Amex membership rewards - Revision history

Editor: /* Membership Rewards credit cards */

2021-07-01T21:40:56Z

‎Membership Rewards credit cards

Editor: /* Cashing out your points */

2021-06-26T00:13:12Z

‎Cashing out your points

Editor: /* Membership Rewards credit cards */

2021-04-30T03:13:45Z

‎Membership Rewards credit cards

Editor: Editor moved page Amex Membership Rewards to Amex membership rewards without leaving a redirect

2021-02-19T00:05:47Z

Editor moved page Amex Membership Rewards to Amex membership rewards without leaving a redirect

Editor at 19:18, 12 February 2021

2021-02-12T19:18:03Z

Editor: /* Point transfers and expiration */

2021-01-15T01:52:28Z

‎Point transfers and expiration

Editor: /* Bonus category opportunities */

2021-01-15T01:51:26Z

‎Bonus category opportunities

Editor: /* Membership Rewards credit cards */

2021-01-15T01:48:23Z

‎Membership Rewards credit cards

Editor at 01:28, 15 January 2021

2021-01-15T01:28:59Z

Editor: /* Hotel transfer partners */

2020-05-08T22:50:12Z

‎Hotel transfer partners

@@ Line 129: / Line 129: @@
 x hotels (prepaid at Amex Travel only, not very useful)
-|$50-550
+|<0-$695
 |-
 |style="padding-left: 1em;"|Schwab Platinum* (must be a customer)
 |60,000
-|$50-550
+|<0-$695
 |-
 |style="padding-left: 1em;"|Morgan Stanley Platinum* (must be a customer)
 |60,000
-|$50-550
+|<0-$695
 |-
 |style="padding-left: 1em;"|Goldman Sachs Platinum* (must be a customer)
 |60,000
-|$50-550
+|<0-$695
 |-
 |{{Card|PlatinumBiz|short}}*

@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 <li>'''If you have the business version of the Gold card, you can use your points for certain airline tickets at 1.33 cents each'''. It provides essentially the same rebate as the Business Platinum card above, except that you get 25% of your points back, rather than 35%. The annual fee for this card is lower ($295) and it comes with a great reward rate on up to two business-related categories, including US Restaurants. </li>
-<li>'''If you have the Charles Schwab version of the Platinum card, you'll receive 1.25 cents per point when you deposit them into your Schwab account'''. This card is a good option for people who have accumulated a large stash of Membership Rewards points and are having difficulty finding good opportunities to redeem them for frequent flyer tickets. You need to be a Charles Schwab customer to get this card, but there are no fees for opening a Schwab account. </li>
+<li>'''If you have the Charles Schwab version of the Platinum card, you'll receive 1.1 cents per point (1.25 cents until September) when you deposit them into your Schwab account'''. This card is a good option for people who have accumulated a large stash of Membership Rewards points and are having difficulty finding good opportunities to redeem them for frequent flyer tickets. You need to be a Charles Schwab customer to get this card, but there are no fees for opening a Schwab account. </li>
 If you are collecting signup bonuses, hold off getting the Schwab version of the Platinum card until you are almost finished earning bonuses from other American Express cards. Then, get this card, and you'll have the option to cash out some or all your points.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:13, 30 April 2021
Line 218:		Line 218:

	For example, lets say you have the Amex Platinum card and you refer your friend. When they use your referral link, they will be taken to a "You've Been Referred" version of the Amex Platinum card webpage. But if they use the "Explore Other Cards" section, they can actually sign up for any card. If they choose the Hilton Surpass card, you'll get the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum Card (let's say 15,000 Membership Rewards points), and when they meet the spending requirements, they'll earn the bonus on the Hilton card.		For example, lets say you have the Amex Platinum card and you refer your friend. When they use your referral link, they will be taken to a "You've Been Referred" version of the Amex Platinum card webpage. But if they use the "Explore Other Cards" section, they can actually sign up for any card. If they choose the Hilton Surpass card, you'll get the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum Card (let's say 15,000 Membership Rewards points), and when they meet the spending requirements, they'll earn the bonus on the Hilton card.
		+
		+	In rare cases, Amex may alert you during the signup process that while you can apply for the card, you won't receive the signup bonus (even though you've never had the card before). If you see this alert, you can try applying without the referral link. In some instances, you will then be entitled to the signup bonus (but you'll unfortunately miss out on the referral).

