When deciding which travel rewards card to use for large purchases, it's important to look beyond the points and miles you earn. Card issuers strive to set their products apart by offering incentives like welcome bonuses, but sometimes, the less-flashy benefits can be even more valuable.
In this post, I'll look at the three shopping protection policies offered by many American Express cards and explain how you can leverage these benefits to save money.
Related: Your complete guide to shopping protections on American Express cards
Purchase protection
Purchase protection will reimburse you for theft, loss or accidental damage to eligible items that occurred within 90 days of purchase. To be eligible, all you have to do is charge a portion of your qualifying purchase to your American Express card — but you'll only be reimbursed up to the amount charged to your card.
With most Amex cards, you're covered for up to $1,000 per covered incident and up to $50,000 per year, but the reimbursem*nt doesn't include any shipping or handling expenses. However, certain premium cards cover your purchases for up to $10,000 per incident, with the same limit of up to $50,000 in total claims per calendar year.*
Cards with this higher level of coverage include:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and all other consumer versions in the Platinum family
- The Centurion® Card from American Express and The Business Centurion® Card from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
- Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express
The information for the Centurion, Business Centurion and Hilton Aspire cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
* Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
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As with any insurance policy, the devil is always in the details. In this case, you must purchase an item eligible for coverage, and the loss can't be due to an excluded reason.
What's excluded?
The following are ineligible for coverage:
- Unconditional satisfaction guarantee
- Damage through altercation or modifications
- Animals or living plants
- One-of-a-kind items, such as rare stamps and coins
- Consumable or perishable items such as perfume, light bulbs and batteries
- Negotiable instruments, including travelers' checks and gift cards
- Items that are rented, leased or borrowed
- Motorized vehicles, parts and accessories
- Anything purchased for resale or commercial use
- Permanent household items such as carpet, flooring, air conditioners and refrigerators
- Land or buildings
- More than one article in a pair or set
- Downloadable services
- Items voluntarily or involuntarily discarded
- Medical or dental equipment or devices
- Indirect or direct damage to an item or property resulting from a covered event
- Items purchased for professional or commercial use, such as education, training or skills
Also excluded is loss or damage due to any of the following reasons:
- Riots
- Illegal activity
- War, acts of war or service in the military
- Normal wear and tear
- Damage through alteration
- Items not being safeguarded or left at an unlocked location
- Items seized by a government authority
- Items left in someone else's control
- Simply losing or misplacing the purchase (although the policies for the Delta Reserve, Delta Reserve Business, Hilton Aspire and all consumer versions of the Amex Platinum Card do cover lost or misplaced items)
Additionally, the maximum protection related to a natural disaster is $500. For a complete description of the policies of your American Express card, select your card on this page.
Related: Best credit cards with purchase protection
How to file a claim
You must file a claim within 30 days of loss through this link or by calling 800-228-6855. You must provide an original store receipt (or a printout of an online receipt). In the event of theft, you must include a copy of a police report.
You may be asked to send in a damaged item or a picture for proof of loss, so be sure to keep all of these until the claim is resolved.
Return protection
Purchase protection covers items you want to keep; return protection covers items you don't want to keep where the store won't accept a return.
American Express removed this perk from most of its cards in 2020. Cards that still offer this benefit include:
- The Platinum Card from American Express and other consumer Platinum cards
- The Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
- The Plum Card® from American Express
The information for the Hilton Aspire has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
This benefit compensates cardholders when a store will not accept an eligible item for return within 90 days of purchase. In these cases, Amex will refund the entire purchase price up to $300 per item, excluding shipping and handling charges. This benefit is limited to $1,000 annually. To be eligible, you must pay for the entire cost of the item with your eligible American Express card, and purchases must be made in the U.S. or U.S. territories.^
^Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details.
What's excluded?
The purchase must be made in the United States, the item must be in "like new" condition, and the merchant must have previously denied the return.
The following items are excluded from this policy:
- Animals and living plants
- Seasonal items
- One-of-a-kind items, such as antiques and artwork, or limited-edition items
- Going-out-of-business sale items
- Consumable or perishable items like food and batteries
- Jewelry and watches
- Services and additional costs, such as installation charges, warranties, shipping, handling and memberships
- Rare and precious coins
- Purchased used and/or altered items
- Custom-built items
- Compact discs, digital video discs, mini discs, audiotapes and videotapes
- Computer software
- Firmware, such as console games
- Maps
- Books, magazines or periodicals of any kind
- Healthcare items and/or medical equipment
- Personal hygiene items or any devices (medical or nonmedical) that have been personally used and could be considered a health risk to others
- Formalwear
- Tickets of any kind
- Motorized vehicles, their parts and accessories, as well as those parts and accessories intended for use with the motorized vehicles
- Land, buildings and fixtures
- Firearms and ammunition
- Negotiable instruments, such as stamps and travelers' checks
- Cash and its equivalent (including, but not limited to, gift cards and gift certificates)
- Items permanently affixed to a home, office, vehicle, etc.
