The AmEx rewards program stands out above the bonus and reward programs offered by other credit card lenders.
This is mainly due to American Express backing its own credit business and thus being able to add rewards without concern for affiliate providers or associated banks.
Most credit lenders who offer bonuses and rewards limit the use of their accumulated cash rewards or their mileage points to certain carriers or merchants. American Express does not impose such limits and that has made the rewards program very popular with consumers.
Most of us don’t have time to scour through small print on multiple pages of an agreement to see if we can use our points where we shop or if there are restrictions that will keep us from collecting the reward as it’s advertised by the lender.
Designed in Tiers
The AmEx rewards program is designed in tiers. Enrollment in the Membership Rewards Tier is complimentary and is automatic when you have a Gold Card, The Platinum Card or a Lifetime Card through American Express.
From this basic tier, you have access to the other reward choices. The basic American Express Credit Card is not automatically enrolled in this Tier and must choose whether to join or not and pay an annual fee to be included.
Redeem Your Points Almost Anywhere
Membership rewards points can be redeemed for gift cards to be used as cash but there are also special gift cards such as the Home Depot gift card where there is merchant participation.
These large merchants may add a special discount to those Amex account holders who use Membership Reward Points to purchase at one of the merchant’s stores or their online facility.
American Express has a large catalog of items you can purchase with rewards directly from the AMEX website. You can buy golf clubs, a GPS locator, and electric scooter or even a kayak by redeeming your rewards directly on the site.
Special Offers
For those who spend enough to generate massive reward points, 3,000,000 points is required for a flight in a MiG-25 where you will fly at Mach 2.5 (one mile every two seconds). Another amazing special offer is the American Express Space Adventures offer.
This is listed as a limited time offer and just reading about it on the American Express site is a thrill. For 1,000,000 points you can experience zero gravity and for on 780,000 points you can take a subsonic, low-altitude aerobatic flight on an L-39. This event takes place at the Uri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.
The first prize for Membership Award must go to American Express for its sub-orbital Flight. On this flight you are lifted beyond the normal flight levels to the level where outer space begins.
According to the advertisement by American Express, for only 20,000,000 points you will be launched into space, the engines will be cut for five minutes and you’ll experience weightlessness while you gaze at the Earth far below.
If the offer above sounds like science fiction, it may be. American Express has not yet been able to offer the sub-sonic flight though the top gun experience though the other three high-point offers do seem to be available.
Conclusion
For most of us, the AmEx rewards program is valuable because of the ease with which we can use points to buy items we need or want. It is unlikely you will accumulate enough reward points for a journey into space, but it never hurts to dream.
