Ad Blocker Detected
Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
CNN Underscored reviews financial products such as credit cards and bank accounts based on their overall value, but does not review all financial companies or all available financial offers. We may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com, and this compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Looking for more holiday deals? Visit our Guide to Cyber Week to see all the best sales to shop before — and during — Black Friday.
Black Friday is almost here, and while the deals will be flying, there are ways to save even more on your Amazon purchases by using the right credit card. In fact, there are discounts available just by using as little as one point or one cent in cash back from your American Express, Chase, Citi or Discover credit card. So if you want to get the most out of Black Friday while you’re shopping at Amazon, check out our six tips on how to get the absolute best deal during this major holiday sales event.
If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points, you may be in luck. Amazon is offering multiple promotions for as much as 50% off your purchases, up to a $60 savings. Other Amex card members are getting 15% off for up to $15 in savings. Both offers expire Dec. 31.
Keep in mind these are targeted offers, so you’ll need to check your account to see if you’re eligible — read our guide about scoring Amazon discounts with American Express cards to learn how.
If you’re targeted, you’ll need to pay for at least a portion of your purchase with American Express points to get the discount, but you can use as little as one point and then pay for the rest with your credit card. While you can use Amex points to cover the entire purchase, we don’t recommend it because 1 Amex point only equals 0.7 cents at Amazon, and you can get a lot more value for Amex points when you redeem them for travel.
American Express
You only need to use 1 Amex point to trigger these discounts, so you can save your points for better travel redemptions.
On all of the offers, you can have any amount in your cart and can even apply the offer across multiple shopping trips until you reach the maximum savings. The one caveat is that only items sold and shipped from Amazon are eligible for the discount.
See if you’re targeted for a discount at Amazon by using your American Express points.
If you have an American Express card, you’re automatically eligible for money-saving Amex Offers. New offers are added daily that can save you significant money at many popular merchants or, in some cases, earn you bonus points.
Right now, there’s an Amex Offer that can score you extra points for making Amazon purchases. With this offer, you’ll earn 5 Membership Rewards points for every dollar you spend at Amazon, up to 2,500 bonus points. This offer is valid through Dec. 26, 2021.
If you don’t see any of the above offers on your card, make sure to check all of your American Express credit cards, as each card displays different offers, and if you find the offer, make sure you click “Add to card” on it before you start your Amazon shopping. However, once you add an offer to one card, that same offer will disappear from any other cards in your account, so make sure to add it to the specific credit card you intend to use for your Amazon purchases.
American Express
If you have an Amex Offer for Amazon purchases like this one, make sure you add it to the Amex card you want to use during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Only a maximum of 100 Amex Offers will show up at any given time, so if your account is showing 100, you’ll need to click “Add to card” on some of them even if you aren’t interested in order to get others to appear. It doesn’t cost anything to add offers to your card and there’s no limit on the number of offers you can accept, so once you add several offers, log out of your account and back in to see if any new offers pop up.
If you have a Chase credit card that earns Ultimate Rewards points — such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Freedom Unlimited® — you might be able to get 15% off your Amazon purchases, up to $15 in total savings. Again, this is a targeted promotion, so check out our guide to using Chase points for discounts at Amazon to see if you’re eligible.
Just like the American Express promotion, if you’re targeted for one of these Chase offers, you only need to apply 1 Chase point toward your purchase to get the discount and can pay for the rest of it with your Chase card.
While you can use points to pay for the entire purchase, you’ll get the most value for your Chase points by redeeming them for travel opportunities, so we don’t recommend utilizing your points at Amazon beyond what you need to use to get the discount.
Again, this discount only applies to items sold and shipped by Amazon, and it’s valid only on purchases made at Amazon through Dec. 31, 2021.
Check if you’re eligible to save 50% off at Amazon with your Chase credit card.
Similar to Chase and American Express, Discover is also part of Amazon’s “Shop with Points” program, and right now targeted card holders can also get up to a 40% discount at Amazon for up to $40 in savings by using Discover cash back to pay for part or all of your Amazon purchases.
There are at least five different variations of this targeted promotion, including the following:
- Get 40% off, up to $40 off
- Get 30% off, up to $30 off
- $30 off a $150 purchase
- $10 off a $50 purchase
- $10 off a $100 purchase
Like the Amex and Chase offers, you’ll need to add your Discover card to your Amazon account and then check to see if you’re targeted. Follow the instructions in our guide to saving money at Amazon with Discover cards to go through the steps, and if you’re targeted, make sure you use the offer before it expires on Dec. 31.
iStock
Use cash back from your Discover credit card to get a discount on your Amazon Prime Day purchases.
If you’re targeted for one of the Discover offers, all you have to do is apply at least one cent in Discover cash back to your purchase, and you’ll be able to reap the savings. However, unlike the Amex and Chase programs, $1 in Discover cash back equals $1 at Amazon, which is the same value you get when redeeming Discover cash back in other ways. So you can pay for your entire purchase with cash back if you’d like and still get maximum value for your Discover rewards.
As with the other promotions, only products sold and shipped directly by Amazon are eligible for the discount, and you must link your card and register for the promotion in advance.
Check if you’re eligible to save up to $40 at Amazon with your Discover credit card.
Those with a Citi ThankYou credit card can also get 50% off their Amazon purchases, up to $15 in savings when they pay for a portion of their purchase with ThankYou points. This promotion expires Dec. 31, 2021, which makes it the perfect opportunity to save even more on your holiday purchases.
Similar to the other promotions, you’ll need to use just 1 Citi ThankYou point toward your Amazon purchase, and you’ll want to steer away from using much more than that, since you can get more value from your ThankYou points when you use them for travel.
Again, this is a targeted offer, so you’ll need to check your account to see if you’re eligible. But if you are, even if you don’t have anything to purchase right now at Amazon, you can buy a gift card for yourself using the Citi discount — or any of the credit card discounts on our list — and bank the savings for later.
See if you’re eligible to save 50% at Amazon with your Citi credit card.
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card holders get special treatment throughout Black Friday, and unlike the other offers on this list, you don’t need to worry about being targeted for a specific offer. Just being an Amazon Prime Rewards card holder will trigger extra savings on certain items.
For example, Amazon Prime Rewards cards earn up to 25% back on select products during the holidays, while other products are showing a 10% savings, such as 10% back on select toys. Amazon has already released its entire list of savings, so this should be a great way to earn extra rewards when you’re making your Black Friday purchases.
Finally, remember that the Amazon Prime Rewards card holders always earn 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods market all year round if you’re looking for a credit card to use year-round at Amazon. And if that’s the case, make sure to check out our guide to the best credit cards to use at Amazon for our other top picks.
Earn up to 25% back in rewards on many Amazon purchases.
Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as its best credit cards of 2021.
Get all the latest personal finance deals, news and advice at CNN Underscored Money.
