So you have 100,000 American Express Membership Reward points, but how do you spend it all? With so many ways to use reward points it’s important to understand just how to use them up in the best way possible. Terms and agreements from credit card companies can make this process seem daunting, but in reality redeeming your American Express Membership Reward points is simple and can get you that low cost vacation you deserve, or gift cards to stores you use everyday. So let’s take it one step at a time and learn the ins and outs of American Express Membership Rewards points.
First it’s important to understand that your American Express Membership Rewards points can be used on so much. It’s truly one of the most versatile point’s rewards cards there is. Just looking at the American Express Membership Reward website you can see how your points can be redeemed to things like flights, Uber rides, and events on the Ticketmaster website. Using up 100,000 points can get you a ton of thing in which can be useful for your everyday life.
If you are looking into travel with 100,000 points for example there is so much you can get! With 21 airline and hotel transfer partners America Express Members get the most bang for their points. When doing your research you have to remember that sometimes transferring your points to a partner is the best way to use up your points. One good case is British Airway’s Avios. Avios part of a flight company that is partnered with America Express and your point value there end up about 4.9¢ per point so with 100,000 points you have about 4,900$ to spend on flights that average between 500-800$ a piece.
Not that into travel? How about Apple products? On the American Express Member Rewards page you can scan through Apple products and for less than 100,000 points get some awesome Apple gear. Things like the Apple Watch Sport (79,800 points), Apple TV 4th generation, 64 GB (39,800 points), and IPhone SE (99,800 points) are all available on the website for less than 100,000 points. This makes points worth less than with some other places, but it’s still a great way to get that Apple product you’ve been eyeing.
If you don’t see a product you’d like to buy or prefer to shop in person you can swap your points for gift cards. There are hundreds of gift cards for everything, from Home Depot to movie theaters, theme park tickets, and experiences like the ski resorts in Aspen, Colorado. The gift cards conversion on points is 10,000 points equaling 100$ worth in the gift cards. This option is great for someone that wants to redeem your points, but wants to do the shopping or experience at a later time.
There’s other ways other than travel or shopping that these points can be taken advantage of. As previously mentioned theme park tickets are available for points and they are much more affordable than you think. For 11,200 points you can get a ticket worth two visits for one person at Sea World Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, or Adventure Island Tampa Bay. That means a family of 4 could visit any two parks for just under half of their 100,000 reward points (44,800 points)! Take that same family of four and take them to Universal Studios Resort in Orlando, Florida. Even if both the children in the family qualify as adults the four tickets still clock in at under 100,000 points for admission to both Universal Studios and Universal Islands of adventure. These tickets mean that family trip to Harry Potter world you have been dying to take just got a lot more affordable.
If you want to stay in town and still spend points without actually shopping there are ways in which you can utilize your points to fit just that. As an American Express Reward Members you can use your points for tickets to that basketball game you wanted to catch via Ticketmaster and to help you get there, avoid parking, and be able to drink to your hearts content you can use your points to grab an Uber lift to the stadium. These options can make using your points in your city to do things you have been wanting to do easy and simple.
Another way to look at redeeming your points is swapping them out for Plenti points. Plenti points are a reward system put in place with American Express that lets you use the points like money at Exxon/Mobil, AT&T, Nationwide Insurance, Direct Energy, RiteAid, Hulu, Macy’s and car rental companies including National, Alamo, and Enterprise. America Express is working on adding in large restaurant and grocery store chains to expand their list. Plenti points are earned with you spend money and are usually 1 point per dollar spent. While this may seem like a waste to redeem your points to Plenti points there are a few reason it can be a smart way to use your points. When you first sign up to Plenti there are offers you’ll get to help you gain Plenti points like crazy. Ones like 100 points for your first fill up at Exxon or 100 points for spending 80$ at Macy’s can make it worth while if you already shop at their partner stores. Plenti offers better deals than coupons and the deals are constantly changing giving you different options all the time.
With your American Express Reward Member points it’s easy to see just how far 100,000 points can go. With so many options out there you can get a ton of bang for you points using this versatile rewards program. The points can be used for anything from airplane tickets, to Uber rides so no matter what type of lifestyle you may have your American Express Reward Membership points have you covered. The American Express Reward Member points are one of the best in the game and with its easy to use rewards program it is worth getting into.
