How to Redeem Overlooked Amex Offers
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
One great perk of being an American Express cardholder is access to Amex Offers, a variety of discounts that you can redeem for purchases at select retailers. Today, TPG Contributor Akash Gupta explains how you can take advantage of these offers even if you forget to add them to your card before making a purchase.
After making an online purchase using one of my Amex cards, I noticed a statement credit offer for that merchant in the Amex Offers & Benefits section below. If only I had remembered to check that section, and then add the offer to my card before making the purchase! But now that I had already finalized the payment, nothing could be done about it, right? Actually, such didn't seem to be the case.
Feeling disappointed, I added the offer to my card anyway, and opened up customer chat. I expressed that I didn't feel too great about missing out on the rebate offer, and asked whether the rep could consider manually issuing me a statement credit for it. And get this: American Express customer service instantly accommodated my request and little mess-up, issuing me a credit for the offer amount.
It promptly showed up by next morning as an "adjustment" in my online account. A day or two later when the specific purchase posted, I also received the statement credit from the offer itself, which I had added after completing the transaction, but before it had posted. I couldn't resign myself to thinking this was just a one-off mistake.
So, I again made a qualifying purchase using my Amex card — this time, intentionally overlooking the respective rebate offer available in the section below. I then added the offer shortly after completing the payment, while the transaction was still "pending." Et voila — it happened again. Even though the Amex terms instruct cardmembers to add such offers to their cards before making the qualifying purchases, I was able to capitalize on the benefit despite adding it later on in the sequence in both scenarios. Just to be sure, I tried it a third time and on a different Amex card. The results were the same!
Maximize Your Purchases
If you're using an Amex offer found through your account online, you'll need to pay with the card for which you see the discount offered. However, you can also find offers via Facebook and Twitter, in which case you can choose the card you want to connect. In that case, one of your first choices should the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card for American Express, which TPG has named as his top choice for non-bonus-category spending.
Have you ever used this technique to redeem Amex Offers?
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.