Month: May 2019

When many people hear about American Express, the first reaction was: Isn’t this should be something of United States?  In fact, American Express can be understood as a card issuer, which has issued credit cards and charge cards in many countries around the world. As a close neighbor of the United States, Canada has various selection of American Express card.

Regarding the American Express Gold Card, you should know the following information :

1. This is a Charge Card. The biggest difference between a Credit Card and a charge card is that there is no Pre-set spending limit for charge card. However, it should be noted that the absence of Pre-set spending limit does not mean that there is no Spending power, and you can check the online banking self-service when you have the card.

In general, unlike Visa/MasterCard, the consumption limit of the Charge Card is automatically decreased with the increase of consumption on your card and the accumulation of repayment history. You do not need to apply for a Pre- Approve from the bank to get the amount. For those who consume a lot of money, there is no doubt that the American Express card has obvious advantages.

2. This card also has the lowest annual fee for the Membership Rewards (MR) in Canada (the main card annual fee is $150). Express Points are currently the most flexible and the most easy to use for all Canadian credit cards.

Aeroplan/Avios/Starwood is more commonly used in Canada. The best one is to exchange it directly to Aeroplan at 1:1 . In addition, there are other usages for Express Points, such as directly changing gift cards, changing items, and deducting Statement Balance, etc., for these usages, MR only has a value of 1.0~1.2 cents/points.

The card is awarded 25,000 MR first opening. If you apply through a friend’s recommendation, you can still get a 30,000 MR offer. The additional 5000 MR can be get through opening the secondary card.

3, many people ask the gold card’s return on consumption, and in the last part I have talked about the value of points, so the rate of return is also based on this. Ordinary consumption of $1 can get 1 MR (~1.9%), travel expenses (such as airfare, fuel, hotel) or buy food, eat at a partner, get 2 MR (~3.8%) for every $1,  using Amex Travel for Travel is $1 for 3 MR (~5.7%). Therefore, the consumption return of this card (calculated by self-use points) is at least 1.9%. If you spend a lot of money, it is easy to break the average consumption return by 3%.

In contrast, the high return card of the Visa Infinite series is TD/CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite (about 2%), and the high return card of World Elite series is Westjet RBC World Elite (1.5%~4%, with an average return of about 1.8%) and BMO Air Miles World Elite (about 2% when used carefully). The cards mentioned above have an annual fee of $120, which is $30 lower than the $150 of the gold card. If you consider using this card as the main card, the first year of positive income is certainly guaranteed , but in the long run, perhaps the gold card is not the best choice for the main card.

4. Insurance level, This card contains:several insurances that are important for mid- to high-end credit cards.

· Travel delay insurance

· Baggage loss insurance

· Travel (public) traffic accident insurance

· Out-of-provincial medical insurance

· Car rental insurance

· Purchase protection insurance

· Extended insurance

For travel delay (requires at least four hours delay), the payment is very fast.

5. Let me talk about the acceptance issue. This card is criticized because some supermarkets (such as Costco and Superstore) do not accept the card. In fact, the correct logic is: If you want to maximize the value of the card, it should be used as a travel card. As I mentioned before, each card has its own definite role.

6. The application for this card basically has no threshold for income. Even students with zero income can prove their purchasing power to obtain this card by submitting their own bank account water bill. For approval, the difficulty of applying this card should be the lowest in the card issued by Express Canada. A large number of DPs shows that it is easy to apple with a good credit of about 6 months.

7. For those who like to watch concerts and participate in various activities, this card also has the  attribute of Front of Line of Express Card, which can give priority to many tickets for the concert. So for those who often watch concerts, this card is a good deal.

Basic background

This card is used as a hotel’s joint credit card, and the points earned by the card will be directly accumulated into the corresponding SPG account. If you do not have an SPG account, you can apply directly on the official website. The advantage of being a new member of SPG is that a high probability will receive a new offer in the first two months (for example, staying for 4,500/7,500 SPG points or one free room coupon)

Consumption return

If you don’t consider the AE cards in Canada (which is not accepted in many small-volume consumption), this card is especially suitable for those who use “one card flow”. Many people ask the question “What is the best credit card in Canada”? It is nothing more than asking which card has the highest rate of return without brain brush – then it is the card.

