00:00:00:02 - 00:00:06:03 Speaker 1 Most people think they're using their Amex points the right way, but they're actually leaving a ton of value on the table. 00:00:06:05 - 00:00:12:08 Speaker 2 American Express recently shared how people are really using their points, and honestly, it was kind of painful. 00:00:12:10 - 00:00:16:10 Speaker 1 Yeah, we're talking gift cards, statement credits and pay with points at checkout. 00:00:16:12 - 00:00:28:10 Speaker 2 So today we're breaking down the biggest mistakes people make with their Amex points and how to fix them. 00:00:28:12 - 00:00:32:01 Speaker 1 Hey I'm Chris. Welcome to the Upgraded Points podcast. 00:00:32:03 - 00:00:54:14 Speaker 2 And I'm Katie and today we have some united news. Some bad city news. And then we're going to talk about how people are actually using their American Express points, and maybe some better ways that they can get some more value from those points before we get to that. As always, don't forget to like and subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you are watching or listening. 00:00:54:16 - 00:01:01:20 Speaker 2 And be sure to share us with a travel loving friend. So, Chris, why don't we start off with some bad news from city? 00:01:01:22 - 00:01:26:06 Speaker 1 Unfortunately, I have a devaluation to talk about. City announced that on April 19th of 2026. They will reduce the transfer rates of two of its hotel partners. Choice privileges, which is currently at a 1 to 2 ratio that will drop to 1 to 1.5. And then the preferred hotels I preferred program that is currently at a 1 to 4 ratio. 00:01:26:08 - 00:01:54:03 Speaker 1 That's going to drop to a 1 to 2 ratio. Then see 50% reduction. And that's a big blow to the city transfer partner program. That 50% reduction for preferred hotels. It just it hurts. And yes. And even though that's not you know a program that that maybe we use all the time, it's really good to know that it's there especially for those kind of like off the beaten track, locations because Preferred Hotels has some really nice spots. 00:01:54:05 - 00:02:12:08 Speaker 1 City still has a core and leaders club in Wyndham Wyndham at a 1 to 1. So that's nice. And they recently had a transfer bonus. So there's still some some nice sweet spots in the program. But this unfortunately is a trend that we are seeing. And we predicted back in episode 47. 00:02:12:10 - 00:02:27:03 Speaker 2 Yeah, I wish we were wrong on that one. And it's funny, like you said, like the preferred devaluation. I actually not actually used it, but I like to knowing it was there. It was a very nice, sweet spot of that program that I was going to use someday. 00:02:27:05 - 00:02:30:03 Speaker 1 Me too, me too. Well, you have, and you have a couple more weeks. 00:02:30:03 - 00:02:53:11 Speaker 2 I know I need to go do some preferred hotels research. So let's move on to some more exciting news. United had a really big media event in LA, a couple of weeks ago. At this point, and they introduced a lot of new products. Nick, from the upgraded points team was there to see it all, and there were some new business class products and many tickets and things that were all fine and interesting. 00:02:53:11 - 00:03:17:17 Speaker 2 But I thought the most interesting part that came out of this day was what they called the United Relax Row, and we've seen this from a handful of international, airlines, I think. Was it Air New Zealand I think is pretty well known for having this. But it's it's essentially where a row of three economy seats can they have like a little fold up and they turn into a lie flat bed. 00:03:17:18 - 00:03:18:08 Speaker 1 I love it. 00:03:18:14 - 00:03:38:12 Speaker 2 Which I just think is so cool. So United is actually going to be the first U.S. airline to have this Sky couch concept. And in addition to that ability to actually lay down and be comfortable, you'll get a mattress pad, a blanket, two pillows, and then if you have kids, there's going to be a plush toy and then a little travel kit for families. 00:03:38:13 - 00:04:04:05 Speaker 2 They are, I think, thinking of this as great for families, but like, you could absolutely just be a single person or a couple and like that's going to make economy so much more comfortable. We don't know yet how much they're going to charge. So I think that's going to help determine how interesting this is, because if it's if it's ridiculous and then, you know, maybe not quite as interesting because you can buy business class. 