Everything you need to know about American Express purchase protection

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

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.

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.

an unseen person removes a broken vase from its box — EDWIN TAN/GETTY IMAGES

With most Amex cards, you’re covered for up to $1,000 per covered incident and up to $50,000 per year, but the reimbursement 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.

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.

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.

To file a claim, you must provide an original store receipt and, in the event of theft, a copy of a police report. MOMOPRODUCTIONS/GETTY IMAGES

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 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.

a woman repairs electronics while a man talks on the phone — HINTERHAUS PRODUCTIONS/GETTY IMAGES

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.

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.

a parent puts a helmet on a child who is sitting in a child's seat attached to the parent's bicycle — FILADENDRON/GETTY IMAGES

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.

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.