Points With a Crew readers are no strangers to the great travel benefits that come with many of our credit cards. In a time without travel, many card issuers have been pivoting their benefits. COVID has forced their hand due to shifting consumer spending: more online shopping, more takeout, less travel.

American Express has added a monthly dining credit to a host of its cobranded cards. As the proud owner of a Hilton Aspire card, I’ll get an extra $20 each month good towards dining or delivery.  In a very consumer-friendly move, these credits are also good for third party delivery systems, which usually don’t get much love on these kinds of promotions.  Here’s how the credits seem to break out:

• $20 per month for the Hilton Aspire, Delta Reserve, and Marriott Brilliant (all the high end cobranded cards).
• The Delta Platinum gets a $15 monthly credit.
• The Hilton Surpass, Delta Gold, and Bonvoy AmEx all have a $10 monthly credit.
• Last but not least, Hilton no annual fee cardholders can take advantage of $5 each month.  (Actually… I suppose last is least in this case …)

These offers will all show under the normal AmEx Offers heading on your account or app.  Be sure to add these to your cards before you use try to use them!  This benefit can really add up. I consider my Hilton Aspire a long-term keeper because of all the other great benefits it grants me. Now, I’m getting $220 worth of food over the course of this year, for free!  (That almost makes up for the $250 fee on its own.) This $20 credit will be easy to use up, even for someone like me, who’s not getting out much these days.

If you recall, American Express did mention their expansion of benefits for cobranded cards in a press release last month.

Like I said, the fine print is pretty favorable this time. The only tricky part is the way AmEx codes restaurants, which we’ve all run into on our Gold cards. For example, there’s a great restaurant near me that’s located in a hotel. Unfortunately, the charge posts as a hotel, so I end up using my Citi ThankYou Premier for triple ThankYou points on hotels there. Typically, my AmEx Gold card is my preferred card for restaurant purchases. Here’s another thing to keep in mind: You must have been a cardholder prior to Jan 1, 2021, to be eligible for the benefit.  It seems clear that AmEx is trying to retain cardholders and annual fee revenue; they’re not trying to entice anybody new with this move.

(It seems I’m not the only one who loves my Aspire card.)

I’ll be eating good this year, courtesy of AmEx! I currently have two Platinum cards, one Gold card, and one Aspire Hilton. Look at all the food-related credits I’m racking up this year:

• $40 monthly Uber credits ($15 each Platinum, $10 Gold – I often use these on Uber Eats orders since I don’t need airport rides lately)
• $10 monthly Grubhub/Seamless credit (Gold card)
• $20 monthly dining credit (Hilton Aspire)

(By the way, check out Ross’s new write-up on the Uber/Eats credit with the AmEx Gold card)

What do you guys think — is this enough to make you keep your cobranded cards one more year?

H/T – Doctor of Credit

Newsletter Signup

Join the PWaC newsletter filled with credit card and travel tips

Join Now!

You have Successfully Subscribed!