Amex Membership Rewards Cash Value Explodes Up To 186% While Amex Platinum Earn Rate Doubles

Amex Platinum Cardholders earn double points until July 20, 2020. Increased cash value offer ends September 30, 2020.

Written by creditcardGenius Team

updated on Aug 5, 2021

Fact Checked

Please note this offer is no longer available. You can find current offers here.

One of our favourite rewards programs is the American Express Membership Rewards program.

Why? The points are both incredibly valuable and flexible at the same time which is a rare combination.

Travel redemption options have always provided the most value but, with COVID-19, travel is off the table for the time being.

Your next best options, statement credits and shopping through Amazon, normally come at a significantly reduced point value.

That just changed…

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Amex Membership Rewards cash value increases up to 186%

Normally, you need 1,000 points for a $7 statement credit (0.7 cents per point).

Amex just increased the value of their Pay with Points program for a limited time, making each point worth up to 2 cents each.

Depending on the card you have, you’ll get increased value when you redeem for statement credits or use your points to pay for Amazon purchases. This effectively turns their Membership Rewards cards into solid cash back card equivalents.

Amex Platinum earn rates DOUBLE

We’re not through with Amex news yet.

If you have the American Express Platinum^® Card, there’s an even better offer that stacks with the already increased point values.

Until July 20, 2020, you’ll also be earning double points on all purchases.

That means you’re earning:

6 points per $1 spent on restaurants (12% cash return on spending*),
4 points per $1 spent on travel (8% cash return on spending*), and
2 points per $1 spent everywhere else (4% cash return on spending*).

A 4% cash-equivalent return on spending on ALL purchases blows any other cash back card currently on the market out of the water. 12% on restaurants is simply unheard of.

Seeing as most of the benefits of the card are travel related and can’t be used right now, it’s a great way to instead stock up on points, and either save them for future travel, or get great value right now on Pay with Points purchases.

This offer ends July 20, 2020.

Return rates on Amex Membership Rewards cards

So for those 3 cards, what kind of return rates are you looking at? Here’s a summary for each, and an intriguing strategy to consider for one of them.

If this offer interests you but you don’t have one of these cards, we’ll let you know what you can earn for signing up for one of these cards.

American Express Cobalt^® Card

5.0 Genius Rating

4.1 (80) User reviews

×8 Award winner

Annual fee

See rates

Learn more

Welcome bonus

$300^◊
15,000 points

Annual rewards
$1,080^◊
Learn more

Apply Now Learn More

Instant approval: Yes

Credit estimate:

American Express Cobalt^® Card

5.0 Genius Rating

4.1 (80) User reviews

8x Award winner

Annual fee

See rates

Learn more

Welcome bonus

$300^◊
15,000 points

Annual rewards
$1,080^◊
Learn more

Credit estimate:

(660 - 724)

Apply Now Learn More

Instant approval: Yes

Let’s start with the most popular card of the group – the American Express Cobalt^® Card.

When redeeming for statement credits, here is your rate of return until the end of September:

5% back on groceries and restaurants,
2% back on gas, transit, and travel, and
1% back on all purchases.

As for new cardholders, every month you spend $500 in the first year, you’ll earn 2,500 bonus points, for a maximum of 30,000 points earned.

So, you won’t be able to use the total bonus towards these new point values, but you will be able to use some of them for an increased instant discount.

American Express Platinum^® Card

4.4 Genius Rating

2.7 (16) User reviews

×2 Award winner

Annual fee

See rates

Learn more

Welcome bonus

$600^◊
30,000 points

Annual rewards
$588^◊
Learn more

Apply Now Learn More

Instant approval: Yes

Credit estimate:

American Express Platinum^® Card

4.4 Genius Rating

2.7 (16) User reviews

2x Award winner

Annual fee

See rates

Learn more

Welcome bonus

$600^◊
30,000 points

Annual rewards
$588^◊
Learn more

Credit estimate:

(560 - 659)

Apply Now Learn More

Instant approval: Yes

The big daddy of them all – the American Express Platinum^® Card. It’s offering double the value of the other 2 cards.

At 2 cents per point, here’s what you’ll get back:

6% back on restaurants,
4% back on travel, and
2% back on all other purchases.

However, with Platinum Card holders getting double points until July 20th, that means your return doubles again until then and is now between 4% and 12%.

