ALL travel rewards pros should always have Amex MR points, which are by far the best among all the many reward currencies that exist in Canada. But all pros should also, at the very least, know not to redeem them at an absolutely terrible value of 1¢/pt! And also know that you shouldn’t get fooled by “promotions” that aren’t good!
If you have one or more of the excellent cards that earn Amex points, you probably received an email telling you about the terrible promotion to redeem Amex points at a value of 1¢/pt on Amazon for Prime Day (and Air Canada proposes redeeming valuable Aeroplan points for Amazon gift cards… that’s just as terrible).
Here’s another reminder of one of the most basic things in the wonderful world of travel rewards.
Overview of the promotion for Amex point redemptions on Amazon
Amex recently sent an email with a terrible promotion.
Yes, $10 is better than $7… but that’s still terrible!
Just because it’s better than the initial terrible rate doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good rate. It’s just less bad. But it’s still very very bad.
As I said in the intro, it’s the same thing with Aeroplan: the points are extremely valuable!!! So they always try hard to get badly-informed members to redeem their points for gift cards, merchandise, etc. Everything other than flights, obviously! And it works!!! Sadly.
So I’m taking this opportunity to remind you of 3 basic things that are very simple:
- Just because there’s a promotion, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good
- The value of points almost always varies according to the redemption option chosen
- NEVER redeem your points for anything other than travel
This is vital!
Just because there’s a promotion, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good
A very basic thing is that it’s extremely important to know that just because there’s a “promotion” doesn’t mean it’s good!!!
In ALL the world of travel rewards. It happens so often that they’re not!
Tell yourself that when a program heavily pushes a redemption option… it’s often because it costs them less and you therefore get a much lower value than what you could have gotten!
They’re honestly laughing when someone redeems their Amex points at 1¢/pt instead of getting 5 times more value: it saves them quite a bit!!!
One of the 6 most important things in the travel rewards world is to always take the time to do the math properly. For everything!
Comme j’ai dit en intro, c’est la même chose avec Aéroplan: les points sont excessivement précieux!!! Donc ils essaient fort de faire en sorte que des membres mal informés utilisent leurs points pour des cartes-cadeaux, de la marchandise, etc. Tout sauf des vols évidemment!
The value of points almost always varies according to the redemption option chosen
Almost all reward currencies offer different redemption options for your points.
So THE most important thing to know is that with almost all reward currencies, and with 100% of the good reward currencies, the value is different according to the redemption option chosen.
Amex points are so valuable… it’s honestly extremely sad to see travelers waste them completely, by redeeming them to get a pathetic value of 1¢/pt.
If you redeem Amex points on Amazon like in the promo, 60,000 points are worth $600 (1¢/pt).
If you redeem Amex points the right way… it gives you the flight I took a few weeks ago to go to Europe, a luxurious lie-flat pod seat in business class that was worth $4202 (so I saved $4083 after the $119 in taxes/fees).
That’s 6.8¢/pt instead of 1¢/pt, which is almost 7 times more!
My detailed testimonial on this recent flight is coming soon. In the meantime, you can read 2 other similar ones in business class:
- 70,000 Amex points for a 12hr flight to the Middle East (in the world’s best business class)
- 75,000 Amex points for a 13hr flight to Korea (in an excellent business class)
In economy class, it’s also very often worth 50% more than 1¢/pt, which isn’t nothing either!!!
Getting 50% more means taking 3 trips in a year instead of just 2… just by redeeming the same points better, without even having more points.
(And it’s 100% certain that you could easily have more points if you followed the simple tip: use all your spending to unlock welcome bonuses!)
Don’t miss our comprehensive updated guide on Amex points very soon.
You can read our guide on how to fly in business class for less than economy class or the basics of the more lucrative type of points.
NEVER redeem your points for anything other than travel
So simple. It’s worth more when you redeem rewards for travel.
There are rare exceptions, like Scene+ points which always have a fixed value of 1¢/pt whether you redeem them for travel or for groceries at Sobeys/Safeway/etc.; they can never be worth more. But these are veryyyyyy rare exceptions.
Amex points are those that literally have the highest value of all points. So it’s simple: never redeem them for anything other than travel.
And don’t redeem them for travel booked anywhere that gives you the same terrible 1¢/pt value either… it’s really better to transfer them to airline points programs, or at worst to the Marriott Bonvoy program, to get more value.
You can reread our post on redeeming points for things other than travel for more examples.
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Summary
With the promotion for Amex point redemption on Amazon, they now have a terrible value of 1¢/pt instead of an extremely terrible value of 0.7¢/pt. Avoid it! Just because a program promotes something doesn’t mean it’s good (it’s often even the complete opposite). Amex points can be worth so much more if you redeem them well.
What would you like to know about the Amex points redemption promotion on Amazon? Tell us in the comments below.
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