For years, the T&Cs on AMEX product applications stated that you could not receive any new cardmember bonus if you had the same card within the previous 24 months. For me this meant I churned an SPG personal and business account in alternating years, receiving the full bonus for one of the cards each year. In addition, I maintain my original SPG personal card as it is one of my oldest accounts.
Now, I say full bonus above because AMEX generally awards points/miles for new cards in two ways:1)Bonus first purchase points/miles2)Bonus points/miles for spend in x months
The 24 month limit seemed to apply only to the first purchase points as several churners reported success receiving the points for spend in x months regardless of the time since they last had the card. All this changed though in late August when the following updated language was noted within the T&Cs "Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have had this product within the last 12 months." I decided to break from my SPG alternating application year sequence and apply for another SPG card in September 2012 during one of my churns to test the new limits. I was just shy of the 12 month mark but included the card in the churn so that at least some of my credit pulls could be combined and I wouldn't waste a separate pull on a bonus I might not receive.
Well it worked, at 11 months and 23 days after receiving the same SPG personal bonus, I received both the 10,000 bonus Starpoints after first purchase and the 15,000 bonus Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first 6 months.
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