The Offer
Direct Link (must be logged in to see discounted rates)
Amex is offering a 25% sale on redemption of Membership Rewards points for merchant e-gift cards. For example, $100 gift card will cost 7,500 points instead of 10,000 points. The sale rate nets you 1.33 cents-per-points instead of the usual 1 cent-per-point on gift cards.
Here’s the list of gift cards that are part of the sale:
- Banana Republic
- Bath & Body Works
- Chili’s
- Crate & Barrel
- Gap
- Legal Sea Foods
- Nike
- Old Navy
- Pottery Barn
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- The Cheesecake Factory
- The Home Depot
- Victoria’s Secret
- West Elm
- Williams-Sonoma
The Fine Print
- Sale is only valid when choosing the electronic gift card option, not physical delivery
- Valid until June 27, 2016
Our Verdict
Seems like this offer is working the same for everyone and isn’t targeted – let us know if you see something different.
Of course, it’s possible to get a better value from Membership Rewards points when redeeming for travel, but MR points are easy to earn and challenging to redeem, leaving some of us willing to redeem them other ways at lower values.
I’d guess Home Depot is the best deal here since it’s hard to get those at a significant discount elsewhere.
HT: Milesbriefs
Wife and I both have Bus Plat we picked up same time last year. Her account has the discount and mine does not. I also picked up a Bus Delta and Bus Gold 3 months ago, so perhaps that is why I don’t have the discount?
Might turn some of her 175K into HD. We have miles coming out of our ears. Carpeted daughter’s house 4 years ago with discounted HD cards from Amex MR. LOL.
Argh… where did the Home Depot gift cards go? I don’t see them anymore.
Hmmm…. that was strange… they are back now. Amex is playing head games with me.
I believe the electronic Home Depot gift card only works for online orders. Can anyone confirm this?
Usually, e-gift cards come with printable vouchers that you can print out and use in-store, but I can’t confirm positively.
Update: the Amex site indicates that it will work in-store.
“To redeem in-store:
1. If you choose to redeem from your mobile device, inform the cashier at checkout. Select this eGift Card and show the cashier the barcode to scan. If the barcode can not be scanned, ask the cashier to enter in the eGift Card number. 2. If you choose to print this page then the eGift Card number and PIN must be legible to redeem. Present the printed eGift Card to the cashier at time of payment.”
Can confirm that it works in store. All I do is take a picture of the card number, PIN and the customer service rep just types it in with no hassle.
The Cheesecake Factory is 2941 for a $25 card. wth?
Nothing here. In fact, Cheesecake Factory requires 5,882 points for the $50 card.
No soup for me. PRG + BGR = 0 Discount
Anyone to elaborate on how MR points are easy to earn? For example, over UR/TY points? I always feel Amex cards have tight churning restriction, limited acceptance, and moderate earning rate, and therefore MR points are not particularly easy to earn.
I think just the volume of MR earning cards makes it “easy” to earn. If you include both personal and business cards, there are probably easilly 10+ cards with decent sign up bonuses (25k+), compared to Chase which I can only name like 4 (CSP, Freedom, FU, Ink+) with some downgrade options added in (but no sign up bonuses for downgrades).
And with Chase’s 5/24 rule which basically means you cant churn any UR earning cards unless you wait 2 years, and rumors that Amex might relax some of its churning rules, I definitely think Amex has more earning potential going for it. Though most people find UR much more valuable than MR.
His post yesterday shows how to get 75,000 amex points just for a card signup. High annualy fee but you can immeidiatly get double value back. Amex points also post as soon as spending threshold is met. I got my 75k points before I was even charged the annual fee. I have been fortunate, I have never had a FR from amex. If you survive a financial revie, card is very is to MS on. I actually fnd it very easy to MS on Amex. I do think CHases UR partners are much mure usefull than Amex, but Amex has many more transfer partyners
I have the amex everyday & Home depot is not discounted for me (haven’t checked others) – however, some have had success calling or chatting with amex to redeem at the discounted rate.
Got it on my Amex Plat, thanks for the post!
I’m not seeing it either. I have PRG and PRG Business.