The Deal Mommy

What is going on in blog land? I’m not a ranter but for the 2nd time in two weeks I find myself stunned by what I’m reading by a well regarded “expert”. Last week it was Christopher Elliott’s “advice” to cut up your loyalty program cards and now we’re subjected to this:

Johnny Jet presents: Points for Presents: Using Membership Rewards Points for Holiday Shopping

I’ve certainly got nothing against making a buck and am pretty transparent with my affiliate relationships.  If American Express offers a sponsorship opportunity, I can see where you wouldn’t want to turn it down.

Here’s my problem: this marketing effort demonstrates how much money American Express saves by encouraging cardholders to use their Membership Rewards points in the WORST POSSIBLE WAY…merchandise redemption.  There’s a reason American Express has a budget for all of these paid experts…the money they save by convincing members to get that telescope or Garmin with points saves them literally MILLIONS of Dollars every year. Who pays? You do!

Johnny Jet is successful and respected in his field, and I’m a regular follower on Twitter. I love the “where am I?” airport game, who doesn’t? However, encouraging folks to literally throw away their Membership Rewards points on awful redemptions is a sad way to go.

Take #1 on the list: Bushnell 789961 Voyager Sky Tour Refractor Telescope for 25,500 points.  Amazon has it for $207.41, or a redemption value of 81/100 of a penny.

#2 is even worse: Maui Jim 527-02 Black nakalele Rimless Sunglasses Polarised for 35,700 points. Amazon has those for $231.98, or 65/100 of a penny.

But they both pale to #3: the Garmin nüvi 50LM 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with Lifetime Maps at a jaw dropping 29,370 points. The Garmin sells for $166.99 for a redemption value less than 6/10 a penny per point (.0056 if you’re curious)!

How can anyone suggest this redemption with a straight face?

#4, redeeming for spending on Amazon, is almost as bad, wanting to charge me 9,750 points for a $69 Kindle.

I will give partial credit for the suggestion of hotel gift cards (#5 on the list), but take away credit for not mention that American Express often has promotions where they discount cards to a much better value ratio.

I get it. Not everyone loves to travel. But even if you don’t want to use your points for airline bonuses (the BEST way to use your MR points, if you’re curious), there are many options that don’t rip you off as badly as redeeming those points for the merchandise in their catalog. You can redeem them for gift cards to over 30 locations at a minimum value of 1 penny a point.

Here’s the bottom line: You should not redeem any Membership Rewards at a value of less than a penny a point. I don’t care how much you want an item, you are always better served by redeeming your points elsewhere. How about for a gift card to the the store that sells an item you want to gift? That way you get to have your points and save them too.

I have to think that even Johnny Jet would tell you so.

UPDATE 12/2: I heard from Johnny Jet (extremely promptly after my post was published) and he did respond to my concerns. It would have been very easy for him to ignore me as a troll, but he did listen which I think shows a lot of class.

I see that he has added some language about this gift cards, etc. and that it is a sponsored post, which I do appreciate.

However, my original advice stands: until AMEX fixes the point levels to something close to a penny a point, redeeming points for merchandise is a terrible idea, no matter who tells you so!