Here's what to do if American Express doesn't give you the right number of points for a purchase
Quick summary
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One of the nice things about rewards credit cards is the slew of different bonus categories. Some cards award bonus points on travel or dining, while cobranded cards may award bonus points on purchases made with the brand the card is affiliated with. For example, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card earns 2 Delta SkyMiles per dollar on dining, at U.S. supermarkets, and on purchases made directly with Delta.
But these bonus points don't always post properly. Sometimes a merchant may have the wrong purchase code on their credit card terminal. Other times, American Express simply doesn't post points properly on its end. This happened to me on my recent trip to Milwaukee when I charged a Marriott stay to my Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. Instead of earning 6 Marriott Bonvoy points per dollar on my stay, it was credited as a standard purchase and earned just 2 points per dollar.
This has happened to me multiple times over the years and could have cost me thousands of points. But not all is lost when you miss out on your rightfully earned bonus points. I will show you how to view the number of points each Amex transaction earns and how to ask for the correct number of points when you find an error.
How to see how many points an Amex transaction earned
Let's start with the first order of business: auditing your points earning. I always recommend looking through your transactions at the end of each month and checking how many points each purchase earned. Doing this keeps you on top of your points earning and will immediately alert you to any discrepancies. This could put thousands of points in your pocket if you spot a purchase that earned the wrong number of points.
To audit your points earnings, log into the American Express website. Then, select the card you'd like to audit using the card selector tool at the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
Click the "Statements & Activity button" at the top of the screen.
Now, select the statement you'd like to view from the left-hand side of the screen. All transactions will appear at the center of the screen. You'll see how many points you earned per dollar to the left of the merchant name.
You can view more details by clicking on the merchant name. In this case, I clicked on the Hotel Metro transaction I put on my Bonvoy Brilliant. This should have earned 6 points per dollar since it's a Marriott hotel, but instead, it earned 2 points per dollar due to a crediting issue.
On the other hand, this hotel stay at the Le Meridien Nice was credited properly and earned 6 points per dollar spent:
Related: Best hotel credit cards of 2021
What to do if your Amex points don't credit properly
So, you found a transaction that didn't earn the right number of points. Generally, I've found that the Amex chat support tool can help you resolve this issue on a transaction-by-transaction basis. You can find the chat tool on the bottom right-hand corner of the Amex website when you're logged in.
The trick is to ask nicely and go into the chat armed with the information you need for the agent to identify your charges properly. This includes the name of the merchant, how much you spent and the date of the transaction. Of course, you'll also want to point out that you did not earn the proper amount of points.
Here's a sample template:
"Hello! I just looked over my [card name]'s statement and noticed [number of charges] didn't earn the right number of points. The transaction is in the [purchase category] bonus category and should have earned [number of points] per dollar, for a total of [number of points] points. The charges are: [charge/date/amount]. Please let me know if this can be corrected — thank you!"
More often than not, the representative will open an investigation into the charges and tell you to follow up in 10 to 15 days.
If the investigation turns out in your favor, you should get the proper amount of points on your next statement.
Related: These are the best credit cards for everyday spending
Bottom line
And that's all there is to it. While the process isn't super straightforward, it pays to ask to audit your points earning every month and look for earning discrepancies on bonus categories. Improper points crediting happens more than you might think; auditing could put thousands of points back in your pocket.
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