The Amex Offers program is off to a great start for 2021. There seem to be two new promotions targeted at The Platinum Card® from American Express (review), for those who are in good standing and had the card as of November 1, 2020.
These new offers could get card members up to $200 in value at Best Buy and Home Depot, and it’s in addition to the Amex Platinum offering a new $30 monthly PayPal credit. Best I can tell this is valid for all cardmembers who currently have the card and have had it open since November 1, though you’ll also want to register for the offers ASAP.
In this post:
Save up to $100 at Best Buy with Amex Offers
With a new Amex Offers deal, you can get $50 back when you spend $50 or more at Best Buy, and you can take advantage of this up to two times, for up to $100 in savings:
- Registration is required through Amex Offers (found in your Amex online account)
- This is valid for purchases through June 30, 2021
- This is valid for one or more transactions at the US version of bestbuy.com
- This is not valid for in-store purchases or orders placed online but picked up curbside or in-store
- This excludes the following purchases: GeekSquad.com, PartStore.com, Best Buy Private Store, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Education, Best Buy Ignite, Best Buy Secondary Markets, Best Buy Auction site, corporate gift cards, electronic gift cards, group gift cards, phone purchases and purchases shipped outside of the U.S., U.S. Virgin Islands, or Guam
Save up to $100 at Home Depot with Amex Offers
With a new Amex Offers deal, you can get $50 back when you spend $50 or more at Home Depot, and you can take advantage of this up to two times, for up to $100 in savings:
- Registration is required through Amex Offers (found in your Amex online account)
- This is valid for purchases through June 30, 2021
- Only online purchases with a “ship to home” or “ship to store” shipping option qualify; in-store purchases, purchases made online but picked up curbside or in-store, and purchases made with the “scheduled delivery” shipping option, don’t qualify
- This excludes the following purchases: gift card or e-gift card purchases, tool, truck, and equipment rental, installation and repair services, measurement services, at home services, Home Depot Foundation, Home Depot Canada, Home Depot Mexico, employee funds, and the employee committee
How can these Amex Offers be maximized?
These offers can basically get you up to $200 in free stuff between Best Buy and Home Depot, which is pretty awesome if you can use it. The problem is, I don’t remember the last time I’ve made a purchase from Best Buy or Home Depot.
The terms do state that gift card purchases are excluded, though often the intent of that is in reference to gift cards specifically with that retailer, or cash-equivalent gift cards, which essentially act as debit cards.
Best Buy sells all kinds of third party retail gift cards, so I decided to buy a $50 Lyft gift card. I immediately got an email from Amex stating that I qualified for cash back, so at least on the surface that seemed to work (no guarantees this will work for everyone, though).
Home Depot seems to be a bit trickier, so if anyone has any ideas for maximizing Home Depot spending (for those of us not doing home improvement), please let me know.
Bottom line
There are two new Amex Offers on the Amex Platinum, at least for those who had the card as of November 1, 2020. You can get up to $100 back with each of Best Buy and Home Depot, in the form of $50 per transaction twice.
This is an incredible offer. The Amex Platinum continues to provide value over and over, arguably even more so during the pandemic than before.
If you have an eligible Amex Platinum, how do you plan on taking advantage of these offers?
It appears that it least for me, Amex Offer credits are not posting within a few days like they previously did. Others seem to be having this issue as well by reading recent comments here but I can't find anything online about the posting delay. For example, I had two separate orders from Home Depot totaling over $50 each, and a Goldbelly purchase all on Jan 7. However, the $50 credits didn't post until January...
It appears that it least for me, Amex Offer credits are not posting within a few days like they previously did. Others seem to be having this issue as well by reading recent comments here but I can't find anything online about the posting delay. For example, I had two separate orders from Home Depot totaling over $50 each, and a Goldbelly purchase all on Jan 7. However, the $50 credits didn't post until January 15th. Since that time I've used both Best Buys Amex offers and Wine Insiders and still no credits. I'm sure they will post eventually because I met offer requirements however it doesn't appear like they are posting as soon as they previously did.
Purchased an item from Home Depot on 25 Jan that cost (w/ shipping and taxes) $50.97. Still no email or credit back.
Purchased an E-Uber Gift Card from Best Buy, totaling $50 on the 26 Jan, still no email or credit back.
Any ideas when these should hit my account? I enrolled for both offers earlier in the month.
PayPal deal is working flawlessly though!
Of course, it just showed up in my inbox. Took about 20 minutes.
