topic Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges in Credit Cards

AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:25:48 GMT

Forum - curious to hear of anyone's experience with AMEX and using points to pay for charges. I'm considering using points (which I honestly have never used for anything, to date) to pay my Platinum AF billed last month; not because I have to, but because I have points that are so far are just sitting there. Does AMEX frown upon or otherwise look negatively on using points to pay for charges, or is it totally okay in their eyes? I only ask in case there's some "behind-the-scenes" evaluation they might make, the thought being that perhaps you can't otherwise pay the charges in cash.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

simplynoir — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:31:31 GMT

They would actually probably be very happy if you used your points to pay charges off on your credit card since the value is pretty bad for the customer. I don't see why AMEX would have any issues with that.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:45:54 GMT

@simplynoir wrote:
They would actually probably be very happy if you used your points to pay charges off on your credit card since the value is pretty bad for the customer. I don't see why AMEX would have any issues with that.

Thanks for the perspective. I guess I didn't look very thoroughly into the redemption structure. I have several hundred thousand points, and the value for using points for card charges vs travel or other spending is indeed very low. I would leave anywhere from $10 up to $40 on the table for every 10,000 points. I'm thinking I may re-think this approach :-)

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

K-in-Boston — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:00:52 GMT

Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

simplynoir — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:04:25 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?

There's no rush and if you want to use them for non-travel use at least some gift cards will get close to 1 cent value per point. I don't know if they do gift card deals like Chase does for UR but I'd keep an eye out for that

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

K-in-Boston — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:14:22 GMT

Re: gift card sales

They do, but they're usually on the cards that are normally valued at around 0.7 cents. When I log in today, a GC sale is my suggestion for using MRs:

20% off sounds great, until you actually look at what the usual rate is (0.700 cents) and how that translates as a sale (0.875 cents), keeping in mind that worst case scenario you can always just purchase Delta airfare at 1 cent per point through Amex Travel, or transfer the points 1:1 to SkyMiles for a minimum of 1.2 cents, although I've been getting at least 2 cents on my redemptions this year. International premium cabins can easily be much more.

It's rare to see Amex GCs ever exceed 1 cent per point (i.e. 10,000 points for $100). Off the top of my head, I can recall Home Depot eCertificates on Business Platinum being 1.2 cpp a few years ago during a promo.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:54:37 GMT

@K-in-Boston wrote:
Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?

Well, just over 300K, 100 of which came with the card. Regarding vaactions, its funny - I did receive a promotional flyer/e-mail/something-or-other, offering vactions booked through AMEX Travel. When I looked into them, the point values these guys were asking were astronomical! Now granted, these were killer vacations, but that whole experience sort of engrained in my thinking that I'd need years of charges at my pace to get to the points needed for a vacay. Now that I'm REALLY looking into this, roughly $3K for travel (if I redeem all) can fly me somewhere and back and even stay indoors for a few nights :-)

Thanks K-I-B

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 15:55:42 GMT

@simplynoir wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?
+1

There's no rush and if you want to use them for non-travel use at least some gift cards will get close to 1 cent value per point. I don't know if they do gift card deals like Chase does for UR but I'd keep an eye out for that

Will do. Good to know there's no rush in redeeming them.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

KJinNC — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 22:55:39 GMT

I opened this thread to say "turn back before it's too late," but I see you've looked into it some more and realized that's not a good value.

The Platinum is about as pure a travel card as exists, you weren't thinking about using the points for travel?

I transferred my 52,000 points into Delta SkyMiles ... then realized it wasn't enough for my upcoming trip, and won't be enough until I redeem the 35,000 SkyMiles for my Delta card welcome offer. Oh well, should have left them as MRs for now for flexibility, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the 87,000+ SkyMiles next year.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 03:09:38 GMT

Thanks KJ! Still appreciated nonetheless. I have a renewed respect for the points, and I will be putting them to BETTER use towards travel. Once again, the Forum comes through, thanks to members like you!

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 10:09:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?
Well, just over 300K, 100 of which came with the card. Regarding vaactions, its funny - I did receive a promotional flyer/e-mail/something-or-other, offering vactions booked through AMEX Travel. When I looked into them, the point values these guys were asking were astronomical! Now granted, these were killer vacations, but that whole experience sort of engrained in my thinking that I'd need years of charges at my pace to get to the points needed for a vacay. Now that I'm REALLY looking into this, roughly $3K for travel (if I redeem all) can fly me somewhere and back and even stay indoors for a few nights :-)

Thanks K-I-B

Check to see if any of the amex points tranfer partner will improve the points value for you. Amextravel.com never gave me good deals.

For 300k MR, I personally can fly delta or AA (vie BA) for 10-15 domestic trips on economy, or 5 international trips on economy. Or if you want to do aspirational first class travel, 1 to 2 trips depending on detinations.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Cred4All — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:00:56 GMT

@KJinNC wrote:
I opened this thread to say "turn back before it's too late," but I see you've looked into it some more and realized that's not a good value.

The Platinum is about as pure a travel card as exists, you weren't thinking about using the points for travel?

I transferred my 52,000 points into Delta SkyMiles ... then realized it wasn't enough for my upcoming trip, and won't be enough until I redeem the 35,000 SkyMiles for my Delta card welcome offer. Oh well, should have left them as MRs for now for flexibility, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the 87,000+ SkyMiles next year.

