Rewards Information
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Rewards Categories
Rewards Information
This page provides information about how you can earn additional rewards on some American Express® U.S. Consumer and Business Cards.
If your Card has a rewards program, you can earn a base level reward, typically 1 point or 1 percent cash back, for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases. With some Cards, you may also earn additional rewards for purchases in certain categories. We call these “additional rewards” on this website. This site will help you better understand how you earn additional rewards. Both the base-level reward and additional rewards vary by Card. You can learn which rewards you can earn on your Card by referring to your Card Member Agreement or the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions.
Click below to access our standard definitions of eligible purchases, additional rewards categories, examples of eligible merchants, named lists for car rental, department stores, drugstores, and computer hardware/software/cloud computing.
This website is only a summary of certain information about rewards programs. All rewards programs, base rewards and additional rewards are subject to and governed by the terms of the applicable Card Member Agreement or the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions, as the case may be. In the event of any dispute, those terms will govern. The information on this website is subject to change without notice, so be sure to check this website periodically. You can learn which rewards you can earn on your Card by referring to your Card Member Agreement, the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions or your Card’s product page located on americanexpress.com.
To view transactions that qualified for additional rewards, visit the Bonus Rewards Detail page within your online account at americanexpress.com. You can view your current or previous statements within Statements & Activities to see the Bonus Details link at the bottom of the page. Rewards can take up to two billing cycles to post to your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
General Information about Rewards
Learn about the rewards you can earn on your Card by referring to your Cardmember Agreement, the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions, or your Card’s product page located on americanexpress.com.
- If your Card has a rewards program, you can earn a reward, typically 1 point or 1 percent cash back, for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases. Your Card may also earn “additional rewards” for purchases in certain categories such as U.S. Supermarkets or Transit. This website provides information about eligible purchases and how to earn additional rewards in each category.
- All rewards programs are subject to and governed by the terms of the applicable Cardmember Agreement or the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions, as the case may be. In the event of any conflict with information on this website, those terms will govern. The information on this website is subject to change without notice, so be sure to check this website periodically.
- To view transactions that qualified for additional rewards, visit the Bonus Rewards Detail page in your online account at americanexpress.com. Rewards can take up to two billing cycles to post to your account.
- For questions about how merchants are categorized or whether purchases made with third parties are eligible for additional rewards, see FAQs below.
Eligible purchases are purchases for goods and services minus returns and other credits. Eligible purchases do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, person-to-person transactions, purchases of gift cards, purchases of traveler’s checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, or purchases of other cash equivalents.
To view the purchases that qualified for additional rewards, visit the Bonus Rewards Detail page in your online account at americanexpress.com. Rewards can take up to two billing cycles to post to your account.
When we say a purchase made in the United States (or in the U.S.) will earn a reward, we mean purchases made in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and other U.S. territories.
Eligible purchases made outside the United States will earn rewards. However, some reward categories, such as U.S. Supermarkets, provide additional rewards only for purchases made in the United States. Please visit the reward category pages on this website or review the terms of your Card’s reward program to learn more.
To learn more about how you earn additional rewards on your Card, please refer to your Cardmember Agreement or to the Membership Rewards® program terms and conditions.
We determine if purchases qualify for additional rewards by using merchant codes. Each merchant is typically assigned a code based on what they primarily sell. A purchase will not earn additional rewards if the merchant’s code is not eligible. For example, purchases made at a restaurant located within a hotel may be recognized as a purchase at a hotel, not a restaurant. In that case, you would not earn additional rewards in the restaurant category.
You may not receive additional rewards if we receive inaccurate information or are otherwise unable to identify your purchase as eligible for a reward category. For example:
- You may not earn additional rewards if a merchant uses a third party to process or submit your transaction to us (e.g., when the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader)
- You may not earn additional rewards if you choose to make a purchase using:
- A third party payment account
- A mobile or digital wallet (for details on Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung pay, and Fitbit Pay, see below)
Purchases made on an online marketplace (with multiple retailers) will not receive additional rewards. If you have questions about whether you should have received additional rewards for a purchase, please call the number on the back of your Card.
If you use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Fitbit Pay, you will earn rewards in the same way as you would if you used your Card with the merchant.
If you have questions about whether you should have received additional rewards, please call the number on the back of your Card.
The spend categories on your online statement and Year End Summary are not the same as the categories where you can earn additional rewards. They might be similar in some cases but they won’t match exactly. Some types of merchants aren’t included in additional rewards categories, and other merchants may be eligible for additional rewards even if they appear in a different category on your online statement or Year End Summary. See specific sections of this website for more information.