How Amex Offers saved me over $90 on online shopping

American Express Offers is one of the best credit card perks out there and a major reason to keep paying the annual fee on credit cards like the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. For those who are unfamiliar with Amex Offers, its a list of targeted discounts and statement credits available to American Express cardholders. All you have to do is browse through your list of offers and then add the ones you’re interested in.

When you use your American Express card to make a qualifying purchase at a participating merchant, you receive a statement credit in the amount specified. 

This last month, I had to do some shopping – something I don’t enjoy doing in person. I usually know what I want, make a list, and try to order it online. This allows me to bypass the store, avoid buying other things I don’t need, saves me time, and I can often get bonus points or cash back through a shopping portal.

In the case of Amex Offers, there were some really good deals that aligned with my shopping needs, so I went for it. As a result, I saved over $90 on purchases I needed to make this month, which is awesome! Here’s a breakdown of the deals I took advantage of and how much I saved:

Google Express: $15 off $30

I was running low on essentials (shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc.) and decided to stock up by taking advantage of the $15 Google Express deal.

It worked out great because Google Express delivers merchandise from tons of popular merchants, so you can compare prices and choose the cheapest merchant. I ended up just under the $30 mark, so I threw in a $0.99 item, which qualified me for the $15 statement credit. 

Jet.com: $10 off $50

This was my first time ordering from jet.com and in addition to the $10 discount, I scored a great deal on a bottle of Philosophy Amazing Grace perfume. The 2 oz bottle normally costs $48 but jet.com was offering it for $29.76.

I added this to my cart along with some skincare products and it came out to a little over $50. I not only saved $10 with Amex Offers, but I also saved ~$18 on my perfume purchase. So this shopping experience was a success overall.

GoDaddy.com: $10 off $50

My blog is hosted through GoDaddy, which is also where I renew several of my domain names every year. It’s by no means expensive, but it’s nice to be able to bulk some fees together and save cash.

I used two of these $10 off $50 offers at GoDaddy and saved $20 on hosting fees and domain renewals. This amounts to four months of free hosting or almost two free domain renewals. 

10% off at gas stations ($25)

Maybe it’s because Costco ended its relationship with Amex, leading to a drop in gas spending, but Amex is offering a very generous 10% discount on up to $250 spent on gas through September 30, 2016. This may not seem like much, but if you’ve got a real gas guzzler on your hands, every bit helps.

I would have loved to use this offer towards a Visa gift card purchase. However, I can’t find any gas stations in my area that will accept credit cards. While I’ve already put a dent into that $250 spending cap, I will definitely max it out by September 30. This is a very easy $25 saving on one of the most common spending categories out there.

10% off cell phone bill ($30)

For a few months now, American Express has been offering 10% off cell phone bills, on up to $300. I have a family plan through T-Mobile that includes a cell phone installment plan. So as you can imagine my cell phone bill is quite high. I was able to max this out easily by overpaying my bill a little. I’ve been doing this for a couple of months  with family members’ credit cards to maximize my savings.

I did use shopping portals for some of these deals, which shouldn’t interfere with the Amex Offers terms. While I haven’t looked to verify this, I’m pretty sure all of the Amex Offers statement credits posted within a day or two of the purchases being made. 

Have you been taking advantage of Amex Offers lately? How much have you been able to save?