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In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

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Alcibiades
Contributor

In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

I've seen many posts over the past month or so saying that Membership Rewards points are "worthless" or some other variation thereof. MR Rewards points have their downsides (especially compared to Ultimate Rewards), such as lack of access to United or American, but they can have great value, particularly when transferring to hotel or airlines partners. Browing the Membership Rewards site, I have access to transfer points to redeem flights to Florida or the Carribbean (via Avios), to top off my Skymiles Account for a flight to Japan, to Pay With Points for any flight or hotel I can find on Amex's system, 1 day lift tickets and ski rentals at varios ski resorts, hotel stays at Bellagio or Wynn in Vegas, etc.

 

Some customers may be better off in cashback cards. Some may be better off in a points system like Amex (or Chase's Ultimate Rewards). But calling MR "worthless" ignores cases where people can get a lot of out the program.

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
ryanbush
Valued Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards


@Alcibiades wrote:

I've seen many posts over the past month or so saying that Membership Rewards points are "worthless" or some other variation thereof. MR Rewards points have their downsides (especially compared to Ultimate Rewards), such as lack of access to United or American, but they can have great value, particularly when transferring to hotel or airlines partners. Browing the Membership Rewards site, I have access to transfer points to redeem flights to Florida or the Carribbean (via Avios), to top off my Skymiles Account for a flight to Japan, to Pay With Points for any flight or hotel I can find on Amex's system, 1 day lift tickets and ski rentals at varios ski resorts, hotel stays at Bellagio or Wynn in Vegas, etc.

 

Some customers may be better off in cashback cards. Some may be better off in a points system like Amex (or Chase's Ultimate Rewards). But calling MR "worthless" ignores cases where people can get a lot of out the program.


I agree, I think the reason most people are against MR points is it takes so many to get any kind of reward.  It can literally take years for an "average spender" to be able to get an airline ticket or hotel stay. 

 

So many people are into instant rewards and with MR it really takes quite a while to save up enough to get a good value out of them.

MR points are really suited better for heavy spenders that can get to the higher thresholds quite a bit quicker than the average person that works 9-5.

 

MR points can be extremly valuable if you have enough of them and you redeem them at the right time.

Chase Sapphire Perferred | Chase Freedom | AMEX Platinum | AMEX Delta Platinum | AMEX SPG | Capital One Venture | Capital One Quicksliver | Discover IT | ABFCU Visa | Citi AA WEMC
Message 2 of 11
ycm
Established Member

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

Agreed. All cards/rewards aren't for everyone - we all have different credit  wants and needs. We don't say YMMV for nothing! Smiley Happy

Amex Delta Gold | Amex BCE | BofA Travel Visa Sig | Discover IT | Fidelity Visa | REI Visa Sig
Message 3 of 11
gpfirestone
New Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

well as someone who has 300k amex pts i can tell you that i would MUCH MUCH MUCH RATHER HAVE $6,000 than these points.

:Capital One Spark Business $45k:::Chase Sapphire Preferred $30k:::Chase Amazon Visa $3k:::American Express BC $10k:::Chase Ink Plus $15k:::American Express Business Plum:::American Express Business Platinum::Citi Thank You Preferred $50k:::City Simplicity $10k:::REI Visa $10k::Capital One Quicksilver $15k:::American Express EveryDay $10k:::Wells Fargo Platinum Cash Back $10k:

FIA/BOA is the plague. AVOID THEM!
Message 4 of 11
ryanbush
Valued Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards


@gpfirestone wrote:

well as someone who has 300k amex pts i can tell you that i would MUCH MUCH MUCH RATHER HAVE $6,000 than these points.


You could easily turn those 300K in points into 10-15k in airfare.... 

Chase Sapphire Perferred | Chase Freedom | AMEX Platinum | AMEX Delta Platinum | AMEX SPG | Capital One Venture | Capital One Quicksliver | Discover IT | ABFCU Visa | Citi AA WEMC
Message 5 of 11
gpfirestone
New Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

Please explain...I don't want to travel internationally other than to Papeete at the moment and I can't find a way to use those pts for miles for that destination.  Is there a way to do this domesitically.  Typically domestic flights make most sense to book with pts and get the 20% pts back.

