How I'm getting at least $130 in Amex credits every month
Quick summary
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
I'm not traveling at anywhere near my usual rate these days, which means the rewards credit card perks I typically get the most value from are waiting patiently for my return to travel. But in an interesting turn of events, I'm getting more value from my credit cards than normal thanks to a legitimate statement credit bonanza.
At the beginning of 2021, American Express rolled out a handful of limited-time perks, available exclusively with The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. Eligibility for these offers is limited. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Then, at the top of February, the issuer announced many more opportunities for cardmembers to take advantage of statement credits — specifically covering dining and wireless purchases, depending on the type of Amex travel card.
There are now so many statement credits floating around that the TPG team built a spreadsheet to help you keep track. I've been using it to make sure I'm maximizing all of my offers each month, totally a pretty exciting $130 in value from my various Amex cards thanks to these credits.
Here's how my own Amex credits break down:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: up to $30 at PayPal, up to $15 at Uber/Uber Eats in the U.S.
- American Express® Gold Card: up to $10 on select dining monthly (up to $120 annually), up to $10 at Uber/Uber Eats in the U.S. (up to $120 annually in Uber Cash)*
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: up to $20 on dining at U.S. restaurants
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card: up to $20 on dining at U.S. restaurants
- Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: up to $10 on dining at U.S. restaurants
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: up to $15 on U.S. wireless charges
*Must add card to Uber app before receiving Uber Cash benefit. Enrollment required.
The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
While I paced things out over the four weeks in February, my $20 dining credits were the first to go.
For my first Amex-subsidized meal, I used my Bonvoy Brilliant to offset the cocktail portion of my Amex Yurt meal at Zahav in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, my Hilton Aspire card almost covered an entire Vietnamese takeout dinner:
I decided to get creative with my Bonvoy Amex card, trying my luck with a merchant at New York City's Union Square Greenmarket, which yielded a same-day $10 credit.
Meanwhile, the Bonvoy Business card's $15 wireless credit was easiest to use — it only took a minute to add a second payment to my AT&T account.
I spent the month of February focusing my takeout efforts on NYC Restaurant Week participants, to take advantage of a $10 Mastercard credit per transaction. I also didn't take any rides around town, so I didn't have much use for my up to $25 in monthly Uber credits — $15 from my Amex Platinum and up to $10 from Amex Gold.
TPG's Scott Mayerowitz reminded me that the credit now applies to wine, beer and liquor purchases made via Uber Eats, however, so I decided to use my credits to offset the cost of some delivery booze.
After adding in the PayPal and Amex Gold dining credits, my monthly credit haul comes to a grand total of $130. At that rate, by the end of 2021, I'll have earned up to $430 for permanent monthly dining and Uber Cash with the first two cards, $180 for six months of PayPal credits and $715 for 11 months of temporary dining and wireless credits.
In total, that's $1,325 in credits for 2021, from these six cards alone, on top of the $30 in Wine Insider credits, $100 in Best Buy credits, $150 in Home Chef credits and $100 in Dell credits I've already earned with The Platinum Card® from American Express. Oh, and there's the $100 in Home Depot credits and $150 in Goldbelly credits I'm expecting to take advantage of in the second quarter.
While there have definitely been some hoops to jump through, and it'll require more work in the months to come, the offers below will add $1,955 in value across six cards, more than offsetting the $1,920 I'll pay in 2021 annual fees.