I just realized that I am not using all of my credit card benefits 😩 —and I’m supposed to be a pro at this.  There are some credit card benefits you might be missing out on, too. There are so many credit card benefits – here are the ones I use routinely:

• Annual night certificates on co-branded hotel cards
• Free baggage, priority boarding on co-branded airline cards
• Travel protection
• Cell-phone protection
• Uber rides or Uber Eats on AMEX Gold and Platinum Cards
• Hotel or resort credits on some cards
• Dining credits on Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Cards
• Almost all my benefits on my AMEX Platinum Card
• Airline incidental credits
• Global Entry credit
• CLEAR credit
• Airport lounge access (of course!)

But I recently realized I had forgot about the following benefits 🤦‍♀️.

 

IHG Card Benefits

These are the benefits that I realized I am not using. The personal and business card gives a $50 United TravelBank credit each year. This is given every 6 months, and you must enroll for that benefit. Now, I use this credit from my AMEX Platinum cards (personal and business) as my airline incidental credit. Getting a $50 credit each year for my husband and myself is easy, but I’ve never enrolled. In fact, he has the personal and business card, so that is $100/year that I have not been taking advantage of for him and $50/year for me. 

Both cards also offer a 20% points purchase discount. I have occasionally purchased IHG points because it makes sense, but I have NEVER purchased them with these cards and taken advantage of the discount. 

 

 

Grub Hub Benefits

Until recently, I was not using my Grub Hub benefits on my American Express Gold Business Card ($20/mo) and American Express Gold Card ($10/mo). It is so easy to get a free lunch by doing a pickup order when I run errands and using these cards. 

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit

I have NEVER used my $50 hotel credit on my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for me or my husband. To be honest, I usually stay at Hyatt hotels to keep my Globalist status. I don’t remember when the last time was that I didn’t stay at a hotel with points or pay to stay at a cheap Hyatt hotel for elite night credits. This could be a benefit that you forget to use, too. Hopefully, if and when I have to stay at a hotel without using points, I’ll remember to book a hotel in the Chase portal and use this credit.

 

American Express Platinum Card Rental Car Status

This is another benefit I have missed. The American Express Platinum Card gives you discounts/status with Avis, National, and Hertz. These benefits include upgrades, accelerated credits toward free rentals, and the ability to skip the lines when picking up your car. You have to enroll with each rental car company and link your card to get these benefits, and I just haven’t taken the time to do that yet—say what? I plan to remedy this ASAP.

 

 

 Concierge Services with Several Cards

This is another benefit I’ve never taken advantage of. Several credit cards offer concierge services that will help you do the following:

• Make reservations in a foreign country (this would be great when you don’t speak the language)
• How to leave an airport and explore the city on a long layover
• Access to events (like Broadway plays)
• Flower and gift deliveries
• Help find lost articles
• A myriad of other random services

Credit cards that offer a concierge service include:

• American Express Platinum Card
• American Express Platinum Business Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Card

 

 

Merchant Offers

I’ve always been good about checking for my American Express offers but not good about checking what merchant offers that Chase or Capital One offer. How about you? Are these credit card benefits you might be missing out on, too? Here are Chase offers that I found today:

 

 

Bottom Line

Tracking all the credit card benefits you could be using takes time. However, it may be worth periodically reviewing each card, listing the benefits, and deciding which ones would be worth implementing. Benefits decrease the cost of our annual fees, and while I normally use most of the main benefits on each card, I know there are others I could start using. Let us know if you find credit card benefits you might be missing out on!

 

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