The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Advertiser disclosure
The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
News
This Amex cardmember is sitting on 11 million points: Here's 6 fun ways to redeem them
Katie Genter is a digital nomad who has traveled full time since June 2017. She writes and edits stories about points and miles, and loyalty programs, often letting her personal experiences color these stories.
February 12, 2021 • 11 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
Related stories
Quick summary
The article explores the risks and possibilities of accumulating a large balance of transferable rewards points, using an example of over 11 million points.
Holding points for extended periods is risky due to potential program devaluations and account closures, making points a poor long-term investment.
Various high-value redemption options are discussed, including hundreds of premium airline awards, extended luxury hotel stays, and large quantities of gift cards or cash equivalents.
The piece emphasizes the importance of timely redemptions to maximize value before potential devaluations occur.
What to consider
Transferring points to airline or hotel partners can yield higher value, but redemption rates and availability vary by program and timing.
Some hotel loyalty programs offer benefits like free nights on longer stays, but these perks may have restrictions or require elite status.
Gift card and cash-out redemptions typically provide lower value per point compared to travel-focused redemptions, and some options may have caps or reduced rates.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of how to maximize a large rewards balance across different travel and non-travel redemption strategies.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Many travelers save up transferrable credit card rewards to redeem them for an epic trip. And, many of us are sitting on a stash that only continues to grow as we've halted or slowed travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
But, one small business owner took points and miles hoarding to an entirely different level. A few days ago, a Twitter user posted a screenshot of a friend's American Express Membership Rewards account with 11,207,702 points.
TPG values Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each. So, based on TPG's valuations, this individual is sitting on about $224,154 worth of points. However, depending on how this small business owner eventually redeems these points, they could have a much higher or lower value.
I didn't personally confirm the validity of this screenshot. But, the validity isn't all that important for the purposes of this article. After all, I thought it would be fun to consider how different people would redeem over 11 million Amex points. But first, let's discuss why you generally don't want to hoard points and miles.
Granted, hoarding transferrable rewards such as American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards isn't quite as bad as hoarding airline miles or hotel points. After all, the value of your airline miles or hotel points could get slashed in half (or worse) overnight with one program's changes. But, you'll still likely have some good redemption options with transferrable rewards even if one program removes partners or some partners devalue their awards.
You could fly 127 round trips in United's Polaris business class. (Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)
The immediate response by several people in the points and miles community considered just how many business or first class award flights you could get with 11 million Amex Membership Rewards points. For example, TPG Points and Miles Editor Ariana Arghandewal tweeted, "This is not ok. You could book 100+ international J/F awards with these points." And TPG Director of Travel Content Summer Hull noted you could book "125 RT business class awards to Europe via ANA" with this stockpile of miles.
14 nights in the Conrad Bora Bora Nui's presidential overwater villa
(Photo by Summer Hull/The Points Guy)
When discussing how to spend over 11 million American Express Membership Rewards points, TPG's Summer Hull also mentioned the Conrad Bora Bora Nui's 3,229 square foot presidential overwater villa. This multi-level villa sleeps up to six guests and features two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sauna, an infinite pool and a personal butler.
However, you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio. So, if you transferred 10,738,000 Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors, you'd get 21,476,000 Hilton points. And, you could redeem 21,476,000 Hilton Honors points for 14 nights in the Conrad Bora Bora Nui's presidential overwater villa. To put this in perspective, you'd need to pay $85,360 for this 14-night stay on random dates I selected.
Emotions Puerto Plata is bookable as an Ascend Hotel Collection property (Photo by JT Genter/The Points Guy)
When I decided to write this article, I initially thought of when my husband JT and I spent a month at an all-inclusive resort using Choice Privileges points. Although we only paid 8,000 Choice Privileges points per night to stay at the Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata during hurricane season, the price has since skyrocketed to 30,000 Choice Privileges points per night. Even so, at 30,000 points per night and a 1:1 transfer ratio when transferring Amex points to Choice Privileges, you'd be able to spend 373 nights.
However, Hilton Honors also has several all-inclusive properties. And, as discussed above, you can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio. Plus, you can get every fifth night free (up to four per stay) when you're a Hilton Honors elite and book a standard room reward using points. Assuming you stay in 20-night increments at the all-inclusive Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort when standard room rewards are 40,000 points per night, you could get up to 35 20-night stays (which equates to 700 nights).
You can transfer 11,207,700 Amex Membership Rewards points to 22,415,400 Hilton Honors points thanks to the 1:2 transfer ratio. Each 20-night stay would cost 160,000 points, assuming all nights of the 20-night stay price at 10,000 points per night and you have Hilton Honors Silver status or higher. So, you could get up to 140 20-night stays from 22,400,000 Hilton Honors points, which equates to up to 2,800 nights. That's over seven years' worth of stays -- though of course, you can't actually book out that far.
TPG Executive Editorial Director Scott Mayerowitz said he would "redeem them for $25 Olive Garden gift cards that I would hand out to everybody in Times Square." He was likely joking, but you can redeem Amex Membership Rewards for Olive Garden gift cards at a rate of one cent per point. As such, 11,207,702 Membership Rewards points could get you 4,483 physical $25 Olive Garden gift cards that together total over $112k worth of all you can eat soup, pasta and breadsticks.
Of course, there are many other types of gift cards available. One Twitter user responded to the original thread, "That’s a lot of Home Depot gift cards." Indeed, it would be a lot of Home Depot gift cards, which are also available at a rate of one cent per point. Assuming you went for $1,000 gift cards, you could get 112 $1,000 gift cards, which would be worth $112,000 total.
However, these redemptions are purely theoretical. It's unclear whether Amex has a cap on how many gift cards you can redeem points for within a specific time. Plus, not all gift cards are available at a rate of one cent per point (some give as low as 0.5 cents per point). Carefully consider your redemption rate and whether gift cards are how you want to use your Membership Rewards points before you redeem.
You can generally redeem American Express Membership Rewards points to cover your card charges at a rate of 0.6 cents per point. At this rate, 11,207,702 Membership Rewards points could cover $67,246 of card charges. But, some cardmembers can cash out at a better rate.
Specifically, if you have The American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab and opt to invest your rewards, you can redeem points to your linked Schwab brokerage account at a rate of 1.25 cents each. At this rate, 11,207,702 Membership Rewards points could become an investment of $140,096 with Schwab.
The information for the American Express Platinum Card for Schwab has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Small-business spending on cards like The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express can quickly generate many points. It's unclear how long it took this individual with over 11 million Amex Membership Rewards points to rack them up. But, his or her substantial point balance is a good reminder for the rest of us to use our points and miles once the coronavirus pandemic is behind us. After all, points and miles usually only go down in value and there's plenty of ways to put them to great use.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
