May was an amazing month for Amex Offers. I don’t think I’ve ever earned as many points in a single month from Amex Offers as I did in May. And I’m not even done yet! I got over a dozen incredible cash-back promotions and *only* earned 32,000 points out of a possible 85,000. If you haven’t checked your Amex Offers yet, you’ll want to do it asap and keep an eye out for the following deals:
- Amazon: Spend $50, earn 2,000 Membership Rewards
- Amex Hilton Ascend: Spend $3,000, get 10,000 Hilton Honors points
- Get 10% back on your cell phone bill (up to $20)
- Amex Travel: Spend $600+, get 10,000 Membership Rewards points
- Hilton: Spend $300+, get 3,500 Membership Rewards points
- Sunglass Hut: Spend $200 or more, get $50 back
- Apple Pay: Spend $5 or more, get $2 back, up to 5x
- Bergdorf Goodman: Spend $500, Get 10,000 Membership Rewards
Amazon: Spend $50, earn 2,000 Membership Rewards
I can spend $50 on Amazon with my eyes closed, so this was an easy 2,000 points for me. I added a bunch of essentials to my cart and knocked out this offer in a matter of minutes.
Amex Hilton Ascend: Spend $3,000, get 10,000 Hilton Honors points
The 10,000 bonus point offer from the Amex Hilton Ascend card almost makes up for the fact that I didn’t get a sign-up bonus out of it. I had planned on canceling my dad’s Citi Hilton Honors Reserve card, but the transfer happened sooner than I had anticipated. The $3,000 could be spent on anything, which made this a no-brainer for me.
I found out pretty late that the Hilton deal could be redeemed three times. I had five days to get the remaining $6,000 worth of spending done, so I paid a bunch of bills and bought some Visa gift cards at Safeway. The terms specifically exclude gift card purchases, so I figured I could mask it as a a large grocery purchase over a holiday weekend. Time will tell if the bonus will apply.
Get 10% back on your cell phone bill (up to $20)
This one was easy (and timely). I paid my cell phone bill and completed this offer instantly. Gotta love Amex for running deals like this pretty frequently.
Amex Travel: Spend $600+, get 10,000 Membership Rewards points
Did I mention I have a million trips planned this year? This 10,000-point bonus from AmexTravel couldn’t be more timely – the fact that I have access to two of them is perfect. I can put it to good use on airfare to Istanbul in the fall, my July flight to Toronto, or a trip to Cabo that I’ll probably take in June.
Bottom line: This bonus offer will not go to waste.
Hilton: Spend $300+, get 3,500 Membership Rewards points
Unfortunately, this offer does not apply to gift card purchases, otherwise I’d be all over it. However, there’s still a chance I might be able to take advantage of this 3,500-point bonus. For starters, I might stay at an actual Hilton hotel by June 30.
I’m also trying to figure out if buying a gift card at hotel will qualify. I think some people did that the last time around and it actually worked. I’ll dig around and see if that’s a possibility, because I would definitely put that gift card to use at some point.
Sunglass Hut: Spend $200 or more, get $50 back
These $50 off Sunglass Hut deals from Amex Offers are pretty much standard by now. The great thing about them is that gift card purchases are eligible. I got target for a couple of these, so I plan on buying gift cards and then liquidating them via The Plastic Merchant.
Before you give me any grief about The Plastic Merchant, keep in mind that I’ve personally never had a payment issue. I also haven’t sold them more than $23,000 worth of gift cards in a month so I’m not that worried about payments coming in late.
Bounced checks are a different story, but I think TPM is making an effort to meet their payment obligations in a timely manner. Until things go south, I’ll continue selling to them when I need to.
Apple Pay: Spend $5 or more, get $2 back, up to 5x
There’s a coffee shop near my work that has the best frappes ever. Sorry Greece, the Butterfinger Frappe at Grace Coffee in downtown Sacramento takes the cake. The great thing about this spot? The next five times time I go in for my daily calorie bomb, I’ll get $2 back thanks to this deal form Amex Offers.
Bergdorf Goodman: Spend $500, Get 10,000 Membership Rewards
I love this offer from Bergdorf Goodman. Truthfully, I can’t find a single thing I’d want to buy from Bergdorf Goodman. But thanks to some great tips from seasoned resellers, I can break even reselling designer merchandise, while banking 30,000 Membership Rewards points.