See the entire return protection policy for your card here.
How to file a claim
You must file a claim within 90 days of your original purchase through this link or by calling 800-228-6855. You'll be asked for a copy of the receipt and your Amex purchase record. You may also be asked to return the item to Amex, so hang onto it until your claim is resolved.
Extended warranty coverage
When you purchase an item with a manufacturer's warranty, this benefit can add an extra year to the warranty. Amex's extended warranty perk applies to warranties of five years or less.
All American Express cards with extended warranty benefits provide the same coverage. The extended warranty period is an additional year and is limited to covering the actual purchase amount paid for with your card. There is a maximum coverage amount of $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year.*
Dozens of cards offer this benefit. Some of the more popular Amex cards offering extended warranty coverage include The Platinum Card® from American Express and other consumer versions of the Platinum card, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, American Express® Gold Card, American Express® Green Card, American Express® Business Gold Card, Delta credit cards, Hilton credit cards, Marriott credit cards and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. You can view the full list of cards here.
*Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The extended warranty does not cover the following items:
- Products covered by an unconditional satisfaction guarantee
- Motorized vehicles and parts
- Business fixtures, including air conditioners, refrigerators and heaters
- Land or buildings
- Consumable or perishable items
- Animals or living plants
- Items purchased for resale, professional or commercial use
- Items that are rented, leased or borrowed
- One-of-a-kind or used items
Also, coverage does not apply to damage from natural disasters, alterations or modifications, power surges, war or acts of war or any item under a product recall. You can view the full extended warranty policy for each card.
How to file a claim
You must file a claim within 30 days of your covered loss, and you can do so online or by calling 800-228-6855. You will be asked for a copy of the receipt, your Amex purchase record and the original warranty. You may also be asked to return the item to Amex if it can't be repaired or to provide proof of loss via a repair estimate form or photographs showing the item's current condition.
Related: Best credit cards for extended warranties
Amex shopping protection policies in action
It's easy to write off these policies as being too much of a hassle — or, conversely, too good to be true. However, I've filed two claims with Amex in the past; in both cases, I was pleasantly surprised at how quick and easy the process was.
The first claim was for a child's bicycle seat that was supposed to be mounted on my bike's handlebars. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but once I received it and had a chance to install it, I realized that it scared my daughter and seemed too dangerous to me as well. Since I was outside of the store's 30-day return policy but still within 90 days of purchase, I filed a return protection claim online with Amex. The claim was quickly accepted, and I was issued a statement credit for my purchase.
My next chance to use these benefits came when a computer part failed about a year and a half after purchase and had a warranty of just one year. The manufacturer was completely unwilling to repair or replace it, but once again, I remembered my Amex extended warranty policy and filled out an online claim form. I was notified about a week later that my claim had been accepted, and I was issued a statement credit for the purchase price. I was not asked to return the items in question in either case.
How to get the most benefit from these policies
First, you have to have the right card. Beyond that, it's prudent to factor these protections in deciding which card to use whenever you make a large purchase. I lean toward my Amex card when I buy a television, computer or a major appliance that can be costly to repair — even if it means sacrificing bonus points.
I confess that I don't save a copy of the register receipt from every purchase I make — I'm just not that organized. Thankfully, it's easy to search my email inbox to find receipts for everything I've bought online. Failing that, I can also search my order history at Amazon, eBay and other online retailers I use. An increasing number of brick-and-mortar retailers (from The Home Depot to the Apple Store) will now email you a receipt from the register. These online records helped me file my Amex claims quickly, rather than digging through a shoebox full of paper receipts. Finally, it's not hard to snap a photo of a receipt and retain it in your smartphone's cloud storage archive for many years.
Related: The best credit cards with price protection
Bottom line
When we think of travel rewards card benefits, we tend to think of lounge access, free checked bags and companion tickets, but don't stop there. By taking advantage of the valuable shopping protection policies offered by most American Express cards, you can save hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars when a purchase doesn't work out as you'd hoped.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
