The American Express Confirm Card Trick

Saying American Express’s IT is quirky is like saying Lady Gaga’s outfits are slightly outside of normal; it’s basically the understatement of the year. The quirks are great for us because they open up opportunities, or quirkitunities if you prefer, for all sorts of shenanigans. Today we’ll focus on a single quirkitunity: American Express Offers.

American Express Offers come in a couple of different varieties. You’ll see great ones that are only presented to you if the stars align and American Express likes you, like “50% off of up to $1,000 in spend at FedEx”. You’ll also see, err, stupid ones that are available to anyone with a pulse like “3% back on up to $250 in purchases at Urban Outfitters” (sorry to all my BDG jeans fans). If American Express’s systems see you as a gamer, you won’t get the good ones but you can have 3% off of BDG jeans to your heart’s content, provided that your heart’s content doesn’t exceed $250.

Fortunately for us, there’s a way to bypass the “stars align an American Express likes you” algorithm: Confirm your card again. That is, one of the quirks of American Express’s system is that you can confirm a card as many times as you like, and the best offers will show up during card confirmation. So, it’s a good idea to visit americanexpress.com/confirmcard periodically and look for offers, that’s where the good stuff hides.

The “stars align and American Express likes you” server rack crashing when you (re)confirm your cards.