Since about October 5, 2026, many Amex Platinum cardholders report that lululemon gift cards bought in a store no longer trigger the $75 quarterly lululemon credit. Real gear still earns it, in a U.S. store or on lululemon.com. If you haven’t used this quarter’s $75 yet, spend it on something you’d buy anyway by December 31.
What changed
- Before: a gift card bought at a lululemon store usually triggered the credit. We bought a $100 gift card at the Burlingame, California store on October 1 with our Platinum, and the $75 credit posted the same day.
- Now: where reports say it stopped, a gift card earns $0 back. Doctor of Credit collected the first reports on October 13, including a thread in the r/AmexPlatinum subreddit. Frequent Miler and Miles to Memories followed on October 14.
- Proof from one shopper: a Frequent Miler reader in the Los Angeles area bought a $50 gift card and $15 socks on October 6. The socks got the credit and the gift card didn’t.
- Mixed receipts: Doctor of Credit reports that a gift card and gear on one receipt credited only the gear.
- Who it affects: U.S. Platinum Card Members who used gift cards to bank the credit for later. Anyone who buys real gear each quarter loses nothing.
- What didn’t change: the terms. Neither American Express nor lululemon has announced anything. The terms have always excluded gift cards, so the change looks like stricter enforcement of an old rule.
Gift cards have been getting harder to use for months. lululemon stopped selling physical gift cards online in March 2026, and many stores now sell them only in multiples of $50, so you can’t buy a $75 card. In August, lululemon’s gift card terms added that “you may not use multiple forms of payment to purchase a Gift Card,” per a Frequent Miler update from August 31. That ended the trick of splitting one card across two Platinum cards.
Key terms
lululemon’s Amex benefits page sets the rules. We read it on October 17, 2026.
- Amount: up to $75 in statement credits each quarter, for up to $300 each calendar year. Credits won’t exceed $75 per quarter per Card Account.
- Where it works: purchases made directly with lululemon at U.S. stores, on shop.lululemon.com or in the lululemon app.
- Where it doesn’t: lululemon Studio, Like New, outlet stores, warehouse sales, event locations, showrooms and wholesale orders.
- Gift cards: the terms say the credit is “not valid on purchases shipped outside the U.S. or gift card purchases.”
- Enrollment: the Basic Card Member has to enroll in the Amex app or online account first.
- Timing: credits usually post within a few days, but they can take up to 8 weeks after the charge posts.
The fourth quarter runs from October 1 to December 31, 2026. A credit you don’t use by then doesn’t roll into January.
Gift card versus gear
The math shows why the gift card route was popular and what’s left now.
| Purchase | Credit back | You pay | You get |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 gift card, before about October 5 | $75 | $25 | $100 of store credit |
| $100 gift card, where it stopped | $0 | $100 | $100 of store credit |
| $75 of gear | $75 | $0 | $75 of gear |
| $100 of gear | $75 | $25 | $100 of gear |
The old route turned $25 into $100 of store credit each quarter. Over a year, that’s $100 out of pocket for $400 of lululemon credit you could spend whenever you liked.
If a $100 gift card gets no credit, the card still holds $100, so you haven’t lost the money. You lose the $75 credit only if you don’t spend it on gear by December 31. If your gift card purchase didn’t trigger the credit, this quarter’s $75 is probably still unused. Check the benefit in your Amex app before you shop again.
Where gift cards still work
Some readers report credits on gift cards, but most of those reports come from before the change. Frequent Miler readers got the credit on gift cards bought on September 14 in Dallas, September 28 in Chicago and October 1 in Lansing, Michigan. Doctor of Credit lists six reports of gift cards that still credited, without dates or cities. So we can’t tell whether any store still lets a gift card earn the credit after October 5.
Frequent Miler suspects lululemon changed how stores ring up gift cards, starting with bigger cities. That’s a guess, and neither company has confirmed it. If you try a gift card anyway, keep the receipt and check your Amex app within a few days.
Our take
We’d buy gear, not gift cards, for the rest of 2026. Spend $75 or more on something you’d buy anyway, in a U.S. store or on lululemon.com, before December 31. Miles to Memories says regular items, clearance racks and the We Made Too Much section all count. The Los Angeles reader’s $15 socks earned a $15 credit on October 6.
We already used our fourth-quarter $75 on the October 1 gift card, so we can’t test a new gift card until January. If you haven’t used yours, a $50 gift card is a bad bet now. It can leave you with $50 of store credit you paid for in full and no $75 credit.
This also changes how much the credit is worth to you. If you’d buy $300 of lululemon gear a year anyway, count it at $300 against the Platinum’s $895 annual fee. If you only bought gift cards to resell or give away, count it at $0. Our Platinum welcome offer post and best travel credit cards guide weigh the fee against the card’s other credits. Two of them have their own posts: the Resy credit in our Tock and Resy post, and the hotel credit in our Fine Hotels + Resorts post.
FAQ
Do lululemon gift cards still trigger the Amex Platinum credit?
For many cardholders, no. Reports since about October 5, 2026 say in-store gift cards earn no credit, though a few readers still get it. Gift cards have been excluded in the written terms all along.
What still earns the $75 lululemon credit?
Real merchandise bought directly from lululemon at a U.S. store, on shop.lululemon.com or in the lululemon app. Outlets, Like New and lululemon Studio don’t count.
When does the fourth-quarter lululemon credit expire?
It ends on December 31, 2026, and the first-quarter $75 credit for 2027 starts on January 1.
What if I bought a gift card and got no credit?
You still have the gift card’s full value to spend at lululemon. Check your Amex app. If the $75 shows as unused, buy at least $75 of gear by December 31 to get it.
Can I split a lululemon gift card across two Amex cards?
No. lululemon’s gift card terms say you may not use more than one form of payment to buy a gift card.
How long does the lululemon credit take to post?
Usually a few days. The terms allow up to 8 weeks after the purchase posts to your account.
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