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#11
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amex membership rewards addicts
On Feb 25, 10:27*pm, "Mr. Travel" wrote:
Zemarv wrote: On Feb 25, 7:30 pm, "Mr. Travel" 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. |
#12
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amex membership rewards addicts
On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:51:05 -0800 (PST), me
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. |
#13
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amex membership rewards addicts
On Mar 2, 2:13*am, " 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. |
#14
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amex membership rewards addicts
Zemarv wrote:
" 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.marke****ch.com/news/stor...s-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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