:Capital One Spark Business $45k:::Chase Sapphire Preferred $30k:::Chase Amazon Visa $3k:::American Express BC $10k:::Chase Ink Plus $15k:::American Express Business Plum:::American Express Business Platinum::Citi Thank You Preferred $50k:::City Simplicity $10k:::REI Visa $10k::Capital One Quicksilver $15k:::American Express EveryDay $10k:::Wells Fargo Platinum Cash Back $10k:

FIA/BOA is the plague. AVOID THEM!
Message 6 of 11
gpfirestone
New Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

Also I live in Denver if that helps with your advice.

:Capital One Spark Business $45k:::Chase Sapphire Preferred $30k:::Chase Amazon Visa $3k:::American Express BC $10k:::Chase Ink Plus $15k:::American Express Business Plum:::American Express Business Platinum::Citi Thank You Preferred $50k:::City Simplicity $10k:::REI Visa $10k::Capital One Quicksilver $15k:::American Express EveryDay $10k:::Wells Fargo Platinum Cash Back $10k:

FIA/BOA is the plague. AVOID THEM!
Message 7 of 11
ryanbush
Valued Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards

Pay with points is normally one of the worst redemption rates, you really have to fly internationally in premium cabins to get the highest return on your points.

 

for example the first search I did resulted in a ticket from DEN to CUN in october in F for 60k MR points, this is showing as a 1800$ ticket, so you're points would be worth 3c each.

Chase Sapphire Perferred | Chase Freedom | AMEX Platinum | AMEX Delta Platinum | AMEX SPG | Capital One Venture | Capital One Quicksliver | Discover IT | ABFCU Visa | Citi AA WEMC
Message 8 of 11
CreditScholar
Valued Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards


@ryanbush wrote:

@Alcibiades wrote:

I've seen many posts over the past month or so saying that Membership Rewards points are "worthless" or some other variation thereof. MR Rewards points have their downsides (especially compared to Ultimate Rewards), such as lack of access to United or American, but they can have great value, particularly when transferring to hotel or airlines partners. Browing the Membership Rewards site, I have access to transfer points to redeem flights to Florida or the Carribbean (via Avios), to top off my Skymiles Account for a flight to Japan, to Pay With Points for any flight or hotel I can find on Amex's system, 1 day lift tickets and ski rentals at varios ski resorts, hotel stays at Bellagio or Wynn in Vegas, etc.

 

Some customers may be better off in cashback cards. Some may be better off in a points system like Amex (or Chase's Ultimate Rewards). But calling MR "worthless" ignores cases where people can get a lot of out the program.


I agree, I think the reason most people are against MR points is it takes so many to get any kind of reward.  It can literally take years for an "average spender" to be able to get an airline ticket or hotel stay. 

 

So many people are into instant rewards and with MR it really takes quite a while to save up enough to get a good value out of them.

MR points are really suited better for heavy spenders that can get to the higher thresholds quite a bit quicker than the average person that works 9-5.

 

MR points can be extremly valuable if you have enough of them and you redeem them at the right time.


+1. This is exactly it. MR was originally designed for heavy spenders, and in that sense not much has changed. The best use of MR points are international premium cabin tickets. Yes you might have to pay YQ, but it's a lot better than paying for J or F outright.

 

Average spenders may not see much value in the MR program because it wasn't designed for them in the first place.

EX 798, EQ 789, TU 784
American Express Platinum (NPSL) || Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards Visa Signature - $23,200 CL
Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard - $20,000 CL || Chase IHG Rewards World Mastercard - $25,000 CL
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature - $12,700 CL || Chase United MileagePlus Club World Elite MasterCard - $26,500 CL
Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa Signature - $20,000 CL || J.P. Morgan Ritz Carlton Visa Signature - $23,500 CL
Message 9 of 11
djrez4
Established Contributor

Re: In Defense of AMEX Membership Rewards


@gpfirestone wrote:

Please explain...I don't want to travel internationally other than to Papeete at the moment and I can't find a way to use those pts for miles for that destination.  Is there a way to do this domesitically.  Typically domestic flights make most sense to book with pts and get the 20% pts back.


Transfer the MR points to Delta SkyMiles, redeem on Air Tahiti Nui flight from LAX to PPT.  Getting to LAX from DEN should be cheap, or you can transfer some MR points to BA Avios to redeem on AA for that flight.

Message 10 of 11
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