We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Do You Know the Secret of Getting Free Shipping Using Your AMEX Card?

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Did you know you can get free 2-day shipping from dozens of online shops just by having an American Express card?

    American Express cardholders get a free membership in ShopRunner, which normally costs ~$9 per month or $79 per year.  Once you enroll, you’ll get unlimited free shipping and returns at participating online merchants as long as you keep an AMEX card registered with them.

    American Express Cardholders Get Free 2-Day Shipping With ShopRunner

    What’s ShopRunner?

    Link:   ShopRunner

    ShopRunner is a shipping service for online purchases that normally requires a paid membership of ~$9 per month or $79 per year.
    The ShopRunner Logo Is Pretty Self-Explanatory

    If you’re a ShopRunner member, you’ll get free 2-day shipping at over 80 online stores.  Some of the stores are:

    You get unlimited free 2-day shipping with no minimum order requirement.  ShopRunner also offers free return shipping.

    Emily and I do a lot of online shopping, and I like saving money, so I signed-up to check it out.

    How Do American Express Cardholders Sign-Up?

    Link:   American Express Cardholder ShopRunner Homepage

    1.   Check If Your American Express Card Is Eligible

    The terms and conditions say not all cards are eligible!  It has to be a personal or small business card issued by American Express.  Enter your American Express card number on the registration page to 1st find out if your card qualifies.

    Enter AMEX Number to Verify Eligibility

    For example, it would not accept the Citi AAdvantage American Express card (which isn’t offered anymore).  But it accepted the Gold Delta Skymiles American Express and the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express cards.

    No Luck With My Old Citi AMEX Card

    2.   Complete the Registration Form

    Enter your name and email address, select a password, and accept the ShopRunner terms and conditions to finish signing-up.

    Signing-Up Is Simple and Quick

    3.   Shop Through ShopRunner or Directly Through Store Websites

    Once you’ve signed-up, you can shop for items directly through ShopRunner, or on individual store websites.

    To qualify for free shipping, the item you select must have the ShopRunner logo next to it.  Not all products are eligible for free shipping.

    Look For the ShopRunner Icon Next to Products

    Let’s Go Shopping!

    I looked around the jewelry section of the ShopRunner site because I want to get a nice pair of earrings for Emily.  But shhhh…don’t tell her! 😉

    I found a pretty pair of Swarovski crystal earrings at Reeds Jewelers.

    Do You Think She’ll Like Them?

    Clicking on the earrings brought me straight to the Reed’s Jewelers page and I found the little green ShopRunner icon next to the item.

    The Earrings Qualify for Free 2-Day Shipping From ShopRunner

    At checkout, the shipping was already listed as free, because I clicked through the ShopRunner page to the Reed’s Jewelers page.  If you’re already logged in to ShopRunner, it should come up automatically.

    I Like Free Almost as Much as Emily Likes Jewelry!

    That was pretty easy!  I wish I’d known about this sooner.  But then I got to thinking…

    How to Earn Bonus Points *and* Get Free Shipping

    I wondered if the ShopRunner free shipping still applied if you go through a shopping portal, like the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.  Emily and I try to do all of our online shopping through portals to earn extra points and miles.

    First, I logged out of ShopRunner.  Then I signed-in to my Chase account and noticed Brooks Brothers (a ShopRunner merchant) is offering 4 extra Ultimate Rewards points per $1 you spend AND 15% off when you shop through the Ultimate Rewards Mall.  So I clicked through and did some browsing.

    4 Extra Ultimate Rewards Points at Brooks Brothers…But Would ShopRunner Work Too?

    I clicked on a shirt and saw the ShopRunner Free 2-Day Shipping icon near the bottom of the page.

    Free Shipping!

    I signed-in to ShopRunner and clicked through to checkout.  The free 2-day shipping was already included.

    But Should I Get It Monogrammed?

    And, I still got the 15% discount from Chase Ultimate Rewards!  So I suspect I’ll get the 4 extra points per $1 spent, too.  Folks on FlyerTalk report getting their extra points without any problems.

    I Still Got the 15% Off From Shopping Through Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall

    I did NOT have to use my American Express card to pay for the order.  You can choose any credit card you want.

    That’s because the ShopRunner terms say,

    Enjoy complimentary ShopRunner membership as long as you keep an eligible American Express Card as your default card in Express Checkout at ShopRunner.

    I’ll definitely be using ShopRunner to save on shipping, especially because I can still shop through portals and earn lots of extra points!  That said, you may not get the bonus points all the time.

    But I’ll still shop around on Amazon and other websites to make sure I’m getting the best deal.

    Are There Drawbacks?

    If you’re not an eligible American Express cardholder, you’ll have to pay ~$9 a month or $79 a year for ShopRunner membership.

    In order to keep a free membership, your American Express card must be set as the default payment method in your ShopRunner account.  If you remove it, it won’t be free anymore.  But you don’t have to pay with your American Express card.

    ShopRunner doesn’t physically ship your items themselves.  So if there’s a problem with your shipping, you still have to contact the merchant.

    Right now ShopRunner only partners with ~85 stores, but they say more will be added in the future.  Not all items are eligible for free shipping, either.  But since I’m not paying for the membership anyway, I’ll just take the free shipping whenever I can get it!

    Bottom Line

    You can get unlimited free 2-day shipping at over 80 stores when you register your American Express card with ShopRunner.

    You can still use a shopping portal and get the free shipping.  And you can use any credit card you want for payment.

    Not all American Express cards qualify, and not all items are eligible for free shipping.  But it’s free to sign-up if you’re an (eligible) American Express card holder, so it doesn’t hurt to enter your card.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)