To update: This is a reminder that it is a new calendar month. You are now ready to use your Amex Platinum PayPal balance of $ 30 for March. Please see the January post below for full details on how this temporary benefit works (valid between January 1st and June 30th, 2021).
Given the pandemic, we’ve seen card issuers get creative by adding new limited-time perks. This is especially true for travel rewards credit cards as card issuers want users to keep their cards.
In 2020 we saw The American Express Platinum Card® Offer up to $ 40 monthly credit, including $ 20 monthly cell phone credit and $ 20 monthly streaming credit.
While this expired in 2020, American Express has introduced a new temporary card benefit. This should also be noted for anyone considering applying for the Amex Platinum with its currently improved bonus.
New Amex Platinum monthly PayPal credit
The Amex Platinum Card offers a monthly PayPal balance of 30 USD::
- This applies between January 1st and June 30th, 2021
- This only applies to the US consumer version of the card (and not the business card).
- Eligibility for this offer is limited
- No registration is required, all you have to do is add your Amex Platinum to your PayPal account and then select the card when checking out with PayPal
- To qualify, transactions with US merchants must be made with a US PayPal account in USD
- Person-to-person payments are not eligible for credits. This includes making payments to friends and family or directly to merchants for goods and services using the PayPal app
- You will receive a credit of $ 30 per primary card account. Spendings by additional card members are also eligible but count towards the $ 30 balance for the primary card member
- The terms state: “Eligible purchases do not include fees or interest charges, prepaid card purchases or reloads, gift card purchases, person-to-person payments, including those for goods and services, or purchases of other cash equivalents.”
With the Amex Platinum, that’s a simple $ 180 value
I have to give Amex a lot of credit here because it makes it really easy to justify sticking to the Amex Platinum Card. In fairness, the monthly credits of up to $ 40 available in 2020 were worth more on the surface, but a single $ 30 credit is easier to use and gives you more flexibility too.
I don’t normally use PayPal much, but there are plenty of merchants out there that accept PayPal, which should make it easy enough to maximize this. My first thought is to just use this to top up my Starbucks balance every month as Starbucks accepts PayPal. However, I’m not sure if this would be technically impossible due to the conditions. If anyone has any thoughts or tips I’d love to hear them.
In terms of the Amex Platinum’s total value proposition, there is an annual fee of $ 550 for the card. This year’s credits include the following:
This makes it really easy to justify this card without considering the usual valuable benefits that the card offers, such as: B. access to the lounge.
Bottom line
The Amex Platinum Card offers a monthly PayPal balance of USD 30 for the first half of 2021, with which you can achieve a value of up to USD 180. I was excited to see what Amex would come up with for the Platinum Card, and I’m thrilled with it.
What do you think of the $ 30 AmeP Platinum PayPal balance and how do you plan to use it?
