The Plenti^® Credit Card from American Express (Discontinued) — Full Review

Great Card If

• You have a Plenti membership
• You will link your membership to several Plenti partners
• You will use the credit card at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants for bonus points

Don’t Get If

• You don’t care about earning Plenti points
• You prefer to redeem credit card points for travel
• You want more redemption options
• You will carry a high balance

Welcome Offer and Earning Points

For a card with no annual fee, The Plenti Credit Card has a pretty decent earning structure. Earn 3 Plenti^® points per $1 spent at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000) and 2 Plenti points per $1 at U.S. restaurants.

Other purchases will get you 1 Plenti point per $1 spent.

The card also comes with a welcome offer (see the table above for details) to get you started on the right foot.

Plenti points can be redeemed toward purchases or as credit toward bills from specific Plenti partner retailers. The full list of 16 partner retailers is below.

Of course, you don’t need to have a credit card to earn Plenti points, but using the credit card is a great way to maximize the amount of Plenti points you earn.

Bottom Line: You can earn Plenti points with or without The Plenti Credit Card from Amex, but using the card enhances your ability to earn points if you shop at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants!

Using the Plenti Program

Plenti is a free loyalty program with a variety of partners all under one “umbrella,” which eliminates the need to keep up with tons of separate loyalty programs.

Each partner determines its own structure for earning and redeeming points. See the chart below for earning ratios.

You can’t get The Plenti Credit Card without being a Plenti member, but it’s easy to sign up when applying for the card.

Visit Plenti online or access the mobile app, available from Google Play and the Apple Store.

Already signed up?

You may have already started the sign-up process with one of the Plenti partners, such as while checking out at a Rite Aid store or online with another retailer. However, you must finish the sign-up process online to get access to all of the rewards.

Once you finish the process, you just have to link your accounts (we will explain this process shortly) and provide your Plenti membership card (or phone number) to get your base points.

This next point is very important: Using The Plenti Credit Card from Amex earns you Plenti points on top of regular membership points. But, you still have to show the Plenti membership card when you shop, even though it may seem like an extra step.

The only exception is Macy’s: once you link your Macy’s credit card to your Plenti account, you don’t need to show your Plenti card at the store again.

Bottom Line: You must show the Plenti membership card even when paying with The Plenti Credit Card from Amex in order to earn both Plenti^® membership and Plenti^® credit card points.

The Plenti Credit Card from Amex Benefits and Perks

The credit card typically comes with an introductory APR; see the card summary table for the current offer.

After that, the APR is set at a variable rate (see card summary table). Whether you want to carry a balance (and pay interest) or pay in full each month is up to you.

Because it is an American Express card, it comes with a variety of travel and shopping benefits such as roadside assistance, purchase protection, and entertainment access.

We will discuss these benefits in the Unique Features section below.

Bottom Line: Pay 0% interest during the first 12 months of owning The Plenti Credit Card.

Drawbacks of the Card

There are a couple of things to consider before choosing The Plenti Credit Card.

The Plenti program’s only travel partners are Alamo, Enterprise, and National. Besides these 3 car rental agencies, there are 2 gas station partners: Exxon and Mobil. But that’s about it for travel except for Expedia.

You can earn Plenti points with Expedia, but only by activating offers. We’ll explain how this works in another section.

There also aren’t many options for redeeming your points, since points can only be used directly with the short list of partners.

Combine With Other Rewards Cards

A great way to maximize the points you earn with The Plenti Credit Card is to use a credit card combination strategy.

Chase Freedom^® earns a whopping 5% on purchases made in bonus categories (up to $1,500 per quarter). You can redeem that cash-back in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

For example, you could use the Chase Freedom card during the quarters that supermarkets and restaurants are bonus categories and earn the 5%.

Once you max out those categories, you can switch back to The Plenti Credit Card from Amex for the 2-3 pts/$1.

Another option is to use the Barclaycard CashForward™ World MasterCard to earn 1.5% for all purchases that would only earn 1 point per $1 with the Plenti^® credit card.

With this card, not only is there no limit to how much you earn at the 1.5% rate, you also receive a 5% cash-back bonus when making a cash rewards redemption!

Because you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Plenti^® points, you may want to combine use of this card with the American Express Gold^® Card.

Not concerned about earning Plenti points at all? Then The Plenti Credit Card from Amex probably isn’t the right card for you. In that case, you might want to try one of the other best American Express cards.

For instance, the Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express doesn’t rotate categories. With it, you earn 3% at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year), 2% at U.S. gas stations, and 1% for everything else in the form of reward dollars good for statement credit.

Bottom Line: Combine cards to get cash-back in non-bonus categories or boost your Membership Rewards account. If you don’t care about accumulating Plenti points, there are other American Express cards available for cash-back.