This card can accumulate 1 Starpoint (or SPG points) for every $1 spent on daily consumption. If you spend at Marriott Starwood brand hotels, you will have double returns. Considering the current high value of SPG points (I estimate at least 3 cents per Starpoint value), this card has an average return of at least 3%.

Point value

For any credit card of the credit , I don’t think it makes sense to consider the consumer return separately but not to analyze the value of the credit. The point value of different people is bound to be high or low. Here I will briefly mention some usages of the highest value of SPG points. It is important to realize that SPG points and Marriott and Ritz-Carlton scores can be converted to each other in a 1:3 ratio without loss, while SPG points can be converted to most mainstream air miles.

After 9W Starpoints, convert to 27W Marriott Points in a 1:3 ratio, and redeem the 7-Day Marriott Hotel room voucher and airline miles (120,000+Bonus part) of category 1-5 – commonly known as “The Marriott Gift Pack.” This is currently accepted as a method of maximizing the value of SPG points. Of course, the better part is that this 7-day room voucher and air miles can be sold out. The current market price of 7-day room voucher is generally above $500, and the value of air class is because of the airline you choose. The actual mileage will be slightly different. In general, the value of direct sales is almost 13,000 RMB+. With such a simple calculation, the value of every 10,000 SPG points is also more than 1800 RMB.

2. It is NOT difficult to get enough 9W Starpoints. Imagine that you can open American Personal Platinum Card, Commercial Platinum Card, Personal SPG Card, and Commercial SPG Card for a total of 30,000 SPG (60,000 MR), 37,500 SPG (75,000 MR), 20,000 SPG, 20,000 SPG. Already have more than one Marriott gift package, and your annual fee is 499+399+120+150 CAD=1168 CAD. Many people look at the annual fee and stop, but do not know the maximum value of the points after the return is stable and far beyond the annual fee!

3. In addition to the BUG-like redemption method, SPG points have a simple but practical conversion method: in most cases, every 20,000 SPG points can be converted to 25,000 corresponding air miles. This method of using points is suitable for people who do not have too many SPG points and who need temporary air miles at the same time. The picture below shows all of SPG’s aviation turnkey partners.

4. For hotel point, the most essential usage is to redeem the hotel directly. To put it simply, if SPG points are to be redeemed for a hotel, I recommend switching to Marriott Points before redeeming to Marriott.

5. In addition, there is a redemption option like SPG Moments: use certain SPG points to redeem concerts, tickets for sports events, and more. There are many choices in this section. If you happen to catch up with the activities you are interested in, you may wish to compare the required points and the actual market value to decide whether to redeem. This redemption can be viewed directly at this URL.

Equity and insurance

This card is a high-reward credit card, and the insurance component is actually enough to meet daily needs. I personally feel that the necessary delay insurance (individual or baggage delay), extended warranty, and car rental insurance are covered, basically in line with the AE Gold Rewards of $150 annual fee and Visa Infinite of the five major banks that are consistent with the $120 annual fee. In particular, the AE series of car rental insurance covers 85,000 MRSP cars, while the five majors only guarantee 60,000 MRSP cars, so I always use AE issued cards to pay for the car rental.

In terms of equity, this card has two highlights, which need to be “activated” by satisfying a certain amount of consumption:

1) You can get an SPG Gold Card for $30,000 in the calendar year, which is equivalent to the Marriott Gold Card. If you don’t have AE Platinum and want to get a premium member of the hotel quickly, this is a good choice.

2) Spend $40,000 in the calendar year to get a SPG hotel global free coupon for Level 1-4. Only this one is enough to return the annual fee…

Comprehensive review

Overall, this card is still standing today after a series of rumors that it is about to exit the market in 2017, and there is a high probability that it will continue to exist in 2019 or even in the future (but it is likely to change its face). In terms of consumer return, this card is still the first Canadian card. You need to have some research on SPG’s hotel points.

For friends who do not have this card, apply it as soon as possible. For friends who already have this card, I also recommend not to cancel it too early.

