Maximizing American Express Membership Rewards Points

by Credit Card Wisdom on May 22, 2013

Long before Chase offered its innovative Ultimate Rewards program, American Express cards featured its Membership Rewards program. And while these points are incredibly flexible, it is up to cardholders to extract the most possible value from their hard earned points. Here is how I do it:

First, I avoid the “Pay With Points” option. This allows customers to use their points to offset existing charges but unfortunately, it only returns .6 cents in value per point redeemed. The next best option is merchandise rewards. These redemptions can be worth nearly 1 cent per point in value. Likewise, point redemptions for travel reservations also return one cent in value per point redeemed. [click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Making The Points You Already Have More Valuable, Retroactively

May 15, 2013

Bank operated reward systems are not as complicated as the airline’s frequent flier programs, but they do have their nuances. It is a poorly understood reality that most of these programs have several different reward options, depending on which credit cards the customer holds. Some cardholders may only be able to redeem their points for [...]

Read the full article →

How I Book Awards

May 8, 2013

When people first start collecting miles, they often have a goal in mind for what they want to use them for. Once they reach that goal, they feel like they have accomplished something and are ready to book their award flight. In reality, they are perhaps only half way to their goal. In fact, the [...]

Read the full article →

Credit Cards From Online Travel Agencies

May 1, 2013

I have never been a big fan of online travel agencies. For my money, I would prefer to book my air directly with the airline, and my hotels directly from the hotel chain, and so forth. But there is no denying the convenience of using one of the major online travel agencies, especially when you [...]

Read the full article →

Planning a Big Trip

April 24, 2013

If I were to teach a college level class in credit card rewards and award travel planning, the final exam would be the planning of a big trip. By big, I mean more than just a long weekend to a domestic location. No, a big trip for me is two weeks or more on another [...]

Read the full article →

How To Get The Most Value From Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

April 17, 2013

For years, American Express dominated the field of flexible rewards points. Their Membership Rewards program as well as the points earned from their co-branded Starwood Hotels Preferred  Guest card were the best ways to earn points that could later be redeemed for frequent flier miles or travel reservations.  But recently, Chase has made strong moves [...]

Read the full article →

Earning Hotel Status With Credit Cards

April 10, 2013

Being a credit card rewards guru is the art of using points and miles for travel rather than dollars. And as enticing as this sounds, there are actually some drawbacks. Chief among them is the fact that it is very hard to earn elite status in airline and hotel programs when I am essentially just [...]

Read the full article →

How To Maximize The Chase Freedom Rewards Beyond Bonus Categories

April 3, 2013

The Chase Freedom card can appear to be a simple product. Like several other competing products, this card offers 1% cash back on all purchases, and 5% cash back on cardholder’s first $1,500 of spending from select categories of merchants that change each quarter. And while there are several popular strategies for earning the maximum [...]

Read the full article →

The Perfect Credit Card User

March 1, 2013

No one is perfect, but it can be instructive to consider what the perfect credit card user would look like. First, a perfect credit card user would only use these products as a method of payment, not as a means of finance. By always paying each balance in full and on-time, our ideal cardholder would [...]

Read the full article →