Credit Cards Deals

Just Barely Squeezing By With An Amex Offer – And Not With The Expiration Date

Amex Offers
Written by Charlie

An Amex Offer can be a great way to save or make money but this particular offer I just barely squeezed by in getting it to kick in!

Amex Offers are an incredible way to save money (and make money) and it is a topic that is quite popular here on Running with Miles and on other blogs. While many of the good offers can be used online or in-store, there are some offers that have to be used in-store (or it is a better deal in-store).

On a recent, short trip to the US, I knew I had to make the most of the abundance of cards in my pocket with expiring Amex Offers. One of the ones I was really looking forward to using was the ExxonMobil offer for $10 back on $30 in spending. Even though I am driving a diesel in Greece, fuel prices still top $4.50 a gallon for me so the prospect of getting some really cheap fuel was exciting to me!

Just Barely Squeezing By With An Amex Offer

Amex Offer

I just barely eked out my Amex Offer at an Exxon station! | from ExxonMobil

Our family was driving from NY to Washington, DC in a rental and I was keeping my eyes out for an Exxon or Mobil station to use the card at. I was also keeping an eye on the gas gauge that was quickly getting closer to “E” as I drove in the dark hours of the evening. Really, one of the last things I wanted was to run out of gas because I was trying to save $10 on gas! But, up ahead, we saw an Exxon station and I pulled in and pulled out the card that had the Amex Offer saved to it.

Amex Offers

Almost Missing The Offer

After sliding the card and pumping the gas, I began to wonder something – this Ford Flex I was driving had seemed to have a smaller tank that I would have thought and I worried that with the gas prices that I may not even hit $30! I mean, my tank was as close to empty as I dared let it get so I knew that this was my shot but I wondered what I would do if the pump kicked off at $29. Its not like I can just pump gas into the garbage can to hit the $30 mark!

Sure enough, I could hear the tank filling and could tell it was going to be close. I hoped some other car would come so that I could offer to pump a gallon for them but there was not anyone in sight. So, I kept pumping and watching. It kicked off and I kept going to top it off a bit. Finally with a full tank, I got back in the car and left. My total? $30.17 That’s right, I had cleared the Amex Offer amount by a mere 17 cents.

Summary

Which got me thinking – most Amex Offers we see have to do with amounts at stores that are easily hittable through spending. But, this was one offer that really could have been a bit of a problem for people with smaller cars. I wonder, has anyone else ever had a problem hitting the spending requirement for an Amex Offer? If so, what offer was it and what was your solution?

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

6 Comments

  • I went for the station with the car wash and purchased the car wash with the gas. Still, it was just a bit over $30.

  • I had this same issue while renting a Ford Explorer in the DC area. With gas prices so low it’s hard even in SUV’s to hit the $30. The pump stopped at $29.27 so I topped it off so it stopped at $30.01. The car wash idea is a nice idea though for smaller cars.

  • I recently tried to use the $10 off an Uber trip of $20. Usually I take Lyft to BOS because they charge less airport fees. So I took Uber to BOS and the charge rang up at between $19.00 and $19.99 so I just missed the offer by a few cents!

  • I was about $2 short of $30 but I began approaching other customers filling up and found one who agreed to accept the free gas after another customer turned me down! Interestingly, he was willing to give $2 at first when he that was what I wanted from him but wouldn’t accept the free gas! Go figure!

  • I barely missed an offer with Bills Khakis.

    They had a flash sale for 70% off. I ordered around $235 in merchandise, with the offer being spend $200, get $50 back.

    With the company recently being sold, there were some shake ups. I ended up receiving my order, with 1 item not in it. Called and they do not have any stock and just adjusted my total (a few different discussions over at reddit/r/frugalmalefashion), which puts me at $198. Still a good deal for the quality, but not the deal I was hoping for.