American Express Benefits
While not exclusive to our shared obsession, points and travel hobbyists – including those who do stuff online for money, and some more than others – operate in a world of cliches. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card. Check out this killer cents-per-point redemption. Don’t forget to trigger those credits! We often focus that last one in the end-of-year timeframe. Today, I’m talking about it decidedly earlier in the year. I’m specifically focusing on a selection of American Express benefits today, particularly from the Platinum and Business Platinum products. How are things going so far?
Hotel Credit
Last September, Amex juiced the $200 Hotel Credit on the Platinum to $300 biannually and added it as a new benefit on the Business Platinum. My wife and I had already triggered the $200 before this announcement, and we had no problems triggering that additional $300 on our existing cards. In fact, we added a few more of these cards later in the year and kept it going. The theme promptly continued this month. We identified our travel needs and wants for the foreseeable future, with certain plans aligning for Fine Hotels and Resorts stays with the credit. Consequently, we made several bookings to fully trigger all of the front half of year’s Hotel Credit benefits.
Resy Credit
In 2026, we’ve fully triggered the first quarter’s $100 Resy credits on about half of our Platinum cards already. Our focus has primarily been on accounts we’ve subsequently cancelled or downgraded this month. (UseYourCredits has been particularly helpful on this one for us the past few years.) We have a bit more time with our remaining Platinums (and Golds) to use Resy credits, so we’ll hold onto that capacity for now. But the end of March (for the Platinum) and the end of June (for the biannual $50 from the Gold) will come quickly. We’ll have to stay on top of it.
Shop with Saks Credit
I generally take a more deliberate strategy to the Platinum’s Saks Fifth Avenue credit, opting for gift card purchases several times a year and building to a subsequent, significant purchase. But I begrudgingly moved up the schedule this month. Rumors and reports have swirled about an upcoming Saks demise. Despite much inventory out of stock and investing more time than I had originally planned, I discovered plenty to purchase. Within several days of the new year, I had completely depleted our Saks gift card balance and triggered all of our front-end-of-2026 credits (I can’t imagine we’ll get more on the back-end). I consider getting everything used a win just as much as the merch itself.
lululemon Credit
It’s been easier for me to fully trigger the Platinum’s $75-quarterly lululemon Credit than to stop capitalizing “lululemon.” In-store and online options have easily triggered the credit last year and this month. I’m taking a similar approach to what I’ve historically done with Saks, as lululemon prices are antithetical to what I’d pay out of pocket for such items. On the flip side, it’s been easier to find lululemon items of interest to our family at lower price points than at Saks. I can’t imagine we’ll ever have problems using this one, but its quarterly nature means we’ll need to stay on our toes.
Airline Fee Credit
We’ve completely triggered all of our annual Airline Fee Credits from the Platinum and Business Platinum on a singular method we’ve used for years. Quite simply, I won’t change our method here until it dies. It’s the optimal combination of simplicity and utility for our situation.
Dell Credit
Last year, Amex phased in changes to the Business Platinum’s Dell Credit. Instead of a $400 credit handed out in $200 biannual increments, it’s now a $1,150 credit doled out annually (a “free” $150 first, then another $1k credit after $5k of total annual spend). Opinions on this change vary based on Business Platinum cardholders’ particular strategies. I’m generally okay with “just” the $150 annually per Business Platinum account, due to a combination of dwindling Dell needs/wants and historic, occasional Dell order cancellations.
But I have a refreshing update on the latter. Between the end of December and early January, I’ve been able to successfully place and receive six separate Dell orders – without any cancellations. I’m all done here. I looked around for someone to high-five afterward, but my beagle-pitt and Cairn-Jack Russell mixes were apathetic to said accomplishment.
Hilton Credit
But perhaps the most satisfying effort has been completely triggering all of my $50 quarterly Hilton Credits from Business Platinum and Surpass cards. A drawn-out process over the quarter may have accomplished bigger needs, but at the risk of potentially not using all of this credit capacity. I gave up a bit of utility for the benefits of simplicity and completion. I stretched myself to finish these off in a way I’ve never previously done, and I look forward to running it back in the next quarter and beyond.
American Express Benefits – Conclusion
Again, I’m not getting into every single credit in this article. And some frequent benefits (monthly Uber Cash, Digital Entertainment Credit, Wireless Credit, etc) are either very simple to use, set-and-forget, or both. Others I don’t even bother with (Oura Ring credit, CLEAR, etc), but that’s fine. Indeed, I know I mustn’t use every card benefit, just enough of them.
Some might be thinking, what’s the rush? It’s a bird-in-the-hand situation, in my view. I’d rather obtain value out of the above benefits now through methods which I know currently work. Regardless, I’m confident we’ll have more new Amex cards and additional benefits throughout the year. Stay tuned for more!
Which Amex benefits have you already triggered, and which are you in no hurry to use? Why?
