Update 9/8/20: American Express has sent out an official letter about these points posting and specifically calls out the terms of promotion that we highlighted below as well. Hat tip to EyesOnThePoints.
Original post (July 4, 2020): American Express added some limited time benefits, one of these was 12x Hilton points on grocery store purchases on the Hilton Aspire from May 1st until July 31st. American Express had been delaying some points from posting normally and now some users are seeing those same points being clawed back. This isn’t particularly surprising given American Express’ recent history and the previous actions of the RAT team. The terms of the promotion state:
 Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of traveler’s checks, person-to-person payments, the purchase or reloading of prepaid cards, and purchases of other cash equivalents.
Further down that page it also states:
Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents. Hilton Honors Bonus Points you earn with your Card will be posted to your Hilton Honors account up to 12Â weeks after the end of your billing period.
I imagine most people that have clawed back points will have purchased gift cards. It’ll be interesting to see if American Express is basing this on level three data (this shows the card issuer a break down of what items were purchased) or if they are just targeting accounts that have spent large amounts at grocery stores.
Datapoints
- Points clawed back: 1, 2 (less than $2,000 in spend. Only two gift card purchases made), 3, 4, 5, 6,
Please check your account and share your datapoints in the comments below. This is also affecting the Delta & Marriott promotions.
Hat tip to MtM
