Is there any way to hack the Amex 18 month eligibility cooling period?

Hi there

Can someone enlighten me as to whether there’s another way to play the AMEX game when it comes to signup bonus points, having recently closed an AMEX Explorer account?

I note the fine print with usual eligibility criteria of having to wait 12 or 18 months on closing one AMEX card before being eligible for AMEX bonus signup points on another. Seems an awfully long wait. Am I missing something, are there certain AMEX cards that don’t require such a long wait time?

Would be interested to hear your strategies for how to play the AMEX card game.

And I’m referring specifically non-bank issued AMEX cards, I assume bank issued AMEX’s don’t fall into this restriction of rules from Amex Australia.

Cheers

Ben

Hi Ben,\r\n\r\nOne way you could play the game is like this: (it really only works if you have a partner though)\r\n\r\nPartner A signs up for Qantas Ultimate - meets the minimum spend, and receives bonus points to FF account.\r\n\r\nPartner B signs up for Qantas Ultimate - meets minimum spend. Points get transferred. Partner B closes the account and begins the 18 month waiting period. \r\n\r\nPartner A requests supplementary card for Partner B (supplementary cards do not count as an active account, so as far as AMEX is concerned Partner B is no longer a customer) so they are able to still earn with their spend, albeit to Partner A’s account.\r\n\r\nAfter 18 months, Partner B applies for the same card, meets mimimum spend and receives bonus points. Partner A then closes their account, and Partner B applies for the supplementary card. Partner A begins the 18 month waiting period.\r\n\r\nWith QFF you can transfer points between family members.\r\n\r\nI must admit, I do like how sixteight has worked his/her method.\r\n\r\nI currently have the PE, and love it. My wife is due for an AMEX card so once the Explorer bonus points promotion reaches 100K, then I’ll get her to sign up to that. Then apply for the PE, and I’ll cancel mine. And begin my 18 month waiting period.\r\n\r\nAlso note: before canceling and Amex card, make sure you transfer points to a redemption partner so you don’t lose them.

Thanks mdiggity. My wife is has an active Amex Velocity Card at the moment so we are tied to that. I’ll get a supplementary card on this for the time being, thanks for the tip. \r\n\r\nI also loved the Explorer - got us both from Melbourne to Fiji and back pretty much for free with the $400 travel credit and the bonus points! Admittedly on economy but given the flights would have cost us around $1k or so at the time, it was a much needed holiday. \r\n\r\nLooks like I’ll have to play the waiting game in the meantime to get the Explorer again.\r\n\r\nBy the way, am I right in thinking that the 12 or 18 month waiting period doesn’t apply to signing up for a PE card?

The 18 month waiting period only relates to the bonus points. It doesn’t mean you are not able to sign up to AMEX cards for 18 months! You can apply for the PE right now if you wanted to, but you won’t get any bonus points. \r\nMaybe consider this:\r\nGet your wife to sign up to PE right now, seeing as she already has an active Amex card. She can then apply for a supplementary card for you. \r\nYou wait 18 months, and then sign up for which ever amex card has the biggest sign up bonus… at least you and your wife can be earning decent accent points whilst you wait the 18 months out.

Hi Ben,

Personally, I don’t think the AmEx game is worth playing. AmEx cards are so good, and the points earn from spending is so high compared with other cards out there, that it’s worth getting the sign-up bonus once and then keeping the card. Get your sign-up bonuses from other cards. The number of points you lose from not having an AmEx for 18 months is about the same as the number of points you’ll gain from a sign-up bonus anyway.