	Referrals from airline and hotel cards can only be used to sign up for other airline or hotel cards from the same brand. But referrals from "regular" Amex cards can be used to refer to almost any Amex card, including hotel and airline cards, and even including small business cards.		Referrals from airline and hotel cards can only be used to sign up for other airline or hotel cards from the same brand. But referrals from "regular" Amex cards can be used to refer to almost any Amex card, including hotel and airline cards, and even including small business cards.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|membership rewards}} (2021)}}
-{{Page|article|Card Strategies|transferable points}}
+{{Page|article|Earn Points|transferable points}}
 {{Image|MembershipRewards.jpg|full}}

@@ Line 256: / Line 256: @@
 === Point transfers and expiration ===
-'''All your Membership Rewards points should accrue to a single account, even if you have multiple cards'''. If you have at least one active card that earns Membership Rewards points, you won’t forfeit your points. Getting or converting-to a no-annual-fee EveryDay card is a great option to keep your account alive.
+'''All your Membership Rewards points should accrue to a single account, even if you have multiple cards'''. If you have at least one active card that earns Membership Rewards points, you won’t forfeit your points. Getting or converting-to a no-annual-fee EveryDay card or Blue Business Card is a great option to keep your account alive.
-'''You can’t transfer Membership Rewards to another person'''. However, you can transfer your points into a partner program account that belongs to an authorized card holder. For example, you can make your spouse an authorized cardholder on one of your cards (in many cases with no additional fee). Then, you could transfer points from your Membership Rewards account to one of their frequent flyer accounts. As of September 1, 2019, you can only transfer points to frequent flyer accounts of people who have been authorized cardholders for at least 90 days. This eliminates last minute transfers. If you are likely to want to move miles to a partner's account, try to set up at least one jointly held card ahead of time.
+'''You can’t transfer Membership Rewards to another person'''. However, you can transfer your points into a partner program account that belongs to an authorized card holder. For example, you can make your spouse an authorized cardholder on one of your cards (in most cases with no additional fee). Then you could transfer points from your Membership Rewards account to one of their frequent flyer accounts. As of September 1, 2019, you can only transfer points to frequent flyer accounts of people who have been authorized cardholders for at least 90 days. This eliminates last minute transfers. If you are likely to want to move miles to a partner's account, try to set up at least one jointly held card ahead of time.
 {{/Main|article}}

← Older revision	Revision as of 00:05, 19 February 2021
(No difference)

@@ Line 239: / Line 239: @@
 {{CardItem|BlueBiz}}
-'''The Blue for Business card offers the highest possible rate for everyday spending'''. It earns 2x Membership Rewards points, regardless of the purchase category. However, it is a small business card, and the 2x rate is only available on the first $50,000 of purchases each year.
+'''The Blue for Business card offers the highest possible rate for everyday spending'''. It earns 2x Membership Rewards points, regardless of the purchase category. However, it is a small business card and the 2x rate is only available on the first $50,000 of purchases each year.
 {{CardItem|everydaypreferred}}
-'''The EveryDay Preferred Card has the potential of earning the best rate of the non-business cards on everyday spending, as well as the best possible rate on groceries (capped at $6,000 spending per year) and gas'''. You may be already using this card as your general purpose reward card. If not, it is a good choice to add to your collection of Amex cards, assuming you are willing to make the effort to qualify for the bonus points you receive when you make 30 transactions per month. If not, you might consider the '''{{Card|BlueCash|only}}''' card instead.
+'''The EveryDay Preferred Card earns the best possible rate on groceries (capped at $6,000 spending per year) and gas and can be a good everyday option for people who can't or don't want to get a business card'''. But you need to be willing to make the effort to qualify for the bonus points you receive when you make 30 transactions per month. If not, you might consider the '''{{Card|BlueCash|only}}''' card instead.
 {{CardItem|PremierRewards}}
-'''The Gold card offers great reward rates on groceries (capped at $25,000 spending per year) and restaurants (and airfare)'''. It can be a good place to start earning bonus Membership Rewards, if you don’t want the EveryDay Preferred card.
+'''The Gold card offers great reward rates on groceries (capped at $25,000 spending per year), along with restaurants and airfare'''.
 {{CardItem|GreenCard}}

