I’ve heard from a few people this year who didn’t get credit card bonuses they were promised. Some instances were about misreading the terms. One reader just forgot to meet the spend in time. But the rest all seemed to have legitimate complaints. I posted some tips a few years ago on how not to get screwed over. Those might help. But, for everyone, I strongly recommend taking a screenshot of the terms whenever you apply for credit cards. It only takes a few seconds and will make your life much easier when you have issues with a bonus. Personally, I just keep a Word document called “Screenshots” and dump everything there.
The main culprit lately seems to be American Express. Some of their card offers don’t have any “once in a lifetime” language in the terms. But I’ve seen (on multiple occasions) people being denied a bonus because they were previous cardholders. This is either incredibly shady or incredibly disorganized. You just can’t promise a bonus in writing and then deny it months later by making up new terms after the fact. Amex needs to figure out why this keeps happening. And you guys need to protect yourselves. One great way to do that is by taking screenshots of the terms. Do it every single time you apply for a card. Read the terms. Take a screenshot. Rest easy.
