Credit Card Offers Amex Explorer: 50,000 bonus Amex points

Earn uncapped Amex Points and enjoy a $400 travel credit every year!​

Learn more and apply for this card:

American Express® Explorer Credit Card

With the American Express Explorer credit card, earn uncapped Amex Membership Rewards points and offset the annual fee with a travel credit.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

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What are the main benefits of this card?

1. Signup bonus: 50,000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards Points, when you spend at least $4,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of approval
2. Earn 2 Membership Rewards Points per $1 on eligible purchases, uncapped, which you can transfer to 13 different airline & hotel programs
3. $400 annual travel credit fully offsets the $395 annual fee

Why we like the American Express Explorer credit card

This card lets you earn Amex Membership Rewards points at a solid rate of 2 points per dollar, uncapped, without the higher annual fee of the Amex Platinum card.

You can transfer Amex points to 11 airline frequent flyer programs and 2 hotel loyalty programs, generally at a 2:1 rate. For example, this means you’re effectively earning 1 Velocity Point, Qatar Avios or Cathay Asia Mile per $1 spent on the card.

The $395 annual fee is offset by a $400 annual travel credit that you can spend on eligible flights, car rentals or hotels when booking through American Express Travel.

You'll also receive two free annual visits to the Amex Centurion Lounges in Sydney or Melbourne Airport, plus complimentary travel insurance. See our card guide for the full details:

American Express® Explorer Credit Card

With the American Express Explorer credit card, earn uncapped Amex Membership Rewards points and offset the annual fee with a travel credit.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

AFF members are welcome to discuss this card in this thread.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

. Then he tells me that unfortunately i'm not entitled to the signup bonus, and that amex just a few days ago fixed the loophole that allowed existing card members to 'game the system' and 'point hack' their way to the sign up bonus, despise already begin an existing card holder. He said my PE card would definitely be restored to Ascent and that i would not lose my points, but that the signup bonus was off the table.

Bummer! However do not give up hope just yet as an Amex rep will always tell you that you are not eligible for the sign-on bonus points as that is what the terms state.

Cannot be helped now, but strategically you should not have mentioned "I insisted that i wanted the explorer card in the gateway program as that's the only way to earn the 100,000 signup bonus" ie When trying to game the system it is best not to tell them! One needs to if pressed to just use a reason that is not after something that one is not meant to get.

He may be correct that they have fixed the loophole. Then again it may not be so, or yet be so. I would still suggest you spend $1500 on the Gateway Program and see what occurs. That will only cost you 750 points, but may gain you 110K. Only after whether you know or not it if does not work then seek to relink.

 

[AndersK]

Bummer! However do not give up hope just yet as an Amex rep will always tell you that you are not eligible for the sign-on bonus points as that is what the terms state.

Cannot be helped now, but strategically you should not have mentioned "insisted that i wanted the explorer card in the gateway program as that's the only way to earn the 100,000 signup bonus"

He may be correct that they have fixed the loophole. Then again it may not be so, or yet be so. I would still suggest you spend $1500 on the Gateway Program and see what occurs. That will only cost you 750 points, but may gain you 110K. Only after whether you know it does not work then seek to relink.

yeah that's definitely the plan. i'll still do the spend and just see what happens. i did ask for the gateway program for explorer, and he said he'll try but that there might be a chance i'll end up with both cards in ascent. crossing my fingers. anyway, i'll keep you guys posted how it plays out.

 

[billbro]

Bummer! However do not give up hope just yet as an Amex rep will always tell you that you are not eligible for the sign-on bonus points as that is what the terms state.

Cannot be helped now, but strategically you should not have mentioned "I insisted that i wanted the explorer card in the gateway program as that's the only way to earn the 100,000 signup bonus" ie When trying to game the system it is best not to tell them! One needs to if pressed to just use a reason that is not after something that one is not meant to get.

He may be correct that they have fixed the loophole. Then again it may not be so, or yet be so. I would still suggest you spend $1500 on the Gateway Program and see what occurs. That will only cost you 750 points, but may gain you 110K. Only after whether you know or not it if does not work then seek to relink.