@@ Line 208: / Line 208: @@
 |2x everywhere
 |$0
 {{/Table}}
-'''Because of the extremely large number of cards, and the lack of a rule like Chase 5/24, you can earn very large quantities of Membership Rewards points from signup bonuses'''.
+'''Because of Amex's extremely large number of cards and the lack of a rule like Chase 5/24, you can earn very large quantities of Membership Rewards points from signup bonuses'''.
-You can only earn each signup bonus once per lifetime, but you can earn the signup bonus for every version of a given card. Try to sign up when they are running a promotion for extra points. Occasionally, a targeted offer becomes available that allows you to earn the signup bonus, even if you had already earned it.
+You can only earn each signup bonus once per lifetime, but you can earn the signup bonus for every version of a given card. Try to sign up when they are running a promotion for extra points. Occasionally, you may receive a targeted offer that allows you to earn the signup bonus, even if you had already earned it.
 {{Box|Always Apply Through a Referral Link}}
-Unlike the other credit card companies, Amex allows their cardholders to refer their friends to any credit card, not just to the ones they already have. If the person you refer winds up using your link to get a card, they get an often better than normal signup bonus, and you get a bunch of extra points.
+Unlike the other credit card companies, Amex allows their cardholders to refer their friends to any credit card, not just to the ones they already have. If the person you refer winds up using your link to get a card, they get an often better than normal signup bonus and you get a bunch of extra points.
-For example, lets say you have the Amex Platinum card and you refer your friend. When they use your referral link, they will be taken to a "You've Been Referred" version of the Amex Platinum card webpage. But, if they use the "Explore Other Cards" section, they can actually sign up for any card. If they choose the 100,000 point offer for the Hilton Surpass card, you'll get 15,000 Membership Rewards points (the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum Card), and when they meet the requirements, they'll earn their 100,000 Hilton bonus points.
+For example, lets say you have the Amex Platinum card and you refer your friend. When they use your referral link, they will be taken to a "You've Been Referred" version of the Amex Platinum card webpage. But if they use the "Explore Other Cards" section, they can actually sign up for any card. If they choose the Hilton Surpass card, you'll get the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum Card (let's say 15,000 Membership Rewards points), and when they meet the spending requirements, they'll earn the bonus on the Hilton card.
-Referrals from airline and hotel cards can only be used to sign up for other airline or hotel cards from the same brand. But, referrals from "regular" Amex cards can be used to refer to almost any Amex card, including hotel and airline cards, and even including business cards.
+Referrals from airline and hotel cards can only be used to sign up for other airline or hotel cards from the same brand. But referrals from "regular" Amex cards can be used to refer to almost any Amex card, including hotel and airline cards, and even including small business cards.
-If you sign up for an Amex card without using a referral link, you are leaving points on the table. Technically, you can even refer yourself. Once you have a single Amex card, you can send a referral link to yourself, get other cards, and collect both the signup bonuses and the referral bonuses. However, we are worried about Amex being upset with this approach and even taking back the referral bonuses (after the fact). The better option is to share links with a spouse or friend. You'll earn the referral bonuses for all their cards, and they'll earn the referral bonuses for yours.
+If you sign up for an Amex card without using a referral link, you are leaving points on the table. Ideally, you have a spouse you can refer and who can refer you. If not, try to trade referrals with (or just be nice to) a friend.
 {{/Box}}
-Because you can receive the Platinum card’s airline incidental credits every calendar year, it is possible to receive up to $400 in credit during the first year. If you can also get full use of the Uber credit and/or Saks credit, you can get back more than $600 in credits, which is higher than the $550 annual fee. Similarly, you can get $200 back the first year on the Gold card.
+Amex will occasionally give you an offer where they will give you additional points if you upgrade to another card. Even if you had previously received the signup bonus for the upgraded card, you’ll still receive these additional points. In general, if you haven’t previously had the new card, decline the offer to upgrade, so that you can eventually earn the signup bonus for the new card.
