Video Discription |
After earning 1.7 million Amex points in 2021, I’m pulling back the curtain to show you how I made it happen! Spoiler Alert: I used 7 unique methods (and I’ll go over each one in detail). Click “Show More” to see Ad Disclosure.
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7 WAYS I EARNED AMEX MEMBERSHIP REWARDS POINTS IN 2021
1. Spending: This involves using your Amex credit cards for everyday spend. Cards may include the Amex Platinum Card for 5X on airfare & prepaid hotels, the Amex Gold Card for 4X on U.S. Supermarkets and Dining Worldwide, the Amex Green Card for 3X on rideshares & tolls, and the Amex Blue Business Plus for 2X on everything else. Those 4 Amex cards are the ones I used most.
2. Welcome Bonuses: When you apply for a new Amex card & spend a certain amount of money within a certain period of time, you can earn bonus points upfront. This is one of the biggest ways to earn a lot of points in a short period of time.
3. Authorized User Bonuses: American Express will often give you bonus Membership Rewards points for adding another user to your account. If they spend $X in Y time, then you’ll receive a bonus.
4. Retention Offers: If you want to cancel a credit card (oftentimes because an annual fee posts), you can call or chat with American Express to see if they’ll provide extra points, a statement credit, etc. if you agree to keep your card account open another year.
5. Pay Over Time Activation: This feature allows you to carry a balance each month with interest on Amex charge cards (e.g. Amex Green Card, Amex Gold Card, Amex Platinum Card). I don’t recommend actually using this feature, but sometimes you’ll see an offer to earn X points simply for activating it (and ‘activating’ does not require ‘using’ as you can still pay your card balance in full by the due date to avoid all interest).
6. Referrals: Send your Amex referral link to a family member, friend, neighbor, coworker, etc. If they sign up & get approved via your link, they’ll receive a welcome bonus, and you’ll receive a referral bonus.
7. Rakuten: This is an online shopping portal that allows you to earn additional cash back by shopping at partner merchants (see link above). You can switch your account settings from cash back to Amex Membership Rewards points. The points earned from your online shopping will be transferred over to your American Express account four times per year (February, May, August, November).
BREAKDOWN OF MY POINTS EARNINGS IN 2021
1. Spending: 240,625 points
2. Welcome Bonuses: 390,000 points
3. Authorized User Bonuses: 25,000 points
4. Retention Offers: 50,000 points
5. Pay Over Time Activation: 30,000 points
6. Referrals: 295,000 points
7. Rakuten: 310,413 points
TOTAL = 1,341,038 points
HOW DOES 1.3 MILLION = 1.7 MILLION?
- I received 37,955 Amex points via Rakuten in Feb. 2021. However, these were earned in Q4 2020, so they “don’t count” as being earned in 2021. Rakuten pays out with a delay.
- I had another 398,305 Amex points pending in Rakuten for a Feb. 2022 payout, however, those were earned in Q4 2021.
- So if I subtract the 37,955 points and add in the 398,305 points, then the total EARNED in 2021 was 1,701,388 Amex points.
HOW MUCH I SPENT ON AMEX CARDS IN 2021
- $97,968.14
- Avg. Return: 2.45X points per $1 spent
HOW ‘SPENDING’ COMPARES
- 18% of my Amex points were earned via spending on Amex cards
- 82% of my Amex points were earned via everything else
Disclosure: This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The content in this video is accurate as of the posting date. Some of the offers mentioned may no longer be available. Mark Reese is not a financial advisor.
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