I think the above is very practical advice, I was also advised I wouldn't receive the bonus points as I had a CA Gold card - I went ahead and de-linked my accounts and met the spend criteria and the bonus points came through. I was similarly advised that Amex had fix a loophole too.

However, the Gateway to Ascent linking is probably going to start getting more attention seeing as it's being spruiked on Ozbargain - guess I better get onto mine, but wanted to see a few more recent results.

 

[theultimateflyer]

Thanks for all the info and sharing your experiences. Mine is an interesting one..i am not sure if someone else have had the same experience. I have hit a potential wall with my Explorer card and i am writing to seek your advise here...

I cancelled my Gold AMEX credit card in early Jan. The card was closed but seems like AMEX didnt close my MR account. mid-Jan i applied for Explorer using a referral link and got approved for AMEX Explorer but they have linked my Explorer to the existing MR account and credited the $400 travel credit.

I was talking to them about supplementary cards yesterday and dont know why but out the blue the CSR told me that "just FYI..you wont be getting the bonus 110k points", because of the T&Cs around 18months. I requested them to immediately de-link my new Explorer card from the existing MR account and create a new MR account and she said she will do it. she calls me back 2 hours later to inform me that she cant do that as the $400 travel credit is already been added to the existing MR.

Now, i have not met the 1500 spend criteria yet, almost half way through , but i am in two minds now as i may not get the bonus 110K points, because of what has happened (linking of new Explorer card with existing MR account)

Any ideas / suggestions of what can be done (if anything can be done here) ?

Thanks

 

[Dr Ralph]

Thanks for all the info and sharing your experiences. Mine is an interesting one..i am not sure if someone else have had the same experience. I have hit a potential wall with my Explorer card and i am writing to seek your advise here...

I cancelled my Gold AMEX credit card in early Jan. The card was closed but seems like AMEX didnt close my MR account. mid-Jan i applied for Explorer using a referral link and got approved for AMEX Explorer but they have linked my Explorer to the existing MR account and credited the $400 travel credit.

I was talking to them about supplementary cards yesterday and dont know why but out the blue the CSR told me that "just FYI..you wont be getting the bonus 110k points", because of the T&Cs around 18months. I requested them to immediately de-link my new Explorer card from the existing MR account and create a new MR account and she said she will do it. she calls me back 2 hours later to inform me that she cant do that as the $400 travel credit is already been added to the existing MR.

Now, i have not met the 1500 spend criteria yet, almost half way through , but i am in two minds now as i may not get the bonus 110K points, because of what has happened (linking of new Explorer card with existing MR account)

Any ideas / suggestions of what can be done (if anything can be done here) ?

Thanks

Hoping that you kept a record of the cancellation of the Gold AMEX. Either the phone call or the letter you sent to cancel. AMEX will have sent you a formal letter acknowledging the cancellation. Use that as your weapon.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hoping that you kept a record of the cancellation of the Gold AMEX. Either the phone call or the letter you sent to cancel. AMEX will have sent you a formal letter acknowledging the cancellation. Use that as your weapon.

It would be a weapon to gain the Travel Credit, but not directly the 110K. He would just have to hope that if he can get into Gateway and then spend the $1500 that the points will then posts. However the CSRs seem more aggressive now that points will not post, and this may or may not be true. But the gig may be up.

theultimateflyer there is no point spending anymore until you land in Gateway.

I initially suggest to call again and try again with a different CSR in a different time zone to the one you first spoke with.

 

[AndersK]

I think the above is very practical advice, I was also advised I wouldn't receive the bonus points as I had a CA Gold card - I went ahead and de-linked my accounts and met the spend criteria and the bonus points came through. I was similarly advised that Amex had fix a loophole too.