Your turn

If you have one of these cards, are you more likely to redeem some points for statement credits or shopping at Amazon right now?

Or are you going to sit tight, and wait to use your points for travel?

Let us know in the comments below.

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Editorial Disclaimer: The content here reflects the author's opinion alone. No bank, credit card issuer, rewards program, or other entity has reviewed, approved, or endorsed this content. For complete and updated product information please visit the product issuer's website. Our credit card scores and rankings are based on our Rating Methodology that takes into account 126+ features for each of 229 Canadian credit cards.

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Comments

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Showing 13 comments

Eleventeen

May 28, 2020

Error in the headline: Increased cash value offer ends September 30, 2020. -- For the personal platinum card offer, both the double rewards and double statement credits end July 20th. Just got a physical letter the other day confirming that. Perhaps the cobalt one ends sept 30. You should clarify that. Also re: other comments restaurant 12% is useless? Nope, amex is cool so although normally you wouldn't get a multiplier on uber eats or doordash like the Cobalt card gets, the same as they are doing for Gold, during the promo they are counting as restaurants, thus granting 6 points per dollar (12%). And keep in mind at some restaurants you can also use doordash or uber eats for pickup, thus no fee's, just a great deal. End date for this one isn't announced, I imagine same day the 5x ends for gold users? (Skip the dishes isn't currently coding at 3x on platinum for some reason)

creditcardGenius Team

May 29, 2020

For the Amex Platinum personal card, the double cash, double points does end July 20, and we have indicated that for the card. However, for all Membership Rewards cards, until the end of September, the cash value is 1,000 points for $10 (instead of $7), which also includes the Platinum card.

William

April 23, 2020

I have property taxes to pay so I will definitely use my Plat card to get 2x points. Do we know ordering via delivery services will qualify for the extra points under 'restaurant'?

creditcardGenius Team

April 27, 2020

Property taxes are usually something you can't pay directly with a credit card, you'd have to use a service like Plastiq to pay for them, and they charge a fee of 2.5%. However, with the new promo you're earning 4% back, so you're still ahead 1.5%. Most of the major delivery services fall under Amex's definition of dining purchases.

Stephen Weyman

April 24, 2020

The transaction has to be coded properly as restaurant in the American Express system for it to work and that is usually the case with restaurants so it should work fine.

Steven Vesely

April 23, 2020

Hi Stephen. You make some great points. I am being harsh in my judgement here. I've gotten too accustomed to seeing 4% as the standard for a premium card with the occasional temporary boost higher as a promo for a limited time. You're right that it's the standard for a premium card and not as a general use card. But I still do feel that American Express is offering an illusion here for the 12% and 8% levels. As a non user of points for travel - I don't personally see value in the 8% offer. As a non restaurant eater - I also don't value an increase to 12% in that category. If someone is spending enough money on restaurants to make this a worthwhile endeavor - I question whether they are suffering financially from the pandemic. It seems to me it's more a ruse by Amex to offer this to people in order to increase their spending on restaurants which I would argue is probably not in their best financial interests overall. But like I said - that's just me. I'm sure there are many who will happily take advantage of the offer and it suits their personal needs just fine. But who am I to argue. I certainly do churn my credit cards yearly based on what I find is a good deal for me. This offer just doesn't meet my criteria.

Eleventeen

May 28, 2020

re: Mr Vesely: ". I’ve gotten too accustomed to seeing 4% as the standard for a premium card with the occasional temporary boost higher as a promo for a limited time." In the history of credit cards in Canada, there has NEVER EVER been an un-capped 4%+ non-category cash return offer until this. Any that high have been quite limited and capped to low spends, usually 4-10%, but only max $1000 to $2000 spend (up to $200, big deal).. This has zero caps, you can earn thousands if you spend enough (or just the welcome bonus itself is worth over a $1000). Huge difference.

EllIot

April 23, 2020

Hi Stephen, In the review you mentioned that a CCG team member successfully upgraded to the Amex platinum card from the Gold card mainly because it is a charge card. Is this applicable to Amex Credit Cards? Meaning can you upgrade an Amex Credit Card to another?

