American Express just ran a promotion called The Gift Chain. I saw it referenced on several of the financial blogs that I read. Most of them noted that American Express was giving statement credits and gift cards if you made $25 purchases at several different online stores. But My Dollar Plan and Bargaineering noted that one could also enter the contest by mail, and one could enter up to 10 times.

So I wrote my name and address on 10 cards and mailed them near the first of the month, not really expecting to see anything back or thinking that I might miss the deadline, since I was mailing them late. But in the last couple of days, I’ve been receiving emails with my prizes, and here’s my haul:

• 1x A 1-year ShopRunner membership (I think just about everyone who entered got this one first. It doesn’t seem all that valuable.)
• 3x $2 statement credit
• 1x $4.50 statement credit
• 3x $5 statement credit
• A $10 gift card, along with a $10 gift card to 3 friends on Facebook (I don’t know how this works exactly, since it seemed to write on my friends wall when I picked them)
• And finally, and most exciting for my wife, we got a $100 gift card to Pottery Barn

So just by mailing in 10 cards, we got $25.50 in statement credit and $110 in gift cards. Quite a deal! Thanks, American Express!