00:04:04:07 - 00:04:17:00 Speaker 2 And we don't know if you can book this with points yet. So hopefully we'll get that new soon. And of course we'll report to that. But keep an eye out for that. I'm excited. I've never flown on one of those those types of seats, so it's something I definitely want to try out. 00:04:17:02 - 00:04:33:17 Speaker 1 Yeah same here. And any parent that has traveled with kids trying to lay on those economy seats, just having a couple extra inches already makes a big deal. So having really goes from the seat to the the back of the seat in front of you, knowing your kid's not going to roll off into the into the crevice there. 00:04:33:19 - 00:04:35:06 Speaker 1 It's really nice. 00:04:35:08 - 00:04:58:19 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, it looks actually pretty comfy. Okay, before we get to our topic today, I have to throw in a little tease for our episode next week. So the upgraded Point podcast is turning one. We're very excited about that. So tune in next week on our episode that's dropping on April 13th, and we have some really big giveaways to help celebrate. 00:04:58:19 - 00:05:06:08 Speaker 2 I am not going to tell you what they are, but I'm going to tell you to tune in next. Tune in next week. You don't want to miss it. 00:05:06:10 - 00:05:16:13 Speaker 1 And there are some good ones in there. All right, I get enter. Yeah, well, I don't know. Maybe you can write in that fake email again. Is Katie. 00:05:16:15 - 00:05:17:08 Speaker 2 The other Katie. 00:05:17:13 - 00:05:39:11 Speaker 1 The other Katie. All right. Well let's dive into today's topic. And this is about mistakes using American Express points. And we can all agree that Amex points are one of the most powerful currencies out there, but only if you use them the right way. And Katie, I don't know, did you see that email that Amex sent out a little while ago? 00:05:39:13 - 00:05:43:04 Speaker 2 I did, and it was so disappointing. 00:05:43:06 - 00:06:03:03 Speaker 1 That's a good way to phrase it. Disappointing, you know, for our fellow fellow travelers out there, for those who didn't see the email, go, go check your your inbox. Amex sent out a summary of how members, use their points over the past year years, actually, from September 2024 through August 2025. And it gives you your stats there. 00:06:03:05 - 00:06:14:03 Speaker 1 For me personally, 100% of my points were sent to transfer partners, and I would have assumed that that would have been the most popular uses for the points. 00:06:14:05 - 00:06:17:10 Speaker 2 And you would have been wrong. 00:06:17:12 - 00:06:46:07 Speaker 1 Yeah. Shocker there. Crystal's wrong again. But no, let me read the top three uses for American Express membership Rewards points last year. Starting at number three. Redeeming points for statement credit. Number two, using points at checkout. Number one most used was redeeming Amex Membership Rewards points for gift cards and yeah, that's a great way to great. 00:06:46:09 - 00:07:08:11 Speaker 1 Exactly. There was in the email there was a little spotlight section and it said card members like you redeemed an average of 50,000 points to receive a $300 statement credit. And no, those are not like me. I would spend those 50,000 points many other places before redeeming for a statement credit. 00:07:08:13 - 00:07:29:17 Speaker 2 Yeah, definitely not like me either. I had never redeemed a single Amex point for a statement credit or a gift card. So. So yeah, that was that was pretty shocking. So let's dive into to those and also some other ways that people are really losing value from the American Express program and then maybe offer some ideas for some better ways to use those points. 00:07:29:19 - 00:07:51:20 Speaker 1 Excellent idea Katie. Now I'll kick things off with transferring points. Now we can all agree that transferring points is the best, if not one of the best ways to use your points. But transferring your points without a specific plan is where you can start to lose that value. Part of the beauty of programs like Amex is the flexibility. 00:07:51:22 - 00:08:13:01 Speaker 1 Transferring your points without a specific plan takes away that flexibility, because once you transfer your points to a different airline or hotel program, they're stuck there and you can't get them back to to Amex. And once you transfer those points over, they can be devalued at any time. So you have this really flexible currency. It sent it to a program like, I don't know, Hilton for example. 00:08:13:01 - 00:08:38:07 Speaker 1 They're stuck with Hilton. If Hilton decides to change their that how they value their points. Now those whatever 100,000 points you sent from Amex are worth even less. I get it. It can be tempting when you see these transfer bonuses come out and it can look like a really good deal, but unless you are very familiar with the program or you have a very specific redemption in mind, it's usually not worth the risk to transfer those points. 