/3, and my account resets on 9/27 or so every year (cycle date) of my account. I expected it would reset on 8/27, since that is the beginning of the statement in which in which my anniversary occurs, but the September reset date right after the statement closes has been the case for me since 2013.
I guess that we will find it out in the Feb statement.
Interesting. I’ll have to call in and ask. I applied in April 2014 but I applied via phone call with rep.
Very helpful insight on the reset date. I’ve been told both timelines by agents on multiple different calls and can’t seem to get any verification on when this is for my card. This information aligns with what I thought was the case, but wasn’t 100% sure.
I opened OBC last year using a phantom link on flyertalk. I just chatted online with Amex and they said it resets every account year, not calendar year.
I don’t believe this is correct. I applied for my my card in July with the ghost link on FT and just got off the customer service chat. I was told that my 1% reset date is 7/7/15.
I just checked with Amex online chat and they confirmed that my rebate period resets on my anniversary date. I opened it last August using a phantom link. YMMV?
So it seems the timeline is very YMMV, most people are saying it is still linked to their anniversary year. I would suggest checking with an Amex Rep before spending $6500 to hit the 5% cash back rate.