AMEX Shop Small In November FAQs: Here’s What You Need To Know About The 2015 “SBS” Offer

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Update, 11/28: Tonight is the final night to finish your Shop Small in November spending!

Update, 11/09: I completed all of my Shop Small In November purchases on my targeted cards on Friday. The charges posted early Sunday and the credits all posted last night!

DDF members are still reporting that targeting continues to expand. If you haven’t seen the offer in the past be sure to keep checking daily and keep trying the links below to see if your cards have been targeted yet.

Originally posted on 11/01:

Q: What is Shop Small In November and who is paying for it?
A: From 2010-2014 AMEX ran a promotion on the Saturday after Black Friday for free spending at small businesses. On 09/30/15 they announced that they would not be running that promotion in 2015.

However on 11/01/15 Shop Small In November offers began to appear on targeted AMEX accounts.

On personal accounts the offer is a $10 credit for spending $10 in one purchase at small businesses anytime between 11/01-11/28.

On business accounts the offer is a $20 credit for spending $100 in one purchase at small businesses anytime between 11/01-11/28.

The promotion is paid for by American Express and other corporate sponsors. Merchants get paid the full amount for purchases.

Q: How long does the refund take?
A: Officially the credits won’t post until 90 days from 11/28. Based on past experience though the credit posts within a few days from the time of purchase. Sometimes it falls in between the cracks and the refund can take up to the official timeframe.

Q: How do I tell if I’m targeted for this years offer.
A: Please read this post carefully for the full details on how to check if you are eligible for Shop Small In November.

Q: Is there any way to take advantage of the offer if I’m not targeted?
A: DDF reports indicate that cards opened recently don’t seem to be targeted for this offer.

-If you have any primary or secondary AMEX business cards that were not targeted for $20 off a $100 purchase at any small business from now through 11/28 you can try clicking on this link to register them.

-If you have any primary AMEX consumer cards that were not targeted for $10 off a $10 purchase at any small business from now through 11/28 you can try clicking on this link to register them.

For those links to work, the card will have to either be the only card on the login or be the default card shown at login. You can change which card is the default card by clicking on “My Cards” in the right sidebar after logging into the AMEX site and clicking on the star to the left of any card.

Or you can remove a card via this link to enroll the card under its own login.

Note that you must use the multi-tab method to enroll multiple cards in one login. If you’ve already enrolled cards in one login you’ll have to remove the previously enrolled card to enroll other cards in that login. Or you can remove the unenrolled cards and create a new login for them.

I have a login with several additional user business cards that didn’t have an offer for Shop Small In November.

However after clicking the business link above the offer showed up by the default card. I left that tab open without saving the offer and opened a new tab and changed the default card on the login. Then I clicked on the link again, logged in again, and the offer appeared by the new default card. I rinsed and repeated until I had a tab open for the offer on all of the cards on that login and then went quickly between the tabs and successfully saved the offer to all of the secondary business cards on that login.

Q: Why are none of my cards or only some of my cards targeted?
A: It’s impossible to know the exact reasons for which cards have been targeted, and reports are that more cards are still being added to the offer.

There have been a few reports of cards only having the offer in the old interface or in the new interface, though I can’t personally confirm that.

It’s possible that those people simply didn’t see the offer in the other interface or that the offer was added to their cards in the interim between checking the different interfaces.

Still it’s definitely a good idea to login and check under both interfaces.

On DDF there have been mixed reports of people being targeted on all, none, or some of their cards, so it’s hard to tell what the targeting is based on. One DDF user reports that he has accounts registered in different cities and all of his cards had it except for 3 cards registered in zip code 08701.

Q: How do I register all of my targeted accounts for this offer and what can I do if the offer disappears from a targeted card?
A: If you have multiple cards with the offer don’t rush to save the offer to your account!  Open up the Offers page for each card in a separate tab in the same browser and scroll down the the offer. Then go between the tabs to save the offer to each of your targeted cards. Otherwise once you save the offer to one card it disappears from your other cards.

Note that you only have to worry about an offer disappearing from other cards when they are registered to the same account.

Registering for an offer won’t affect cards that have their own login, there’s no need to open multiple tabs for accounts that aren’t registered with the same login..

If you have multiple cards in the same login and forget to register with multiple tabs you can make the offer appear again by removing the card that you didn’t save the offer to from that login and making a new login for that card

Q: Can I use primary and secondary cards from the same account?
A: You can check if they are targeted as well by adding secondary cards in your own name to your primary account or by making a new account login for a secondary card.

So far I’ve only seen reports of secondary users on business cards having the offer, so please post if a secondary user on your consumer card has the offer.

Q: Will registration fill up?
A: AMEX offers do fill up and the offer will disappear once it’s full, so it’s best to register before that happens.

Q: Can I make purchases online?
A: No.

Q: Do I need to swipe the card or can it be keyed in?
A: It can be keyed in or swiped.

Q: How do I know which businesses qualify?
A: The easiest way to know is if a business is on the small business map.

However just because a business isn’t on the map doesn’t mean it won’t work. As long as the business isn’t part of a major chain or processing mega sums of money it will still work. I’ve used it at stores not on the map in the past without issue, but realize there’s no guarantee.