00:08:38:09 - 00:08:44:11 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, I would say 99 times out of 100, speculatively transferring is generally not a good idea. 00:08:44:14 - 00:08:45:18 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00:08:45:20 - 00:09:15:16 Speaker 2 Okay. So number two, and this is one that I think is really common. And that's getting caught up in that hype. Without analyzing the benefits for your situation. It is so easy to see a new card or a new offer. And like, let's be real, Amex has some of the best welcome offers, some of the flashiest cards that come onto the market with such a splash that every single website, including us, writes just nonstop about them. 00:09:15:22 - 00:09:37:00 Speaker 2 We're guilty. That's just that's the way it goes. Yeah. And it can get really, really hard to not get caught up in that. It's easy to listen to our show or to read our website or some other, you know, blog out there and hear us talk about how good let's say, the Amex Platinum is. And it still might not be the right card for you. 00:09:37:00 - 00:10:03:22 Speaker 2 It could be the most perfect card for me, but that doesn't mean it's right for your situation. So regardless of how much we're hyping up these cards, because we do generally think they are amazing cards for a lot of people, you really need to look at the benefits, analyze them against your personal situation, and then weigh those against the annual fee to really make a smart choice as to if that is a good card or a good program for you. 00:10:04:00 - 00:10:27:00 Speaker 1 Well said Katie, for those of you and those of us that already have an American Express card in your wallet, you need to take advantage of these benefits, especially Amex offers. And something that we see a lot is that people just forget to activate these Amex offers. Your account may be targeted for an incredible deal, but if you don't go in and activate that offer, you're not going to be able to get the credits for it. 00:10:27:05 - 00:10:52:15 Speaker 1 So we love to use tools like save wise or card pointers because they will do this automatically for you. It's such a great feeling when you make a purchase and then you receive an email saying that you've activate that. You've used an Amex offer that you had no idea even existed. These Amex offers are great ways to save money on things you already going to spend, so make sure you activate those along those same lines. 00:10:52:17 - 00:11:17:09 Speaker 1 Keeping track of your benefits. Now Amex cards have become very, coupon and benefit heavy and that it's kind of how they justify the large annual fee but not taking advantage of these coupons and these benefits. That's how you end up losing. It may make sense for you to keep a spreadsheet so you can easily see you know, what you need to spend and how much you've redeemed over the course of a year. 00:11:17:11 - 00:11:30:20 Speaker 1 Or again, use a tool like card pointers where it makes it super easy to track these things. And just don't forget that you need to activate some of these benefits. Just like the Amex offers. Need to activate some of these benefits before you use them as well. 00:11:30:22 - 00:11:45:18 Speaker 2 And that actually kind of goes back to that. What we were just talking about is you have to look at these cards, how they relate to your personal situation. If you are someone who knows, you're just not going to keep track of all those benefits, you're going to be losing value by getting a card like the Amex Platinum or the Amex Gold. 00:11:45:23 - 00:11:52:15 Speaker 2 If you're not taking advantage of those, it's just not worth it. So that's it's all, really important to look at. 00:11:52:17 - 00:12:05:07 Speaker 1 That's a great point. And let's take a break now. And when we come back, we'll discuss booking through the travel portal as well as answer some listener questions. 00:12:05:09 - 00:12:15:13 Speaker 1 You. Hey, real quick, before we jump back in, if you're listening to this podcast, you're exactly the kind of person we build our free newsletter for. 00:12:15:15 - 00:12:25:17 Speaker 2 We break down the best credit card offers, transfer bonuses, award alerts, and travel news that actually matters. No fluff, no spam. Just the stuff we'd text a friend if something big dropped. 00:12:25:19 - 00:12:30:16 Speaker 1 A lot of the deals we talk about on the show don't last long. The newsletter is where we fly those fast. 00:12:30:18 - 00:12:39:11 Speaker 2 It's totally free, and you can sign up at upgraded points.com/newsletter. 00:12:39:12 - 00:12:58:06 Speaker 2 You. Okay. Welcome back. So the next mistake that we want to talk about is redeeming points through the Amex travel portal. And I've talked to so many people over the years who think that that's actually the only way to use points for travel. 