Everything you need to know about credit card merchant offers

26.07.2024 - 17:10 / thepointsguy.com

Remember extreme couponing? Avid couponers would pour over weekly ads and find ways to maximize their savings by stacking coupons on top of other offers.

Merchant offers are a more convenient version of couponing. These programs are entirely online and allow you to save money on the things you're buying anyway, with no scissors required.

Every issuer's merchant offer follows the same basic structure: Log into your card account online or through your banking app, review the offers available to you, add the ones you want and make a qualifying purchase using the card the offer is registered to.

Offers are typically targeted, but someone with multiple cards will have access to dozens of offers from various retailers at any given time. Though every little bit helps, some programs are more valuable than others. Here's how the programs stack up.

Nearly everyone with an Amex card is familiar with Amex Offers, where you'll often find 100 or more potential discounts for each card you have. Not all of them will be relevant to your purchasing needs, but the law of large numbers says a few will probably make sense.

From a traveler's perspective, Amex Offers are frequently a good fit. Hotel offers are relatively common and often span multiple brands. For instance, here's one that can save you $180 on select luxury Hilton properties or $100 at select Mandarin Oriental properties:

In addition to the sheer quantity of offers available, Amex also tends to field some of the highest cash-back deals. Rebates of $100 or more are relatively common, and you can sometimes stack Amex Offers with other discounts and promotions as long as your final purchase price is high enough to trigger the deal.

Another great advantage to these offers is that Membership Rewards-earning cards sometimes proffer bonus points on eligible purchases rather than cash back. For example, you may find an offer for 10,000 bonus points instead of $100 or 5 extra bonus points per dollar instead of 5% cash back on certain types of purchases or from specific retailers.

Since TPG's July 2024 valuations peg Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each, earning your rebate in points can make it an even sweeter deal.

One major downside is that Amex usually structures deals to require a minimum spending amount (as you might imagine, the higher rebates require higher spending to qualify), and taxes and fees are generally not included in that amount. So, if you spend even just one penny short of the amount stated in your Amex Offer, you could miss out on the deal entirely.

Further, note that some Amex Offers have restrictions around what purchases are eligible, so read through the terms and conditions before you make a purchase. Also, note that you can only add a