This Little-Known Amex Card Benefit Has Saved Me $260 and Counting

Most credit card issuers have some sort of discount platform. They might offer an extra few percent cash back on purchases with partner retailers, or give you a one-time statement credit for a purchase. And to be fair, monitoring and using these portals can be a great way to get maximum value from your card membership, regardless of what bank issued your card.

Having said that, the Amex Offers platform from American Express is a step above the rest. It offers some of the most valuable offers in the industry, and can save the typical cardholder hundreds of dollars (or more) if they take advantage of the deals. (Terms apply.) I've saved $260 from Amex Offers so far, and there are several current offers I plan to use as well.

How Amex Offers works

Amex Offers is a benefit of American Express card membership. Upon logging in, you can see a list of available offers from partner retailers and brands (we'll get into offer details in the next section).

Once you see an offer that you like, it's important to know that it isn't automatic. There's an "Add to Card" button next to each offer, as well as an expiration date to keep in mind that is usually within the next few months. Click the button before you complete the required purchase activity, and then simply use your card for the spending. The savings will either be credited back to your account as a statement credit, or may be paid in Membership Rewards points, depending on the terms of the particular offer.

What kind of deals are we talking about?

At any given time, there is a wide variety of deals available through Amex Offers. Upon logging into my account for The Platinum Card® from American Express, I see there are 100 offers currently available to me. And they generally fall into one of two categories. Either you'll get a percentage back in rewards on purchases, or you'll get a statement credit if you spend a certain amount of money at a retail partner. Some offer a certain number of Membership Rewards bonus points instead.

For an example of a percentage-based offer, Amex Offers currently features 10% back on Expedia prepaid hotel purchases, up to a maximum of $100 back. And as a dollar-based offer, one of my current offers is for $10 back after spending $50 or more on TurboTax software -- essentially a rebate of as much as 20%.

There are some that could be quite lucrative, depending on your spending habits. Right now, I can see an offer of $200 back after spending $1,000 or more on an Oceania Cruises booking, as well as $150 back on $750 spent at Omni Hotels, just to name a couple of the higher-dollar examples.

Note that some of the offers might be targeted to a specific group of consumers. In other words, you might not see the exact same offers that I do.

A major perk of card membership

To be sure, I get more than enough value from The Platinum Card® from American Express to justify its $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). In fact, I've made the case that the perks and features of the card are worth as much as four times this amount for those who take advantage of them -- and I didn't even include Amex Offers in the analysis. (To clarify, Amex Offers are available to all American Express card members, not just those who have the Amex Platinum Card.)

However, for those who are diligent when it comes to keeping up with the offers on the platform, and who regularly take advantage of them, it's not difficult to see how Amex Offers could add hundreds of dollars in value for card members.