Amex Platinum Mercedes-Benz cardholders get $100 MB gift certificate which can be used to buy various accessories like mugs, umbrellas, notebooks, wallets, and more.
Background
Many of us are proud new Amex Platinum cardholders, specifically Platinum Mercedes-Benz cardholders, due to the (still ongoing!) 75,000 Membership Rewards points signup bonus.
Aside from the regular Platinum benefits that come with all Amex Platinum cards ($200 airline reimbursement, etc.), this MB version comes with various benefits for Mercedes-Benz users.
- 5x Membership Rewards points on select Mercedes purchases
- Receive a $1000 certificate each year you charge $5,000 in purchases, good toward the future purchase or lease of a new Mercedes-Benz
- Up to 2,000 excess miles waived at lease-end on leases through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
- $100 certificate at renewal of your Card account, good toward Genuine Mercedes-Benz Accessories
$100 MB Gift Certificate
Most of these benefits don’t help those who don’t have a Mercedes car, but Therewardboss and Mommypoints point out that the $100 MB gift certificate can be used to buy regular trinkets that all of us can use.
- Umbrella $25
- Different kinds of mugs, tumblers, and bottles
- T-shirts, polo shirts, golf shirts
- Leather notebooks
- Leather wallets, purse
- Men’s/Women’s Sports Watch $125/$198
- Nike Golf Balls $35
- Key rings, keychains $12-17
- Visor $15
- Cap $19
- Pen $15
- Thermometer (for outdoors) $19
- Teddy bear
- Sweater for $110
- Camping chairs
- Gum-ball machine
- Sun glasses $65
- Toy remote control car $98
- Clock
- Flashlight
All of the stuff come branded with the MB emblem. And some readers report in the comments here that they were able to have the Mercedes store order for them any accessory on the Mercedes website. If your dealer agrees to do that for you, it expands you options.
Let us know if you see anything else and we’ll add it to the list.
Image from Therewardboss.com
The $100 certificate comes automatically when you signup for the card initially (should come within a few weeks of signup), and again each year at your card anniversary. Many of us will cancel the card at year’s end and won’t get the second certificate which comes at renewal.
It should be possible, however, to wait for the certificate to come in the mail before cancelling the Platinum card. Amex will refund the annual fee if you cancel within 30 days of statement close (the statement that shows the annual fee). I imagine you can still use the certificate after cancelling the Amex MB card, but we don’t know that for certain.
Final Thoughts
We mentioned this $100 certificate in passing in the original post but I thought it was worth dwelling on it more since most people probably didn’t take notice.
The 75k Platinum bonus is a pretty good deal and I personally just signed up for it last week too. Nice to be able to add a bit of value to the card with the $100 MB certificate, and I’ll probably end up using it to buy a few umbrellas so that I can have the luxury of losing them. 🙂 We’ll see…
Remember, though, that after September 1, 2016, it will no longer be possible to get the annual fee prorated in mid-year so you’re committing to the $475 annual fee by applying for this card.
Hat tip again to Therewardboss