However, the Gateway to Ascent linking is probably going to start getting more attention seeing as it's being spruiked on Ozbargain - guess I better get onto mine, but wanted to see a few more recent results.

yeah it's a bit annoying now thinking back of the conversation with the CSR. he kinda cornered me by first saying that i wouldn't get the bonus and then saying that the Ascent program had a higher earning rate than Gateway. like why whould i want to be on on Gateway then? anyway, he said he would call me back when they've sorted it out. just thinking how i should justify wanting to stay on the Gateway if they try to push me to Ascent. any ideas?

 

[rfc4eva]

The day before it said refer to membership # etc which meant it was linked now when I login it shows I have 16 gateway points and when I go history it says 116k forfeited.a lady said she was going to fix it but wouldn't give me a time frame.

Now they are saying that although I'm not entitled to transfer from gateway to ascent she said she would honour it as that's what she told me would do.have to wait 3-5 business days though.just hoping it goes through!

 

[theultimateflyer]

Thanks LTO.. Dr Ralph

To be honest...I think i have lost hope on this one...the CSR lady i spoke to was from Melbourne (my bad, in terms of timing of my call) and she knew this stuff inside out. And she told me no matter what/how its very unlikely to happen.

My existing MR was a Gateway account....and seems like AMEX cannot open a new MR Gateway account due to travel credit. i thought that way i would have had a better chance to get bonus 110k points .

Anyways..i agree with your comments and appreciate your advise here,

my course of action from here:
- Best case: Call AMEX late night (end up in Philippines) and try to get a new MR gateway account created (who knows they might do it), trasnfer all the existing points over (including travel credit) and continue spending till i meet spend criteria 1500
- Worst case: I have already got an approval to get my card cancelled with Annual fee reversed by mid-Feb, just waiting for couple of referral bonuses to come through. This case i will get 40K referral bonus and no annual fee. In this case the lady called me 2nd time to tell me that if i use $400 travel credit and then cancel the card, they will not reverse the annual fee

Lets see... I welcome any other creative suggestions/ideas.

Thanks heaps

 

[lovetravellingoz]

My existing MR was a Gateway account..

Oh nasty. Yes experience has been that to get sign-on bonii that you need to be joining a new and different type of Amex Reward Program.

 

[Ken1]

Thanks LTO.. Dr Ralph

To be honest...I think i have lost hope on this one...the CSR lady i spoke to was from Melbourne (my bad, in terms of timing of my call) and she knew this stuff inside out. And she told me no matter what/how its very unlikely to happen.

My existing MR was a Gateway account....and seems like AMEX cannot open a new MR Gateway account due to travel credit. i thought that way i would have had a better chance to get bonus 110k points .

When I received my Explorer card it was linked to Ascent along with my Platinum Charge and Reserve cards. The $400 travel credit was showing the day after I received the card. 6 days later I phoned in the evening and spoke to someone in the Philippines call centre and asked to de-link the accounts to have a separate Gateway account and this was done straight away. The $400 travel credit was still showing while I had the separate Gateway and Ascent accounts. After spending $1500 and receiving the 110,000 bonus points I called up and asked to have the accounts linked. I was told that normally you can't do this as the points are worth more in Ascent but that they would file a request to the back end team. A week later the accounts were merged back to Ascent and the $400 travel credit has been showing all the time, both when only having Ascent and also when having separate Gateway and Ascent accounts.

However, I think all of the examples that have been posted here have been when the Explorer has been linked to Ascent and then having a new Gateway account created which triggered the bonus points after spending the $1500. I don't remember any examples of anyone already having a Gateway account having a new Gateway account created

 

[Crazy Diamond]

yeah it's a bit annoying now thinking back of the conversation with the CSR. he kinda cornered me by first saying that i wouldn't get the bonus and then saying that the Ascent program had a higher earning rate than Gateway. like why whould i want to be on on Gateway then? anyway, he said he would call me back when they've sorted it out. just thinking how i should justify wanting to stay on the Gateway if they try to push me to Ascent. any ideas?

