American Express Is Removing 3 Benefits Soon

American Express will soon remove 3 card benefits, though you may not have known they existed in the first place.

At the end of this month, you won’t be able to enroll for ShopRunner perks for free shipping with online purchases. You also won’t be able to redeem your points online with Staples or Newegg, and the American Express Auto Purchasing Program is going away completely.

Let’s look at what you should know about these changes to Amex cards and Membership Rewards points.

3 Amex Benefits Going Away in 2025

After March 31, 2025, you won’t be able to redeem Membership Rewards points to pay for purchases at Newegg.com or Staples.com. While this sounds like a convenient option, it’s not a good use of your points, and the loss won’t be meaningful for most people.

In fact, we consider using your credit points for online shopping to be among the worst ways to use your points.

If you use your Membership Rewards points to pay for purchases with Staples and Newegg, points are worth 0.7 cents apiece at checkout. However, we value Amex points at 2.2 cents each — more than 3 times that number. Clearly, there are far better ways to use these points.

Also after March 31, 2025, cardholders will no longer receive a complimentary ShopRunner membership. ShopRunner is an annual membership service that provides free 2-day shipping and returns for your online purchases from hundreds of retailers.

There’s a silver lining, though: Currently enrolled members will continue to enjoy their complimentary membership “for the remainder of their ShopRunner membership year and 2 years thereafter,” subject to any changes in ShopRunner’s program terms. If you haven’t enrolled for this benefit, you should do so by March 31 to enjoy free 2-day shipping with online purchases for another 2 years. Enrollment closes on March 31, and you can sign up here.

Finally, the American Express Auto Purchasing Program by TrueCar will end on April 28, 2025. After that date, this program will be “decommissioned and no longer available,” and any offers listed on the website will expire.

This program could help you find a deal when purchasing a car — in exchange for paying a small fee. You could also pay at least $2,000 toward the purchase price on your Amex card, allowing you to earn points or cash-back on this portion of the payment.

Final Thoughts

American Express is ending 3 benefits in the next few weeks. We aren’t sad to lose the ability to use points at sub-par value with Staples and Newegg, and the Auto Purchasing Program wasn’t a well-known benefit. However, the complimentary ShopRunner membership is a nice perk.

Luckily, you can still enroll between now and March 31 and then receive the benefits for another 2 years.