This Credit Card Feature Has Saved Me $1,208, But You Have to Know Where to Find It

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We may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. We may not cover every available offer. Our relationship with advertisers may impact how an offer is presented on our site but our editorial selection of products is made independently. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. We calculate a typical annual reward for each card, assuming $36,000 spent annually and less any annual fee. Interest rates, fees, rewards and other terms listed in this article are subject to change. Before you apply for a card, check its current terms and conditions with the issuer.

Woman paying via credit card at a clothing store.

There are lots I love about my American Express® Gold Card. It earns points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets, which is a bulk of my spending, and those points can valuably be used to book flights and hotel stays.

But there's one less obvious feature that I really enjoy about it: The "Offers." Yes, the Gold Card has annual perks you can enroll in, like the up to $100 Resy Credit, but the Offers are additional, limited-time deals that change regularly. As an example, there's currently an Offer where if you spend $200 or more at Sunglass Hut with your Amex card by July 31, you'll earn a $30 statement credit.

There is a little bit of a catch: Because the Offers change regularly, you have to remember to check and "add" the Offers in order to benefit from them. But if you make it a habit to scroll the Offers instead of, say, doomscrolling, you're in for a treat.

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I'm talking primarily about American Express here because it's the card I use the most, but other major card brands, including Kiplinger readers' favorite travel rewards cards, also have their own Offers. Chase has Offers, as does Capital One.

How to use Amex Offers

Using the Offers is easy as long as you know and remember they exist.

If you log in to your American Express account on a computer, scroll down until you see "Amex Offers & Benefits." You'll then see the list of "Available" Offers. The first few are usually Amex-related offers, like ones to upgrade your card or refer someone. But click "View All" to see the spending-related offers.

If you log into your American Express account on the phone app, you can find the tab for "Offers" at the bottom of the screen. Simply click there and scroll to see what's available.

For Chase cards, you can log in to the app and click on your card. Then, scroll all the way down until you see "Chase Offers." On a computer, log in and click on your card, and you'll see "Chase Offers" closer to the top of the screen.

Now that you see the Offers, if one appeals to you, click the "+" button to "add it to your card." Once you've done that, you're enrolled in the deal until it expires.

So, let's say you added that Sunglass Hut offer to your Amex card, and you spend $205 at the store in June, using your Amex card. Afterwards, you'll usually get an email saying you just used an Offer, and if it meets the terms, the Offer will be redeemed. Provided it qualifies, you'll typically see the $30 statement credit appear within a few days.

What types of Offers are there?

Offers have a fairly wide variety. Some of them are for straightforward retail shopping, and I've seen it range from mid-range athleisure stores to more high-end designer stores. Some are for chain restaurants and drink shops. There are also many Offers related to certain hotel brands and resorts.

There are Offers for different types of subscriptions, including streaming deals and travel-related memberships (it's typically a good idea to check if they have something for Clear before you renew).

There are also Offers that are geographically or event-specific. For example, on Amex, I currently see an Offer for spending at the (golf) U.S. Open, and I've used one before at the (tennis) U.S. Open.

Additionally, while many Offers provide statement credits, others award bonus points instead, which is also pretty useful.

My Offers strategy

As I'm an editor at a personal finance publication, it may come as no surprise that I check my card app frequently. Because of that, I end up checking out the Offers at least once a week.

There's no limit to how many Offers you can add to your card, so I add any that feel like I could use. Maybe I'm not planning to shop at a paint shop in the next month, but I also know as a new homeowner, surprises happen, so I'll enroll in that Offer just in case. That mindset means that I don't have to remember the Offer to make use of it — because I'm already enrolled, when I'm panic-buying paint, I'll trigger the Offer.

This changes based on what's going on in your life. When I was living in a rental apartment, for example, I wouldn't bother adding the paint shop Offer, because there's simply no chance I'd shop there. But when I was planning my wedding, I enrolled in any and every dress and shoe store Offer — which was how I ended up earning $80 back in statement credits on my after-party dress, without even remembering the Offer.

The other part of my strategy is that I don't change how I shop based on what Offer is available. For example, just because there is an Offer for shopping at Ferragamo doesn't mean I'm going to decide now to get a new pair of shoes, even if it's tempting. I apply the same psychology to shopping in general: Just because there's a sale doesn't mean I now have to shop.

But there is one way I change my behavior based on Offers. Because I have both an Amex and Chase card, if one has an Offer the other doesn't for a store I'm shopping at, I'll use the appropriate card for it.

Amex tracks how much you saved with Offers, so I can tell you that in my five or so years with this card, I've earned $1,208 in statement credit and an additional 45,000 points, all from Offers. The Gold Card annual fee is $325 (see rates and fees), so I've effectively earned back that fee more than three times over.

Not bad for a couple of minutes of scrolling.

Alexandra Svokos is the digital managing editor of Kiplinger. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern in finance and management and a BA in economics and creative writing from Columbia University. Alexandra has over a decade of experience in journalism and previously served as the senior editor of digital for ABC News, where she directed daily news coverage across topics through major events of the early 2020s for the network's website, including stock market trends, the remote and return-to-work revolutions, and the national economy. Before that, she pioneered politics and election coverage for Elite Daily and went on to serve as the senior news editor for that group.

Alexandra was recognized with an "Up & Comer" award at the 2018 Folio: Top Women in Media awards, and she was asked twice by the Nieman Journalism Lab to contribute to their annual journalism predictions feature. She has also been asked to speak on panels and give presentations on the future of media and on business and media, including by the Center for Communication and Twipe.