Tell them you want to be placed onto the program which is listed on the back of your letter of offer/credit contract (and in their product advertising) - which is Gateway. That's what i intend to say if I run into the same problem. Or failing that, that you want to differentiate your spend (and resulting points) across the two different cards, eg supermarket spend on platinum edge, all the rest on explorer etc.

 

[adame]

I've spent $1.5k on my Explorer card and just anxiously waiting now for the transaction to stop 'pending' and become real. I am really hoping I can get the bonus points! I'll let you guys know if this "loophole" still exists.

I'm in two minds about whether to attempt a Gateway to Ascent consolidation. I think the less interaction I have with the AE staff the less likely they are to challenge me on the bonus points (if they come through). I would hate for them to transfer the accounts and take the points away. It's a bit of a gamble really.

 

[AndersK]

Tell them you want to be placed onto the program which is listed on the back of your letter of offer/credit contract (and in their product advertising) - which is Gateway. That's what i intend to say if I run into the same problem. Or failing that, that you want to differentiate your spend (and resulting points) across the two different cards, eg supermarket spend on platinum edge, all the rest on explorer etc.

So I got a call back from the CSR now. he told that my options were to either put both my cards on Ascent, or to 'appeal' to the back office team and insist on the gateway program for my explorer. He told me something about that they've now intentionally redesigned the system so anyone who already has a card would see their explorer in anything but the Gateway program, just to avoid giving them the signup bonus. so when I heard this I immediately started insisting that I wanted the Gateway program for the explorer and Ascent from Edge. The CSR reluctantly agreed to process my 'appeal' and said we will get back to me on Saturday. So now my Explorer is on Gateway and my Edge is in some kinda limbo stage without a rewards program.

 

[rfc4eva]

Does this fixing of the loophole affect if the points have already been awarded and are waiting to be transferred from gateway to ascent in any way?

 

[noos]

my experience seems to be bit different. I'm an existing Plat edge card holder, applied for the explorer and it came linked to Ascent. Rang up and spoke to CSR in Philipines and requested the delink from Ascent to Gateway, they submitted the request and said it would take a few days to process, which it did, however, the deleted my Ascent account and moved those points over the Gateway... before i made the request to delink i noticed that the $400 credit had been applied to my Ascent account but haven't seen it reapplied to my Gateway yet, so I'll be calling up again to find out what happened to my Ascent Account.

 

[maccaisking]

Just had Mrs Mac call and try to link Gateway to Ascent, her accounts were not linked when cards arrived. I gave her a thorough briefing on what to say, we called the Membership Rewards number and got through to call centre in Phillipines (I think - def not Aus) and was told linking no problem but points have to be xferred out first or they are forfeited. Plan to try again each night this week and if no luck after the weekend will take out the points and then link. Will update with progress.

Does anyone know if US call centres can be reached early morning Aus time (ie 630am) through the week?

edit: I should add the reason given for needing to forfeit was because you shouldn't receive sign up bonus for two cards. The operator said the system will wipe them if it detects another card. It was nothing to do with point value.
As we had Explorer 1st, I might ask if we can forfeit the points from the Plat Edge instead as they are the ones we 'shouldn't' have received.

 

[potm]

So far all reports on here of getting points, I don't think anybody had had a gateway account yet in the pass 18 months. Even if you do get a gateway account, I'm not sure you would get the bonus points, depending on how amex program their systems. If the 18 months is just a hollow threat, then you should be fine.
If it's like ANZ and the 12 months is actually programmed per program (ANZ rewards and QFF direct) then a new gateway account won't help as the system will detect you had a previous gateway account recently.

 

[crossbow]

Does anyone know if US call centres can be reached early morning Aus time (ie 630am) through the week?

I called just on 11:59pm Sydney time just now and spoke to very american sounding agent, so guessing that was the US call centre. That would make sense if their US call centre is on east coast?

 

[billbro]

I called just on 11:59pm Sydney time just now and spoke to very american sounding agent, so guessing that was the US call centre. That would make sense if their US call centre is on east coast?

Did you get your card successfully linked/de-linked?