Did You Get a Targeted Cash-Back Offer? Amex Says It Was a Mistake
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
If you received a targeted offer email from American Express over the weekend, you might have done a double take.
A user in the TPG Lounge on Facebook reported receiving a seemingly unreal Amex Offer for 2x cash back after spending $2,500 or more. What made the offer even more unbelievable was that the cardholder could (theoretically) take advantage of the promotion up to three times, earning up to $15,000 cash back.
Within minutes, dozens of cardholders with various cards reported similar offers ranging from $9,000 spend and $9,000 cash back, up to $27,000 back.
Wait, what?
According to Amex, the email was sent in error.
"[W]e did send out a Membership Rewards promotion to a small, isolated set of Card Members through our online, mobile app and email channels. Unfortunately, there was an error in the way the banner displayed the promotion to Card Members who received it via email," according to an Amex spokesperson.
"Once we detected the issue, we corrected it quickly to prevent any further confusion to our Card Members," the statement continued.
The correct promotion appeared to be at the bottom of the email sent by American Express. For instance, the actual promotion for a reader who received a targeted offer is 1,500 Membership Rewards points after spending $1,500 or more.
So if you hoped for a significant cash-back offer on your Amex card, unfortunately, you're out of luck. But while this Amex Offer appears to be a mistake, there are plenty of valid offers on hotels, dining, travel and entertainment.
With any Amex Offer, you’ll want to check all of your cards to select the one that offers the best return on the purchase. Offers are targeted, so you may not see them at all. If you do, I’d encourage you to add them right away, since these tend to have limited enrollment and may disappear before the expiration date.
If you don’t have an American Express card and don’t want to miss out on future Amex Offers, consider adding The Platinum Card® from American Express to your wallet, as it’s offering a welcome bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you use your new card to make $6,000 in purchases in your first six months of account opening. However, you might be eligible for an Amex Platinum 125,000-point bonus offer using the CardMatch Tool (offer subject to change at any time).
You’ll also receive 5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) and 5x points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. As a Platinum cardholder, you’ll also receive complimentary Gold status with both Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, so your stays could be even more rewarding. Enrollment required for select benefits.
