meya - you are alright! Caught me on that oops...

I started to put..."I will travel with you":cheerup:But, since you put "Dumb enough", I passed on it:laugh:

meya - how did you like my hint about the companion option??? Not very financial but at my age there aren't many days left!

Thanks Eldarwne, Colo, smcc and Kiejon. I was just curious about this issue. I see these high end banks offering incintitives, I wanted to hear how members have spent them. I thought people were actually applying for the card and overlooking the accumulated rewards because they were only interested in having the card...lol! At least you did keep it real smcc

I always plan to use and use my rewards on all the cards that I have and get. Probably the most useless card that I have is my BofA Accelerated Amex. You need to get a ton of points before you could even get to the basic rewards. I think the starting point to be able to redeem points is 13,000 for a $10 credit. I don't use it enough to warrent having the card anymore.

Smart move!

All - I take my American Express Rewards in cash and place them where I can use them: the way I want, when I want, and how I want. Not tied to airlines, hotels, resturants and the like. So each of us will likely have options and we need to fit it best to our own needs and life styles. The companion airfare ticket seems to be noteworthy "if" people really do use that feature (no one is dumb enough to travel with me so the companion option means nothing - of course I am open to the companion idea).

Thanks Eldarwne, Colo, smcc and Kiejon. I was just curious about this issue. I see these high end banks offering incintitives, I wanted to hear how members have spent them. I thought people were actually applying for the card and overlooking the accumulated rewards because they were only interested in having the card...lol! At least you did keep it real smcc!

I know this may be somewhat off your topic, but I was wondering how many of you Amex holders utilize the traveling rewards? I have not heard anyone talk about redeeming any rewards from their cards for a cruise, flying, total points,..etc. So is it the bank name that pulled you toward the card and not the rewards?

I have not used any of my points but I am thinking about it because my anniversary is coming up

I know this may be somewhat off your topic, but I was wondering how many of you Amex holders utilize the traveling rewards? I have not heard anyone talk about redeeming any rewards from their cards for a cruise, flying, total points,..etc. So is it the bank name that pulled you toward the card and not the rewards?

You can redeem the Membership Rewards points directly from the Amex Membership Rewards website. You can "pay with points" for airline tickets.

What I do Meya is when I travel I check the AMEX site to see what specials they have in relation to my Gold Card and see if it fits into my budget. Obviously their discounts are with the more exclusive hotels (which is to be expected) and they give you a $75 daily discount on meals should you decide to stay at one of the hotels listed.

If you use AMEX'S services to plan your vacation then its 3 points for every dollar spent (Gold Premier Rewards) and its 2 points for every dollar spent for gas for your car rental. This also applies to everyday gas purchases.

I'm at 12,000+ points as of this writing and plan on purchasing an airline ticket the latter part of this year and use the points I have accumulated and pay the difference

For me it was the Bank Name, but after having the card and seeing how it just blows Visa Signature (BOA) out of the water, I'm glad I have it. I want the Platinum, but Cnative is right, the AF is excessive.

I just want the Costco AMEX.

What I do Meya is when I travel I check the AMEX site to see what specials they have in relation to my Gold Card and see if it fits into my budget. Obviously their discounts are with the more exclusive hotels (which is to be expected) and they give you a $75 daily discount on meals should you decide to stay at one of the hotels listed.

If you use AMEX'S services to plan your vacation then its 3 points for every dollar spent (Gold Premier Rewards) and its 2 points for every dollar spent for gas for your car rental. This also applies to everyday gas purchases.

I'm at 12,000+ points as of this writing and plan on purchasing an airline ticket the latter part of this year and use the points I have accumulated and pay the difference

For me it was the Bank Name, but after having the card and seeing how it just blows Visa Signature (BOA) out of the water, I'm glad I have it. I want the Platinum, but Cnative is right, the AF is excessive.

I know this may be somewhat off your topic, but I was wondering how many of you Amex holders utilize the traveling rewards? I have not heard anyone talk about redeeming any rewards from their cards for a cruise, flying, total points,..etc. So is it the bank name that pulled you toward the card and not the rewards?

I have not used any of my points from my Platinum to use for travel. I have redeemed some of my points for gift cards. I have redeemed gift cards for Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret and Old Navy.

With my Blue Cash it is a little different. When my cash back anniversery hits in August, I either get a check for the cash back I earned if I have no balance on it or if I do have a balance on it, the cash back gets applied to the balance of my Blue Cash.

I know this may be somewhat off your topic, but I was wondering how many of you Amex holders utilize the traveling rewards? I have not heard anyone talk about redeeming any rewards from their cards for a cruise, flying, total points,..etc. So is it the bank name that pulled you toward the card and not the rewards?

I think Gold is the best overall. For the extra $30 over Green you get the extra status and special events. The Platinum annual fee is excessive. Everytime I log into my Blue account they say I am pre-approved for Platinum.

I do think that the Platinum is a waste unless you travel a lot. The Green card is really basic, but for an AF of $95, what would you expect? Don't get me wrong, the Amex Green is a good card in itself if you don't want a lot of bells and whistles.