A couple of days ago, I covered how Amex updated the terms for the Resy credit that’s offered on a couple of its premium cards, which could signal a major devaluation, or could have limited implications. There’s now an update, so we know exactly what’s going on — it’s positive news, so let me explain, as it involves the integration of Tock into Resy.
In this post:
Amex Resy credit updates coming August 1, 2026
Both the Amex Platinum Card and Amex Gold Card offer Resy credits as one of their perks. The idea is that enrolled members can get a credit of a certain amount for spending at virtually all eligible Resy restaurants in the United States.
To me, this is good as cash, and I basically deduct the value of that straight from the annual fee, when doing the math on whether a card is worth it. However, recently Doctor Of Credit flagged how the latest statements of eligible Amex cards have the following note:
Update to the Resy Credit Benefit
Effective August 1, 2026, U.S. restaurants and other food and beverage establishments (e.g., wineries, cafes) must be indicated as eligible for the Resy Credit on the Resy website or the Resy app at the time of purchase to qualify for the benefit. Qualifying restaurants and other food and beverage establishments will be indicated as eligible on their booking page on the Resy website or the Resy app and are subject to change at any time.
So starting in several weeks, U.S. restaurants must specifically be marked as being eligible for the Resy credit in order for it to apply, rather than all Resy restaurants qualifying.
Similarly, when you go to the Resy website while logged into your Amex account, you’ll already see a note about how “this venue currently qualifies for the Resy Credit.” The key word there is “currently,” suggesting that in the future, some restaurants may no longer be marked in that way.
Is this a huge devaluation, or much ado about nothing?
Here’s the official statement from Amex as to what’s going on:
We have added a Resy Credit eligible badge to Resy venues pages to provide additional clarity to diners at the time of booking. We have not removed Resy venues that are eligible today and will be adding more eligible venues later this year when Tock venues become bookable on Resy.
As you can tell, this is great news. Amex owns both Resy and Tock, and is planning on integrating Tock into Resy. The idea is that former Tock restaurants will progressively be made eligible for the credit, but that won’t all happen overnight, hence the new disclaimer about which restaurants are eligible.
Honestly, this Resy credit on the Amex Platinum is so generous (at least compared to so many other card perks) that many of us were worried that Amex was trying to improve the economics of the perk, and only include a subset of Resy restaurants for the credit going forward:
- With the Amex Platinum refresh we saw some time back, I’d actually argue that the card is easier to justify than ever before, thanks in large part to the up to $400 in Resy credits (along with the up to $600 in hotel credits)
- Nowadays a large percentage of premium card perks are merchant funded, and it doesn’t appear that’s what directly has been going on here; instead, Amex owns Resy, and it seems this perk has been driven by getting people onto the Resy platform
- So many wondered if Amex was now essentially trying to get restaurants to help fund this benefit, whereby if they wanted to be included on the list and have business driven their way, they’d need to pay some amount for that
However, all of this doesn’t appear to be the case, and that’s something to be happy about. The 2025 Amex Platinum refresh really was a net positive, as I see it, and it’s nice to see that value continue.
Bottom line
Amex has updated its terms to note that as of August 1, 2026, we’ll see some changes to the Resy credits on premium cards, like the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum. The idea is that the credits can only be used at restaurants specifically marked as being eligible for that benefit.
The good news is that this isn’t some massive devaluation intended to greatly limit the number of eligible restaurants. Instead, this change is due to Tock being integrated into Resy, and those new restaurants only progressively being made eligible for the dining credits.
So not only will current Resy restaurants remain eligible for the credit, but we’ll even see the selection expanded over time. This is great news, and should make this benefit even more valuable in the long run.
What do you make of these Amex Resy credit benefit updates?
I would also like to point out Amex is also acquiring TheFork, from Trip Advisor (in addition to the Tock acquisition).
In that context, limiting the credit to “eligible Resy-marked restaurants” reads less like a devaluation and more like infrastructure catching up with a growing offering—especially if Fork/Tock inventory is being progressively folded into Resy’s system.
If anything, the longer-term direction still looks expansionary.
I feel like open table has been poaching resy restaurants. Been finding it harder to use the resy credit.
Amex also recently acquired the European platform called The Fork. It has 15k restaurants in 11 countries. There's probably an integration issue there as well. The acquisition of The Fork and folding member restaurants into Resy *might* be a way for Amex to incentivize them to accept Amex cards. Which we know is sometimes problematic.
Since participation can change "at any time", what if you have a confirmed reservation and the restaurant drops out before day of or before charges post?
Reconfirm
This is a reasonable take (with some surprisingly reasonable comments). I wonder about how numbers are calculated for these coupons. There are apparently two million Amex plat users out there, and a pretty large number of them are willing to pursue the coupons.
