I am new to this site and looking at an Amplify Signature Card through my bank with I can get fee free.
For the 100,000 bonus credits I need to spend $5,000 in 3 months.
One of the T&Cs of the card is that business expenses are not eligible for earning points credits.
I have a few questions relating to this…
If business spend does not count toward earning credit points, does it still count toward the expenditure in order to earn the initial bonus?
In either case, how tight are they on checking this? ie, if I purchase flights for a work trip, I assume I would be ok? If I pay for a professional development training course for my work I imagine that may be more likely to be an issue? If I purchase equipment for work that is clearly occupational based then again I assume it’d be an issue?
Every card is slightly different in how it qualifies what does and doesn’t constitute business spend, so it’s hard to say with any certainty. However in my experience if they deem it’s business spend you’d be neither eligible for it to count towards spending criteria for bonus points, or to earn points on the spend with most card providers.
When you apply for the card there is usually some sort of painfully long fact sheet or PDS type document which nobody ever bothers to read, but in the depths of it somewhere they will clarify what they deem to be business spend.
In answer to how strict are they on checking this in practice not very I’ve found, but you’d have to weigh up the risks vs rewards. How big of an impact would it be to you if you didn’t get the points and were then ineligible for sign-up bonus’ for the next 18 months with nothing to show for it? If the answer is very, and you’re not likely to qualify for the spend through personal spend then I’d suggest seeking a different card.
In practice you’d likely be fine as I have frequently put the costs of flights for business purposes on cards and it’s been counted both towards a qualifying spend for bonus, and to earn points with many banks. However I’m guessing they would be within their rights to discount it and not award you the points if they audited your spend and noticed. You’re spot on about the fact that you’d be much more likely to get caught out if you put thousands for a professional development course or equipment on the card because that’s fairly obvious, but I can’t imagine how they would pull you up on a simple flight booking; people buy flights for themselves too.
Thanks Jimmy, that essentially confirms what I was thinking would be the case.
Ive applied for an AMEX card also which I will easily hit the criteria for and allows business spend so will just put all obvious upcoming expenses on that one and look at other ways to boost personal spend to hit that mark!
From their website with reference to the bonus points…
‘When you apply for a new Amplify Signature credit card and spend at least $5,000 on eligible purchases made with the card within 90 days of card approval.’