Guide to Amex Return Protection: Get 90 days to return an item, regardless of the retailer’s return policy

December 11, 2024: Amex Return Protection can provide a refund on eligible items you purchase with your card that a retailer won’t take back within 90 days.

Return protection can be a great help if you purchase something from a retailer with a less-generous return policy. In most cases when a retailer won’t take an item back for a refund, you can submit a claim through American Express and be reimbursed for the cost of the item.

Here’s what you need to know about the return protection benefit offered from American Express.

What is Amex return protection?

Amex Return Protection is a credit card benefit that can provide a refund if you try to return an eligible item to a retailer and they won’t take it back. This benefit applies to new, unused items and covers up to $300 per item and $1,000 per eligible card, per year, for returns within 90 days.

Cards that offer Amex return protection

Here are the currently available Amex cards that offer a return protection benefit.

• All variants of the Platinum Card® and Centurion® Card
  • The Platinum Card® from American Express
  • Business Platinum Card®
  • The Platinum Card® from American Express for Morgan Stanley
  • The American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab
  • The Platinum Card® from American Express for Goldman Sachs
  • Centurion® Card from American Express
  • Business Centurion® Card from American Express
• Blue Cash Preferred® from American Express
• Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred® American Express Card
• Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Credit Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve for Business Credit Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
• Amazon Business American Express Card
• Amazon Business Prime American Express Card
• American Express® Senior Gold Card
• The Plum Card®
• Zync from American Express®

Amex return protection at a glance

What does Amex return protection cover?

American Express return protection provides you a guaranteed 90 day return option on the items you purchase. If a merchant won’t take it back, Amex may refund your purchase price up to $300 per item and up to a maximum of $1,000 per covered card, per calendar year.

Purchases must be made within the United States, plus its territories and freely-associated states. (See the complete list below.)

Exclusions and limitations

Amex limits the amount you can claim each year with return protection. Here are the most important limits.

• $300 per item limit. Note that this limit is per item, not per claim. A claim can contain multiple items.
• $1,000 per card member account per cardmember year. If you have multiple Amex cards with the benefit, you may submit up to $1,000 of claims per card.
• Claim excludes shipping and handling charges. While you won’t get coverage for return shipping, a restocking fee may be covered by the benefit.
• Item must be in original purchase condition. If your item is used, defective, or damaged in any way, it won’t be eligible for return protection. (Damaged may be eligible for Amex purchase protection coverage.)

Note that time limits are based on the date of purchase rather than the year in which the claim was filed. This will be relevant for most people with end-of-year holiday purchases. If you purchase an item during the after-Thanksgiving shopping season in 2024, but make a return protection claim in January of 2025, the per-year limits for 2024 will apply to your claim.

Your purchase must be made in the U.S., its territories, or freely-associated states.

Return protection only covers purchases made in the United States, its territories, and its freely-associated states. Here’s the list where your purchases are covered.

• 50 United States of America
• The District of Columbia
• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• American Samoa
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Marshall Islands
• Palau
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands

Any purchases made outside of these areas will not be eligible for return protection.

Types of items excluded from coverage

Amex excludes several types of items from coverage. Most of these make sense intuitively—Amex won’t provide coverage for live animals, consumables, items with significant speculative value, cash-like items, or services. Here’s the list of exclusions you’ll find in Amex’s return protection benefit terms:

• Animals and living plants
• One-of-a-kind items (including, but not limited to, antiques, artwork, and furs)
• Limited edition items
• Going-out-of-business sale items
• Consumable or perishable items with limited life spans (including, but not limited to, food, perfume, light bulbs, and batteries)
• Jewelry (including, but not limited to, loose gems, precious stones, metals, and pearls)
• Watches
• Services and additional costs (including, but not limited to, installation charges, warranties, shipping, handling or memberships)
• Rare and precious coins
• Purchased used and/or altered items (including, but not limited to, purchases at auction sites and second- hand stores)
• Custom-built items
• Compact discs, digital video discs, mini discs, audiotapes, videotapes
• Computer software
• Firmware (including, but not limited to, console games, etc.)
• Maps
• Books, magazines or periodicals of any kind
• Health care items and /or medical equipment (including, but not limited to, blood pressure machines and diabetes equipment, items or supplies used for maternity care)
• Personal hygiene items (including, but not limited to, all electrical or non-electrical toothbrushes, razors, or any devices (medical or non-medical) that have been personally used and could be considered a health risk to others)
• Formal wear (including, but not limited to, bridal wear, gowns, prom dresses, and tuxedos)
• Tickets of any kind (including, but not limited to, transportation passes or tickets and event tickets)
• Motorized vehicles (including, but not limited to, cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and airplanes), their parts and accessories (e.g. car battery) as well as those parts and accessories intended for use with the motorized vehicles (e.g. a trailer or audio or visual components)
• Land, buildings and fixtures (including but not limited to, central air conditioner, built-in kitchen appliance and water heater)
• Firearms
• Ammunition
• Negotiable instruments (including, but not limited to, promissory notes, stamps, and travelers checks)
• Cash and its equivalent (including, but not limited to, gift cards and gift certificates)
• Items permanently affixed to home, office, vehicles, etc. (including, but not limited to, garage door openers and car alarms)
• Seasonal items (including but not limited to holiday decorations and costumes)

How to be covered by Amex return protection

Amex return protection covers you if you charge an eligible item to your American Express card that carries the return protection benefit. To be eligible for return protection, you must charge the entire item to your card.