 {{Box|Pay Over Time Bonus}}
 Amex has periodically mailed out offers to add the "Pay Over Time" feature to their charge cards. This gives you the option of carrying a balance on your card (and paying interest charges), which is something that we would never recommend.
-But, they give you 10,000 points (per card) for signing up, and there is no obligation to use the feature, so it always made sense to take advantage of the offer.
+But they give you 10,000 points (per card) for signing up, and there is no obligation to use the feature, so it always made sense to take advantage of the offer.
 Now, you don't have to wait to receive an offer in the mail. You can use this [https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_155197751423817&key=abbc3cea62ec507b8177126c1948d263&libId=jsyu41gw01020szb000DAen1utcng&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uscreditcardguide.com%2F10k-amex-mr-per-card-with-pay-over-time-non-unique-link-offer-code%2F&v=1&opt=true&out=https%3A%2F%2Famericanexpress.com%2FEXPOenroll77&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fgetpocket.com%2F&title=10k%20AmEx%20MR%20Per%20Account%20with%20Pay%20Over%20Time%20(Non-Unique%20Link%20%2B%20Offer%20Code)%20-%20US%20Credit%20Card%20Guide&txt=link link] to check to see if the offer is available for any of your cards. Thanks to Doctor of Credit for pointing this out.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|membership rewards}} (2019)}}
+{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|membership rewards}} (2021)}}
 {{Page|article|Card Strategies|transferable points}}
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 <blockquote>
-Membership Rewards is an excellent program for people who plan to use their points for frequent flyer tickets, and is the easiest program for earning massive amount of points from signup bonuses.
+Membership Rewards is the best rewards program for people who plan to use their points for frequent flyer tickets and is the easiest program for earning massive amount of points from signup and other bonuses.
 </blockquote>
-Membership Rewards has the most airline partners of the big three “transferable” points programs, although not as many as Marriott. Unlike Ultimate Rewards, it frequently offers transfer promotions where you receive extra frequent flyer miles when you transfer your points to specific partners.
+Membership Rewards has the most airline partners of the big three “transferable” points programs (although not as many as Marriott). Unlike Ultimate Rewards, it frequently offers promotions where you receive extra frequent flyer miles when you transfer your points to specific partners.
-But, Membership Rewards is not nearly as valuable as Ultimate Rewards for people who don’t want to mess around with frequent flyer tickets. With Membership Rewards, your next best cash-out option is using your points to pay at Amazon at only 1 cent each.
+But Membership Rewards is not nearly as valuable as Ultimate Rewards for people who don’t want to mess around with frequent flyer tickets.
-However, if you have the Business Platinum card, you can get 1.54 cents, rather than 1 cent, when you use your points to purchase premium-class airline tickets or coach tickets on your preferred airline. This changes the dynamics of the Membership Rewards program, giving you a good alternative to using your points for frequent flyer tickets.
+However, if you have the Business Platinum card, you can get 1.54 cents, rather than 1 cent, when you use your points to purchase premium-class airline tickets or coach tickets on your preferred airline. If you pay the high annual fee for this card, you'll have a way to more easily "cash out" your points at good value.
 {{TOC}}
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 {{/Table}}
-Avianca allows you to avoid fuel surcharges on Star Alliance flights, as does Air Canada on many of the airlines. ANA offers great values to many destinations, especially Japan.
+Avianca and Air Canada allow you to avoid fuel surcharges on Star Alliance flights. ANA offers great values to many destinations, especially Japan.
-It is helpful to be able to transfer points directly to Delta, so that you can book non-saver award space that sometimes only requires a small number of additional miles.
+Cathay Pacific and Iberia often let you spend fewer miles than British Airways when booking Oneworld awards. Singapore, Flying Blue, and British Airways offer many good award options, but are available through other the other credit card programs.