I bought a $50 digital gift card to Nordstrom and nothing was triggered from Amex (definitely registered the card for the promo). Did they claw back on the gift card purchases already? Or, did I do something wrong?
I purchased 3 items from Home Depot.com at the same time totally $54 but they all shipped separately and hit my Amex separately. No credit yet. Assume this will not work for the credit but wanted to see if anyone else had any data points. So frustrating. Will return it all because it was toilet paper & paper towels that were much more expensive than the prices as target.
Bought 2 Bestbuy purchases, one shipment one digital, separate days. It's been a week and no trigger e-mail for either.
The email should come through almost immediately.
How long after your purchase did you receive an email stating that the offer triggered?
Has anyone had success receiving the credit from the Home Depot offer if purchased via the Home Depot app? I made an app purchase about 5 days ago and haven’t revived confirmation that the I triggered the offer not seen any credit post yet.
Thank you to all the previous commenters; you were a big help. I just used my Best Buy offer and wanted to provide a data point. I purchased wireless ear buds for $99.99 plus $9 in tax. I first tried to use Apple Pay but that didn't trigger the offer. I canceled 10 minutes later on the Best Buy site and tried again by entering my credit card info directly. Got the Amex Offers email...
Thank you to all the previous commenters; you were a big help. I just used my Best Buy offer and wanted to provide a data point. I purchased wireless ear buds for $99.99 plus $9 in tax. I first tried to use Apple Pay but that didn't trigger the offer. I canceled 10 minutes later on the Best Buy site and tried again by entering my credit card info directly. Got the Amex Offers email immediately saying I earned $100 in savings. Hope that helps others looking to use this benefit. Now to find something to buy with my wife's offer!
Has anyone been successful using the Best Buy option to purchase a Amazon gift card?
If I buy a game for $49.99 at BestBuy and the tax puts me over the $50 threshold, does that count?
@Katie
I made the same "mistake" with Home Depot as well (buying 2 items totaling $50) a few days ago but I still got the $50 credit today.
I also bought a $50 Delta Gift Card from Best Buy a few days ago and it triggered the credit as of today.
It seems buying non best buy gift cards still triggers the best buy credit.
Side bar, the United Travel Bank...
@Katie
I made the same "mistake" with Home Depot as well (buying 2 items totaling $50) a few days ago but I still got the $50 credit today.
I also bought a $50 Delta Gift Card from Best Buy a few days ago and it triggered the credit as of today.
It seems buying non best buy gift cards still triggers the best buy credit.
Side bar, the United Travel Bank still triggers the Airline Credit. I purchased $200 UTB from my Amex Platinum and $250 from my Aspire. I bought it a few days ago and both triggered the airline credit yesterday. Remember to change your airline to United BEFORE purchasing United Travel Bank credits.
Apple gift cards from BestBuy did not trigger the credit. Will return them.
Hey, to respond to AA Flyer, why do we push it with gift cards? Respectfully, because it's fun! It's a thrill, to see if it will work. Besides, my husband and I hate Best Buy. You can't get anything good for under $50 there. Everything is way overpriced, and we no longer buy DVDs. They are going out of style fast. Why buy DVD's when there's streaming? That doesn't leave a lot to buy with...
Hey, to respond to AA Flyer, why do we push it with gift cards? Respectfully, because it's fun! It's a thrill, to see if it will work. Besides, my husband and I hate Best Buy. You can't get anything good for under $50 there. Everything is way overpriced, and we no longer buy DVDs. They are going out of style fast. Why buy DVD's when there's streaming? That doesn't leave a lot to buy with your $50. Gift cards are always a good buy, because then you can do what you want with them.
It should also be noted, that the fine print did not specify retailer gift cards on the list of items not allowed. It only said that corporate and group gift cards were exempt. So we're fine. Amex is not going to "claw back" a credit issued for a purchase. They only do that with POINTS, points that you have obtained through prohibited methods, such as manufactured spending. So do your research...
It worked for me with Best Buy offer - I got gift cards to Sephora and Starbucks because I spend a lot at those stores anyway so it was very low risk. I placed the first gift card order on Jan 5 and the credit appeared today.
I made a mistake with Home Depot, and that was ordering two separate items that totaled $50. They shipped the items separately and charged my card separately...
It worked for me with Best Buy offer - I got gift cards to Sephora and Starbucks because I spend a lot at those stores anyway so it was very low risk. I placed the first gift card order on Jan 5 and the credit appeared today.