Worst case scenario would be if if not all restaurants on Resy participated AND if the participating restaurants were allowed to only offer benefit at times they wanted. Meaning that main dinner times like 6-8 would be blocked from the benefit. Right now the AX Resy benefit is so much better than the OT Chase benefit but I fear that is about to change.
your first bit is already true. not every restaurant on the Resy app participates now.
I suspect it's because restaurants join and exit resy quite rapidly. I had made a reservation with a restaurant a month prior through resy. When I went to the restaurant I could no longer get info on the place through resy which was confusing. When I looked at the website of the restaurant where it used to actually say use your amex resy credits, it was quite obviously removed.
There was a reddit thread a while back that there are restaurants on Resy that don't even take Amex. There's nothing on the site that says that and diners didn't know until they went to pay.
I'm definitely using the 3rd quarter credit prior to Aug 1, just in case.
We've always used it at pretty premium restaurants for special occasions, well exceeding the credit value.
Thanks for the heads up.
I'm curious as to whether this will affect the related credits with the Delta card(s).
I actually already had an issue with Resy a couple of months ago where we ate at a Resy restaurant and were not given the credit until we complained and it had to be forced. through
So, yeah, they are curtailing it. If they continue to curtail, this card will no longer be worth it for me. My wife and I each have one currently.
It would be great if this made it easier for them to start including non-US restaurants. It has always seemed odd to me that these premium travel cards only offer credits for use in the US, such as for Resy, Uber, and Lululemon. I hope this changes!
I'm also assuming this is Tock related... which is/would be a bummer.
Here I was thinking I might be able to knock $200 off some local Michelin restaurants, once the integration came to pass.
Go figure.
We've made good use of this benefit. I will see how it plays out after the change.
The photo of the restaurant shows the tables pushed too close with one another . Also excessive fees for a separated seat .
The whole Resy thing is just inconvenient unless you live or frequent large cities where there are Resy restaurants. In the burbs, selection is incredibly limited. And when I travel internationally, its basically worthless.
I was hoping that Amex Plat would be much easier to get value out of as the AF increased, but its starting to look harder and harder.... Great for those who live in NYC, fly Delta at JFK, but for the rest of us... just not sure anymore
A lot of minor cities have Resy as well. Annapolis, Ann Arbor, Lancaster PA, Winston-Salem, etc.
I'm lucky that my little town has 3 (tourism so we punch above our weight) so I can get a gift card every month on my DL reserve, but it shouldn't be hard to use quarterly or semi-annual credits
You are correct that even smaller cities have restaurants in the Resy system.
But there are none in Holland, Michigan where I live.
We could use the benefit when we go out of town but that means working our plans around a dining credit which doesn’t seem like a great payoff of money versus preferences and time.
Same thing with ride share credits or the Mastercard public transportation credit.
Yes, people in smaller cities can...
You are correct that even smaller cities have restaurants in the Resy system.
But there are none in Holland, Michigan where I live.
We could use the benefit when we go out of town but that means working our plans around a dining credit which doesn’t seem like a great payoff of money versus preferences and time.
Same thing with ride share credits or the Mastercard public transportation credit.
Yes, people in smaller cities can use these benefits but they really work better for those in larger metropolitan areas.
You are correct, you can use them but speaking from personal experience it is just not the same.
there are three Resy restaurants where I live. maybe now we will have five.
If Amex proceeds with restricting this credit, it would be yet another nerf/devaluation, in addition to: loss of the $200/year UA Travel Bank (airline fee reimbursement ‘option’), reduced EK transfer rate, loss of Hawaiian (Alaska) transfers, and Saks $50/semi-annual. All after they increased the card’s annual fee by $200 (on Platinum, at least.) I would call it a ‘bait and switch,’ but it’s not legally fraud because Amex has a section in their terms that...
If Amex proceeds with restricting this credit, it would be yet another nerf/devaluation, in addition to: loss of the $200/year UA Travel Bank (airline fee reimbursement ‘option’), reduced EK transfer rate, loss of Hawaiian (Alaska) transfers, and Saks $50/semi-annual. All after they increased the card’s annual fee by $200 (on Platinum, at least.) I would call it a ‘bait and switch,’ but it’s not legally fraud because Amex has a section in their terms that basically says they can change whatever they want whenever they want, so it’s more of a rug-pull, and yet another realization that there’s an asymmetrical relationship between the card issuer and consumers. The only thing we can do is ‘take it, of leave it.’ And if you do close your accounts, be sure to burn all your MR points before doing so. Oh, and Chase’s devaluation and increased fees on CSR are still worse, because that “Exclusive” tables credit, is more like “elusive” tables… c’mon!
Technically, you can downgrade. That’s what I’m doing in September when my AF hits.
Not a bad idea, Andrew. I'd recommend downgrading to Amex Checking Account: $0 annual fee; no minimum balance required either. Allows you to keep your MR active.
Worst case they might move to the system on the UK Plat card with there home and abroad dining credits are only for restaurants specifically on the Amex list, which is a relatively small number in selected major cities...
See https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/dining/the-platinum-card/ for what I mean.