00:12:58:08 - 00:12:59:04 Speaker 1 No. 00:12:59:06 - 00:13:15:03 Speaker 2 I know it's sad, but, you know, if you're not in this world, in this points and miles world, it can be easy to miss that you can transfer these. And, you know, maybe you don't know how to use those. And you just think, I'm going to use my points in the travel portal and I'm going to be smart. 00:13:15:05 - 00:13:44:12 Speaker 2 And the problem is when you're booking through the travel portal, which is Amex travel.com, you're going to get a fixed value, you're going to get $0.01 per point for flights and Amex Hotels and Resorts, which is fine, I guess. But you're only getting 7/10 of a point for hotels, cars and cruises. And yes, I will admit it is way easier to do that than to learn how to use some of the transfer partners and, you know, look for award space and all of that. 00:13:44:13 - 00:14:04:06 Speaker 2 I absolutely get that. But you are giving up some major value. So I wanted to give you a really easy, simple example to illustrate the value that you would give up by booking through Amex Travel. So you could take 60,000 points and book a $600 flight through Amex Travel, which seems on the surface like, hey, you're getting some solid value. 00:14:04:10 - 00:14:30:16 Speaker 2 Sure. And yes, it is. It's decent value. I'm not going to argue that, but you could take those same 60,000 points, transfer them to a partner like Air Canada, and book a business class flight from Boston to Amsterdam that would otherwise cost $6,300. So you can either book a $600 flight, which I'm pretty sure is going to be in economy, probably to like Omaha or nothing against Omaha, by the way. 00:14:30:18 - 00:14:52:20 Speaker 2 Or you can take those same points and book a flight to Europe in business class that cost over $6,000. So that's just one example to kind of show you that if you do put a little bit of effort into learning about those transfer partners, and you'll do that by listening to this fine podcast, you can get a ton of value without too much more work. 00:14:52:22 - 00:15:18:21 Speaker 2 There is a big exception, and that is if you are booking your preferred airline and you have the Amex Business Platinum card, they have a benefit called the 35% points rebate. And when you choose your airline and you book through the Amex Travel portal with points and you have that card, you will you will, get the $0.01 per point in value, but then you will get a 35% of your points back. 00:15:18:23 - 00:15:47:12 Speaker 2 And that works out to just slightly over 1.5 cents per point in value, which is actually pretty solid. Combine that with the fact that on the airline side, that booking looks like a cash booking. So you are going to earn airline miles and whatever loyalty currency that that airline offers for their program. So you can actually look at it as you're getting more than 1.5 cents per point in value, you know, you're getting that for Amex, but then you're also earning points. 00:15:47:14 - 00:15:55:16 Speaker 2 So that is actually a situation where I think it can actually make sense to book flights through that Amex travel portal. 00:15:55:18 - 00:16:15:07 Speaker 1 Yeah, that that's a nice little rebate there. And the fact that it it it shows that you're paying cash on the airline side. That's a really nice parking spot. And anyone chasing status or earning those miles as well, it's a good way too good way to stack that as well. I will, talk a little bit about using points for cashback statement credits. 00:16:15:07 - 00:16:34:08 Speaker 1 And please don't do this. Gift cards now, American Express, they are very transparent about what your points are worth. They're not trying to take advantage of you. But they would like you to use your points for these other things. It makes it super easy to do so. And you can see all of this right on the American Express website. 00:16:34:08 - 00:16:52:17 Speaker 1 We'll throw some screenshots up on while I'm talking. But you can it'll show you can use your points first and create a point $0.06 per point. Okay, fine. If you have millions of points and you just want to wipe away your your statement credit or wipe away your balance and you don't care about travel, fine. That's not how I would use them. 00:16:52:17 - 00:17:16:12 Speaker 1 That's how we recommend using them. Alternatively, if you wanted that cash, you could put those points directly into a checking account. And so those 10,000 points, for example, they be worth $80. Or if you have Business Platinum card, you can transfer a 10,000 points for $100. And that's capped up to 1 million points per year. Moving on. You can pay with points. 