UPDATE: THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. YOU CAN VIEW ALL OFFERS HERE.
Last week I wrote about the limited time offer for the Starwood credit card. With both the personal and business version of the card you can receive up to 35,000 bonus points after meeting the minimum spend requirement. This is the 2nd time we’ve seen this highest ever offer and in my best guest possibly the last time we’ll see this increased offer before the Marriott/SPG merger is completed.
Since this card typically offers a steady 25,000 point bonus offer, there are many people who have applied for this card in the past few months and are now wondering if they can get American Express to match their bonus to the current offer. As a typical rule of thumb, American Express does not match sign up bonuses, even if it was only within a few days. With that being said, there are always exceptions to the rule and if you can get a nice supervisor you might be surprised!
I’ve had a few readers email me telling me of their success (and not success) with getting a bonus match. It seems to be pretty split down the  middle. But here are some things I am finding:
- To request a match, you must call American Express. Messaging them through the online chat on your AmericanExpress.com account will not do anything. Upon calling, you will speak to a customer service representative, they do not have the authority to do anything. Explain your situation and then ask to speak to a supervisor.
- Explain to the supervisor that you’ve been an American Express cardmember for awhile now and that you are hoping they can match to the new bonus offer. Explain that you just recently received the card and only received a 25,000 bonus offer (or 30,000 offer if you applied during another limited time offer), and that the offer is now 35,000 points.
- If they say no, I would keep on pushing them. Tell them you know other friends and family members in the same situation has been able to receive the bonus points. If no luck, you can always hang up and try again.
- If they aren’t able to/willing to match the extra 10,000 point offer, many have had success getting 5,000 points due to a “good will gesture”
Feel free to report your success in the comments below. And remember, if you already have one version of the card (personal or business) you are still eligible to apply and earn the bonus points for the other version, upon approval and meeting the minimum spend requirement. You can learn more about the offer and the benefits of the card here.
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I asked and they said no, but really I may not get a bonus at all since I’ve had the card before. Taking a chance because I want the card anyway.
I did this last time and the rep I spoke with agreed with 10,000 extra points once I complete minimum spend. However, when I hit the minimum spend, they claim they have no records of such agreement.