Amex Cardholders Can Earn 2x Rewards at Small Businesses Through the End of the Year
Quick summary
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
American Express is known for its post-Thanksgiving Small Business Saturday event. In past years the issuer's offered customers statement credits for eligible purchases, although last year it dialed things back and instead focused on providing support to business owners rather than rewarding cardholders with money back. This year, however, Amex is adding some extra incentive to use your eligible cards at local shops: the ability to earn 2x points when you shop at qualifying merchants now through December 31, 2016.
This offer applies to more than 50 US personal Amex cards and OPEN Small Business American Express cards. To earn the 2x rewards, you need to enroll your card here, and then simply shop at eligible merchants with any registered cards to rake in the extra points (or miles). You'll earn 2x rewards on the first $100,000 in qualifying purchases made with each eligible card (or on the first $250,000 with select Amex OPEN small business cards).
Note that you won't earn 2x points/miles on any purchases that already qualify for a category bonus, however you will earn additional rewards. So, for example, if you use an enrolled Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express at a US supermarket that qualifies for the Shop Small promo, you'll earn the 2x points you get from the bonus category plus 1 additional point for a total of 3 Membership Rewards points. Also, if you enroll an eligible card for which there are additional cardholders, they will automatically be registered as well, and will earn 2x rewards for the primary card account. To find participating small businesses near you, check out this Shop Small Map.
Here's a breakdown of how you'll earn extra rewards with select participating Amex cards:
| Rewards Type/Eligible Cards | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Blue Cash Reward Dollars (Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express and Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express) | Earn an additional 1% cash back per dollar of purchases in the form of Blue Cash Reward Dollars, which can be redeemed for statement credits. |
| Blue Sky Points (Blue Sky from American Express) | Earn 1 additional Blue Sky point per dollar of purchases. |
| Delta SkyMiles (Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express, Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express, Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express, Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card from American Express | Earn 1 additional mile per dollar of purchases. |
| Hilton Honors Points (Hilton Honors Card from American Express, Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express) | Earn 3 additional Hilton Honors bonus points per dollar of purchases. |
| Lowe's Business Rewards Points | Earn 1 additional Lowe's Business Rewards point per dollar of purchases. |
| Membership Rewards program-enrolled cards (Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, The Platinum Card® from American Express, Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express, Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card from American Express, Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN, The Business Platinum® Card from American Express, American Express Gold Card, American Express Green Card, Blue from American Express, The Mercedes-Benz Credit Card from American Express) | Earn 1 additional Membership Rewards point per dollar of purchases. |
| Plenti Points (Amex Plenti) | Earn 1 additional Plenti point per dollar of purchases. |
| SimplyCash (Simply Cash Business Card from American Express, SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express) | Earn an additional 1% cash back per dollar of purchases in the form of a statement credit. |
| Schwab Cash Back | Earn an additional 1.5% cash back per dollar of purchases deposited in an eligible Schwab account. |
| Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints (Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express) | Earn 1 additional Starpoint per dollar of purchases. |
Bottom Line
If you're already planning to shop at a participating small business, the ability to earn 2x rewards on your purchase when you use a registered Amex card could come in handy. It's probably not worth going far out of your way to take advantage of the opportunity, but at the very least it's worth enrolling your most-used Amex cards so you keep your options open.
What are your thoughts on this latest Amex small-business promotion?