Black Friday is upon us. Last night at midnight, thousands of people waited in the dark and cold at their nearest big box retailer. But will they get double rewards on their purchases? Probably not. So it’s time for a brief reminder about Shop Small from American Express.
Amazon and Target might be convenient, but you should also consider shopping at an independent retailer. You’ll be supporting not only a local merchant but your community, as well. The prices may be slightly higher, but you know where the money is going.
Shop Small for Double Points
For the past few years, American Express has offered “Small Business Saturday.” If you shopped at a qualifying local business, American Express would give you a credit.
This year is slightly different. Instead of offering a credit on a particular day, American Express is offering double reward points for shopping at qualified merchants between now and the end of the year. True, you may not value Membership Rewards points highly, but other American Express cards count as well, both business and personal ones. For instance, the Starwood Preferred Guest card is offering an additional Starpoint per dollar spent. Those points are worth 2-3 cents each, depending on how you use them. If you’re particularly generous, you should also know that there is a limit on the rewards. You only earn double points on the first $100,000 of personal card spend and $250,000 on your business card.
Not every card is eligible, but most are, including most Membership Rewards Cards, most Blue Cash cards and certain travel cards, including ones from Delta, Hilton and Starwood. Business cards also qualify. Rather than list every eligible and ineligible card, I’ll refer you to the FAQs, where they are listed. Important: You need to register your cards beforehand to earn the double points and eligible cards need to be enrolled separately.
Where to Go
American Express provides a list of merchants eligible for Shop Small. Just pull up your zip code and prepare to do your holiday shopping.
The Bottom Line
Is American Express running the Shop Small promotion to get more people using and accepting their cards? Probably. But you’ll be helping out a local merchant and your community while earning double rewards. Sounds like a win-win to me.
