If you are an American Express Card Member, one of the biggest perks is regular offers for bonus points or cashback when you make purchases at participating retailers. If these offers align with something you were planning to buy anyway, then it sweetens the deal.
In addition to the regular Amex Offers you get in your card account, American Express also has MyAmexShop, a cashback portal similar to Cashrewards or Shopback.
What is MyAmexShop?
MyAmexShop is a click-through cashback website for American Express customers. Simply register your eligible Amex card, find a participating retailer, click and shop away.
Unlike traditional cashback websites, you’ll get credit directly into your Amex account rather than needing to accumulate and cash out a rewards balance. Another positive for MyAmexOffers is the quick processing time of 7 days for most transactions (90 days for travel and experiences).
As MyAmexShop requires a click, you won’t be able to double-dip with other similar cashback schemes such as Cashrewards, Shopback, Qantas Shopping or the Velocity e-Store. Also, check to see if any products or promotions are excluded from further cashback.
How do I use Amex Offers?
Amex Offers give you discounts and savings with bonus points or a statement credit when eligible purchases are made. Unlike MyAmexShop, Amex Offers tend to have a fixed reward when you reach a certain spending threshold.
Participating businesses can range from smaller boutique stores to big brands such as Amazon, Sony, Qantas and Harvey Norman. Keep an eye out for any offers that might be relevant to you.
Here are some key points to keep in mind:
- Not every offer is made available to all members. Some are personalised, so you may see something in your account that another person doesn’t.
- You must use the card enrolled in the offer to access the benefit.
- Make sure you read the terms and conditions for each offer.
- Some business, travel, government and prepaid cards are not eligible.
Amex Offers are usually combinable with third-party cashback sites (such as Cashrewards, Shopback, and Topcashback) and coupon codes, as long as the final amount still meets the offer threshold. But consult the T&Cs for any exclusions.
If you’re an existing American Express Card Member, then it’s easy to register for offers:
- Log in to your American Express account or go through the Amex app
- Scroll down the web until you see ‘Offers’. On the app, look for the ‘Offers’ tab.
- You’ll see the offers your card is eligible for. Click ‘Save to Card’ to activate it.
- Complete your qualifying spend by the expiry date. If you meet all the T&Cs, you’ll get your reward shortly.
According to the terms and conditions, statement credits are processed within three working days but can take up to 90 days in rare circumstances. In our experience, statement credits usually appear within 48 hours or less of the purchase being made.
Summing up
Amex Offers and MyAmexShop are two ways to make the most of your American Express membership. You can certainly save hundreds of dollars a year on things that you might have purchased anyway.
Keeping an eye on the Offers section of the mobile app is an easy way to see where you can score some discounts in the form of statement credits. But the usual rules of discount hunting apply. Don’t go overboard and spend more than you would have done anyway just because there’s a deal!
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my Amex offers?
If you have an Amex-issued card, you will find the offers in your account or on the mobile app.
Can I get my Amex fee waived?
American Express does not typically waive annual fees. You should contact Amex for more information or to put in a request.
What rewards does Amex offer?
Apart from these promotions such as ‘Shop Small’, many American Express cards come with other benefits such as bonus points signups and lounge access passes.
Worse, I had travel credits that was refunded to me due to cancelled flights so I have double the amount of credits to spend.
Information regarding Amex Travel credits can be found at https://www.americanexpress.com/au/customer-service/coronavirus/
You may already know but Amex changed its T&Cs since October 2017 (May 2019?) so that you only get complimentary Qantas lounge invitations if you buy directly from Qantas.com.au. This means that if you buy thru Amex Travel (e.g. to claim your $450 flight credit) you will NOT be eligible for a lounge invitation. Perhaps Amex Travel should put a big warning on their site that you may be better off booking with qantas.com.au than with them.
Just a little point hack tip for the shop small and offers and why they are awesome! Offers actually apply per card you register not per account so it is applicable to supplementary cards too that have the offer in the offer section. So in our case my wife and I have an AMEX each and are supplementary holders on each others card which meant in the shop small promo, we had 4 cards with 10 places each. So we actually got $400 worth of credits! Must admit we ate out more than we normally do that month but oh it was worth it!
Also for a Harvey Norman offer they had spend $300 get $100 credit, we purchased 2 x $600 ish items, paid $300 deposit on one card and then balance on delivery on the other card = $400 off $1200 worth of stuff that was already discounted and further reduced because we paid cash (not interest free)
WINNING!!!!
Is this because the number of offers available have already been activated by others and the allocation is exhausted? Or, do different card members receive different offers?
“We’re sorry, the Connect Login/Sign up functionality is currently unavailable. We are working to get this fixed as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience, we apologise for any inconvenience. If you have any other Connect enquiries please contact us using the contact us link.”
Seems to be some teething issues…
Seems to be an issue with bank issued cards?