AMEX Dell Credit Guide (Business Platinum $400) + Tips to Save Money at Dell

About the Dell Credit

AMEX Business Platinum added a Dell credit benefit after its refresh. When you use this card at Dell.com or in-store, you can get up to $200 in statement credits per year: $100 from January through June, and the remaining $100 from July through December. Note that this credit does not roll over. If you use up the first-half credit, it’s gone.

• Very important: You must enroll in this benefit before you can use it! Once you enroll, it remains active going forward.

During the pandemic, AMEX also enhanced this benefit by adding an extra $100 in credit in each half of the year. That means you could be reimbursed up to $200 at once in the first half of the year, and the same again in the second half.

The $100 additional Dell Technologies credit is available from:

• May 1st, 2020 to June 31st, 2020
• July 1st, 2020 to December 31st, 2020

However, this extra benefit does not require enrollment; you can simply use your AMEX Business Platinum card. Newly opened cards are also eligible.

Timing and Eligible Purchases

According to AMEX’s terms for the Dell credit, purchases at Dell.com and at physical stores are both eligible. However, it is limited to Dell purchases in the US. If your purchase is shipped outside the US, you will not receive the credit.

Valid only on purchases made on your Business Platinum card directly with Dell Technologies or at dell.com in the US and US territories where Dell Technologies is the merchant of record for the purchase. Not valid on online purchases shipped outside of the US.

Also pay attention to timing: the credit is based on the post date. If the transaction posts in the first half of the year, it counts toward that period’s credit; if it posts in the second half, it counts there. If it slips into next year, it counts for next year instead. This can be especially tricky for certain Dell computers on back order. So don’t wait too long—use the credit as early as possible so it doesn’t go to waste.

The same rule applies to the extra $200 available in 2020.

What Should You Buy?

If you’re not sure what to buy, it’s a good idea to first check Dell’s current promotions.

• Dell deals roundup

Computers

I’ve only bought a few computers from Dell personally, but the value has seemed decent enough. Prices are usually much better during sales like Black Friday and Christmas.

• Dell Laptop Deal

If you’re a fan of Alienware computers, buying through Dell can also make sense. Applying the credit is basically like getting a bit more room to upgrade the specs.

• Dell Alienware Laptops

If Dell computers don’t interest you much, Dell.com still sells plenty of other items.

Game Consoles and Games

Dell also sells quite a few gaming consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch, as well as related games and PC games. These price points can be a particularly good fit for using this credit.

• Game console link
• Game link

New-release games and consoles are often especially good choices because they usually don’t get discounted much.

Accessories

A $100-$200 credit is also great for accessories. You can pick up a keyboard, mouse, and other basics. Dell monitors are fairly solid as well. I also think headphones—especially Bose products that rarely go on sale—can be a good buy.

• Bose headphones and speakers
• Computer accessories link

Gift Cards

I checked Dell’s own gift cards, and they seem to be sold through Cashstar. Be careful: buying those will not trigger the AMEX credit. In addition, the site only sells Xbox gift cards. Based on testing by many readers, those do trigger the credit normally. Personally, I doubt AMEX would claw back this kind of gaming credit purchase.

• Xbox Credit purchase link

One small tip: if you load the Xbox gift card into your Microsoft account, you can actually use it to buy computers and other devices, such as a Surface Pro.

If you can’t use it yourself, you can also sell it on a secondhand gift card marketplace such as Raise. Prices were fairly good at the time (according to readers, Raise seemed to stop allowing Xbox listings, though it’s unclear whether that will return later).

Purchase Tips

First, the most important thing bears repeating three times:

• Remember to enroll in the Dell credit
• Remember to enroll in the Dell credit
• Remember to enroll in the Dell credit

Split Tender

Dell’s checkout page allows payment with multiple cards. It supports up to 3 cards. If you have multiple AMEX Business Platinum cards, or if someone else wants to join in on the purchase, split payment is the easiest method. You can customize exactly how much is charged to each card, which is very convenient.

Check Out with the AMEX Business Gold

The AMEX Business Gold card earns 4x at Dell, including Dell official products purchased on eBay via PayPal. The bonus points only apply to the first $15,000 in purchases each calendar year, which most people won’t hit anyway. For any amount beyond that, you can split the payment and put part of it on the Biz Gold.

Shopping Portals

Dell is usually pretty generous with portal rewards. Rakuten is often the highest, and during promotions it can even go as high as 15%; right now it is 10%. If you prefer the MR version, you can earn 10x MR instead, which is quite strong.

• Rakuten (formerly Ebates) intro (sign-up bonus: $30)

Dell Rewards

If you’re shopping at Dell, I strongly recommend registering for a Dell Rewards account. You can earn up to 6% back. These rewards are issued after the product ships, expire after a few months, and can be used toward a future purchase.

• Dell Rewards sign-up link

AMEX Offer

AMEX also occasionally releases offers related to purchases at Dell.com, such as 10% back, an extra 1x MR, or $100 back after spending $500. If you have a similar offer, I strongly recommend adding it to the Business Platinum first, since you can usually only add it once. Also note that the amount discounted by the AMEX Offer does not count toward the Dell credit. In other words, AMEX looks at how much you paid after the offer, and then determines how much of that is eligible for reimbursement.

Discounted Dell Gift Cards

Raise used to have quite a few discounted Dell gift cards for sale, but they now appear to be OOS.

Summary

Personally, I think it still makes a lot of sense to apply for the Business Platinum card right now. The welcome bonus is solid, and the various credits can offset the annual fee (if you only keep the card for one year, you can even come out ahead).

• $400 Dell credit
• $200 airline incidental credit
• $160 streaming credit
• $160 shipping credit