Diplomatico

Living in the Pacific Northwest, the umbrella may have been the wiser choice.

Xlr

Presumably Uber is bearing some of the cost of this benefit, and the monthly thing benefits them because it helps make hailing an Uber a habit among more people.

Like any benefit provided at another company (as opposed to, say, extended warranty protection provided by Amex on consumer electronics purchases), it will always be worth a bit more to people who live in certain places where that company has a better presence - or frequently visit there as part of their travel patterns.

If I didn't have a Centurion Lounge at airports in my travel patterns (which was the case where I lived previously), I wouldn't value Centurion Lounge access much because I'd use it rarely.

TL;DR Not everyone uses every benefit.

gsxsilver

Could always buy something and immediate return for store credit/gc.

RumPatrol

Walk in any department store, of any quality, and you will find a store that is filled with mostly garbage items sold at a huge markup. The problem is, the guilty parties are name brands which are perceived as high quality, such as those brands listed in my post. Walk in any mall in any developed country in the world and you are going to see the same items from companies like Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Armani, Diesel, etc. They're the most recognizable brand names in the world and are perceived as being quality even though most of their product line is low production cost items sold at obscene prices.

How do you think Saks is able to stock 100+ outlet locations? It isn't by selling nothing but high quality goods. It is by selling mostly low quality, low production cost ****. Selling the **** products is how they keep the lights on so that they can also sell $5750 Brioni suits. One trip through an Off 5th location tells you all you need to know about how heavily marked up and low quality most of their items are. They can do it because most people in the world can't tell you why a $5750 Brioni suit is better than a $998 Saks Fifth Avenue Brand Suit. Reputation is all about perception. These brands are perceived as being quality, thus these stores are perceived as selling high quality goods. Doesn't matter if it is Saks, Neiman Marcus, Macys, they're all the same.

It's a real eye opening experience when you realize just how much department store items are marked up relative to their production cost.

gooselee

Went to Saks yesterday. Couldn't find a belt that was functional, not obnoxious, and also under $300. Remembered why I never shop there.

Left and went to TJ Maxx where I picked up exactly what I needed for $12.99+tax. Also got a nice pair of shorts while I was there.

I guess I'll go back and get a nice T shirt or something later this year. Or...I do need a new travel umbrella. Maybe I'll look for that Tumi.

chicago747

Kind of a weird glitch. I signed up for the Saks credit last week (5/29) and the day I signed up I spent $16.67 to order lunch and $7.09 at 7-11. Those were my only transactions that day. Today I have two Shop Saks with Platinum Credits for those exact amounts. Anyone else have the Saks credits applied to random charges?

kmgrossman

Just tried to enroll in Saks offer after logging into Amex Platinum account and it says "currently unavailable" - anyone know anything about that?

acarney

Exactly, Uber probably does kick in a decent amount of that credit. I'm fine with that, Amex can market the hell out of me and offer me partnerships and deals and everything. I LOVE the Amex offers and often will pick which hotel to stay at (SPG, Marriott, Hilton) depending on which offer (if any) is showing up. I'm not terribly brand loyal in that sense and instead value location and price more, especially since I don't travel enough to earn my own status and thus need the Amex for that. That's where I feel this Uber benefit and Saks should be. What I'm not a huge fan of is Amex increasing the fee I pay them and then saying "BUT LOOK! We introduced a $200 Uber credit and our fee only went up $100! That's more value for you!" To change this from a "we kinda sorta gave you something" to "we've added another strong perk to our card" would have been simply to add in a ground transportation credit that was up to $200 a year and worked for Uber, Lyft, private town car, rental car, etc. That would have been the strongest way to make the card more valued and "bang for your buck". Going down to a $200 travel credit with Uber would have been a compromise with Amex telling me who I can use the credit with but still would have appeared to be strong value because I could use it on a single vacation or something. But the few bucks every month really feels like a selling our data out to Uber and then handing us some discounts to make it seem like a deal.

If this had taken place without the AF bump it might not really feel like anything to be annoyed about.... that's really all I'm trying to get at.

JHake10

While I wouldn't normally buy a $50 umbrella, I figure with the credit covering it why not! I also used the AMEX shop runner benefit to get free 2 day shipping.

acarney

Beats me, I had the same issue though. Used the chat feature and in about 10 minutes the agent was able to add it to my account. It triggered the auto email from Amex which confirmed I was enrolled in it, so I think I'm good to go...

gooselee

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Part of me wants to find something more worthwhile to buy (I can easily get a $5 umbrella elsewhere and not care about it), but I don't think this is the store in which to do that.

DrForce

Is it worth waiting until black Friday to use this credit? How were sales at Saks last black Friday?

lax01

So do we think AMEX is going to reverse the credits for non-Saks spending? Got my $50 credited back....without spend at Saks

CarefulBuilder14

Got an erroneous Saks credit on July 2 for June 29 spend at BevMo (CA/AZ liquor store).

Magna

The AmEx Neiman Marcus InCircle link works, but I don't think we get the benefit anymore. Neiman Marcus is not listed in the Benefits tab of our AmEx online account and on Neiman Marcus's website, it says we need to apply for their credit card in order to sign up to be an InCircle member. It seems like in the past you just could sign up to be an InCircle member and then add your Platinum Card for the benefit. So now in order to get the InCircle benefit we need to first apply and be approved for the Neiman Marcus credit card, then add our Platinum Card?? Or only those Platinum cardholders who signed up to be InCircle members in the past get the benefit because they've been "grandfathered" in?