The American Express Blue Sky charge card might not be among the best travel charge cards in Canada, but thinking about it’s no annual fee along with a strong earnings rate of just 1.25% on all purchases, it’s surprising this card doesn’t have more attention.

The possible lack of travel insurance certainly hurts this card, however a flexible redemption system along with a decent sign-up bonus should at least put this card on your radar. Read my American Express Blue Sky review and let’s focus on ideas around the card.

American Express Blue Sky benefits

• No annual fee
• 10,000 Blue Sky Points ($100 value) after you charge $500 in purchases to your card in your first three months of cardmembership
• Earn 1.25 Blue Sky Points per $1 spent on all purchases.
• Refer a friend and get 5,000 Blue Sky Points
• $100,000 Travel Accident Insurance
• Access to American Express Invites

The interesting factor concerning the American Express Blue Sky card is always that it’s basically a money-back card because you earn 1.25% in Blue Sky Points on all of your purchases. The main difference is you can only use your points to redeem travel..

That being stated, with Blue Sky Points, you may make an order travel anytime, with any agency or website after redeem your points, you are able to claim points on travel that’s already happened.

You can only redeem your points in increments of 5,000. Which means 5,000 Blue Sky Points = $50 in travel rewards. In addition, there’s the  minimum point redemption of 10,000 points.

The 10,000 Blue Sky Points signup bonus may be worth $100 and just needs a minimum spend of $500 within the first months of card membership.

Whenever you refer a buddy, you receive 5,000 Blue Sky Points, so that’s a pleasant method to earn additional points knowing individuals that would want to consider the credit card.

One major disadvantage to this card is  that you simply get $100,000 in travel accident insurance.  You’re likely better off paying an annual fee with one of the best travel credit cards in Canada since they come with generous travel insurance packages.

For instance, theScotiabank Passport Visa Infinite card? comes with an annual fee of $140, however, you get travel cover that’s good as much as 25 days, per trip. This card also offers a sign-up bonus worth $250 and 6 annual lounge passes which are worth over $300.

How the American Express Blue Sky card compared to others

Strangely enough, the American Express Blue Sky card is nearly just like another American Express card within the?American Express SimplyCash card. Using the SimplyCash card, additionally you earn 1.25% on all of your purchases, but as this is a real cash-back card, you are able to clearly make use of your cash earned on anything instead of travel only.

The main one advantage the Blue Sky card has within the SimplyCash card may be the sign-up bonus since it’s worth $100 whereas the SimplyCash card just provides you with an elevated cash-back payout for 3 several weeks.

In addition, there’s the?American Express SimplyCash Preferred charge card?that provides you 2% cash-back on all purchases, but posseses an annual fee of $99.

Now, if you are searching for points that may be redeemed for top-value travel rewards, you might want to think about the?Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express. With this particular card, you receive a 50,000 point sign-up bonus that could easily possess a worth of $500  USD based on which hotel you redeem your points at.

I understand I’ve tossed lots of different cards available that you should consider, however i wanted to help make the point that you will need to review your spending habits along with the kind of rewards you need to earn.

Final thoughts

My American Express Blue Sky review is positive. Although I believe you will find better travel charge cards available on the market, the credit card is decent. You’re obtaining a decent sign-up bonus and earnings rate without having to pay a yearly fee , that’s victory!

Once referred to as SPG Amex, the Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card has become the state charge card for Marriott in Canada.Marriott Bonvoy is the new name of Marriott Rewards which merged with Starwood Preferred Guest earlier. Yes, I recognize that it could be considered a bit confusing, but that’s what goes on when one major hotel chain buys another, there are also two loyalty programs that should be integrated.

What likely matters for you is the best way to earn more Marriott Rewards – I meant Marriott Bonvoy points. Read my Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card review now and discover why it’s still among the best travel rewards cards in Canada.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card features

• $120 annual fee
• 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points welcome bonus
• Earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 on eligible card purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
• Earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 on all other purchases
• Free annual night award that can be redeemed at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties worldwide, with a redemption value up to 5,000 points
• 15 Elite Night credits each calendar year
• Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status when you spend $30,000 on your card each year
• Complimentary in-room, premium internet access while staying at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
• Some travel insurance

The Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card benefits are essentially like the old SPG card but there’s one major difference. The welcome bonus has become 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points whenever you spend $1,500 in your card within the first three months. The prior bonus was 50,000 so you’re getting 10,000 extra Marriott Bonvoy points.

