A couple of days ago, I covered how Amex updated the terms for the Resy credit that’s offered on a couple of its premium cards, which could signal a major devaluation, or could have limited implications. There’s now an update, so we know exactly what’s going on — it’s positive news, so let me explain, as it involves the integration of Tock into Resy.
Amex Resy credit updates coming August 1, 2026
Both the Amex Platinum Card and Amex Gold Card offer Resy credits as one of their perks. The idea is that enrolled members can get a credit of a certain amount for spending at virtually all eligible Resy restaurants in the United States.
To me, this is good as cash, and I basically deduct the value of that straight from the annual fee, when doing the math on whether a card is worth it. However, recently Doctor Of Credit flagged how the latest statements of eligible Amex cards have the following note:
Update to the Resy Credit Benefit
Effective August 1, 2026, U.S. restaurants and other food and beverage establishments (e.g., wineries, cafes) must be indicated as eligible for the Resy Credit on the Resy website or the Resy app at the time of purchase to qualify for the benefit. Qualifying restaurants and other food and beverage establishments will be indicated as eligible on their booking page on the Resy website or the Resy app and are subject to change at any time.
So starting in several weeks, U.S. restaurants must specifically be marked as being eligible for the Resy credit in order for it to apply, rather than all Resy restaurants qualifying.
Similarly, when you go to the Resy website while logged into your Amex account, you’ll already see a note about how “this venue currently qualifies for the Resy Credit.” The key word there is “currently,” suggesting that in the future, some restaurants may no longer be marked in that way.
Is this a huge devaluation, or much ado about nothing?
Here’s the official statement from Amex as to what’s going on:
We have added a Resy Credit eligible badge to Resy venues pages to provide additional clarity to diners at the time of booking. We have not removed Resy venues that are eligible today and will be adding more eligible venues later this year when Tock venues become bookable on Resy.
As you can tell, this is great news. Amex owns both Resy and Tock, and is planning on integrating Tock into Resy. The idea is that former Tock restaurants will progressively be made eligible for the credit, but that won’t all happen overnight, hence the new disclaimer about which restaurants are eligible.
Honestly, this Resy credit on the Amex Platinum is so generous (at least compared to so many other card perks) that many of us were worried that Amex was trying to improve the economics of the perk, and only include a subset of Resy restaurants for the credit going forward:
- With the Amex Platinum refresh we saw some time back, I’d actually argue that the card is easier to justify than ever before, thanks in large part to the up to $400 in Resy credits (along with the up to $600 in hotel credits)
- Nowadays a large percentage of premium card perks are merchant funded, and it doesn’t appear that’s what directly has been going on here; instead, Amex owns Resy, and it seems this perk has been driven by getting people onto the Resy platform
- So many wondered if Amex was now essentially trying to get restaurants to help fund this benefit, whereby if they wanted to be included on the list and have business driven their way, they’d need to pay some amount for that
However, all of this doesn’t appear to be the case, and that’s something to be happy about. The 2025 Amex Platinum refresh really was a net positive, as I see it, and it’s nice to see that value continue.
Bottom line
Amex has updated its terms to note that as of August 1, 2026, we’ll see some changes to the Resy credits on premium cards, like the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum. The idea is that the credits can only be used at restaurants specifically marked as being eligible for that benefit.
The good news is that this isn’t some massive devaluation intended to greatly limit the number of eligible restaurants. Instead, this change is due to Tock being integrated into Resy, and those new restaurants only progressively being made eligible for the dining credits.
So not only will current Resy restaurants remain eligible for the credit, but we’ll even see the selection expanded over time. This is great news, and should make this benefit even more valuable in the long run.
What do you make of these Amex Resy credit benefit updates?