For people who are new to the world of points and the benefits of Amex cards, a common question asked is where can I use American Express cards? Following on from that, a Point Hacks reader has also asked us a more detailed query:
‘I see a lot of offers from American Express but I’m not sure that there are that many places I can actually use the card. How easy is it to meet minimum spend requirements with its more limited reach compared to Visa and Mastercard?‘
We explore where you can use your American Express card within Australia so you can make the most of your rewards.
American Express Platinum Card
- Sign-up Bonus:
- 200,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points¹
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- Earn 2.25 Membership Rewards points per $1 on all eligible purchases, except for spend with government bodies, for which you will earn 1 point per $1 spent
- Annual Fee:
- $1,450 p.a.
- Offer expires
- 25 August 2026
- Enjoy 200,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points¹ when you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months. (Offer available to new American Express Card Members only. Offer ends 25 August 2026. T&Cs apply.) Unlock premium perks including unlimited airport lounge access, international travel insurance, Amex Hotels and Resorts benefits, up to $400 in Global Dining Credit¹⁰, and a $450 Travel Credit⁵ each year. Earn up to 2.25 Membership Rewards Points per $1 on eligible spend. The annual fee is $1,450.
Where is American Express accepted in Australia?
It is true that Visa and Mastercard are accepted at more merchants both in Australia and overseas. However, American Express has been expanding its footprint, with more than 180,000 participating businesses added over the last few years.
The following list of merchants that accept Amex cards is by no means exhaustive — search the full list for the latest results. Remember that there are also thousands of small businesses that accept American Express.
Where can I use Amex cards for big purchases in Australia?
- Airlines: Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Air New Zealand, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Expedia, Webjet
- Accommodation: Airbnb, Luxury Escapes, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Shangri-La, Crown, Accor Hotels, Agoda
- Car hire: Hertz, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Europcar
- Transport: SkyBus
- Educational institutions: The University of Sydney, UNSW, Griffith University, Macquarie University, UTS, Bond University, University of Southern Queensland, Moriah College
- Household goods: Bing Lee, Freedom, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Officeworks
- Electronics: Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Kogan
Where can I use American Express for shopping, subscriptions and bills?
- Supermarkets: Woolworths, Coles, Harris Farm Markets
- Bottle shops: Liquorland, Dan Murphy’s, First Choice Liquor, BWS
- Department stores: Myer, David Jones, Big W, Kmart, Target, Bunnings Warehouse
- Clothes retailers: The Iconic, Zara, Best & Less, Cotton On, Country Road, Espirit, Lowes, Rebel, Decathlon, H&M
- Utilities: Australia Post, City of Sydney, City of Perth, Cairns Regional Council, Central Coast Council, Randwick, Council, Whitsunday Regional Council, Lumo Energy
- Insurance: Allianz, Bupa, HCF, nib
- Fuel: BP, Coles Express, Ampol
- Entertainment: Hoyts, Event Cinemas, Dreamworld, Taronga Zoo, Ticketek, Ticketmaster, Village Cinemas
- Subscription services: Foxtel, Netflix, Stan, Hello Fresh, Spotify
- Communications: Telstra, Optus
- Charities: Australian Red Cross
- Payment platforms: PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay
Where can I use Amex for day-to-day purchases and miscellaneous items?
- Food & drink: McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nando’s, Grill’d, Merivale, Starbucks, Menulog, Uber Eats
- Miscellaneous: Uber, 7-Eleven, NewsLink, Priceline Pharmacy, Chemist Warehouse
How do I maximise points earn with American Express cards?
A wise strategy is to choose an American Express card with a large sign-up bonus, use that card where you can, and pair it with a Visa or Mastercard to use where Amex is not accepted.
Due to restrictive bonus points eligibility rules for American Express-issued cards, you should choose the first one you hold carefully so you can earn a big sign-up bonus.
Then you could always add on another American Express-issued card like the Platinum Edge, on which you will not earn the sign-up bonus but is great for buying groceries and fuel.
Summing up
So, just how widely are American Express cards accepted in Australia? Probably more than you initially thought! Amex cards can be used for a large chunk of your expenditure on groceries, regular bills, travel, entertainment, clothes and more.
Given the wide range of merchants that accept Amex as a payment method, you shouldn’t have too much trouble meeting minimum spend requirements and/or maximising your ongoing points-earning potential.
Also read: Why it’s so easy to earn points with American Express
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Woolworths supermarkets in Australia accept American Express cards for payment.
Yes, you can use your American Express card to pay for groceries at Coles.
Yes, Bunnings hardware stores in Australia allow American Express cards as a form of payment.
No, Aldi supermarkets in Australia do not accept American Express cards for payment.
Yes, you can certainly pay for your Portuguese grilled chicken at Nando’s with an American Express card.
Yes, your next fix of crispy ‘Hot and Spicy’ chicken from KFC can be paid for with an American Express card.
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This article was originally written by Matt Moffitt.
In my experience ALDI doesn’t accept Amex
This article needs fact checking. Aldi does not and has never accepted Amex in Australia. Not all KFC’s or Nando’s do … for a start.
I just signed up for a Business Express Velocity Card, and found that for Service providers like my local council, and my health , vehicle & House Insurance, I can use Sniip , which means I get to keep all my points, and from what I can see, its no more cost than if I had used the card directly with the service providers.
They are a Brisbane based company, and so far the app etc has been really easy to use.
