The Deal
American Express is offering a discount on redeeming Membership Rewards points for select gift cards to some card holders (you must be logged on to see it – the promotion is targeted, and different people see different brands included).
Generally, it is not a great deal, as their points are far more valuable when transferred to airline partners or used for booking flights via AmexTravel (if you have a Business Platinum card offering 35% rebate in points). However, if you have some “orphaned” points with no better use for them – or if your accounts have been shut down and you hadn’t linked any partner accounts for transfers prior to that – gift card redemption may be your best option now.
If you filter gift card selection on “Promotion” under Categories on their site, and then pick a brand, you will see how many points are required for your selection. For example, card holders who have Apple as one of the options can see the following:
Besides Apple, Saks Fifth Avenue is also a decent deal, while the rest of them are less exciting. To get a better idea, we’ve converted the way they display gift card cost in points into the rate that you’d be receiving per point (in the form of gift cards):
- Apple – $10 to $500 gift cards at 1.0625 cents per point
- Saks Fifth Avenue – $50 to $2000 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
So-so deals, perhaps worth considering if you need any of these as gifts or for personal use (but not really):
- William-Sonoma – $50 to $500 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
- Pottery Barn – $50 to $500 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
- Crate & Barrel – $50 to $100 electronic or $100 to $500 physical cards at 1.111 cents per point
- Nordstrom – $50 to $1000 gift cards at 1.0625 cents per point
- Lululemon – $25 to $200 electronic gift cards (physical are out of stock) at 1.0625 cents per point
- Regal Cinemas – $10 to $50 electronic or $10 to $25 physical cards at 1.0627 cents per point
- Ruth’s Chris Steak House – $50 to $500 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
Terrible deals they should be ashamed of offering due to outrageously low conversion rate:
- American Express gift cards, $25 to $500 or $25 to $1000, depending on the design you select, at a terrible rate of 0.667 cents per point
- Airbnb – $50 to $1000 gift cards at 0.875 cents per point
- Target – $25 to $250 gift cards at 0.875 cents per point
Terrible deals because these brands are perpetually on sale elsewhere:
- Athleta – $25 to $100 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
- Bath & Body Works – $10 to $50 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
- Fanatics – $50 to $150 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
- Gap – $10 to $100 gift cards at 1.25 cents per point
Tips & Ideas
Apple and Saks Fifth Avenue perhaps deserve some consideration, if your account was targeted. Otherwise, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus, neither of which is included in this promotion, are still a better deal at the regular 1.0 cents per point redemption rate (which isn’t a great deal at all, still).