-Cathay Pacific and Iberia often let you spend fewer miles than British Airways when booking Oneworld awards. Singapore, Flying Blue, and British Airways offer many good award options, but are available through other credit card programs as well.
+It is helpful to be able to transfer points directly to Delta, rather than a partner, so that you can book non-saver award space (which  sometimes only requires a small number of additional miles) and you can combine with miles from the Delta credit card or your Delta / SkyTeam flights.
-Remember that you can use miles from any of these programs to book awards with any of that program’s partner airlines. So, you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to Air Canada, and then use those points to fly United, any of the two dozen or so other airlines that are part of the Star Alliance, or any of Air Canada’s other airline partners. Between all the partnerships, you can redeem your Membership Rewards points on over 100 airlines.
+Remember that you can use miles from any of these programs to book awards with any of that program’s partner airlines. So, you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to Air Canada and then use those points to fly United, any of the two dozen or so other airlines that are part of the Star Alliance, or any of Air Canada’s other airline partners. Between all the partnerships, you can redeem your Membership Rewards points on over 100 airlines.
 <ul class="bulletlist">
-<li>'''You need to pay a .06 cent per point fee, every time you transfer Membership Rewards points to a partner program'''. Transferring enough points for a 50,000-point ticket, would cost $30 in fees. Transfer fees are capped at $99, so any additional points over 165,000 are free to transfer.</li>
+<li>'''You need to pay a .06 cent per point fee when you transfer Membership Rewards points to a U.S. frequent flyer program'''. Transferring enough points for a 50,000-point ticket would cost $30 in fees. Transfer fees are capped at $99, so any additional points over 165,000 are free to transfer.</li>
-<li>'''Membership Rewards frequently runs promotions where you’ll get a better-than-normal rate for transferring your points to a specific partner airline'''.  For example, you might get an extra 25% Cathay Pacific miles when you transfer your points. If you expect to have good opportunities to use points with a specific airline, you can transfer points during one of the promotions. You’ll give up the flexibility of using the points with a different program later, but you’ll get more miles from your points. See {{Link|Transfer Bonuses}} for more information or visit Frequent Miler’s [//frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/current-point-transfer-bonuses/ Current Transfer Bonuses page] for a list of current bonuses.</li>
+<li>'''Membership Rewards frequently runs promotions where you’ll get a better-than-normal rate for transferring your points to a specific partner airline'''.  For example, you might get an extra 25% Cathay Pacific miles when you transfer your points during the promotional time-frame. If you expect to have good opportunities to use points with a specific airline, you can transfer points during one of the promotions. You’ll give up the flexibility of using the points with a different program later, but you’ll get more miles from your points. See {{Link|Transfer Bonuses}} for more information or visit Frequent Miler’s [//frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/current-point-transfer-bonuses/ Current Transfer Bonuses page] for a list of current bonuses.</li>
 </ul>
 === Hotel transfer partners ===
-'''The typical value that you can get from many types of hotel points is well under 1 cent per point'''. So, it will rarely make sense to transfer your points to a hotel partner.
+'''The typical value that you can get from many types of hotel points is well under 1 cent per point'''. As a result, it will rarely make sense to transfer your points to a hotel partner.
 {{Table|center|6in}}
@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 === Cashing out your points ===
-'''If you don’t want to mess with frequent flyer tickets, Membership Rewards points are typically only worth 1 cent per point'''.
+'''If you don’t want to mess with frequent flyer tickets, Membership Rewards points are typically only worth less than 1 cent per point'''.
-That's what American Express will give you when you spend your points on Amazon, purchase certain gift cards, or buy flights through their website. However, a few Amex credit cards provide ways to cash out your points at 1.25 - 1.56 cents per point. While most people will get better value by redeeming their Membership Rewards points for frequent flyer tickets, these additional options are considerably better if you need to cash-out your points.