How to file a return protection claim

To file a return protection claim, you must first attempt to return the item to the merchant. Once you’ve attempted to return your item, you can file a claim either online or by phone. The easiest way to file a claim is through the Amex online claim center.

Here are the ways you can file a claim:

• Amex online claim center: https://americanexpress.com/onlineclaim
• By telephone: 1-800-228-6855

When using the online claim center link above, log into your Amex account online before clicking the link to be taken the online claim center. (If you are not logged in, you’ll be taken to your account overview after logging in.)

Once you’re in the online claim center, click on “File a Claim” to start your claim. You’ll be walked through the process of submitting your claim, including selecting your eligible card and entering information about your items. Before submitting your claim, it can be helpful to have the following items available:

• The itemized receipt from your purchase. You’ll be asked for the name of the item, information about what kind of item it is, model number, and merchant. This information is usually on your receipt or purchase confirmation email.
• The item you want to return. If your item has a model number or serial number, you’ll be asked to provide these during the claim submission. These usually aren’t provided on your receipt. You will be required to provide the manufacturer of your item. This is usually listed on the item packaging.

The entire claim submission process takes 5-10 minutes if you are submitting a claim for one item and slightly longer if you are submitting a claim for multiple items.

What happens after you submit a claim?

Some claims will be approved automatically and you’ll get an email a notification within a day or two that you’ll receive payment on your claim without having to provide any additional information.

Most claims will require additional information. In our experience, here’s what you’ll commonly be asked to provide:

• A filled out claim form. Amex will email you a claim form to complete.
• A copy of the original purchase receipt. The purchase receipt must be the itemized receipt showing the item purchased and amount you paid.
• A copy of the merchant’s return policy. You can usually print this off from the merchant’s website. This can sometimes be found printed on your receipt.
• Photos of them items. Amex may require you to take photos of the items you’re claiming from various angles to verify the condition of the items.

You’ll be able to either upload these documents to Amex’s online claim website or your can submit them by mail with the claim form.

American Express may also require you to send the item back to them before providing payment. If that is the case, Amex will provide you with instructions for shipping them item back. If you are required to send an item to Amex, Amex will reimburse you for shipping costs.

Once Amex has substantiated your claim, you’ll receive notification of the outcome of your claim. In our experience, payment by statement credit happens a few days after the notification is received.

How does Amex return protection compare?

Generally, American Express return protection offers coverage that is above average when compared to other cards. Here are a few ways Amex Return Protection compares to benefits offered by other issuers.

• Amex Return Protection will pay for your to ship your item to them if they request it. Most policies don’t.
• American Express has a reputation for an efficient claims process—submitting a return protection claim with Amex is likely to be easier than with other issuers.
• Amex Return Protection’s $300 per item limit is lower than some other cards. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card offers a $500 per-item limit.
• Most cards carrying Amex Return Protection have an annual fee. Other issuers offer more cards with no annual fee with a return protection benefit.

Our experiences with Amex return protection

I am a big fan of Amex Return Protection—and I’ve gotten plenty of value out of the few cards I hold with the benefit. Here are a few ways that I’ve used return protection in the past:

Clothing. Shopping for clothing as a tall person sucks. The vast majority of retail stores simply don’t carry sizes that fit me in-store, so I’m forced to buy online. I’d strongly prefer to be able to go into a store and try something on before I buy it. Unfortunately, that’s simply not an option.

Of course, when you buy something like clothing sight-unseen, a lot of the time it’s going to work out. Many retailers are great about this with 90-day, no-questions-asked return polices. But some of the places I shop most often for clothes have return policies that are stingy. Worse, the best sales on clothing frequently are offered with a “no returns” or “final sale” policy.

Items that later go on sale. Retailers are always discounting items. When you purchase an item at Best Buy only to find out three weeks later that it’s $100 cheaper elsewhere, that can be frustrating, especially paired with Best Buy’s 15-day return policy on most items. If the return policy allowed, I would have returned the item and rebought it elsewhere for the substantial discount.

Stupid purchases. This year, I bought a few of Anker’s “mystery boxes.” In theory, these can be a great deal for everyone involved—you get a product that they’re selling for at least as much as you pay for the mystery box, but they may ship you something much more valuable. In reality, this was an impulse purchase that I really didn’t need. And it’s non-returnable. Fortunately, Amex Return Protection had my back.

Overall, I think that return protection is an underrated benefit that protects me against retailers’ stingy return policies. Because of the way I have to buy clothing, I’ve gotten a lot of value out of the benefit, but it has also come in useful when I unwisely let my consumer impulses get the better of me.

Where to find the Amex Return Protection terms and conditions

American Express publishes the terms and conditions of its Return Protection benefit for all of its cards. You can find the terms and conditions at the following link:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/features-benefits/policies/return-protection-terms.html

Amex return protection summarized

American Express return protection protects your purchases for 90 days for eligible items you purchase using your Amex card that offers this benefit. If a merchant you purchased an item from won’t take the item back, Amex return protection can provide a refund for the purchase price, up to $300 per item and $1,000 per card, per calendar year.

Frequently asked questions