As this is a Marriott co-branded charge card, you’ll earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points for each $1 on qualified card purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy qualities. Other purchases enable you to get 2 points per $1 spent.

What’s nice relating to this card is you start at Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status which provides you extra benefits for example 10% bonuses on stays and priority late checkout. Gold status is offered whenever you spend$30,000 in your card every year

At the beginning of every twelve months, you’ll will also get 15 Elite Night credits meaning you’ll just have 10 additional nights to achieve Gold Status (should you not spend $30,000 before this).

Vehicle rental thievery and damage, flight delay, baggage delay, stolen or lost baggage, and hotel/motel burglary insurance are incorporated, but there’s no emergency health care insurance that is included with the credit card.

There’s a yearly fee of $120, but each year in your card anniversary, you’ll obtain a free night certificate that is good as much as 35,000 points at any participating Marriott property. The need for individuals points are often more vital compared to annual fee so that’s an amazing bonus.

How Marriott Bonvoy works

Since Marriott has 6,500  hotels in additional than 120 countries, Marriott Bonvoy may be the largest hotel loyalty program on the planet. Fortunately, this program is quite good therefore it so it pays to be loyal.

I’ve written an in depth Marriott Bonvoy review so that you can make sure that if you would like detailed information, but I will rapidly highlight a couple of reasons for this program.

While you likely know, there are various status tiers with Marriott Bonvoy. Your status rises while you spend nights at participating Marriott qualities. With each and every status increase, you receive additional benefits just like an elevated earn rate for Marriott Bonvoy points, early check-in, late check-out, room upgrades, free breakfast, and much more.

What exactly you’ve earned may be used to redeem free nights. With respect to the season and hotel you’re attempting to book, it might set you back less than 5,000 Marriott Bonvoy points or around 100,000 points for any free night.

Beyond hotels and flights, you may also make use of your points for moments and that’s why my Marriott Bonvoy Amex card review is positive. These moments include items like suite use of the best sporting occasions all over the world, Very important personel use of major music concerts for example Coachella, as well as private dining encounters with celebrity chefs.

Transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points to airlines

One more reason Marriott Bonvoy points are popular is you can transfer your points greater than 40 airlines.

Because this card targets Canadians, you may be considering converting your Marriott Bonvoy points to  Aeroplan. The standard transfer rates are 3 Marriott Bonvoy points enable you to get 1 Aeroplan point, however, for each 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer, you’ll have an additional 5,000 Aeroplan points. Which means 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points could be transferred for twenty five,000 Aeroplan points.

Admittedly, it’s faster to earn Aeroplan points and among the?best Aeroplan cards in Canada, but a minimum of you’ve an alternative choice to earn Aeroplan points.

Final thoughts

My Marriott Bonvoy Amex card review is positive. It’s still among the best travel charge cards in Canada and among the best American Express charge cards. It’s a must-have card for anybody who stays at Marriott regularly. Having a generous sign-up bonus along with a free annual night certificate, what’s  not to like?

If you are a SPG or Marriott fan like me, then you’re prone to want to look at SPG Amex Canada review. Exactly why is the Starwood Preferred Guest bank card from American Express appealing is that you could earn lots of loyalty points when remaining at SPG or Marriott hotels. These points enables you to redeem free nights or utilized in select airline travel loyalty programs totally free flights.

While merger of SPG and Marriott now complete, modifications for the bank cards may also be mostly done. I can now safely say that the SPG Amex Canada card has rejoined my list of the best travel credit cards in Canada. Read my SPG Amex Canada review now for the full details.

