amex membership rewards addicts

On Feb 17, 4:02 pm, Zemarv <elheno....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> points !!
> I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??

How much do you think each point is "worth"? Amex has pretty well
acknowledged that it is right around a penny.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Feb 18, 3:13 pm, me <oconn....DeleteThis@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote:
> On Feb 17, 4:02 pm, Zemarv <elheno....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> > event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> > points !!
> > I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??
>
> How much do you think each point is "worth"? Amex has pretty well
> acknowledged that it is right around a penny.

not when you transfer points to frequent flyer and guest programs it's
not. 3000 amex MR points give you 1000 starpoints, which in turns
saves you 50% on a weekend night at the Sheraton or any starpoint
hotel... average weekend room rate is $350. that's $175 in savings for
only 3000 amex MR points. Get it !
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Zemarv wrote:

> On Feb 18, 3:13 pm, me <oconn....DeleteThis@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote:
>
>>On Feb 17, 4:02 pm, Zemarv <elheno....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
>>>event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
>>>points !!
>>>I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??
>>
>> How much do you think each point is "worth"? Amex has pretty well
>>acknowledged that it is right around a penny.
>
>
> not when you transfer points to frequent flyer and guest programs it's
> not. 3000 amex MR points give you 1000 starpoints, which in turns
> saves you 50% on a weekend night at the Sheraton or any starpoint
> hotel... average weekend room rate is $350. that's $175 in savings for
> only 3000 amex MR points. Get it !

I doubt the average weekend rate is $350 at Sheraton and Starpoint
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Feb 25, 7:14 am, Shawn Hirn <s....DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:
> In article <n5KdnSg10N722yLanZ2dnUVZ_ubin....DeleteThis@comcast.com>,
>  "Mr. Travel" <mtra....DeleteThis@a.a> wrote:
>
> > Zemarv wrote:
>
> > > On Feb 18, 3:13 pm, me <oconn....DeleteThis@slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote:
>
> > >>On Feb 17, 4:02 pm, Zemarv <elheno....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >>>to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> > >>>event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> > >>>points !!
> > >>>I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??
>
> > >>    How much do you think each point is "worth"? Amex has pretty well
> > >>acknowledged that it is right around a penny.
>
> > > not when you transfer points to frequent flyer and guest programs it's
> > > not. 3000 amex MR points give you 1000 starpoints, which in turns
> > > saves you 50% on a weekend night at the Sheraton or any starpoint
> > > hotel... average weekend room rate is $350. that's $175 in savings for
> > > only 3000 amex MR points. Get it  !
>
> > I doubt the average weekend rate is $350 at Sheraton and Starpoint
>
> I don't know if its typical, but I just checked the rates for a weekend
> in April for Starwood's W hotel in Chicago and room rates varied between
> $220 and $275 for the weekend

It's an accounting thing, but as has been discussed around here
before,
if one wouldn't actually pay/buy a room for $220, then the points
aren't
"worth" $220. The points are "worth" the expenditure they are
replacing,
not the one that would never be made to begin with. In this example,
one would be paying $110 to "save" $110. Or they could
just pay the going local rate. The "savings" is the difference
between
$110 and the local going rate.
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In article <n5KdnSg10N722yLanZ2dnUVZ_ubinZ2d RemoveThis @comcast.com>,
"Mr. Travel" <mtravel RemoveThis @a.a> wrote:

> Zemarv wrote:
>
> > On Feb 18, 3:13 pm, me <oconn... RemoveThis @slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote:
> >
> >>On Feb 17, 4:02 pm, Zemarv <elheno... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> >>>event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> >>>points !!
> >>>I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??
> >>
> >> How much do you think each point is "worth"? Amex has pretty well
> >>acknowledged that it is right around a penny.
> >
> >
> > not when you transfer points to frequent flyer and guest programs it's
> > not. 3000 amex MR points give you 1000 starpoints, which in turns
> > saves you 50% on a weekend night at the Sheraton or any starpoint
> > hotel... average weekend room rate is $350. that's $175 in savings for
> > only 3000 amex MR points. Get it !
>
> I doubt the average weekend rate is $350 at Sheraton and Starpoint

I don't know if its typical, but I just checked the rates for a weekend
in April for Starwood's W hotel in Chicago and room rates varied between
$220 and $275 for the weekend.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

me wrote:

> It's an accounting thing, but as has been discussed around here
> before,
> if one wouldn't actually pay/buy a room for $220, then the points
> aren't
> "worth" $220.

Great, but it was claimed the average weekend rate was $350, at all of
the Sharaton brands, which I find extremely doubtful.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Feb 25, 7:30 pm, "Mr. Travel" <mtra....TakeThisOut@a.a> wrote:
> me wrote:
> > It's an accounting thing, but as has been discussed around here
> > before,
> > if one wouldn't actually pay/buy a room for $220, then the points
> > aren't
> > "worth" $220.
>
> Great, but it was claimed the average weekend rate was $350, at all of
> the Sharaton brands, which I find extremely doubtful.

the point was to show the savings you could get and not to comment on
the room rate.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

Zemarv wrote:
> On Feb 25, 7:30 pm, "Mr. Travel" <mtra... RemoveThis @a.a> wrote:
>
>>me wrote:
>>
>>> It's an accounting thing, but as has been discussed around here
>>>before,
>>>if one wouldn't actually pay/buy a room for $220, then the points
>>>aren't
>>>"worth" $220.
>>
>>Great, but it was claimed the average weekend rate was $350, at all of
>>the Sharaton brands, which I find extremely doubtful.
>
>
> the point was to show the savings you could get and not to comment on
> the room rate.

