News and notes from around the interweb:
- People aren’t spending their Amex points during the pandemic. “They’re not choosing to redeem them for online retail, which they could, they’re just stocking up the points to travel,” according to American Express Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell.
- Long-term guests evicted from Denver hotel on one day’s notice because the property is shutting down. But some refuse to leave.
- More Covid test fraud for travel
- Thai Airways is now selling napkins and toothpicks as part of a warehouse sale.
- Royal Caribbean will run human challenge trials, but for cruises.
- How United Airlines thanked a ramp worker for his service
Amex thinks people are hoarding MR points… of course they are. The other redemption options are a terrible value. MR points are not very valuable except in limited (travel redemption only) options. People aren’t stupid
Duh.
Only problem is, because we are all hoarding there will be a mad rush to use the points when things improve, and availability will shrink to nil.
Now is an ideal time to plan and pay with points.
Lol. What a tone-deaf statement from Amex
I’m not “hoarding” my points. I just don’t have any reason to spend them. Like as a result of the pandemic and overall barely leaving my house, basically the only thing I spend money on is food. Overall spending is way down as compared to a year ago…
If AmEx wanted people to spend their MR points now, they could always offer a decent redemption value on retail options. At 1.5 cents or more I’d probably do some Christmas shopping.
I’m still surprised that people sign up for any Amex card. I agree with @Jason above.
IT KILLS ME TO READ ABOUT ALL THE PEople THAT TRUST Facebook travel bloggers. Every so often I try and gently steer them in the right direction > Chase. Much better transfer partners IMHO.
AMEX: Hey! Do you want a roundtrip flight to SE Asia or some noise cancelling headphones?
General Public: Um…the flight…duh.
AMEX: STOP HOARDING YOUR POINTS
This is the reason the Schwab Plat is a must get right now.
@Jason totally correct… People who count points aren’t stupid.
Give people something like Chase’s pay yourself back feature… and some people will use their points… But their redemption rates for non-travel is extremely un-lucrative for the consumer… So much so that I would consider it throwing money away or burning it.
The “hoarding” of points is just an illustration of how worthless they are at the moment. There is almost nothing to spend them on, and less clear every day when we’ll be able to travel near normally in the future . . . but not looking like it will be anytime soon.
You need to spend $ with Amex to obtain these points. Why would anyone in their right mind just ‘throw’ them away for something which works out to be cheaper if you buy direct!