Q: Will spending at businesses outside of the USA qualify?
A: No

Q: Are any small businesses officially excluded?
A: “Transactions with political campaigns or political action committees as well as purchases at gas or service stations do not qualify for the statement credit, regardless of whether they appear on the Shop Small Map.”

Q: Will charities qualify?
A: If they’re on the map, sure.
If they’re not on the map, they will probably work anyway, but there’s no guarantee.

Q: Will I get an immediate email confirmation after swiping my card?
A: Technically you should. If you do then you’re good to go.
However very often AMEX doesn’t send out a confirmation, so don’t sweat it if you don’t get a confirmation email.

Have a question not on this list? Hit the comments, but be sure you’ve read through these FAQs first!

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American Express is a DansDeals.com advertiser.

Don’t want to miss out on AMEX Offers?

Consumer cards include:

–Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express (25K Starpoints for spending $3K in 3 months, free Boingo worldwide hotspot access, free premium wifi in SPG hotels, 25% point bonus for transfers to airlines in 20K increments. $95 annual fee waived for first year. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–The Amex EveryDay Credit Card from American Express (10K AMEX MR points for spending $1,000 in 3 months.  20% point bonus for making 20 transactions per month for an effective 2.4 points per dollar on groceries and Uber and 1.2 points per dollar elsewhere. No annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–The Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card from American Express (15K AMEX MR points for spending $1,000 in 3 months.  50% point bonus for making 30 transactions per month for an effective 4.5 points per dollar on groceries, 3 points per dollar on gas and Uber and 1.5 points per dollar elsewhere. $95 annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–Hilton HHonors Card from American Express (40K points for spending $750 in 3 months. Silver status. 3-7 points per dollar spent. AXON discounted 4 night award stays at category 5-10 Hilton properties. No annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card (25K AMEX MR points for spending $2,000 in 3 months. 3 points per dollar on airfare and 2 points per dollar on restaurants, US gas stations, US supermarkets, and Uber. $100 annual airline fee credit. No foreign transaction fees. $195 annual fee waived for first year. 5 free additional cardholders are free, 6+ additional cards cost $35/year each.)

–Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express (30K Delta miles for spending $1,000 in 3 months. $50 cash back for making a purchase with Delta within 3 months. No foreign exchange fees. $95 annual fee waived for first year. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–Platinum Card® from American Express (40K AMEX MR points for spending $3,000 in 3 months. Free Starwood gold elite status for discounted paid and award stays. Free Centurion lounge access, Delta lounge access, Airspace lounge access, and Priority Club lounge access. $200 cash back in airline fee refunds per calendar year ($400 cash back in refunds during first cardmembership year). Free TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership.  Free insurance for any items bought on credit card and lost within 90 days. No foreign exchange fees. $450 annual fee. 3 additional cardholders for a flat $175 fee ($58.33/year each) which includes full lounge access and free TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership.)

–Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express ($100 cash back for spending $1,000 in 3 months. 3% cash back on groceries, 2% cash back on gas and department stores, no annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express ($150 cash back for spending $1,000 in 3 months. 6% cash back on groceries, 3% cash back on gas and department stores, $75 annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–Plenti Credit Card from Amex (5K points for spending $250 in 3 months, no annual fee.  No fee for additional cardholders.)

Business cards:

Business card signup bonuses can be earned if you haven’t had the card within the past 12 months. All business cards give automatic OPEN Savings rebates on top of points.

–Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express (25K Starpoints for spending $5K in 3 months, free Sheraton lounge access, free Boingo worldwide hotspot access, free premium wifi in SPG hotels, 25% point bonus for transfers to airlines in 20K increments. $95 annual fee waived for first year. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–Blue for Business® Credit Card from American Express (Limited time offer: 10K MR points for spending $1 and another 10K MR points for spending $5K in 6 months. 30% bonus on all points earned annually. You must have a Everyday, Green, Gold, or Platinum card to transfer these points to airlines or hotels. No annual fee. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–The Enhanced Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN (25K AMEX MR points for spending $5,000 in 3 months. 3 points per dollar in your choice of one of the following categories and 2 points in the other categories: Airfare, advertising, gas stations, shipping, or hardware+software+cloud computing. 2 points per dollar on Uber. $175 annual fee waived for first year.)

–The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN (40K AMEX MR points for spending $3,000 in 3 months. 10 free annual Gogo in-flight internet passes. Free Starwood gold elite status for discounted paid and award stays. Free Centurion lounge access, Delta lounge access, Airspace lounge access, and Priority Club lounge access. $200 cash back in airline fee refunds per calendar year ($400 cash back in refunds during first cardmembership year). Free TSA PreCheck or Global Entry membership.  Free insurance for any items bought on credit card and lost within 90 days. No foreign exchange fees. $450 annual fee.)

–Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card(30K Delta miles for spending $1,000 in 3 months. $50 cash back for making a purchase with Delta within 3 months. No foreign exchange fees. $95 annual fee waived for first year. No fee for additional cardholders.)

–SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express ($250 signup bonus for spending $5,000 in 3 months. 5% cash back at office supply stores and telecom. 3% cash back on your choice of Airfare, Hotels, Car rentals, gas stations, restaurants, advertising, or shipping. No annual fee.)

–Business Green Rewards Card from American Express OPEN (5K AMEX MR points for spending $1 in 3 months. $95 annual fee waived for first year.)

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