When American Express started adding Resy credits to its cards, I understood why.
Amex owns the restaurant-booking platform Resy, so encouraging cardholders to use it makes perfect sense. But I didn’t expect the credit to be something I’d care about all that much.
American Express acquired Resy back in 2019, and over the past couple of years, Resy has become a bigger part of the Amex benefits ecosystem. The Resy credit first appeared on Delta SkyMiles cards in early 2024 and was later added to the Gold Card. The Platinum Card received a larger version as part of its 2025 refresh.
On paper, this sounded like another Amex coupon-book benefit. Useful if everything lined up, but not something I expected to go out of my way to use.
That’s not because we don’t enjoy going out to eat. We do. But we have our favorite places, and trying out a new restaurant just to use a credit isn’t our favorite thing. At some point, a “benefit” starts to feel like homework.
It turns out I was wrong.
We’re Actually Using The Resy Credits
For us, the Resy credit has been most useful when we’re traveling.
The first time we used the Resy credit was at Atlantic Grill in New York. We’d dined there before and it’s super convenient when seeing a show at Lincoln Center, so using the credit didn’t require us to rearrange anything. It just made sense.
Earlier this year, when my wife Sharon and I were in Miami for one night before a cruise, we stacked two Resy credits and used them at River Oyster Bar. That wasn’t a place we’d typically search out, but thanks to Resy, it landed on our radar.
And more recently, while visiting Austin, I needed to use my $100 quarterly Resy credit from the Platinum Card. That led us to Laundrette, a trendy spot in a former laundromat.
Yes, really.
The repurposed building gave the place character, the crowd felt more local than touristy, and the award-nominated food didn’t hurt either. It was exactly the kind of place we might not have picked if I hadn’t been looking through Resy.
The AMEX Announcement
That’s why I was disappointed when reports first suggested the Resy credit might be getting gutted.
This is no longer a throwaway benefit for us. It’s one of the credits that helps the math on the Platinum and Gold cards continue to make sense. More importantly, it has nudged us toward restaurants we might not have found otherwise. Sometimes that means trying a new place. Sometimes it means returning to a spot we already like. Either way, it has been more useful than I expected.
At the same time, I understand why Amex might look at the numbers and decide it needs to tighten things up.
If more people are using the credit, that means there’s less breakage than Amex may have expected. And with these coupon-style benefits, breakage is part of the math. A credit that looks expensive on paper is a lot cheaper when plenty of cardholders forget to use it, don’t live near participating restaurants or decide it isn’t worth the effort.
But if cardholders are finding real value from the Resy credit, that changes the calculation.
Our Fears Were Unfounded
Originally, it was feared that this change could severely limit the number of eligible Resy locations. However, Amex has clarified that it has not removed any currently eligible Resy venues and that more eligible venues will be added later this year when Tock venues become bookable on Resy.
Restaurants will now need to be marked as eligible for the Resy Credit at the time of purchase, so you’ll need to double-check before making plans. That’s still one more thing to remember, which is never ideal. But if most current Resy restaurants remain eligible, that’s a much better outcome than I originally feared.
Final Thought
I’m still not a fan of having to use a checklist to access premium card benefits. But I’ll give Amex credit here: the Resy benefit has been more useful than I expected.
And that’s exactly why I would have missed it if it had been gutted.
That’s probably why Amex may want to keep a closer eye on it. If more cardholders are actually using the Resy credit, there’s less breakage. And when there’s less breakage, a benefit gets more expensive.
For now, though, this looks more like a labeling change than the major devaluation many of us feared. I’ll still check before dining, but I’m glad the credit appears to be sticking around in a form that should remain useful.
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1 comment
I find it to be one of the easiest AX Plat credits to use since we dine out a lot. It is also hands down much better than the crap CSR OT credit which has one restaurant in all of CT so I struggle to use it unless I specifically look to see if there is a participating restaurant near me when traveling.