GLTA …
Cheers
How much I a charge fee should you pay maximum before it’s not worth the points?
Hi Brett
Your breakeven point or the maximum you would be willing to pay for an American Express point depends on how much value you place on an American Express point.
The following guide may assist you in calculating this value: https://www.pointhacks.com.au/rewards-points-valuations/
why no mention of EFTPOS Westfield Red card? you can buy that (2.5$ charge) and use it where ever eftpos accepts. For JB hifi and big electronics, buy gift cards from woolies and pay them.
Currently in Greece after travelling in Europe for past five weeks. Have found Amex acceptance inconsistent with those who don’t take it citing slow payment and high fees by Amex.
Also in Australia there is always a surcharge of around 3% if trying to pay Strata Fees or Council Fees. You definitely need a backup card with Mastercard seeming to be accepted everywhere.
EFTPOS is accepted at over 9o0,000 retail outlets in Aus.
How many retail outlets accept AMEX
Jeanswest accepts AMEX as well.
I just visited BP Harbour Town in Biggera Waters Queensland . They charged me a 3% surcharge on my Amex.
can credit cards of american express work at canterbury hospitl or any other in sydney??
plz reply
I’d suggest you do a search on each hospital’s website. You could Google ‘[hospital name] American Express’. For example, this page says that Canterbury Hospital does accept Amex as a payment method.
I think if my local IGA in inner west Sydney accepts Amex it is pretty acceptable! yes some cut price low margin vendors, like MSY computer etc, may not take it but that is reasonable given the margins that Amex no doubt charges merchants. Most restaurant accept them. My council rates no prob. All my 8 or so charities supported monthly take Amex (any way they can get it?). I would say about 60-70% of my spending goes on Amex. And as a Qantas Ultimate card holder obviously bonus points there as well.
Just don’t take a Westpac one! – they take ages to pay the bonus join points – mine approved 31 May 2017, bonus points paid into QF account on 26 Feb 2018!! QF Amex Ultimate- approved 22 May 2018, points in my account 15 May 2018. HSBC Visa approved 18 April 2018, points in 16 May 2018. Bit of a difference! (needless to say I am not with Westpac anymore)
More and more businesses are accepting AMEX without a surcharge, and rightly so! As mentioned before I too find myself gravitating to these businesses.
In this day, and age I find it agitating when a reputable business wants to slug me 3% or more for an AMEX transaction, when even a micro business at a craft market can go and get a Square Payments reader and pay a flat fee of less than 2% across all Visa, MC and AMEX cards.
It makes you wonder what poor deal the others have with their bank, or are they just taking us for fools and ripping us off?
AMEX itself has some great tools and offers to help you find businesses that accept them, my favorite was the shop small campaign.
I joined AMEX earlier this year. I was anxious too about AMEX acceptance but it hasn’t been a problem for me.
Approximately 50% of my electronic transactions are made using AMEX compared to Mastercard. I could do more but I try to avoid the additional AMEX surcharge that some retailers charge.
I think the only instances where I have been surprised about the lack of an AMEX payment option has been with AMP and IGA.
My university doesn’t accept AMEX but I find this less surprising.
I don’t use AMEX for overseas purchases because my Mastercard doesn’t charge international fees.
If you make charitable donations, many Australian charities accept Paypal or AMEX. So this is a handy way to reach your spending target.
I found discounted gift cards from supermarkets a great way to reach my minimum spend with an AMEX. E.g. I go to village cinemas who don’t accept AMEX but Woolworths were selling village gift cards 15% off. I got to pay by AMEX and get a discount.
Also, if you can access discounted movie tickets through an organisation such as RACV (30% discount) you can usually pay using PayPal and choose AMEX.
Poolprouk is correct but in my experience AmEx may consider payments via Postbillpay as “government” payments, given Australia Post is a government entity. This means that payments via Postbillpay may earn fewer reward points. This has happened to me even when paying via PayPal.
PayPal is also accepted by eBay and lots of other (non-government) places, where payments continue to earn the full amount of points.
Sorry to hear you’ve had that experience sixtyeight, perhaps it is card specific as I just paid my council rates with my Amex card via paypal through the postbillpay website a few days ago and the points are showing up at the full 1.5 points per $ spent. Card used was a Qantas Amex ultimate.
I use paypal to pay for a lot of things and have my Amex linked to my paypal account and you don’t get charged fees. Especially good for big bills like electricity, water etc..
A note about Apple Pay. If a retailer does not accept AMEX, they won’t accept Apple Pay backed by an AMEX card either.
The places you’re going to really feel the inconvenience are with your small local regulars. My bakery doesn’t accept AMEX for instance. Lots of coffee places don’t accept AMEX.
Some of my local places that I like to go for lunch don’t accept AMEX, but I have a work around for that. Apps like, Eat Now, and, Hey You, do accept AMEX even though some of the retailers themselves might not. So I use those apps for payment. There will be a surcharge though.
I find that since I have an AMEX card I gravitate to places that do accept it. You’re local coffee place doesn’t accept it? Fine go somewhere that does.
With respect to making the minimum purchase to get the bonus points, you might consider coinciding your card sign up with some sort of big purchase you might be having: A trip, some large homeware items, big tech purchase, what ever that might be for you.
You mention Australia post but it’s worth pointing out that if you have any bills that can be paid by postbillpay then you can use that system in conjunction with your paypal account to pay for bills using an Amex card (usually, but not always, without a surcharge).