Bonus Points for Small Business Shopping with American Express!

Hot off the announcement of 5x Membership Rewards on airfare spending with the Platinum Card, American Express is back in the news with 2x bonus earning when you “Shop Small” through the end of the year (12/31/2016).

Delta Cards, Membership Rewards Cards (like the Premier Rewards Gold, Platinum and Everyday Cards), SPG Cards, Hilton Cards and more. They’re all earning bonus points!

Enroll your cards here and view the bonus terms based on your specific American Express Cards.

Some of the FINE print (1) You will not earn 2X rewards on any bonus you may already receive with your Card & (2) This offer applies to the first $250,000 in purchases for each eligible Card Account issued to a business and the first $100,000 in purchases for each eligible Card Account issued for personal use, starting from the time you complete enrollment through 12/31/16.

What does “Shop Small” even mean?

Simply put, “Shop Small” refers to shopping at small businesses. Each year around this time, American Express encourages cardholders to shop at and support small and/or local businesses. This American Express promotional effort is featured around Small Business Saturday – which is November 26th this year.

Check out the map for participating Small Businesses near you!

I like the premise of the promotion, and in the past (with the exception of 2015), American Express has offered nice incentives (through the form of $10 Amex Statement Credits) to encourage shoppers to spend!

Seems that 2x points is 2016’s incentive!

Why I like this move –

While I miss the statement credits of the past, I am happy to see that American Express is making a move to further incentivize shoppers to support Small Business.

Small Businesses win, American Express win, and you as a consumer win via more rewards!

A win, is a win, is a win, right!?

And yet… Why I am not as excited as everyone else seems to be –

I am all for supporting Small Business, but personally it is not where I spend a majority of my money. Therefore, for me, maximizing this promotion will be limited to around $500-$1,000, which equates to only 500-1000 extra bonus points.

Perhaps I could make an extra trip to the dentist, but not sure that agony (Sorry to Dr. Tim if you are reading this!) is worth an extra 200 Skymiles…

The ONE exception here is restaurants. I love local restaurants and spend my fair share to support them! While  3x Membership Rewards is better than 2x, it still does not compare to 3x Ultimate Rewards I earn with the Chase Sapphire Reserve!

So, while many other points and miles bloggers cheer, I give American Express a tip of the hat for offering a promotion supporting their cause, and I move on.

I realize that there are some people that do spend a significant amount at small businesses, and for you, the promotion value is significantly more rewarding! For instance, fellow points and mile blogger Mommy Points noted her significant spend at pediatricians’ offices and daycare – both of which may qualify as Small Business and thus earn extra bonus points!

Final Thought

American Express is offering bonus points/miles when you shop at Small Businesses through the end of the year. Extra bonus point opportunities are always good, so I definitely suggest that you register your cards for the promotion!

That said…

Will I be increasing the amount of money I spend? Nah!

Will I think twice about which card I use when “Shopping Small”? Possibly…

What this promotion has reminded me to do is to put a bit more effort into supporting local businesses, which is a good thing and for that I am grateful!

Will you be all about town, shopping at all the local business in your area to maximize this promotion? Or will you be taking a laissez faire approach?

Whichever you decide, Happy Travels!

DW