In addition to these offers, I also got targeted for Marriott and other Hilton Amex Offers. I probably won’t take advantage of these. I’ve been considering buying a Casper mattress and Amex Offers is running a $300 off promotion. It’s kind of creepy how I was researching the brand and the next time I logged into my Amex account, the promotion appeared.
A friend of mine mentioned that it happened to her while she was shopping for furniture online. I just thought it was a coincidence, but now I wonder if Amex does, in fact, track your online browsing habits and target offers accordingly. If so, maybe I should start hanging out on Tesla’s website for a while…
Anyway, when all is said and done, these offers will earn me over 85,725 almost fee-free points and miles. That’s better than the current sign-up bonuses on most credit cards.
PS. If anyone has a Casper mattress and feedback to share, let me know. This article about mattress review sites has me convinced that there is no such thing as an unbiased mattress review site. Please share in the comment section!
The Amex Travel one is for hotels, not airfare! Don’t make the same mistake I did!!
Thank you! That actually works out better for me.
Hi Ariana,
Any tips of what to resell from Bergdorf Goodman?
Thanks a bunch
Leo
Honestly don’t know much about BG or reselling. A reader was nice enough to share a tip with me, but asked me not to share. I do think makeup might be a good one to look into (there’s this bizarre makeup obsession among young women these days), as well as perfume. The Yeezy brand is very popular, so I’d look into which items you can resell from that line at a profit or break-even.
Thanks! Will look into it.
Hilton Honors points are losing ground in value. 3k 3x for 10k deal is still worthy but not as much. If your chasing the diamond then def brings more value to the table but other than that…..shrug.
*you’re
I intend to redeem mine at top-tier hotels, so those 30k points (plus the 27k earned from spending $9,000) will be put to good use.
*30k
Could you elaborate on reselling designer goods?
I believe she buys designer goods low at Bergdorf (maybe on sale or clearance, or just for as little as she can) and then sells them at break-even after costs online. Buy low, sell high. People can purchase designer goods from websites such as eBay. Is that what you meant by elaborate, T?
Leo-I’d look for items that are selling higher than cost on eBay. If you pay more than it sells for, you will lose money.
Yep!
People do very well buying at Nordstrom Rack and then sell on Ebay and Poshmark. Penny items hidden in the sale racks are possible.
That’s what I hear. A while back I was able to find $12 Marc Jacobs foundation at Marshall’s. I bought a bunch of them and sold them almost instantly for $25 each. There are definitely gems if you know where to look.
Always compare. A lot of times I find cheaper prices on ebay versus Amazon. For hotels, always check on resortfeechecker.com
That’s what I hear a lot lately. I think a lot of people are stuck on Amazon because of the free prime shipping. Some items on Amazon are overpriced and low quality.
@ Elmer
By “elaborate” I meant providing some info on which exactly designers and/or particular items have better chances or reselling/ higher demand, etc…. because, let’s face it, it’s not as simple as it sounds “ buy low, sell high”…
I personally would never make any of my designer purchases on EBay – too risky of getting fake stuff…perhaps there are different venues of reselling as well, not just EBay
All of the above was compressed into one word “ elaborate”
T.,
And I was compressing “basically, you’re just asking for a handout” into something more polite. We all knew what you were wanting — circles and arrows. While she does give a lot away, she’s not going to give away her secrets for finding reselling gems.
I hear you – but what I’ve done in the past is included the original receipt. That way, the buyer has peace of mind. In the past, I’ve resold designer makeup on eBay and that always went well. I think there are far fewer knock-offs in that department, so people are less hesitant about buying second hand.
Yes, Amex offers at times can be nice, especially the 20% off here at there. But “massive haul?” Way over-the-top and quite vague to severely misleading on the specifics. It’s your blog…. yet one example of your latest slip-ups. Your reference to the Sunglass hut promo and then your reference to selling the gift card via TPM. Great when it works. One problem. TPM currently has no inventory for SGH cards. And even if they did, (but current posted rates) you’re constricted to a rate of 73% — forcing you to sell for a loss for the “privilege.” Ok perhaps if you’re meeting a min spend, but quite underwhelming.
85,000 points isn’t a massive haul? I haven’t looked into TPM’s Sunglass Hut deal but in the past the payout was higher, so you could break event.
You got much better offers than I did.
Yeah, I don’t think I have any of these offers.
Take another look. Sometimes people get targeted for the same offers during different times.
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