00:17:16:12 - 00:17:42:16 Speaker 1 You can use select retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Dell and PayPal that will come at a 0.7 cent, per point value. And now there is a rare exception. Sometimes we'll see these promotions with Amazon where you can use one. Or maybe the last one was 751 points. And you can get up to 50 or $75 off of a purchase that can make sense for that one situation. 00:17:42:16 - 00:18:02:19 Speaker 1 One scenario. But outside of that, not worth your points. And then you can redeem points for gift cards at $0.01 per points. So just like that, 100,010 thousand, point offer for the business platinum, you could get $100 in gift cards for 10,000 points. Again, maybe not. 00:18:02:21 - 00:18:24:12 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. And it's, you know, it was like, I knew that not everyone maximized points like us, but I was really surprised when that email came out with, you know, the amount of redemptions that are happening on those generally lower value, options. So, yeah, hopefully, you'll, you'll learn to use your points to a little bit better value. 00:18:24:12 - 00:18:42:14 Speaker 2 And if you know what, if you've learned the ways and you understand transfer partners and all that and you still say, you know what, I just want to use them for gift cards, by all means, go forth and conquer. But you should understand the program a little bit more. And I think a lot of people don't. And that's sort of where this the, the problem lies. 00:18:42:14 - 00:18:49:09 Speaker 2 So, obviously you do what you want with your points, but we want you to get the most value out of your points and gift cards. 00:18:49:11 - 00:18:51:13 Speaker 1 Not it's all said. 00:18:51:15 - 00:19:16:14 Speaker 2 Okay, we got a couple of questions this week, so let's move on. First one is from Julie and we got this on YouTube. And Julie starts out love your podcast. Thank you so much Julie. We appreciate that. Can you talk about what to do with Miles in a one off airline? For example, my husband and I took Eva to Singapore last year, and both of us now have about 20,000 miles and we won't be flying them again. 00:19:16:14 - 00:19:21:08 Speaker 2 And I'm not finding partners for us. What should Julie do? 00:19:21:10 - 00:19:51:07 Speaker 1 That's a tough one. I think before we get into, you know, all of your options, I think it's good for other listeners to just understand that even though you're flying on a on an airline, maybe you're not planning on flying again. You can still send those whatever earned miles to a partner airline. So, for example, on this Eva flight, Julie could have put in her United Mileageplus number, and then she would have earned United miles on this flight instead of Eva a miles. 00:19:51:13 - 00:20:09:02 Speaker 1 So. Can't go in the past. Can't fix that. But moving forward, that's a good way to, you know, make sure you don't get stuck with these bounces in in random places. We have some great guides on where to, credit your airline miles. And there's a great website where to credit.com. Now you can just plug in, what airline you're flying. 00:20:09:02 - 00:20:38:19 Speaker 1 What what seat you're in, and it'll tell you what your what kind of, mileage you're looking at. That being said, you each have 20,000 points. So Eva is a Star Alliance member. So in theory, you should be able to book United and other partners. That being said, the Eva award booking process is really hard, and that's probably why you're not finding any partner award availability, because they they don't make it easy. 00:20:38:21 - 00:20:58:13 Speaker 1 On top of that, the rates are not very good. And they pass on, surcharges for partner flights. So the I'm going to say this, I can't believe I'm saying it, but the juice may not be worth the squeeze. I don't know if it's going to be worth it for you to go and spend hours and hours and hours trying to get something and then still pay crazy surcharges. 00:20:58:15 - 00:21:18:10 Speaker 1 Just to use these miles. Now, if you would like to fly them again, that's a whole different story. You can fly back to Asia at 50,000, points each way, miles each way. And you can transfer your Capital One and city points right over to Eva. So you can really top off. And you can you and her husband can fly back. 00:21:18:12 - 00:21:41:20 Speaker 1 And enjoy another trip, or a little bit more legwork because their site is not very user friendly. You can actually combine your two sets of points. You could put 40,000 points into one account, and then really just top it off for 10,000 points and get your self a flight to to Asia. Now this is going to be terrible advice, especially for this episode. 