Do you shop at Amazon? Do you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points? Great news! Amazon now accepts AmEx Membership Rewards points as payment (for most items).
In order to use your Membership Rewards points on Amazon you need to register your American Express card with Amazon. It’s a one-time registration and it’s real easy to do.
Here are the steps to link your rewards points card with Amazon:
- Sign into the Shop with Points at Amazon.com page.
- Follow the instructions to link up your Membership Rewards card with Amazon. I already have my card linked to Amazon so all I needed to do was enter my security code (on the front of the card) and accept the terms.
- Done! You are now able to use your points for purchases (provided you have points to use).
Keep in mind there is no fee to sign up or use the points!
If you want to see your available points at any time go to your Account page, then under Payment, click on Shop with Points. You will see your available balance.
Advantages: Convenience.
I already use my American Express card for my Amazon purchases so having my points available means I don’t have to go searching through the AmEx site for places to redeem my points.
Disadvantages: The points conversion rate and possibly too easy to spend.
Right now I don’t know what the exact conversion rate for the points are. You want to make sure that you are getting the most value for your points. Depending on what you are looking to buy, you may be better off using your points for something like a gift certificate. Also, having your points readily available, with your card already linked up with Amazon, can make it too easy to spend for those that are impulse buyers. You know who you are so be careful!
In all, I like that I have the option to use my AmEx Membership Rewards points at Amazon. Even if the points don’t have the best conversion rate, the convenience may be enough to make it worthwhile for me.
What do you think? Will you link your rewards points? Have you already used the option? Let us know!
Go here if you want to check out the details of the rewards point options on Amazon.
From tweets the past day, it looked like the ration was less than a cent per ‘point’. If a point is earned by a dollar in purchase, this isn’t great. The reward card goal should be 2% or more.
It looks like it’s .007 per point. I agree that there are better rewards deals out there but you usually need to hot a threshold for payout such as a gift card. Not sure, but you may be able to use your points anytime with Amazon which could prove useful.
If it seems like a good deal then I might use it to buy books and presents for people! Thanks for letting me know.
Glad I could get the info out! Keep in mind there could be better uses for your points.
Like?
For some retailers you can get better point value for gifts cards as an example.
I’ve search American Express website but couldn’t find the answers to the following…
May I ship to third party address shopping with American Express Rewards for a gift and may I include a gift note? Also, will I get a tracking number?
Hi Robert, Shopping through American Express and using your American Express Rewards points on Amazon are two different things.
When you use your points on Amazon you do your shopping through the Amazon site. If you have an Amex card connected to Amazon then it will look up your rewards points for you to use.
I think your best bet may be to call up American Express. They have great customer service and would be the best place to answer your questions.