+That's what American Express will give you when you purchase certain gift cards or buy flights through their website.
 <ul class="bulletlist">
-<li>'''If you have the Business Platinum card, you can use your points for certain airfare tickets at 1.54 cents each'''. When you use your points to buy business or first-class airplane tickets, or coach tickets on your preferred airline, you will receive a 35% rebate. For example, if you wanted to purchase a $300 ticket, you would need to use 30,000 points. Then you’d get 10,500 points refunded to your account. This essentially lets you get 1.54 cents in value for each point you use. For people who are less interested in frequent flyer tickets, this makes Membership Rewards considerably more competitive with Ultimate Rewards points.</li>
+<li>'''If you have the Business Platinum card, you can use your points for certain airfare tickets at 1.54 cents each'''. When you use your points to buy business or first-class airplane tickets or coach tickets on your preferred airline, you will receive a 35% rebate. For example, if you wanted to purchase a $300 ticket, you would need 30,000 points. Then you’d get 10,500 points refunded to your account. This essentially gives you 1.54 cents in value for each point you use. For people who are don't want to mess around with frequent flyer tickets, this makes Membership Rewards considerably more competitive with the Ultimate Rewards program.</li>
 {{Image|MR35Rebate.jpg|480}}
-Of course, not everyone is eligible to get the Business Platinum card, or will get enough value to pay its annual fee. If you are interested in getting a Platinum card anyway, are eligible for business cards, and aren’t sure about committing yourself to frequent flyer redemptions, you should seriously consider getting the business version of the card to take advantage of this benefit.
+Of course, not everyone is eligible to get the Business Platinum card or will get enough extra value to justify its annual fee. If you are interested in getting a Platinum card anyway, are eligible for business cards, and aren’t sure about committing yourself to frequent flyer redemptions, it can be a great option.
-<li>'''If you have the business version of the Gold card, you can use your points for certain airline tickets at 1.33 cents each'''. It provides essentially the same rebate as the Business Platinum card above, except that you get 25% of your points back, rather than 35%. The annual fee for this card is lower ($295), and it comes with a great reward rate on up to two business-related categories, including US Restaurants. </li>
+<li>'''If you have the business version of the Gold card, you can use your points for certain airline tickets at 1.33 cents each'''. It provides essentially the same rebate as the Business Platinum card above, except that you get 25% of your points back, rather than 35%. The annual fee for this card is lower ($295) and it comes with a great reward rate on up to two business-related categories, including US Restaurants. </li>
-<li>'''If you have the Charles Schwab version of the Platinum card, you can receive 1.25 cents per point when you deposit them into your Schwab account'''. This card is a good option for people who have accumulated a large stash of Membership Rewards points and are having difficulty finding good opportunities to redeem them for frequent flyer tickets. You need to be a Charles Schwab customer to get this card, but there are no fees for opening an account. </li>
+<li>'''If you have the Charles Schwab version of the Platinum card, you'll receive 1.25 cents per point when you deposit them into your Schwab account'''. This card is a good option for people who have accumulated a large stash of Membership Rewards points and are having difficulty finding good opportunities to redeem them for frequent flyer tickets. You need to be a Charles Schwab customer to get this card, but there are no fees for opening a Schwab account. </li>
-If you are collecting signup bonuses, hold off getting the Schwab version of the Platinum card until you are almost finished earning bonuses from other American Express cards. Then, get this card, and you can cash out all your points.
+If you are collecting signup bonuses, hold off getting the Schwab version of the Platinum card until you are almost finished earning bonuses from other American Express cards. Then, get this card, and you'll have the option to cash out some or all your points.
 </ul>

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 {{Table|center|6in}}
 |style="width: 25%;"|'''Hilton'''<br/>(1000:2000)
-|style="width: 25%;"|'''Marriott'''<br/>
+|style="width: 25%;"|'''Marriott'''<br/>(1000:1000)
-|style="width: 25%;"|'''Choice'''<br/>
+|style="width: 25%;"|'''Choice'''<br/>(1000:1000)
 |style="width: 25%;"|
 {{/Table}}