Milenomics² Podcast Episode 250: Navigating the Amex System in 2025… (Patreon)

01:04 Heightened Amex Delta Offers

• Personal

• Gold/Platinum/Reserve 80/90/100k

• Business

• Gold/Platinum/Reserve 90/100/110k

• Available through referral

01:41 Amex Bonvoy Business 125k

• Min spend $8k in 6 months

• Was previously expiring certificates: 3 (or 5) 50k

• Also available through referral

02:12 Amex Business Platinum 250k

• I seem to have lost the ability to refer for 35k on all my cards, which means I can’t generate new 250k links

• Luckily, I had an application in the hopper already and just after 90 days since my last Business Platinum called new accounts

• Approved on the spot with very little fuss. “Is this for a different business?” No. “OK no worries. I’ll put the application through for review.”

• Old referral links still seem to work, but that could vaporize

• Still, a good reminder to generate and save links while you can. And to be mindful that great things can go away at any time.

05:01 Schwab Platinum: Keep or Cancel?

• Now that 1.1 cent per point cashouts are limited to 1M Membership Rewards/yr is it worth keeping a Schwab open indefinitely?

• Annual Fee posted > 1 year ago and I’d been lazy about staying on top of it

• Cashed out 1M MRs, used my incidentals up and called to cancel

• Offered 50,000 MRs for $4,000 in 3 months

• Accepted offer but now I’m wondering whether it’s worth it?

• Justin B makes a good point: It seems currently possible to churn Resy 15x, Business Platinum 250k, and Business Gold 100k a little over every 90 days

• In that environment slots are precious and perhaps a Schwab should best be opened around year-end for 2 calendar years worth of cashouts and incidental eradication

6:05 Discuss: How to Play Things with “The New Amex Rules” (which really aren’t new at all)

• For the longest time we worried about being “in the penalty box” for new Amex cards

• Or on the lookout for “no lifetime language” links

• For at least the past couple years it seems that when an application is seen by Amex as a duplicate, it gets auto-denied by the computer but the new accounts team can get it reconsidered and the welcome bonus is attached

• The duplicate state can be caused by applying for the same card twice in the same session (the so-called “back button” or “new tab” trick) -or- by applying for a card within 90 days of when the same card was previously opened

• With a 90 day decline, reps seem to be more willing to submit an application to “the backend team” than with same day applications

• If all this remains in place, what is our approach for seeking new welcome bonuses from Amex?

• And how does this play out for P2?

18:25 WU Rates increase with No Notice

• Without notice these went from about $9.95 for < $2500 14.95 for <$5,000 to $29.99 for <$5,000

• Still staggeringly low rates, .6% (sidebar, why is .6 so common like our own Euler’s Numer)

• Semi-coincides with Fluz asking us to keep WU below $10k a week

• Still earning 1.5% on Fluz, which is nice, so a .9% profit

• Supply and Demand finding equilibrium for sure

22:47 BofA Elite Closure Experience

• "Can I product change to a customized cash rewards?" No, the computer won't let me.

• "Could you please reduce the credit line to $2,000?" The computer won't let me reduce it any lower than $10,000.

• "The annual fee posted Nov 30. Would you please request an annual fee refund?" I don't know. It's up to the computer.

• Why am I talking to a human if everything is up to the computer?!

• Asked for an AF refund, didn’t mention MA anything, computer allowed full refund > 60 days after fee posted, so triple dip was succesful. $550 “annual fee adjustment” posted next day.

27:36 Is There a More Difficult Bank to Pay Than Bank of America?

• Pay by Phone w/Debit: Died

• PayPal Bill Pay: Immediate refund

• Online Bill Pay: Offline in early morning hours

• Payment interface being separate from card makes it clunky to discern current balance/due dates/etc

• Entire eBill/AutoPay setup insanely complicated

• Even when paying with BofA Checking there’s complete lack of connection

• Are they trying to make people forget to pay to gin up late fees?

32:53 February Break Hawaii Trip

• Business class on Hawaiian both directions

• Aulani for the start of the trip (will this look different than Animal Kingdom Lodge?)

• Transit to Lanai included with 4S booking

• Golf, some tours booked through the hotel. 

36:53 Hilton Booking Analysis Paralysis

• Need room for college visit, obvious choice is a Hilton Garden Inn practically on campus with few other options around

• Standard award availability at 60,000

• Cash rate is $347 w/tax

• How do you book and pay for it?

• 60,000 points?

• Expiring FNC?

• Hilton GCs?

• Multiple $50 swipes with an Amex Business Platinum?

41:57 Marriott Booking Analysis Paralysis

• A different college visit, obvious choice here is a Courtyard

• $209/nt fully loaded or 24,000 points/nt?

• Or, should I use my large Hotels.com GC balance from a decade ago with OneKey Rewards?

• Refundability weighs on me as well - rate is $178 non-refundable

• Makes me think I should just wait until a day or two before and book then, but when the desired hotel is sold out or rates spike I regret that decision