Whether you’re stocking up on household staples, grabbing some deals or just tackling your early back-to-school shopping, there are many ways to save on Amazon orders.
And if you have an American Express card that earns American Express Membership Rewards points, you may be eligible for a new offer that can help you save up to 40% on Amazon purchases.
Typically, using Membership Rewards points for Amazon purchases isn’t a great option, as the value per point is below that of most travel redemptions. However, right now, you can save as much as 40% on an Amazon purchase by cashing in as few as 1,429 Membership Rewards points with some current targeted offers.
Some TPG staffers received offers as high as 40%, though we’ve previously seen offers as high as 50%.
Others had smaller offers of 15% off (or none at all).
Note that the requirement to spend at least 1,429 Membership Rewards points seems to be new (and annoying), but it can still be a good deal. Back in November, the requirement was just 714 points, and previously it had been 1 point.
To get in on this offer of saving up to 40% on an Amazon purchase when redeeming as few as 1,429 Membership Rewards points, you’ll need a card that earns Membership Rewards points, such as the American Express Platinum Card®, the American Express® Gold Card or the American Express® Green Card.
The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Offers available when using Membership Rewards points to pay for Amazon purchases
Not all Amex cardholders will be targeted with the same Amazon offers, so check your account. For example, at the time of publication, some saw offers to save 15% (up to $15) — but, as I mentioned, a few of us saw an offer for savings of 40% (up to $40).
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Remember that these are targeted offers, so they will vary. Hopefully, you are targeted for the larger offers.
It used to be that only products sold by Amazon were eligible for the discount, but now, the terms indicate that it has expanded beyond items shipped and sold by Amazon to include “a wide selection of eligible products.” The trade-off may be that the offer used to trigger a discount on third-party gift cards, but that option does not seem to be working for us now.
How to save up to 50% by redeeming Amex points
Here are the steps you should take in order to turn Amex Membership Rewards points into serious Amazon savings:
- Link your eligible Amex card to your Amazon account. You can do this through the Amex app or the Amazon website.
- Check to see if you have a targeted offer.
- Activate the offer in your Amazon account.
- Load your shopping cart with eligible items.
- We do not recommend paying for the entire purchase with points, as it may not be the best use of your Membership Rewards points. Instead, use as few points at checkout as possible for your specific offer (as shown below). You’ll need to use an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points as your payment method.
Assuming everything works, you should see the offer reflected during checkout. You’ll need to cover the rest of your transaction with an Amex card, though you can also apply an Amazon gift card balance if there’s one attached to your account.
Other offers may be available
You might find similar offers with other rewards programs from time to time. For example, we’ve previously seen offers for 40% off (up to $20 back) when using Discover rewards on select Amazon purchases.
Additional past offers allowed targeted customers to use 1 Citi ThankYou Rewards point for up to 50% off, 1 Capital One mile for up to $20 off and 100 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for up to 50% off.
Additionally, some TPG staffers have stackable offers to earn bonus Amex Membership Rewards points on Amazon purchases via registering for an Amex Offer on the American Express page, such as this one for 1,200 bonus Membership Rewards points with $150 spent at Amazon on a registered and eligible card.
You can also sometimes find targeted offers on Amazon product pages underneath the item’s price, so keep your eyes peeled when browsing.
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