With the end of the year in sight, now’s the perfect time to inventory your credit card perks and benefits to ensure you’ve used and maximized as many of them as possible this year.
Some of these benefits are “use it or lose it” at the end of the calendar year, which means you could be leaving free meals, gifts or travel behind since these benefits don’t roll over into next year.
Here’s a list of the key credit card-related tasks to complete before the ball drops at midnight on Dec. 31 and your 2024 calendar-based credits reset for 2024. And for more end-of-year advice, check out our guide to points and miles tasks to complete by the end of the year.
Use your annual statement credits
Among the more valuable credit card benefits available are annual hotel award nights and annual airline incidental/travel credits. The validity of benefits such as free night certificates is typically based on your cardmember year (defined by when you opened the account).
However, some statement credits expire at the end of each calendar year. Here’s a sampling of some of the most popular credits that will expire by the end of the calendar year:
The information for the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite, Citi Prestige, Hilton Aspire, Amex Green, and Ritz-Carlton cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Note that other credit cards with annual statement credits aren’t necessarily tied to the calendar year.
For instance, the validity of the $300 in annual travel credits that come with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is based on your cardmember year. The credit applies automatically to all purchases that code as travel, including everything from airfare and Airbnb stays to car rentals and cab rides.
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However, there is an exception to that general rule. If you opened your Sapphire Reserve before May 2017, then your card’s $300 travel credit is still tied to the calendar year — specifically attached to the date on which your December statement closes (which is likely before Dec. 31). Starting in 2025 the annual travel credit will reset on a specific date for all cardholders.
Similarly, cardholders of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Business annually receive $300 in travel credits per cardmember year. The credit is valid toward purchases made through the Capital One travel portal.
Related: The top credit cards with annual travel credits
Use your semi-annual credits
American Express has a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue that provides Amex Platinum cardmembers with up to $100 in statement credits to spend at the retailer each calendar year — given as one up to $50 statement credit available for purchases between January and June and a second up to $50 credit available between July and December.
The benefit is fairly straightforward, and there’s no minimum spending requirement. However, you need to enroll your card through the Amex website before using this benefit.
Although Saks is known for its high-end goods with prices to match, it offers items for less than $50 and runs frequent sales. Believe it or not, you may be able to use the credit without paying anything out of pocket. If you need inspiration, check out this list of gifts you could buy using the up to $50 credit.
Another Amex card offering semi-annual credits is the Business Platinum Card. Cardmembers can receive up to $200 in statement credits for Dell purchases in each half of the year, providing up to $400 in value throughout the year.
Enrollment is required in advance to use this benefit, then shop as you normally would with Dell and use your Business Platinum to pay for your purchases. This benefit provides statement credits that are applied automatically after qualifying purchases. Terms apply.
The American Express® Gold Card also has its own $100 biannual credit each calendar year for Resy. Cardmembers receive two credits of up to $50, once from January to June and again from July to December, when dining or making an eligible purchase at a U.S. restaurant that accepts Resy reservations and paying with the Amex Gold. Enrollment is required; terms apply.
Meanwhile, the Hilton Aspire also has a biannual $200 Hilton Resorts credit (up to $400 each calendar year). Cardmembers receive $200 to use in January through June and up to $200 again to use between July and December on eligible purchases, including room charges and incidentals when using your card at participating Hilton resorts. Enrollment is required; terms apply.
Related: Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum shopping credits reset soon — why you should use them now
Use your quarterly and monthly credits
Depending on what’s in your wallet, you may have credits available each month or each quarter.
Amex Platinum cardmembers usually get up to $15 in monthly Uber Cash but a supersized $35 in Uber Cash in December (up to $200 each calendar year), so be sure to use these credits on rides or Uber Eats orders.
If you have the American Express Gold Card, you can take advantage of up to $10 in monthly Uber Cash, up to $10 in monthly dining statement credits and up to $7 in monthly Dunkin’ statement credits (up to $120 per calendar year for the Uber Cash benefit, up to $120 each calendar year in dining statement credits and up to $84 each calendar year for Dunkin’ statement credits). You’ll get all of the Amex Gold’s benefits for a $325 annual fee (see rates and fees).
Note that Uber credit is for use in the U.S. and enrollment is required. Add your Amex Platinum or Gold Card to your Uber account and pay with any Amex card to redeem. Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply.