But, if the statement is that you are saving a specific sum of money on
a rate stated to be the average, then it would seem logical for the
average to actually be the average, rather than a higher number that
would cause you to believe your savings are higher than they actually
are. The quite said it was the average weekend rate.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Feb 25, 10:27 pm, "Mr. Travel" <mtra....DeleteThis@a.a> wrote:
> Zemarv wrote:
> > On Feb 25, 7:30 pm, "Mr. Travel" <mtra....DeleteThis@a.a> wrote:
>
> >>me wrote:
>
> >>>  It's an accounting thing, but as has been discussed around here
> >>>before,
> >>>if one wouldn't actually pay/buy a room for $220, then the points
> >>>aren't
> >>>"worth" $220.
>
> >>Great, but it was claimed the average weekend rate was $350, at all of
> >>the Sharaton brands, which I find extremely doubtful.
>
> > the point was to show the savings you could get and not to comment on
> > the room rate.
>
> But, if the statement is that you are saving a specific sum of money on
> a rate stated to be the average, then it would seem logical for the
> average to actually be the average, rather than a higher number that
> would cause you to believe your savings are higher than they actually
> are. The quite said it was the average weekend rate

Well, all of this is basically us talking past each other. My
original
response was a question about what one thought a point was "worth".
An example was given, and you have a point that it may have been
fairly
narrow in its applicability to most of us. Even within the narrow
applicability
that it might have, there is still the question of exactly what one
thinks the
points are "worth". Is the example given really what one would pay?
(i.e.
a rack rate almost always avoided by some kind of discounting). Is it
a rate one would otherwise pay or is one merely "upgrading" where they
might otherwise stay by using the "points". What is THAT value?

When I first started collecting FF miles, I saw that the ticket I
could
buy usually implied that the award ticket I got was worth somewhere
around
2 cents a point. It didn't matter what long distance, first class,
international
ticket I might be able to save for over a period of years. I don't
travel
first class, especially over long distances. When I used them for
upgrades,
I calculated what I would be willing to pay for such an upgrade. THAT
is what
the points were worth to me. My original question to the OP was what
they
thought the points were worth. Impicit in the question, but I guess
needs to
be asked more specifically, is what they would use them for and what
purchase that replaces.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:51:05 -0800 (PST), me
<oconnell RemoveThis @slr.orl.lmco.com> wrote:


> Well, all of this is basically us talking past each other. My
>original
>response was a question about what one thought a point was "worth".

American Express charges $25 to buy 1000 points. However, if you want
an American Express gift card, you get a $50 card for 10,000 points.
However all of the other gift cards from other companies offer a $50
gift card for 5000 points.

Depending on how they are used though, it's possible to get better
value.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

Zemarv wrote:
> to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> points !!
> I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??

What extra dollar?

I don't see an additional cost to use my Amex card to get AMEX points
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

On Mar 2, 2:13 am, "mrtra...@aa.aa" <mrtra... RemoveThis @aa.aa> wrote:
> Zemarv wrote:
> > to all of you out there who are willing to spend the extra dollar or
> > event change their habits in exchange for membership rewards bonus
> > points !!
> > I am becoming a freak about it ... any help here ??
>
> What extra dollar?
>
> I don't see an additional cost to use my Amex card to get AMEX points

This is about bonus points and not regular points for every dollar
spent. Some people rather shop thru the bonus points mall to earn
double points, knowing they are paying for shipping costs for
merchandise that can be purchased from a local retailer. The "extra
dollar" was meant to reflect that. And this is of course only
beneficial in cases where the purchased products are at high value (>
$1000) , in this case, you can assume that you got 1000 points for $8
or $9 shipping costs compared to buying 1000 points for $25 at the
amex website.
 >> Stay informed about: amex membership rewards addicts 

Zemarv <elheno....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
> "mrtra...@aa.aa" <mrtra....TakeThisOut@aa.aa> wrote:
> >
> > What extra dollar?
>
> > I don't see an additional cost to use my Amex card to get AMEX points
>
> This is about bonus points and not regular points for every dollar
> spent. Some people rather shop thru the bonus points mall to earn
> double points, knowing they are paying for shipping costs for
> merchandise that can be purchased from a local retailer. The "extra
> dollar" was meant to reflect that. And this is of course only
> beneficial in cases where the purchased products are at high value (>
> $1000) ...

And also not grossly overpriced (Note that the 'Sharper Image' has
gone Chapter 11):

<http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/bankruptcies-often-leave-
consumers-holding/story.aspx?guid=DCBBEB36-F293-4EDF-
B2DC-1F515E91A746>


Thus said, this does represent one of the many various ways to try to
optimize one's Loyalty program's givebacks, but there's also a lot of
fundamentals to consider before getting that far, such as if you're
putting enough dollars through the card to break-even on its annual
fee.

Here's a really simple chart to illustrate this concept. Its a zero-
fee Discover Card at 1% versus a card that at the time had a $60/year
fee:

http://www.huntzinger.com/dive/sb/regression.jpg

Very roughly speaking, the "lower return but free" card is the better
deal if you're spending less than $6000/year ($500/month) and even
then, its not really all that divergent: you need to be spending
roughly $12K/year ($1000/month) in order to make a $50/year "profit"
between the two cards, which isn't all that much. Plus for those
people that carry a balance, its probably far more beneficial for them
to take the card with the lower interest rate instead.


-hh
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