Comments on: $250 from American Express Gold Rewards Card

By: Louise Kreifels

Louise Kreifels — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:59:09 +0000

Has anyone had any experience with an AMEX offer of two free airline tickets for opening an account and charging at least $500 in Jan and Feb of 2009? I got this card and did the appropriate charging but am wondering if I will have a problem collecting on the offer.

By: James

James — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:59:31 +0000

I applied for this card and did indeed get the reward. The 25,000 points showed up only a couple of weeks after my first purchase. They say you can get 1 free round trip domestic airline ticket, but I found that if you convert the points into Continental airline miles, you can get two round trip tickets for free, an $800 dollar value. this was well worth it.

By: nickel

nickel — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:57:09 +0000

Joan, the “can” refers to the fact that you won’t get the bonus points in return for a cash advance, balance transfer, or the like. You need to make an actual purchase.

By: Joan

Joan — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:04:45 +0000

I also find this too good to believe. With the verbage “25,000 points _can_ be earned,” it sounds like there’s a qualifier in small print somewhere.

By: Patrick Szalapski

Patrick Szalapski — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:39:14 +0000

How much of a statement credit will 25,000 points get you?

By: nickel

nickel — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:22:37 +0000

Pam, you’re mistaken. You get 25k points with your first purchase. Here’s the scoop straight for the application form:

“Upon the Basic Cardmember’s first purchase, a one time bonus of 25,000 points can be earned toward the Basic Business Gold Rewards Cardmember’s Membership Rewards® account and may appear as separate credits of 5,000 and 20,000 bonus points.”

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:45:54 +0000

Here is how I understand the 25,000 reward bonus points, from AmEx’s website (in addition to the one point you earn for each dollar spent):

“The Business Gold Rewards Card rewards you every year with bonus points for your spending:
5,000 bonus points when you spend $20,000 in a year
20,000 additional bonus points when you spend $50,000 in a year”

Doesn’t sound like such a sweet deal to me.

By: nickel

nickel — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:42:32 +0000

James: Nobody says you have to run up a balance… Theoretically, you could just use the card for a minor purchase, pocket the reward, and then pay off the small balance and be done with it.

By: James

James — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 03:43:19 +0000

Hi Nickle,

The only problem with this plan is that most people aren’t smart about paying off their balances. Its a good idea, but statistically speaking most people can’t “follow the rules”.

Best,

James

By: nickel

nickel — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:44:47 +0000

Rogers Place, you’re absolutely right… If you follow the rules, you can get your hands on a bunch of free stuff.

By: Rogers Place

Rogers Place — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 03:17:32 +0000

In order for these “ploys” from the credit card companies to work in your favor, one needs to pay the charged amount in full faithfully when the bill comes.

Credit card companies offer these incentives hoping that as an average debt holder you will just pay the minimum. By doing what these companies ant you to do, the interest they get from you usually exceeds the value of your gift.

Pay your balance in full everytime and your free gifts will actually be free.

By: Susanna a.k.a. Cheap Like Me

Susanna a.k.a. Cheap Like Me — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 20:23:36 +0000

That sounds like a good deal. I just got the same offer in the mail with a huge fat application to let me know how very special I am … so special, in fact, that they were willing to give me this deal for an annual fee of just $250 — or was it $400? Either way, I realized I could just *buy* the plane ticket instead!