Starwood Credit Card Canada benefits

• $120 annual fee
• 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points welcome bonus
• Earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 on eligible card purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties
• Earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points for every $1 on all other purchases
• Free annual night award that can be redeemed at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties worldwide, with a redemption value up to 5,000 points
• 15 Elite Night credits each calendar year
• Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status when you spend $30,000 on your card each year
• Complimentary in-room, premium internet access while staying at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
• Travel insurance
• No annual fee on supplementary cards

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One thing to notice immediately is that you simply get yourself a generous signup bonus of 60,000 points. For anyone who is you employ individuals points around the category 4 hotel which normally costs 12,500 points every evening, you’d really get 5 nights from this since Marriott posseses an ongoing book 4 nights have the fifth-night free promotion. With regards to the hotel, that could be a real price of $1,000 , but you’d be getting to pay for just $24 a night. As you have seen, the sign-up bonus alone helps it be helpful to submit an application for the charge card.

The annual free night award might be redeemed for just about any room getting something around 35,000 points. I needed a quick check out hotels in New You’ll be able to and if you have been category 4 hotels which normally cost $350USD a night, only need 35,000 points for just about any redemption. It is possible to observe valuable that annual free night is and just helps to make the $120 annual fee.

With regards to earning potential, this card is clearly directed at those who stay at SPG and Marriott characteristics since you’ll earn 5 points per $1 allotted to qualified purchases at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards characteristics. Keep in mind applying this card, you instantly get Silver tier status and that means you earn 10% more points or 5.5 points per $1 spent at participating SPG and Marriott Rewards characteristics.

Other purchases allow you to get 2 points per $1 spent.

American Express had already announced that elite nights that count towards your status will probably be incorporated while using card, but they haven’t released the actual amount yet.

Finally, in the event you charge the whole airfare or vehicle rental for the SPG American stock market Canada card, you instantly get travel accident, vehicle rental thievery and damage, flight delay, baggage delay, lost and stolen baggage, and hotel/motel burglary insurance. It must be noted that travel medical care insurance is not incorporated. This doesn’t change the fact the SPG Amex Canada is probably the best American Express bank cards in Canada.

Converting your SPG points to airlines

One reason people neglect the SPG Amex Canada card is really because it’s connected with costly hotels chain. If you don’t use hotels, why can you choose a co-branded bank card right?

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What you may not realize is the Starwood Preferred Guest program allows you to certainly transfer your points to 40 airlines.

Because this is a Canadian card, so many people are probably thinking about converting their SPG tp  Aeroplan. The conventional transfer minute rates are 3:1, however, for every 60,000 SPG points you transfer, you’ll come with an additional 5,000 points. Basically, 60,000 SPG points might be transferred for 20 five,000 Aeroplan points. That’s a 25% bonus that’s incorporated together with your SPG American stock market Canada card.

Basically, this bank card may be used a co-branded bank card for 40 airlines without obtaining a proper affiliation. That’s a reasonably sweet perk if you wish to transfer a few extra points to produce a flight redemption.

How Marriot Rewards works

Marriott Rewards could be the finest loyalty program in the world which is possibly the most effective. Understandably, this is often a hotel loyalty program, so your points might be best  for claiming free nights,  you may even make use of points for flights.

I’ve written about the knowledge about Marriott Rewards, but essentially you’ll need 7,500 – 100,000 points to claim a free of charge night. 100,000 points may appear insane, however, you’ve just got that numerous points for your finest categories of hotels found all over the world. Many hotels fall inside the 17,500 – 50,000 points every evening category quite reasonable.

Beyond hotels and flights, you may even make use of points for items that can improve your vacation.

Final word

My SPG Amex Canada review is positive and ranks one of the best travel bank cards in Canada. Marriott could be the largest hotel chain in the world, their rewards program is excellent. If you would like free nights reely flights, you will need to consider the Starwood Preferred Guest bank card from American Express.

American Express Gold Rewards card is among the best travel rewards credits in Canada and it is presently certainly one of the best cards available on the market. It has an annual fee of $150, but has a huge signup bonus of 25,000 Membership Reward points. Should you sign-up using a membership for example Perkopolis, Venngo, CPA Canada, eSurvus, etc. You can obtain a statement credit of $150 which basically helps make the card free for that the first year.