I made a mistake with Home Depot, and that was ordering two separate items that totaled $50. They shipped the items separately and charged my card separately so according to customer service that's not going to trigger the credit. So, be mindful when you are making your purchase that it should be one single item totaling $50 or more. As soon as the stuff gets here I'm going to return it to the store. I was just buying stuff to get the credit. I don't need a brownie cutter or a mini blender...
Toilet paper from home depot maybe?
I made the mistake of doing a curbside pickup. Then I read the fine print (also confirmed here). You need to buy online and have it shipped to you. I never got an email saying I had redeemed my offer on my second purchase attempt. I guess I can always just call Amex and have them do it for me.
Do I have to have it shipped to me or can I actually select pick up in store? How will AMEX know that was the method I used?
I purchased a physical $50 Delta gift card on the 5th, and I haven't had any notification from Amex re: offer activation. If I don't wind up getting reimbursed, it's no biggie. I can just buy thumb drives or adapters or whatever -- stuff that I inevitably wind up needing for work or home.
I also got the Home Depot offer, the Instacart, and the Container Store, as well as discount offers from Equinox, Avis,...
I purchased a physical $50 Delta gift card on the 5th, and I haven't had any notification from Amex re: offer activation. If I don't wind up getting reimbursed, it's no biggie. I can just buy thumb drives or adapters or whatever -- stuff that I inevitably wind up needing for work or home.
I also got the Home Depot offer, the Instacart, and the Container Store, as well as discount offers from Equinox, Avis, and Samsung. Home Depot and Container Store I can use, but the others are useless for me.
Update - do not use PayPal for the Best Buy or Home Depot offers. The offers will not be triggered, and confirmed with Amex this is the case.
I called Amex today to find out why I did not get the offers you described. I got $100 for Dell and Indeed each, both of which I would never use. I could use Best Buy and Home Depot but did not get them. I asked if Amex could survey us as to what offers we’d like to have it most likely use since they cannot change the targeted offers. The agent said she would...
I called Amex today to find out why I did not get the offers you described. I got $100 for Dell and Indeed each, both of which I would never use. I could use Best Buy and Home Depot but did not get them. I asked if Amex could survey us as to what offers we’d like to have it most likely use since they cannot change the targeted offers. The agent said she would pass the suggestion to management. Since I have lifetime silver at Delta I will not use extra bags and now that there are no change fees, it’s harder to use the airline credit. Amex needs to match what Chase offers. If and when my kids travel, they buy Sky Club passes for their wives. But they’re not traveling now. I have started to use Uber Eats which is a pretty good benefit. The Saks offer is okay. I was hoping the Best Buy and Home Depot were going to be like the Saks benefit
I just made a purchase on Bestbuy.com and paid via PayPal. It's showing as pending from Bestbuy.com on my Amex account, but I didn't see the offer triggered. Has anybody else noticed issues with this?
**Hi Guys and Gals,
I have the Amex Platinum since 2016 and I have been using it consistently and spending generously on it since then and throughout the pandemic, it’s always been in good standing and I recently paid the Annual Fee, I don’t see any of these offers and i’ve refreshed over and over. Is this targeted? Confused here.
Thanks!!!
O
@Katie. Not sure, but are you using primary card or authorized user card? Maybe that has something to do with the issue
I did the same as Dendave. Made a purchase over $100 at HomeDepot.com and got an email from AMEX stated that "You just earned $100.00 in savings".
I just made a $100 and change purchase on HomeDepot.com and immediately got an email from Amex that I saved $100, not $50 that I was expecting. So one data point that you don't have to make two purchases to maximize.
Lucky, do you also have the Buss Platinum? I have 5 different plus 4 offers (shipping, advertising, gas, wireless, office supplies), all of them are through June , and up to 80000 points. Never seen anything like it
Do both offers require that what you purchase be shipped to your home or another address?
@ Suzi -- It's fine if the items are shipped to another address.
@ Janet
Just remember, LED bulbs usually last a long time. A really long time. Unless you buy some very expensive variety it will be hard to buy bulbs that you will use within the next decade or two.
Home Depot is currently giving 0.5 per dollar through Aadvantage Eshopping portal. Go that route when you spend your $50. I am always buying stuff from Home Depot and Best Buy online.
Amex are outdoing themselves with these offers. One happy customer here.
For Home Depot how about some LED light bulbs? Everyone uses light bulbs... you could also get other consumables like packing tape and they probably have dog accessories.
Why push it w gift cards when both Best Buy and Home Depot sell many things practically everyone needs (even if you typically don’t buy from them). Don’t understand the fascination w gift cards when, even if they work now, could lead to an Amex clawback or even account closure (w forfeit of membership rewards balance).