Best Way To Redeem Amex Points

Redeeming Plenti points is so simple!

Redeem them at checkout with the following retailers once you reach a balance of at least 200 points (even if you earned them from a different retailer):

• AT&T company-owned stores
• Macy’s
• Rite Aid
• Harvey’s
• Participating Exxon and Mobil stations

To redeem, scan your Plenti rewards card or enter your phone number and PIN at checkout. Every 1,000 points equals at least $10 in savings!

You can also redeem Plenti points online at Rite Aid and Macy’s during checkout.

Exxon and Mobil allow a maximum of 2,500 points per redemption.

Best Way To Maximize Amex Points

Here are some tips to help you earn as many points as possible with The Plenti^® Credit Card from Amex and (if applicable) the Plenti^® membership card:

Tip #1: Put all your U.S. supermarket and gas purchases on the card to earn the maximum 2-3 Plenti^® points per $1. (Supermarket purchases earn 3x points up to a maximum of $6,000, then 1 point per $1.)

Tip #2: Remember to scan your membership card at Plenti^® partner retailers even when you pay with the credit card to earn the most points possible.

Some retailers will pull up your membership number with your phone number, but it may be easier to keep your membership on your key ring or stored on your phone in the Plenti^® app.

Tip #3: Get authorized cards for your family members. It’s free and will help you earn Plenti^® points faster. The minimum age to open a Plenti^® account is 13.

Tip #4: Plenti^® is an Amex transfer partner, so you can transfer Membership Rewards points to your Plenti^® account at a 1:1 ratio.

Points must be transferred in increments of 500 (a $5.00 value).

Just a note: Plenti points are only valid for 2 years, but Membership Rewards points never expire. The Membership Rewards program also provides more ways to redeem, so you shouldn’t transfer points if you won’t use them.

Tip #5: Are there any Plenti partners you aren’t utilizing? Link your Plenti account to as many partner programs as possible to get all the points you deserve.

For example, do you watch a lot of television? You may want to sign up for Hulu.

Looking for car insurance? Consider Nationwide.

Tip #6: Start shopping at Rite Aid, even if you don’t fill prescriptions at the store (which can be a terrific way to earn tons of points by the way!).

Rite Aid runs point specials for double points or more for purchasing certain items. Plus, you’ll still get 1 point per $1 for paying with The Plenti Credit Card.

Tip #7: In addition to earning Plenti points based on your AT&T bill, you can earn 50 points per month for each eligible wireless line (6 maximum), 100 points per month for high-speed internet, and 100 points per month for DIRECTV or U-Verse subscriptions.

Tip #8: While earning 1 point per gallon of fuel at Exxon and Mobil is great, don’t forget about the points you can earn for non-fuel purchases. Earn 2 points per dollar for purchases you make inside the convenience stores!

Tip #9: Shop at Macy’s to earn Plenti points! Get 1 pt/$1 when you pay with your Macy’s credit card, although you won’t earn the points possible for using the credit card.

Use another payment method, including the Amex, to earn 1 pt/$10, and 2 pts/$10 spent on beauty and fragrances.

Tip #10: Shop the Plenti Online Marketplace, which provides lots of opportunities to build up your Plenti points balance.

Find hundreds of online retailers to shop with directly from the Online Marketplace site, many with special savings in addition to points offers.

You must follow the Online Marketplace link to the retailer’s site to earn points for your purchases.

It typically takes 3-5 days for points to post to your Plenti account after placing an order. Points will then remain pending for 45 days. Hotel, airline, and other travel purchases may take longer.

Hot Tip: To ensure you receive points for each purchase, make sure not to block cookies from the merchant’s website. Also, keep your browser open when making a purchase until the transaction is completed.

Tip #11: Check out Plenti Offers! There are 2 different types: Activated Offers and Automatic Offers.

Plenti Activated Offers

Plenti offers are available at Plenti.com and in the mobile app. You’ll find them on your account dashboard, so you must be logged in to see them.

Simply activate an offer by clicking the green “Activate Offer” button, and you will be directed to the partner’s website to redeem it online.

Plenti Automatic Offers

Automatic offers are different from activated offers in that you don’t have to opt-in to take advantage of them.

For instance, Rite Aid might advertise an automatic offer to earn extra points by making a specific purchase. Just show your Plenti membership card at the register, and you’ll automatically earn the points if you qualify.

You may also have heard mention of “household offers.” As of January 24, 2017, these will no longer be available.

Car Rental Partners: Alamo, National, Enterprise

Fuel Station Partners: Exxon, Mobil

Other Partners: American Express Membership Rewards, AT&T, Chili’s, Direct Energy, Expedia, Harvey’s, Hulu, Macy’s, Nationwide, Rite Aid