If BOA wants to restrict the number of Alaska cards yearly from 50 to 5 that’s fair. If Citi wants to ask a second question before approving another card during the recon call that’s okay with me. What doesn’t make sense is Chase’s 5/24 rule for small businesses and now Amex’s lifetime ban on bonuses for those that receive a business card more than once.
In the post, End of MS Means Get Your Life Together from 2/23/2016, I wrote that there is hope in the points game if you made 2016 the year of leaving the cubicle and starting your own business. One of the reasons I said to do so was that Amex did not restrict bonuses for small business cards. As we now know, Amex has changed its policy to a once in a lifetime sign up bonus per customer leaving churners and bona fide businessmen with no choice but to look elsewhere for small business credit cards.
Tragically, there is no other place to turn for cards that offer great bonus categories for small businesses. As a serial entrepreneur and compulsive organizer, I need to segregate my spending for each business for both tax and tracking purposes. With the new change from Amex, the only choice I have is to apply for a new account, deal with the approval process, and pay the annual fee just for this convenience. Why would anyone do that?
The nerds in Amex’s analyst departments may believe that they have done away with churners by implementing this policy but they did not foresee the lost business opportunities that TPOL is predicting. One does not have to be clairvoyant to see how this course of action will negatively impact Amex’s bottom line.
While on the subject of psychic abilities, I would like to point out that TPOL, the Oracle of Outer Borough (Hoboken), also wrote the following in his piece on AA Devaluation: While devaluations are terrible, what keeps TPOL up at night is the harsh reality that banks are beginning to follow Chase and Amex’s stricter churning policies. These changes, if lasting, will make the severity of future devaluations a non-issue.
What bad news is next for churners, a devolution into a cash only economy? Only TPOL knows.
One idea would be to have Mrs. TPOL apply for some cards as well. Also, there is at least one business card that offers great bonuses: Ink. Technically, I suppose that’s two cards, but still a great pair. I don’t use my business to MS, but still get great value from Ink. The AA business card also offers a common retention offer of 2500 miles when you spend 2500 per month. There also used to be a Capitol One card offer that may still be available that had some categories that you could choose from, such as shipping, which would offer some nice multiples in cash back. All of these options do nothing to lessen the fact that this policy by Amex flat out sucks, but considering all of the bad things happening to them, they have to batten down the hatches for a bit before reverting to a more sensible approach. In the meantime, I suppose it’s time to look at other cards by AX, maybe even (wince) another Delta card.
Trust me ms tpol (my alter ego) is on it. And I wrote about how ink is impossible to get if you look at the linked post about ‘get your life together’.
Citi only allows one business card and I have it (again) lol. Capital one hates me and won’t approve me.
I appreciate the options you suggested but unfortunately the TPOLs have gotten fat on bonuses and are now bracing for the long, cold off season.