April 23, 2020

You can only upgrade an AMEX credit card within the same family. EX: SimplyCash to SimplyCash Preferred EX: AIR MILES to AIR MILES Platinum to AIR MILES Reserve

Stephen Weyman

April 23, 2020

This is correct. You can change cards as often as you want but the points will only transfer if you're in the same family or if the rewards are managed via a separate rewards account (AIR MILES and Aeroplan). I'm not sure of the implications of switching between a charge and credit card though. The way I did it in the past was to just apply for the new card I wanted online to make sure I'd get the welcome bonus and then cancel my other card after making sure the points transferred.

Steven Vesely

April 22, 2020

Hi Stephen, Normally I like checking in what promotions credit cards are offering but this is really disingenuous headline writing and a poor offer. You are technically absolutely correct in your numbers that reward levels are going up 43% and 186% based on the math. But the reality is that it the initial point levels were so low that it just makes the increase seem large when all they're really doing is matching what other cards are already offering - 4% is already the gold standard cash back reward level. I'm cherry picking here but 12% cashback on restaurants? Wonderful but in poor taste. Who is eating out these days? 8% on travel? Same. No one is travelling so it's not like anyone is going to be racking up the points on these two categories. And 4%? Well, as noted above - that's already the gold standard among other cards. It may be for all spending but it's limited and I have to fork out a large fee to get it. I'll pass. And think a lot less of American Express as a brand in the future.

Maggie

April 24, 2020

I will be booking 3 return flights to San Francisco next March on my Platinum card and I will get use of the 8%. I have also ordered takeout from a couple of restaurants since they had to close in an effort to support my community. The signup offer for this card is very attractive right now and I actually just signed up for it last week. Being able to apply 1000 points as a $20 credit in purchases is a great boon. It will allow me to pay for my 3 flight tickets for about 60,000 points which is better than 75k using Aeroplan miles. I think this a solid offer to makeup for not being able to use airport lounges, which to me is the only other really strong feature of this card.

Stephen Weyman

April 23, 2020

Appreciate you being a long time reader and I also appreciate your comments and perspective here. I understand your perspective that the headline may have been a little sensational but honestly this boost in cash back value came as a huge shock to me and was something I completely didn't expect. I also genuinely believe that this is a great deal for some people. I'm currently sitting on a good chunk of Membership Rewards points and I am an American Express Gold cardholder. This deal is incredibly hot to me as it does literally raise the potential real cash value of my points by 186% when I can't even use them for travel if I wanted to. The $1,000 welcome bonus + increased point value + higher earn rates make this almost a no brainer for me right now. You also mentioned that "4% is the gold standard". I don't believe that to be the case because 4% cash back is only attainable on specific spending categories with 1 or 2 cards on the market. The standard for cash back on all purchases is actually between 0.5% and 1% so a 4% cash back rate on all purchases is actually huge. Even the top cards on the market only offer 2% on all purchases. I agree with you that the 8% on travel is largely unusable although you might be able to book a trip far into the future or buy gift cards or certificates with a travel company for future redemption if you were so inclined. Restaurants on the other hand are still very much usable. Services like Skip The Dishes and Uber Eats along with regular home delivery are still very popular during this time. I, personally, and avoiding ordering in because I don't want to risk the food contamination but I have talked to plenty of other people that are still ordering restaurant food delivery. May I ask why this lessens your opinion of the American Express brand because this is actually a boon to their products at a time when people need it? That's better than the reward value reductions we're seeing from other issuers.

^◊ The creditcardGenius algorithm, based on our Rating Methodology, calculates an estimated dollar value for all rewards and bonuses by combining typical monthly spending with well-researched reward point value estimates. "Annual Rewards" is calculated by combining our default $2,000 in monthly spending ($24,000 annually) spread across 8 different spending categories (gas, groceries, travel, etc) with our point value estimates. "Welcome Bonus" is calculated by combining all one-time bonuses available to new cardholders within the first year with our point value estimates. To qualify for the full bonus you may need to make purchases, meet minimum spending requirements, or complete special actions. "Annual Interest Savings" is based on a credit card balance of $8,000 and a standard credit card interest rate of 19.99%. Annual Rewards, Welcome Bonus, and Annual Interest Savings values will change if the person adjusts their monthly spending away from the $2,000 monthly default or changes their reward preferences.

*,^† Terms and conditions apply.

Amex Membership Rewards Cash Value Explodes Up To 186% While Amex Platinum Earn Rate Doubles

Amex Membership Rewards cash value increases up to 186%

Amex Platinum earn rates DOUBLE

Return rates on Amex Membership Rewards cards