Be smart people - don’t push it
I bought some AirPods (they're on sale, too) and received an email from Amex right after I earned $100 in savings. Seems you can earn both credits in one transaction, then.
Bought 2 digital $50 instacart gift cards separately — both triggered the credit immediately. Planning to combine the gift card credit with the $50 credit for spending $250 on instacart x 2. Total Value: $600, savings: $200, spend: $400.
Instacart isn’t just for groceries. Depending on where you live you can buy electronics, furniture etc.
Home Depot: was planning on buying stuff anyway so I’ll get full value of the $50 X 2
FYI ALL - just bought an Apple Watch and received an email saying I earned $100
I bought a single $50 Uber gift card this morning, which didn't appear to trigger.. and then a single $50 Delta (physical) gift card at noon, which also didn't appear to trigger. It's ok because I'll use both of them, but what am I doing wrong? I've already double-checked that the offer was activated, and that I paid with my Amex. When you say that it triggered, do you mean that you got the email from Amex post-purchase letting you know that the offer was used?
Can I spend $50 at home depot, check out via Paypal, and get $50 home depot credit AND $30 PayPal credit?
Triggered successfully with UberEats & Shell gift cards through Best Buy.
I'd love to purchase an Amazon gift card. Hopefully that will trigger the Best Buy credit.
Home Depot has the best prices on cleaning supplies. I’m sure you use more than $100 in cleaning supplies per year.
Hi, i got the Amex Platinum card mid November, I don’t see the offers on mine. Could it get added later or would there be any luck in reaching out to customer care?
For those not seeing the offers, check the primary cardholder's account.
They didn't appear on authorized user accounts for me, but did on the primary.
Was able to purchase two physical gift cards to Delta on the Best Buy site with free shipping, both triggered the Amex credit.
I don't see any offer for these two :-(
I sense clawbacks haha
but great data point if third party gift cards trigger the AMEX offer
If you spend $100 in one transaction at Best Buy, will you receive two $50 credits?
@ Nick -- Nope, it's a maximum of a $50 credit per transaction.
So If I apply for the card today, I won't get the $30 a month paypal credit?
Lucky can you also expand on when to apply for credit cards. I know it's been written that Dec is a good time since you can get annual statement credits for both the current and future year, but what about applying for a card in Jan? Isn't it the same thing you can get 2 annual statement credits...
So If I apply for the card today, I won't get the $30 a month paypal credit?
Lucky can you also expand on when to apply for credit cards. I know it's been written that Dec is a good time since you can get annual statement credits for both the current and future year, but what about applying for a card in Jan? Isn't it the same thing you can get 2 annual statement credits before your annual fee is due? Ex. apply today, I can get the airline fee credit for 2021 and 2022 if I cancel jan next year without paying 2 annual fees?
There are various things one might have use for at Home Depot even if not doing home improvement -- light bulbs, extension cords, cleaning products, small kitchen appliances like coffee makers...
Update: I kept refreshing my page, and the Home Depot offer came through. As far as those that don't shop at Home Depot regularly, they do offer a decent selection of smart home devices including, voice assistant products/smart speakers, security cameras/doorbells, wifi routers, home automation, etc., that might appeal to a broader audience then DIYers.
Remember that you can always buy batteries whenever you get an offer at Lowe's or Home Depot. People virtually always need batteries!
I received the Best Buy Offer but not the Home Depot. These look to be targeted.
Between the offers for Best Buy, Home Depot, Wine Insider, Home Chef, and Instacart, it totals $410 in value. Combined with the $100 off $100 from Dell that I redeemed about 6 months ago, almost getting the full annual fee for the Plat back on just these offers alone! When accounting for everything else, last years streaming credits, the new Paypal credit, Uber, Saks, airline, etc am now at almost $1700 in value for the year since July, 2020!
In store gift cards don't qualify.
However they do sell toilet paper online.
Here’s a decent stacker: — HomeChef.com: get $50 bucks back when you spend $50. Stack that with Rakuten (10x Amex MR) and there you go.
I was able to buy uber gift cards on best buy and received an email from amex that it was successful, do you think this could have been stacked with the paypal $30 offer?
There is an Instacart one too in my account. 50 off 250 x2
A very similar offer from Avis just popped in my offers. Are you it as well? I just made 2 reservations with Avis so I missed out on a good deal.
I’m fairly certain Home Depot has a gift card rack in store. Or at least they used to...
@ Chris -- Unfortunately this is only for online purchases.
Damn just saw this.
Fwiw, the offers were not on my AU