@KJinNC did you happen to see The Points Guy article about the delta vacation promotion going until today? You get double the value for your SkyMiles if including a hotel in the vacation package. You may have enough!

Op, the temptation is real when it comes to just plunking your points onto a bill or gift card, but fight the urge.... one day the amazing redemption will make itself clear and you'll be on your way to Tahiti.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

dlister70 — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 12:51:26 GMT

I had a small amount of points left and decided to use them to pay for an Amazon purchase. I was a little annoyed that I needed over 3000 points for a $23 purchase. But I wasn't going to use them for anything else, so I figured I might as well. I originally got the Everyday card as a balance transfer card, but I did get some points for signing up and I bought a mattress with one of the AMEX offers to save $100 or something, so that gave me some points too. I used most of the points for a hotel stay, but had a small remaining balance just sitting there.

If you don't have enough points to do anything travel related, and you don't intend to earn more points by using the card, then that would probably be the only reason that I would consider using points for merchant pay or credit card statement.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

kdm31091 — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 13:02:41 GMT

As stated, Amex points are really best for travel redemption. Failing that, instead of shop with points or paying your charges, look into the gift cards. Not all of them are a good deal, but you can get 1 cent per point on some of them, which is far better than the 0.6 per point value for redeeming against charges.

Amex won't be upset if you redeem against charges, though. They advertise the feature fairly heavily, since it's a poor value for the customer and a good value for Amex.

Ultimately, points are "found money" in my mind so even if you do get a poor value, you are getting something more than just having them sit there, so the decision is yours.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 14:27:45 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:

Ultimately, points are "found money" in my mind so even if you do get a poor value, you are getting something more than just having them sit there, so the decision is yours.

Yes, this is true once you have them, but you should have been thinking before you get there! If you are getting 0.6cpp using a card that gave 1 point per $ on purchases, you would have done a lot better with a different card. So yes, found money, but be prepared to learn from the experience!

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 15:50:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
Yeah, Amex loves it when customers use Membership Rewards for statement credit at 0.6 cents per point, for gift cards valued between 0.7 and 1.0 cents per point, and for using them at checkout with retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, etc. for 0.7 cents per point. They certainly wouldn't hold it against you!

If you have hundreds of thousands of points just sitting there, consider a nice free vacation instead?
Well, just over 300K, 100 of which came with the card. Regarding vaactions, its funny - I did receive a promotional flyer/e-mail/something-or-other, offering vactions booked through AMEX Travel. When I looked into them, the point values these guys were asking were astronomical! Now granted, these were killer vacations, but that whole experience sort of engrained in my thinking that I'd need years of charges at my pace to get to the points needed for a vacay. Now that I'm REALLY looking into this, roughly $3K for travel (if I redeem all) can fly me somewhere and back and even stay indoors for a few nights :-)

Thanks K-I-B
Check to see if any of the amex points tranfer partner will improve the points value for you. Amextravel.com never gave me good deals.

For 300k MR, I personally can fly delta or AA (vie BA) for 10-15 domestic trips on economy, or 5 international trips on economy. Or if you want to do aspirational first class travel, 1 to 2 trips depending on detinations.

Thanks, Fortified - great tip! Much appreciated.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 15:51:28 GMT

@Cred4All wrote:
@KJinNC wrote:
I opened this thread to say "turn back before it's too late," but I see you've looked into it some more and realized that's not a good value.

The Platinum is about as pure a travel card as exists, you weren't thinking about using the points for travel?

I transferred my 52,000 points into Delta SkyMiles ... then realized it wasn't enough for my upcoming trip, and won't be enough until I redeem the 35,000 SkyMiles for my Delta card welcome offer. Oh well, should have left them as MRs for now for flexibility, but I'm sure I'll find a use for the 87,000+ SkyMiles next year.
@KJinNC did you happen to see The Points Guy article about the delta vacation promotion going until today? You get double the value for your SkyMiles if including a hotel in the vacation package. You may have enough!

Op, the temptation is real when it comes to just plunking your points onto a bill or gift card, but fight the urge.... one day the amazing redemption will make itself clear and you'll be on your way to Tahiti.

That sounds good to me! I can't tell you how happy I am that I brought this to the Forum before plunging in :-)

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 15:53:52 GMT

@dlister70 wrote:
I had a small amount of points left and decided to use them to pay for an Amazon purchase. I was a little annoyed that I needed over 3000 points for a $23 purchase. But I wasn't going to use them for anything else, so I figured I might as well. I originally got the Everyday card as a balance transfer card, but I did get some points for signing up and I bought a mattress with one of the AMEX offers to save $100 or something, so that gave me some points too. I used most of the points for a hotel stay, but had a small remaining balance just sitting there.

If you don't have enough points to do anything travel related, and you don't intend to earn more points by using the card, then that would probably be the only reason that I would consider using points for merchant pay or credit card statement.

Great advice.

Re: AMEX - Using Points To Pay For Charges

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 15:54:44 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
As stated, Amex points are really best for travel redemption. Failing that, instead of shop with points or paying your charges, look into the gift cards. Not all of them are a good deal, but you can get 1 cent per point on some of them, which is far better than the 0.6 per point value for redeeming against charges.

Amex won't be upset if you redeem against charges, though. They advertise the feature fairly heavily, since it's a poor value for the customer and a good value for Amex.

Ultimately, points are "found money" in my mind so even if you do get a poor value, you are getting something more than just having them sit there, so the decision is yours.

Great perspective, thanks!