00:21:41:22 - 00:22:00:09 Speaker 1 But if you're going to just let them expire, just log in and redeem them for something. You can redeem points for hotels, for other travel stuff, but log into your account. There's a whole section there of other stuff you can use your miles for if you're going to let them expire. Do that. But I would try to book another flight to Asia. 00:22:00:09 - 00:22:03:06 Speaker 1 I think that would be probably the best use of them. 00:22:03:08 - 00:22:06:23 Speaker 2 I love it. We're telling people don't redeem for gift cards and merchandise. 00:22:06:23 - 00:22:08:05 Speaker 1 On this episode. 00:22:08:07 - 00:22:10:16 Speaker 2 But in this situation, maybe you. 00:22:10:16 - 00:22:29:07 Speaker 1 Should. All right, well, I don't want to end it on that. And the episode on that answer. So I'm going to read you one more question, Katie. We got this from Genie, in the email, and she says, I have an Amex Gold card that I want to cancel because I just can't justify the annual fee anymore. 00:22:29:09 - 00:22:33:16 Speaker 1 What's the best way to use up my points before I cancel so I don't lose them? 00:22:33:18 - 00:22:54:06 Speaker 2 Excellent. Yeah. Great question. And I'm really glad that you're thinking about each of your cards every year. Or at least I'm assuming you are, because you're analyzing this card. So that's a really great way to make sure that you're you're getting the benefit. So the first thing I would do is go on to your Amex site. You can do this over chat, ask for a retention offer. 00:22:54:08 - 00:23:15:03 Speaker 2 A lot of times you can get them to waive the fee, or you can get sort of a mini sign on bonus or a mini welcome bonus. And you know they'll offer certain amount of points for spending a certain amount. And sometimes that makes it worth it to keep the card. Maybe not. Sometimes it might not. But it can't hurt to ask. 00:23:15:05 - 00:23:35:14 Speaker 2 So usually in this situation, I would tell someone to downgrade to a no annual fee option, because if Janie just cancels that Amex Gold card, all those points are gone. And we don't want that to happen. With the Amex Gold, there is no no annual fee option to downgrade to. There is the Amex Green. It has $150 annual fee, so a little bit less than that. 00:23:35:14 - 00:23:56:14 Speaker 2 Amex Gold. But you know, if the benefits aren't worth that, that's not going to be great. There is a clear credit on that Amex Green. So if clear is something that you would pay for, the Amex Green actually makes a lot of sense and it does have some good categories. It kind of reminds me of the old, Chase Sapphire, and it gets three points on travel, transit, and dining. 00:23:56:16 - 00:24:17:03 Speaker 2 So that could be an option that maybe you would decide it's worth it to keep. If you have a business, there is the, no annual fee blue Business Plus card, and that card earned two points per dollar. If you actually want to use it to spend. But if not, if you have that open before you cancel your Amex Gold, your points are fine. 00:24:17:03 - 00:24:44:16 Speaker 2 They stay parked in your Amex account and you can you can go a long merry way. If there are no other options. You don't like the Amex Green, you don't have a business and you have a stack of points. You could. And it's really terrible advice for this episode. You could speculatively transfer. You know, we want you to get some value out of those points. 00:24:44:16 - 00:25:11:16 Speaker 2 If there is a transfer partner that you have used a lot in the past, you're very comfortable with, you were very confident that you could use those points within maybe the next year you could transfer those points. And as a last, last resort, you could do any of those things that we talked about in the beginning of the episode to not do so, you know, getting, transferring or getting the statement credit with those cards or buying a gift card. 00:25:11:18 - 00:25:27:01 Speaker 2 Again, last resort. But if none of the other options work and you really do want to cancel that card, you want to get the value from those points. So, so yeah, go back and listen to everything we said not to do. And those would be your options. 00:25:27:03 - 00:25:29:15 Speaker 1 I really rounded off the episode that I know. 00:25:29:15 - 00:25:55:11 Speaker 2 Right? Yeah. It's funny how that worked out. Okay. Well that's going to do it for us this week. Be sure to join us next week. April 13th is when next week's episode drops for our one year anniversary celebration and our giveaways. You will not want to miss out if you have a question that you would like us to answer on air, you can email us at podcast at Upgraded points.com. 00:25:55:13 - 00:26:09:09 Speaker 2 And don't forget to share this podcast with a travel loving friend and go on to YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you're watching listening. Leave us some feedback. Give us a rating, we would really appreciate it and we will see you next week for a one year anniversary.