Chase and Hyatt Take Away A Benefit

This week, I came home to a letter from Chase notifying me that of changes to my Hyatt credit card. I kinda freaked out. Are they taking away the Platinum Status? Anniversary Free Night? I opened the envelope with my fingers cross.

The change is to a benefit that I didn't know I had, ID Theft Protection.

Losing this benefit is no big deal. It should be a reminder that your credit card offer a variety of different secondary benefits. From car rental insurance to purchase protection and free movie tickets, secondary benefits provided by credit cards can save you money. The one catch to saving money through these benefits is knowing that these benefits exist.

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Secondary Benefit of American Express Card: Return Protection

Credit cards have three levels of benefits: initial, primary, and secondary. Most of the time, we only focus on the initial and primary benefits of credit cards.

Initial Benefits: Sign-up bonuses in the form of points, miles, free flights, and nights

Primary Benefits: Miles/Points per $1 spent, threshold bonus (spend $20,000 in a year and earn X)

As one can see, the initial and primary benefits tend to be the ones that get the fancy promotions, the mention by fellow bloggers, and big bold print when the credit card. What gets lost is that many credit cards off valuable secondary benefits.

Secondary Benefits: Rental Car Protection, Travel Insurance, Lost Luggage and Roadside Assistance

Yesterday, I learned that American Express has a great secondary benefit that I might use: Return Protection. As detailed here, American Express will reimburse one up to $300 for any item that a merchant will not accept back up to $1,000 annually. Here are the caveats of the program:

1) Must have made the original purchase with an American Express card

2) Purchase must have been made within the past 90 days

3) Card member must maintain permanent residence in the United States

4) The item trying to be return can't be: animals and living plants; one-of-a-kind items; limited 
     edition items; going-out-of-business sale items; consumable or perishable items with 
     llimited life spans; jewelry; watches; services and additional costs; rare and precious coins; 
     used, altered, rebuilt and refurbished items; custom-built items, cellular phones; pagers; 
     compact discs; digital video discs; mini discs; audiotapes; videotapes; computer 
     software; firmware (such as console games, Nintendo, etc.); maps; books of any kind; 
     health care items; formal wear; tickets of any kind; motorized vehicles and their parts; 
     land and buildings; firearms; ammunition; negotiable instruments (such as promissory notes, 
     stamps and travelers checks); cash and its equivalent; and items permanently affixed to home, 
     office, vehicles, etc.

5) Must return the item to American Express 

This secondary benefit could be very helpful for stores with only 30 and 60 day return policies. I forget to return items often. I tend to buy a lot and return 80% of it. However, sometimes I get burned by 30 and 60 day return policies, because I forgot that I purchased something. Return protection can save me money and may justify a credit card's annual fee.

One question about this benefit, where does all the returned merchandise go? Is there an American Express Return store somewhere?
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E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com