Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. Yesterday morning, I received an email from AMEX with the subject line “Important Notice About Your American Express Account.” That subject line could mean many things (my mind automatically assumes the worst when receiving these type of emails), but I was very happy to see that American Express gave me Membership Rewards Points due to an issue with the Pay with Points feature available on my American Express Business Platinum Card. I have only used the Pay with Points feature once in May 2019 and wrote about My Disappointing Experience with AMEX Business Platinum 35% Membership Rewards Point Rebate in August 2019, so I don’t have any immediate plans to use the feature again. There were 2 strange things about this email.
Tag Archives: American Express Membership Rewards Points
American Express Waiving Membership Rewards Points Transfer Excise Tax Through 12/31 & Refunding Previous 2020 Charges
Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. I was checking my American Express online account and I saw a credit balance of $1.80 on my American Express Everyday Credit Card. I never use this card, so I was surprised to see that the credit was a Membership Rewards Airline Tax Offset Fee Credit. I did some digging and learned that this refund is related to a $1.80 charge from February that I paid to transfer 3,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points to my Delta account to book an award ticket. I also learned that American Express is waiving the excise tax fee for domestic airlines through December 31, 2020 (including Delta, JetBlue, and Hawaiian).
My June 1 Checklist of Credit Card Credits (Shipping, Wireless, Restaurants, Groceries & More)
Updated 12:50pm PT on 6/6: My $300 travel credit on the Chase Sapphire Reserve doesn’t reset until October. See details below.
Updated 11:00am PT on 6/5: I tested the $250 Hilton Resort Credit on a restaurant purchase and the statement credit posted in 3 days. See details below.
Updated 11:30am PT on 6/3: The $325 travel credit on the US Bank Altitude Reserve can now be used for restaurant purchases from 6/1 – 12/31. See details below.
Good morning everyone, I hope you had a good weekend. Today is June 1 and the start of a new month. As the saying goes: New Month = New Credits. I have several credit cards, but these are the 5 credit cards that have credits that I can use this month:
American Express Business Platinum Card
- 6/1 – 6/30: $20 shipping credit (June, July, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov & Dec) – I used $18.70 credit last month when I Purchase & Print USPS Shipping Labels Online
- 6/1 – 6/30: $20 wireless credit (June, July, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov & Dec) – I paid $20 to my AT&T bill last month to trigger the credit
7/1 – 12/31: $200 Dell credit(I need to wait another month before I use these credits)
2 Strategies for Buying USPS Forever Stamps Online (AMEX Business Platinum Card $20 Monthly Benefit)
Good morning everyone. On May 1, American Express introduced many new (temporary) benefits to the American Express Business Platinum Card, including a $20 monthly credit for shipping (which includes USPS, UPS & FedEx) that is valid from May 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. A few days ago, I wrote How to Purchase & Print USPS Shipping Labels Online (AMEX Business Platinum Card $20 Monthly Benefit). I’ve also read a few other blog posts where travel bloggers said that they will buy $20 of stamps every month, even though they have no need for stamps. I thought it would be a good idea to share 2 strategies for buying stamps online. Just a heads up, the USPS charges a small $1.30 shipping charge for buying stamps online, but if you would rather avoid the $1.30 fee, you can visit your local post office.
Strategy 1: Buy Stamps Throughout the Year for the Holidays
You might be surprised to know that there are 40 different versions of Forever Stamps currently available for sale on the USPS website, with new stamp designs added throughout the year. If you are someone who sends Christmas / Hanukkah / holiday greeting cards, there are several options available and you can purchase the necessary stamps monthly throughout the year. If you live in Alabama or Maine, there are also specific stamps featuring your state.
Continue reading
How to Purchase & Print USPS Shipping Labels Online (AMEX Business Platinum Card $20 Monthly Benefit)
Updated 10:20am PT on 5/14: Purchasing shipping labels through PayPal does not trigger the $20 credit (according to Doctor of Credit)
Updated 12:00pm PT on 5/2: Unfortunately, it looks like USPS First Class Mail is not available for packages under 1 pound (16 ounces). Only USPS Priority Mail and USPS Priority Mail Express are available on the USPS website. If you need to print USPS First Class Mail or USPS Media Mail, you can do that through the PayPal shipping center (read this post).
Good afternoon everyone, what a busy May 1 is. American Express announced today that several of their credit and charge cards will have limited time benefits to offset the travel benefits that are not being used due to the coronavirus pandemic. Doctor of Credit has a great summary of all the new card benefits, but for this post, I’m going to focus on the $20 monthly statement credit for shipping purchases (USPS, UPS and FedEx) on the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card (valid from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020).
As luck would have it, I sold an item on Amazon earlier today and needed to print a shipping label for the package. Normally, I would print the shipping label through the Amazon Seller Central platform, but I decided to purchase the shipping label from the USPS website to show you the steps (and so I could test out the $20 monthly statement credit for shipping). The steps are exactly the same whether you are using the AMEX Business Platinum Card or any other payment method. To get started, go to the USPS website.