Other credits on the Amex Platinum card include reimbursement for a monthly Walmart+ membership (up to $12.95 each month, up to $155 each calendar year) and monthly digital entertainment statement credits for eligible subscriptions (up to $20 per month, up to $240 each calendar year). The card has a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). Enrollment is required in advance for select benefits; terms apply.
A ride-hailing credit is available for cardmembers of select Delta cobranded cards of an up to $10 monthly statement credit (up to $120 each calendar year) for services including Uber, Lyft, Revel, Curb and Alto. Eligible cards include the personal and business versions of the Delta Amex Platinum and Delta Amex Reserve. Enrollment is required; terms apply.
Meanwhile, those who carry the Business Platinum Card from American Express can receive up to $10 per month in wireless statement credits for U.S. providers and up to $90 per quarter in statement credits for Indeed purchases (up to $120 per calendar year in U.S. wireless provider statement credits and up to $360 per calendar year in Indeed statement credits).
These two benefits provide a combined total of up to $480 in annual credits each calendar year to help offset the card’s $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). Enrollment is required in advance for select benefits; terms apply.
Hilton Aspire cardmembers receive a statement credit of up to $50 per quarter on flight purchases made directly with an airline or through AmexTravel.com (up to $200 each calendar year). Enrollment is required; terms apply.
Two other Hilton cards, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card and The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, both offer a quarterly Hilton hotel credit. The Hilton Surpass offers up to $50 in statement credits each quarter on purchases made directly with a Hilton portfolio property, including bookings and incidental charges, while the Hilton Honors Amex Business offers up to $60 each quarter (up to $200 each calendar year for the Hilton Surpass, up to $240 each calendar year for the Hilton Honors Amex Business). Terms apply.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card cardmembers can enjoy up to $300 in annual credits each calendar year for dining, available in disbursements of up to $25 per month.
Additionally, there are credit cards with quarterly bonus categories that you can activate for bonus earnings. These categories will end on Dec. 31 and change to new categories at the start of next year.
Cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also receive statement credits for DoorDash.
Sapphire Reserve cardholders receive $5 in credits at the beginning of each month which can roll over for a total of $15. Starting Feb. 1, 2025, this benefit will offer $5 off restaurant-only orders for Sapphire Reserve cardholders.
Sapphire Reserve cardholders with an activated DashPass membership receive two credits of up to $10 off each calendar month at checkout on grocery, convenience or other non-restaurant orders, whereas Sapphire Preferred cardholders receive one credit of $10 each month (DoorDash DashPass membership must be activated by Dec. 31, 2027).
Related: Monthly checklist: Credit card perks and benefits you should be using this month
Meet annual spending thresholds for bonuses
Numerous credit cards offer bonuses when you reach spending thresholds in a calendar year.
On the hotel side, a card like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card awards a free night certificate for spending $15,000 on your card within a calendar year.
This same $15,000 annual spending threshold (done in a calendar year) qualifies for a second Category 1-4 free night award on the World of Hyatt Credit Card, in addition to the free night award you’ll receive each cardmember year.
With airlines, you can earn companion fares or companion passes through spending goals, such as on Southwest credit cards or cards like the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card and the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card.
Regardless of the bonus, it’s worth hitting these thresholds if you’re close to meeting the spending threshold.
Related: Credit cards with bonuses for meeting annual spending requirements
Take advantage of expiring limited-time promotions
A slew of promotions ending Dec. 31 are worth taking advantage of if you can. These include targeted offers for extra points, bonus cash back or statement credits through Amex Offers, Bank AmeriDeals, Capital One Offers, Chase Offers and Citi Merchant Offers.
As these are targeted offers, not everyone will receive them. You’ll also need to add the offers to your card before using them to receive the points or credits.
Apply for cards with elevated welcome bonuses
There are several fantastic credit card offers currently available. Many of these offers won’t stick around long, so you’ll want to act sooner rather than later if you’re interested in taking advantage of one or more of these great welcome bonuses.
A great example is the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card: New applicants can earn 165,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months of cardmembership. This offer ends Jan. 8, 2025.
Related: The best limited-time credit card offers to apply for for this month
Bottom line
The end of the year is quickly approaching, so take time now to review the above action items to ensure you maximize all of your credit card benefits.
Travel and shopping credits are practically free money that offset your cards’ annual fees and are extremely easy to use. Taking control of these tasks means you shouldn’t be in the spotlight of our next reader mistake story because you missed out on valuable travel credits or other benefits this year.
Related: This reader nearly lost 750,000 Ultimate Rewards points — reader mistake story
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum, click here.
