Perhaps you would like to return faulty shoes, but the seller refuses to refund your money. Or you order through UberEats relatively often because you work from home. Some American Express credit cards can help you cover these costs.
In fact, many of the benefits of American Express credit cards are extremely valuable. The general benefits of an Amex card, such as an extended warranty, travel protection, and access to presale tickets for concerts and sporting events, can justify a higher annual fee. In addition, Amex cardholders enjoy ongoing benefits such as free ShopRunner membership and special offers at the American Express Experiences.
Whether it’s travel insurance or purchase protection, all American Express cards have benefits, although the exact benefits available to you vary by card. Here are the benefits of an American Express credit card and how to maximize them.
What benefits are available to American Express cardholders?
American Express continues to raise the bar for cardholder offerings and services. You may very well have an Amex card in your wallet, so here are some perks you can start enjoying today.
Travel Protection
When booking travel, American Express credit card benefits include travel benefits. These valuable benefits protect you, so you can often choose not to purchase travel insurance to insure your trip. The best part: Amex travel protection is included in the cost of your annual fee.
Protections vary by American Express card, but include benefits such as trip cancellation or interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, luggage insurance, and car rental protection. You can find the specific terms of your protection in the Amex Credit Card Benefits Guide, but premium cards such as Platinum Card® by American Express will always bring you the most value.
Retail Protection
American Express Retail Customer Protection benefits also vary by card. The set of insurance benefits includes purchase protection, return protection and an extended warranty. Depending on your card, American Express will either cover the damaged or stolen item or refund you for the amount the seller refuses to refund. American Express premium cards provide the highest level of security.
One of the best options with generous coverage is American Express® Gold Card, which has an annual fee of $250. Cardholders receive up to $10,000 in purchase protection per incident (up to $50,000 per year).
Access to advance ticket sales
Buy your tickets in front of the general public with access to American Express pre-sales. American Express cardholders have special access to pre-sale tickets for thousands of events such as theater performances, concerts and music festivals such as Coachella, and sporting events such as Wimbledon.
In addition, qualifying American Express Premier and Elite cards may have preferred seat benefits. These offers are map and event dependent.
Free hotel nights and real estate loans
Amex Platinum cardholders, American Express® Business Gold Card and Centurion Card can enjoy The Hotel Collection benefits when booking two or more nights in a row through American Express Travel. These American Express card benefits may include free nights or property credits.
In addition, eligible cardholders can receive free nights or hotel credits of $100 or more when they book Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection through the issuer portal.
Lifestyle Loans with Amex Partners
Those with elite American Express cards like Amex Platinum and Amex Gold can enjoy a variety of lifestyle credits thanks to American Express’s many partnerships with brands like Uber, Saks Fifth Avenue, Disney, Equinox and Walmart+.
Existing loyal customers of these partner brands such as Uber and Equinox can save a little on their regular expenses with these additional statements. New Platinum Cardholders dipping into luxury for the first time can use their credit statement to pamper themselves and enjoy the finer things in life.
Free ShopRunner Membership
American Express and ShopRunner are offering eligible cardholders a free two-day membership benefit with free shipping on qualifying purchases at $79 per year (registration required).
Cardholders can enjoy fast shipping and free returns on all eligible items from over 100 popular online resellers, including Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, Saks Fifth Avenue and Kate Spade, among others.
American Express Experience Center
American Express cardholders can enjoy curated meals from American Express Global Dining Collection chefs, home cooking tips and recipes from favorite Resy restaurants, and sports and entertainment activities, all at the refurbished American Express Experiences.
Limited Time Retail Offers
American Express offers many other valuable limited-time benefits through American Express Experiences or Amex deals. You’ll need to check your American Express app or desktop account for deals meant for you, but here are a few top-notch deals we’ve seen recently:
- Get a one-time $6 credit statement using your card to spend $30 or more shopping at stumptowncoffee.com by June 15, 2023.
- Receive a one-time $100 credit statement with a purchase of at least $500 with an American Express credit card at Avocado Green Mattress or online at avocadogreenmattress.com by July 27, 2023.
How to get the most out of your Amex cards
The first step to enjoying all the benefits of an American Express credit card is to download the American Express mobile app, which will describe your benefits in a dashboard. Travel protection and retail protection benchmarks can be easily found on your membership page.
You can also find Amex deals on the mobile app or online account to track the deals that matter to you. Remember that you must register with Amex offers in order to see them and add the offers to your respective card account in order to use them.
Don’t forget that rewards and benefits vary from map to map. Some offer perks such as bonus spending categories, additional product protection, and special money back offers. Check out the American Express card offerings to find the best option based on your willingness to pay annual fees, your spending limit, how often you travel, and your credit score.
Some of the ultra-premium American Express cards have particularly high annual fees, but they may offer more valuable benefits to offset those costs.
Bottom line
No matter which card you carry around with you, chances are your American Express credit card has valuable benefits, including travel protection, retail sales protection, and amazing perks and unexpected services.
It is important to understand that American Express premium cards offer higher benefit and protection thresholds, but these cards carry a higher annual fee. Compromise is a personal decision. If the added benefits exceed the hefty annual fee, it may justify the extra expense.
Editorial disclaimer
The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective judgment of our contributors and is not based on advertising. It was not provided or ordered by credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to our partners’ products.