When 2020 started to go down the tubes, a number of credit card companies sprung into action to offer some assistance to customers and also provide them with added value in a bid to keep them around. Among those efforts, American Express introduced two temporary monthly credits for its travel-centric Platinum card to help make up for the fact that many cardholders weren’t able to take advantage of all of the perks they’re entitled to. While the wireless service and streaming service credits expired as of December 31st, Amex is back at it, allowing Platinum cardholders to earn statement credits via PayPal transactions and purchases from select brands.
First up, Platinum card members can now earn up to $30 a month in statement credits when they use their card via PayPal. To do this, you’ll just need to add your Plat to your PayPal wallet and select the “Checkout with PayPal” option on various sites. Currently, this offer is set to last through June of this year, meaning that you could potentially save $180 if you use the credit each month until then.
I actually tried this out earlier this week and, sure enough, it worked like a charm. Although I was a little worried when the pending charge initially showed up with just the name of the vendor and no mention of PayPal, it updated when posting. Then, my $30 statement credit showed up on my account a couple of days later. On that note, I’d advise reading the FAQ for this offer so that you don’t miss out by accidentally running afoul of the terms.
In addition to the PayPal credits, American Express also rolled out a number of impressive Amex Offers for various brands — including some that essentially amount to free stuff. However, before I get into some of the more notable ones, I should note that many of these are only for card members who held the Platinum on or before November 1st. In other words, customers like myself who signed-up before the recent enhanced welcome bonus debuted.
At the top of my list is an Amex Offer for Best Buy, allowing you to earn $50 back when you spend $50 or more at BestBuy.com. Even better, you can redeem this particular offer twice. An identical offer also exists for Home Depot — and while I’ll need to do a bit more searching on their site to find something I want/need, I’m confident I can make that work for me. Other “freebie” deals include Home Chef ($50 back when you spend $50+, use up to three times) and Wine Insider ($30 back when you spend $30+, use up to two times).
Elsewhere, while not quite as generous as the Best Buy or Home Depot offers, another option that caught my eye is one for Instacart where you can earn $50 back after spending $250 — although that amount doesn’t need to be reached in a single transaction. I’ve also already redeemed an offer for Goldbelly where I was able to earn $50 back for spending over $100 (and I can still use this one again if I want). Keep in mind, these are just some of the deals unveiled this week, with Amex noting that their value amounts to a whopping $1,700.
Overall, I’m pretty thrilled with these additions to the Platinum card. While the PayPal credit might not be quite as practical as the previous wireless and streaming credits, they’re still pretty easy to make use of. As for the Amex Offers, while I certainly won’t be redeeming all of them, I’m sure to get at least a few hundred dollars in value from these. Selfishly, I also appreciate that Amex is doing something extra for card members who may have felt like they missed out when the company introduced such generous welcome offers. So, while my second year of being a Platinum cardholder might not quite match my first, I definitely think I’ll be over to cover my $550 annual fee and then some in value by the time my card anniversary rolls around.