Update 4/14/26: Some people have had problems buying gift cards online. It seems to have started on 3/30 or 3/31. I think this is actually a temporary issue affecting purchases from 3/30 – 4/2 (maybe longer?) as recent transactions seem to be unaffected. My theory is that American Express does something terrible on the backend to transactions near the end of a quarter in order to properly code for the correct quarter (eg based on transaction date vs posting date).
Original post:
American Express added $400 in annual Resy credits for their Platinum Consumer Card with a new $100 credit available each calendar quarter (January-March, April-June, July-September, October-December).
You don’t need to book anything online on the Resy booking platform. You do not need a Resy account. Simply: (1) register your card, (2) find a restaurant at Resy.com(3) walk in and dine and (4) load it on your Platinum card.
There’s a similar $100 credit on the AmEx Gold card with $50 available from January to June and another $50 from July to December. And the AmEx Delta Platinum/Reserve cards come with a monthly credit of $10/$20 Resy. The details and tips in this post will apply similarly to those cards.
Using Resy $100 credit
- Sign up: Be sure to sign up for Resy credit before using. Just register the first time when you get the card and that registration lasts forever on that card. You can sign up at this link. (You can use card on the same day as registration.)
- map: Find all Resy restaurants in Resy.com website. Search by city. Here it is a sample link for a New York search. FINDING this map from useyourcredits.com be easier to use (more on this below). There are over 10,000 eligible restaurants in over 1,600 cities to choose from.
- In the US only: Only US restaurants found on the Resy site are eligible.
- You don’t need to book anything online on the Resy booking platform. You do not need a Resy account. Just find a restaurant on Resy.com, walk in and dine, charge it to your Platinum card. (I put this line at the top of the post since it’s the first question everyone asks.)
- Tips/Taxes: All taxes and gratuities are calculated in the fee to get the $100 credit. It’s the final charge on the card that matters.
- Payment: Apple Pay at the restaurant it’s good. Paying for part of the meal with AmEx Platinum and part with another card is fine, e.g. if you spend $250, ask the waiter to charge $100 to your Platinum card and put the rest on another card. Or split the bill between two Platinum cards, if you have one. You can also use the $100 Resy credit with multiple smaller purchases during the quarter, e.g. dine once for $50 and then another time in the same quarter for $50.
- Res Tracker: AmEx has a Resy credit tracker, along with all the other benefit trackers out there. You can find it online or in the AmEx app. You’ll usually see the expense show up in the tracker within a few days of the purchase, and then a few days later the actual statement credit will be posted to your account. Officially, Amex says to give 8 weeks to show credit.
- time: Regardless, it pays to do some online shopping a few days in advance of the end of the quarter if the charge does not end immediately (see below for online purchases with gift cards).
In-store purchases must be good through the last day of the quarter. If the card is charged until the last day of the quarter, the credit for the previous quarter should work even if the fee is settled/reflected only on the next day or next business day.
Note: Occasionally purchases made in the last few hours may experience problems. We also have heard minor delays due to the addition of tips, and therefore, without caution, it may be worth giving a buffer a day for the charge to be finalized, even for in-store purchases.
Gift cards, e-gift cards, shipping
Physical gift cards
Gift cards: The CONDiTiONs exclude gift cards from earning $100 credit. In practice, physical gift cards purchased at Resy restaurants have worked to trigger the $100 credit. This is extremely helpful as you can get credits at the local restaurant and then dine out to your heart’s content without being tied to the quarterly credit schedule.
Electronic cards and delivery orders
Buying a gift card from a restaurant in their online system or ordering food for delivery online is cheating as it depends on how the restaurant codes the purchase. For example, some restaurants direct their e-gift card purchases through Cashstar, which will not work to trigger Resy credit.
The general advice is as follows: If the checkout goes through Toast’s checkout system, then it will likely work to trigger the Resy credit.
Here’s an example with a random restaurant in New York called Canoe Hill:
- First I found the Canoe Hill Restaurant on the Resy.com website.
