One of my favorite holiday shopping traditions was the old American Express Wishlist. Anyone remember it?
Well, it’s back… sort of… in a new, and different form: the American Express Gift Chain.
The gift chain is giving statement credits, gift cards, rewards points, shoprunner memberships, and more ranging from $2 to $500. Some of the gifts, although I’m not clear which ones, can be shared with 3 friends on Facebook.
Time to check out another online shopping incentive to add to our holiday stash of Free Money!
How to Join the Gift Chain
- Register your American Express Card at American Express Gift Chain.
- Use your American Express card for $25 at a participating store by December 21, 2011.
- Get a suprise gift (with instructions via email 24 hours after purchase posts) and share it with 3 people if eligible.
- Repeat 10 times.
Gift Chain Terms and Conditions
- Must be a Cardmember prior to 11/27/11 to participate.
- Limit of one (1) registration per person/Eligible Card.
- Limit 10 gifts per Cardmember while supplies last.
- Open to the first 250,000 registrations received.
- Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Corporate and Prepaid Cards including American Express Gift Cards and SERVE Cards are not eligible.
More on American Express Gift Chain
Stacking your Purchases. You should be able to stack your gift chain purchases with online shopping cash back to maximize your rewards.
The Gifts. There is a ridiculously long list of the possible gifts in the official rules. Obviously, the gift cards and statement credits are the most appealing, but the shoprunner membership (which provides 2 day free shipping), would come in handy during the holiday season too.
Enter Without Purchases. You don’t have to buy anything to get a gift. You can also register and then hand write your name, address, phone number, email address and name of a participating merchant and mail it to:
“AMEX Holiday Gift Chain – Free To Participate Requestâ€
P.O. BOX 4900, Fenton, MO 63099
Participating Stores. The Gift Chain is for the following stores: AE.com, BedBathandBeyond.com, BlueNile.com, Dell.com, Gamestop.com, JCrew.com, Lenovo.com, NeimanMarcus.com, Nike.com, PotteryBarn.com, REI.com, RueLaLa.com, ToysRUs.com, Venteprivee.com, Walmart.com, YoYo.com, and Zappos.com. Each store has their own allotment of gifts.
American Express Cards. It’s too late to get an American Express card if you don’t already have one for this year. However, American Express often repeats their promotions annually, so if you need to pick one up to have on hand for next year, here are my favorites:
Did I read that right? You get a $25 AmEx credit at each of these stores, so if you take full advantage of this you can get $250 in AmEx credits?
Scratch that, I just realized I read it wrong. It’s not a $25 credit, you have to spend at least $25 to qualify.
Thanks. I’ve so far scored a free ShopRunner membership, a small statement credit and a $20 gift card.