American Express Points

[Cmbar]

AMEX Points
Just wondering if anyone has used their American Express Points to stay at a good hotel in the Disney area (preferrably the Downtown disney area or a hotel with Disney perks)

Also I see that you can redeem Amex points for the starwood program which is the program for the Swan?Dolphin. Has anyone ever used these point to stay at that hotel?

I would use the search option but it is shut down right now


Thanks for any help!

 

[NancyIL]

My DH used to belong to Membership Rewards, and he transferred AMEX points to his Marriott Rewards account. If you transfer them to Starwood, you'll get 1 SPG point for every 3 AMEX points. It takes 10,000 Starwood points for 1 free night at the Swan/Dolphin, and if you use points for 4 nights (40,000 Starwood points), the 5th night is free.

 

[nluvwithdisney]

I used my points from AMEX and transferred some to Starwood. I used them for their cash and points special at Starwood. I believe it was 4000 points and $74 dollars a night at the Dolphin. I had enough points with Starwood for 2 rooms.

 

[Samandmom]

I need help on this also. I have never used my AMEX points. (We have about 70,000) I really have NO clue how they work. What I am wondering is how can I use them towards airline tickets. How many would I need for 4 airline tickets. We would be leaving Hartford CT to Orlando, FL and back. Any help is appreciated.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

I belong to SouthWest Rapid Rewards program. I also have the Southwest Visa which gives you points for every purchase you make. I linked my AmEx membership rewards to my southwest rapid rewards and whenever I need points, I just transfer them on line. I think it is 20,000 points for a free southwest ticket. And on Southwest, there are very few blackout dates!

 

[lulu71]

It is 20,000 amex points for a free southwest ticket, assuming you do not already have SW rapid rewards segments already. You need 16 segments for a free RT ticket, and you can "buy" segments for 1250 amex points each. So let's say you have 4 segments already (from 2 completed RT trips), you can top off what you already have by "buying" 12 segments at 1250 pts each, which would cost you 15,000 amex pts. Make sense?

 

[vhoffman]

In my opinion, your best use of your AMEX Membership rewards is to use them for Southwest Airlines. They require 20000 points for one RT ticket. So if you have 70000 points, you have enough for 3 tickets on SWA. Also, you're very close to getting another ticket. You just need 10000 more points, and I believe you can buy more through AMEX, then transfer them to SWA. You need a SWA Rapid Rewards account before you can transfer points from Amex. This is quite simple to do, either through their website www.Iflyswa.com.,or by phone. Be aware that AMEX points never expire, however, once you transfer them to a partner such as an airline or hotel the clock starts ticking. Usually they are good for a year. Also, once you transfer the points from AMEX to a partner, they can't be changed. So be very certain of your travel plans before transferring any points. This is the third time we've gone to WDW using SWA Rapid Rewards tickets, a family of four gets to fly free. Also, its the only frequent flyer program I bother with. SWA has very few blakcout dates, and they have no restrictions on the number of free riders per flight. Most other airlines restrict their free tickets to a limited number per flight. Also, the free ticket is only good for a specific flight. So if you don't use it, you lose it. With SWA its like a voucher good for a free RT flight anytime, anywhere, within a year. If everone on a particular flight showed up with these vouchers, they'd all fly free. Its the only frequent flyer program I've found that you can actually use.

 

[lulu71]

vhoffman, ITA. Another good thing about the SWA rapid rewards program is that SWA will hold the flight in your name while Amex transfers the points to your rapid rewards account. You do need to book a couple of weeks out, because although it only takes a couple of days to transfer the points, you do need to have the paper voucher when you go to the airport, which they send in the mail.

 

[vhoffman]

Good point! I booked our flights on SWA last June. However, I haven't applied the AMEX points towards the SWA tickets yet. I plan to do so in the next few weeks. You need to apply for the tickets about 4-6 weeks in advance. However, in June I couldn't be absolutly sertain of our plans so I'd hate to waste the AMEX points.

 

[abwdreaming]

So if I had enough points I could fly us on SWA to WDW, and then stay at the Swan resort. Wow, that would be great. Opps, just read how many points are needed. Looks like either SWA or one night at resort.