- Then I went to canoehillny.com and click ‘Buy Gift Cards’. It brings me to the following website: https://order.toasttab.com/egiftcards/canoe-hill. This should work to trigger the Resy credit.
- I also clicked ‘Order Take Out’ and it takes me to the following website: https://order.toasttab.com/online/canoe-hill. This should work to trigger the Resy credit.
To be safe, start with a small e-gift card purchase and see if the credit tracks. Tip: you can top up an old Toast gift card instead of buying a new one. This makes it easier to have all your balances on one card.
Use yourcredits.com: Website Use yourcredits.com is extremely useful for finding suitable restaurants, and more specifically for finding restaurants that should work for purchasing an e-gift card online and receiving credit. It’s always worth double-checking Resy.com directly before using.
With all these things – YMMV. There have been sporadic reports of Toast online gift cards not working to trigger credit. And other types of errors, like being redirected to another branch of the same restaurant that didn’t qualify. Try to double check all the details and possibly make a small purchase first, eg. buy a $25 e-gift card and then top up the rest when you see it work.
$100 Resy Credit Max
- InKind: inKind is a dining program where you buy credit blocks for each inKind parter restaurant, often at deep discounts. Basically, you spend up front with inKind, and they often give good discounts for doing so (eg pay $100 for $150 in restaurant credits). Check for inKind offers in this DoC tag. I heard there is some overlap of restaurants already in Resy and inKind. Do not use your AmEx Platinum card to purchase inKind credits as this will not trigger the Resy credit. But the waiter should be able to split your dining charge between your AmEx Platinum card and inKind. For example, if you dined out for $500, ask the waiter to put $100 on your Platinum card and pay the remaining $400 with your inKind balance that you purchased at a discount.
- Interesting note: readers tell us that yeast (only) on your inKind purchase is actually processed through the restaurant system and appears as a restaurant charge, not through inKind. Readers HAVE with success received their AmEx Resy loan refund by paying their inKind baksheesh with their Amex Platinum card.
- Dining programs: There are many card-linked dining programs where you link your card and then get rewards or cash back when you spend at select restaurants. Many of Resy’s restaurants also participate in these in-store card linking rewards programs. some mention finding overlap between Frank, Rakuten DiningSeated, Bilt and more. Often you only have to choose one of these rewards programs, as they use the same backend and don’t allow you to sign up for both. Our post, Complete list of rewards programs associated with the card gives a good overview of some of the options (although the post is dated – update coming soon hopefully).
- Collection tracker: Here is a cool website with a map of eligible restaurants, along with the aggregation options of Exclusive Tables, Resy, InKind, Built Neighborhood and more. Here is a sample link of New York restaurants that are on Resy, Chase Exclusive Tables and inKind – modify the filters to suit your needs.
- bids: Check this DoC tag #lost to see if there is any relevant agreement for Resy to collect the loan.
- Local offers: Check eligible restaurants in your area to see if they have any specials or certain times of the day with special offers or other types of coupons or gift card offers.
- Loan repayment: You can try cashing in on the $100 credit by purchasing a gift card to a local restaurant and selling it to a friend who dines there. Or make a deal with a friend who dines at one of the Resy restaurants.
- Other options: If you don’t feel like dining out, some mention buying bottles of wine from a local restaurant to bring home. Or send a friend an e-gift card (see gift card section, above).
- Double Dive with Card Registration: When you sign up for the Platinum card, you can usually get five $100 credits within the first year. For example, if you apply during November, you will receive the Q4 credit of that year and then the Q1-Q4 credits of the following year. If you really time it, it’s possible to get six $100 credits by applying in the middle of the last month of the quarter (March, June, September or December) and then holding the card for a few weeks after the annual fee posts. People often like to apply in December to try to triple the various annual credits that match the calendar year, and doing so can work to squeeze in another $100 Resy credit. (Even if you cancel the card before the charge is fully posted you are still likely to get the $100 credit.)
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