✈ Why We Love Amex Points, How to Buy a 2nd Seat on Flights & More Daily News From TPG ✈

Also: Must-have baby travel gear items

January 27, 2024 View in browser

Maximizing Amex points by Katie Genter, Senior Writer One of the easiest ways to boost your points balance is with a welcome offer on a new credit card. With the current offers on American Express cards — including targeted offers of 150,000 points on The Platinum Card® from American Express and 90,000 points on the American Express® Gold Card via CardMatch — it can be relatively easy to build a large stash of Membership Rewards points. Even if you aren't targeted for a CardMatch offer, you may still be eligible for the current welcome offer on the American Express Gold Card of 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your card within the first six months of card membership. Once you have a sizable balance of Amex Membership Rewards points, you might wonder how you should redeem your points. TPG's valuations peg the value of Amex points at 2 cents each, so we typically recommend trying to get at least this value when redeeming. Transferring your credit card points to loyalty programs in the American Express Membership Rewards partner network can provide some of the best value. For example, some of the highest-value redemptions can be found with Avianca LifeMiles and British Airways Executive Club. Avianca LifeMiles can be particularly useful for domestic Star Alliance flights, as you can redeem as few as 6,500 LifeMiles for some flights within the U.S. Likewise, British Airways Avios can provide excellent value on short Oneworld alliance award flights thanks to the program's distance-based award chart. Of course, you should calculate your potential redemption value before redeeming any Amex points. In some cases, you may be better off using Pay with Points through Amex Travel or saving your points for a different trip. To learn more, check out the following stories: American Express Gold Card Review Amex Gold vs. Amex Platinum  How to check if you're targeted for 150K Amex Platinum offer or the 90K Amex Gold offer via CardMatch Posts in this newsletter contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page. Photo Credit: AZMANJAKA/GETTY IMAGES .

Today's top stories More elbow room in the sky: How to buy a second seat for yourself on US airlines There are a number of reasons why you may want to buy yourself a second seat. Here's how to do just that on a variety of U.S. airlines. Read more Childproof your next trip with these must-have baby travel gear items These strollers, backpacks and baby carriers will make your travels easier and more fun. Read more Everything you need to know about Costco Travel (and why I love it) You shouldn't sleep on Costco Travel. If you know where to look, you can save hundreds of dollars on trips. Read more Yikes, does Royal Caribbean's new Icon of the Seas really cost that much? Cruisers are paying sky-high rates to be among the first to sail on the new world's largest cruise ship. Read more The ultimate guide to saving money with Amex Offers This is one of the easiest ways to save money and earn bonus points when using an American Express card. Read more

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