I really like how flexible Membership Rewards points are with their transfer partners. For context, you are able to transfer your Membership Rewards to Aeroplan on the 1:1 basis. Which means your 25,000 signup points includes a worth of 25,000 Aeroplan Miles that are enough for any roundtrip ticket to any place in Canada and also the continental flight in States. That ticket is definitely worth $600.

Keep reading my American Express Gold Rewards card review to discover other benefits incorporated and why it is among the best American Express charge cards in Canada.

American Express Gold Rewards card benefits

• $150 Annual fee – first year free when signing up via Perkopolis, Venngo, CPA Canada, eSurvus
• 25,000 Signup points after charging $1,500 in purchases
• Earn 2 points per $1 spent on grocery, gas, pharmacy, and travel
• Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Comprehensive travel insurance package included
• 1 Free supplementary card ($50 value)

Okay, let’s address the annual fee. As pointed out, should you fit in with a subscription program, you’ll be able to obtain the special offer with a RSVP code. Honestly, that RSVP code could be found after some research, but you’d be cheating the system. The $150 annual fee is fairly reasonable considering the signup bonus.

Earning 2 points per $1 allocated to grocery, gas, pharmacy, and travel is preferable to many similar cards.

Even though the card has a comprehensive insurance package, it’s important to note that trip cancellation isn’t incorporated. I do not think it is a deal breaker since trip cancellation is extremely specific and difficult to assert, but when it’s vital to you, you might want to think about a different card for the travel cover needs.

You get one free extra American Express Gold Rewards card is a nice touch since families can definitely improve their earnings potential.

An important factor to notice, and it is the greatest knock against American Express is that it isn’t recognized in all merchants. To tell the truth, more retailers aren’t accepting American stock exchange nowadays, andso I use this card as a quick way to earn points.

How does American Express Memberships Rewards work?

To claim 1 $ in travel, you’ll need 100 American Express Membership Rewards points, which means using the American Express Gold Rewards card, you’re earning 2% in points when paying for grocery, gas, pharmacy, and travel. Other purchases enable you to get 1% in points.

This isn’t bad, but it’s truly the additional features of Membership Rewards which should appeal to you.

Together with your points, you are able to transfer these to Aeroplan or British Airways Avios in a 1:1 ratio. Additionally, Amex occassionally runs promotions where should you transfer 20,000 points, you receive another 5,000 points free of charge making your ratio 1:1.25

Other air travel programs where one can transfer your points include Alitalia MilleMiglia,Asia Miles,Delta SkyMiles, and Etihad Guest, however your transfer ratio 1:.75

If you like to transfer points to hotels, you will get exchange your Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy in a 1:1.2 ratio in order to Hilton Honors in a 1:1.

Claiming points for travel is simple, however, you must  make your reservation with the American Express TripFlex Program. This particular service doesn’t have the lovliest interface, but you can book any travel you’ll need. What’s nice is you can make use of your points to cover charges and taxes soit’s possible to have no out of pocket expenses..

In addition, there’s the Fixed Points Travel Program which could offer the best value, usually, you’ll have more from your points should you transfer these to air travel partners making your booking through their particular programs.

How the Amex Gold Rewards card compares to others

The very best card tcompare the Amex Gold Rewards cardmay be the BMO World Elite Mastercard. Using the BMO card, you get 3 points per $1 allocated to travel purchases, however, you need 140 points claim 1$ in travel making your return 2.1% on travel purchases. Other purchases enable you to get 2 points per $1 spent or perhaps a 1.4% return.

When searching in the base earn, theBMO World Elite Mastercard is comparable and annual airport terminal lounge passes, but you’ve got no transfer partners with BMO.  Amex Gold Rewards tend to be worth more because you can transfer your suggests airlines and hotels.

Both cards made my list of the very best travel charge cards in Canada, so it’s a real personal selection of which card you decide to go with given that they have similar features.

Final word

Overall my American Express Gold Rewards card review is positive. The Amex Membership Rewards program offers full flexibility since you can transfer to various loyalty programs. Also keep in mind that with Membership Rewards, you can combine your points if you have other Amex cards by calling customer service.