Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
If you’ve got an American Express card, the Amex Offers program should be an integral part of your shopping strategy. The offers are extremely easy to use, and the savings can be astronomical — even casual shoppers can easily save hundreds of dollars each year by using them.
There are a handful of rules and tricks you need to know about Amex Offers in order to get the most value from them. Below, CNBC Select takes a look at how they work — and how to maximize them.
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Which cards are eligible for Amex Offers?
Nearly all American Express cards are eligible for the Amex Offers program, including no-annual-fee cards, cobranded airline and hotel cards as well as debit cards. The only Amex-issued cards that do not qualify are gift cards and corporate cards.
The ability for even the lowest-tier American Express cards to register for Amex Offers is a big deal, as it’s one of the most powerful money-saving card benefits in existence. Here are some of our favorite top-rated American Express cards to consider signing up for, whether you’re interested in earning cash back or rewards points:
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
On the American Express secure site
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Rewards
6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations, 3% cash back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more and 1% cash back on other purchases. Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.
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Welcome bonus
Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card within the first 6 months.
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Annual fee
$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
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Intro APR
0% for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers from the date of account opening
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Regular APR
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Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
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Foreign transaction fee
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Credit needed
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express
On the American Express secure site
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Rewards
3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1%), 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations, (up to $6,000 per year, then 1%), 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases, on up to $6,000 per year, then 1%. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be easily redeemed for statement credits.
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Welcome bonus
Earn up to $250 – Here’s How: Earn up to $150 back when you shop with PayPal. Earn 20% back as a statement credit on purchases when you use your new Card to check out with PayPal at merchants in the first 6 months of Card Membership, up to $150 back. Plus, earn $100 back as a statement credit after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in the first 6 months of Card Membership.
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Annual fee
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Intro APR
0% for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, from the date of account opening
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Regular APR
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Balance transfer fee
Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
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Foreign transaction fee
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Credit needed
American Express® Gold Card
On the American Express secure site
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Rewards
4X Membership Rewards® points at Restaurants (plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.) and at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X), 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com, 1X points on all other purchases
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Welcome bonus
Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership
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Annual fee
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Intro APR
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Regular APR
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Balance transfer fee
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Foreign transaction fee
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Credit needed
The Platinum Card® from American Express
On the American Express secure site
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Rewards
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, 1X points on all other eligible purchases
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Welcome bonus
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card®, Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu.
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Annual fee
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Intro APR
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Regular APR
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Balance transfer fee
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Foreign transaction fee
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Credit Needed
What is Amex Offers?
To keep things simple, think of the Amex Offers program as targeted opportunities to earn statement credits and bonus rewards by shopping with select merchants. It is not to be confused with welcome bonuses for applying for a new card.
Amex Offers are typically curated for the type of card you have. For example, if you’ve got a travel rewards credit card such as The Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll tend to find more travel-related offers letting you earn statement credits by booking stays at Marriott properties or bonus points by booking cruises with certain cruise lines. Alternatively, if you’ve got a small business credit card such as The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, you’re more likely to find small business-related offers letting you earn statement credits by shopping with FedEx or bonus points for using certain wireless providers.
There are also plenty of Amex Offers that all cards share access to when it comes to dining, online shopping and entertainment, among other popular spending categories.
Each Amex Offer requires a specific activity to trigger the bonus. For example, for some offers, you might need to spend at least $50 at a particular store to receive a $10 statement credit. For other offers, you might receive a percentage back on purchases made with certain merchants or you might receive bonus points per dollar spent with certain merchants.
The gamut is wide enough that nearly everyone can find something that will save them money on purchases they were already planning to make — the key is to not be wooed by an excellent offer into spending money that you weren’t going to otherwise.
How to use Amex Offers
Register for each offer
To use Amex Offers, you must enroll your card for each one. You’ll find them listed on the dashboard of your online American Express account — when you see one that suits your spending habits, simply click “Add to Card.” Once you satisfy the offer’s terms, you’ll automatically earn the bonus.
While American Express will often only display up to 100 offers at a time, you can actually view more than that by adding them to your card. For instance, if you were to add all of them to your card, you may see another 100 unique Amex Offers the next time you sign into your account, allowing you to add significantly more offers to your card.
I’ve currently got 136 offers on my card, with 65 more available. These offers are subject to change at any time.
Photo courtesy of American Express
Add your offer to the right card
Note that each Amex Offer can only be added to one of your American Express cards. If you’re targeted for one that appears on more than one of your American Express cards, keep in mind that adding it to one card will cause it to disappear from the list of available offers on all your other cards. In other words, when you add an Amex Offer to your account, make sure it’s for the card you actually plan to use.
For example, if multiple American Express cards are offering a $100 statement credit for booking stays at Marriott, it would be wise to add that benefit to your co-branded Marriott American Express card, such as the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card. That way you can take advantage of the 6X points per dollar the card regularly earns for Marriott spending in addition to the potential $100 statement credit.
Stack Amex Offers with other deals
Here’s a big reason Amex Offers are so special: They are not discounts or coupon codes, but are actually rewards that happen after you make your purchase. That is to say, the merchant you’re doing business with has no clue that you’re using an Amex Offer, which is helpful for two reasons:
- You can stack Amex Offers with any promo codes you might find — just be sure your final total satisfies the offer’s minimum spending requirement.
- You can use shopping portals in conjunction with Amex Offers.
And because you’ll receive statement credits after you’ve made your purchase, often within just a few days, you’ll still earn rewards for the entire purchase amount.
Bottom line
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, click here.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
