AmEx Membership Rewards CAN be traded in for Disney resort stays!

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I don't know if everyone here knows this already, but there was a fairly recently change in the AmEx Membership Rewards program. You can now exchange Membership Rewards miles for stays at pretty much any hotel you can book through American Express travel, including ALL the Disney World resort properties!!!

That's the good news. The bad news is that the exchange rate is a little wacky. It is not 100 miles = $1, which is a pretty typical ratio. (Needless to say, it is worse than that, not better.)

On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned, rewards programs are for rewarding yourself with something you normally wouldn't buy. This March, we are rewarding ourselves with 3 nights of a lagoon view room at the Grand Floridian. It will be my first trip to Disney since 1988, my husband's first since the mid-1970s, and my 3-year-old daughter's first EVER!

TiggerandBelleFanMom

 

[littleprincessmom]

Thanks so much for that info!!!

Did you go to a website to cash in your rewards or do it over the phone? I am interested in doing this for our Spring Break trip. Thanks!!!

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I did it through the Membership Rewards website. I'm sure you can do it over the phone too, but I like to see everything written down when I'm making a decision.

 

[twojo21]

thanks for the info & a noisy question, how many points did this cost? i also have an amex & it would be nice to use points towards future trips. thanks.

 

[laurenk]

Where on the membership reward website is it? I looked, and could not find it.

Thanks!

 

[pampam]

I was thinking of using my Amex points for air fare, but maybe I should consider this. I wonder which is the best value?

 

[snowbunny]

Where on the membership reward website is it? I looked, and could not find it.

Same here....?

 

[LvsTnk]

Wow, this would be great especially if it's a better value than airfare. I just payed $130 rt fom Chicago so it would have to be.

I am sooo excited.

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I hope I can explain this!

Go to the Membership Rewards homepage.

The screen is divided into three parts. The one on the left side of the screen is travel, and there is a blue box that says something like "NEW! Use membership rewards to book travel." Click on this for details.

You DO have to have a username and password in order to do this. If you haven't gotten one yet, you can do that through the webpage.

I believe that my trip would have cost in the neighborhood of $1930. In some ideal universe somewhere, I would have been charged ~193,000 points for that. Instead, I believe I was charged more like 267,000 points. So by my calculations, there was about a 35-40% "mark-up."

I don't know if this is consistent, or if it varies based on length of stay or resort selected.

I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium in order to be able to select my reward freely like this, so to me, this was worth it!

And yeah, I'm in the same boat: we have Southwest here, so airfare is not all that expensive. I would rather trade in miles for hotel stays! And now I can!

 

[twocjsmom]

Thanks for the tip! We have tons of points as we use our Amex for our business. We had noticed before that you can book nights at Starwood hotels (ie, Swan and Dolphin) but this new development is interesting too! It sounds like a good way to book weekend nights without having to use our DVC points!

 

[chamonix]

Do you have the "free" membership or one of the higher level ones? I assume this could be used for any level...?
The reason I ask, I am so stupid, apparently I never enrolled in Membership Rewards, so I have 0 points--even thought I put all my travel stuff on my AMEX. Duh. Guess I better sign up.

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I have a Rewards Plus card, which I think gives you extra miles somehow. I'm not sure if there is a fee.

Definitely sign up for Membership Rewards! The miles never expire. It's the only program I have ever successfully cashed in miles on. (Although I'm getting awfully close on Southwest Rapid Rewards!!!)

 

[jeanadave]

So you have to book through AmEx travel to get your reward points applied to a resort?

 

[Avalanche]

Cool, my DH has almost 300,000 points and is currently on travel overseas getting more points. We have just started looking into how to use them and I've just decided...DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[colleen costello]

Are the rewards any higher than using the Disney Visa dollars? I get 1 per $100.. not so great but I usually have about $300 - $400 each year...

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

Yes, you have to book through AmEx travel...but I thought that was quick and easy. Their website is pretty easy to navigate.

The redemption ratio is worse than $100 = 1 pt, at least for the reward I chose. However, that's a slightly complicated question. I have a rewards plus card, so I earn miles faster than I would with other card programs too. Your mileage may vary! (Literally, in this case!) I'm still not sure that it was the best possible deal, but like one of the previous posters, I had a LOT of AmEx miles and I was just thrilled to be able to use them for Disney.

 

[travlnman1]

The redemption ratio is worse than $100 = 1 pt, at least for the reward I chose. However, that's a slightly complicated question. I have a rewards plus card, so I earn miles faster than I would with other card programs too.

What is a rewards PLUS card? I don't see that anywhere on the AMEX site.
I want to earn more miles faster too!

 

[TiggerandBelleFanMom]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link to a commercial site on this board (I'm guessing no), but I can tell you it is a gold card and that if you google American Express Reward Plus you will get a link to it.

You get 2 points when you charge at places like free-standing grocery stores, and I think 1.5 points when you charge at partner airlines and hotels. It explains all about it at the site.

The fee is $150/yr. Definitely worth it for us.

 

[anniebell]

Thanks for the info! I wonder if you can use a FL resident rate and still apply AmEx points? I don't know if anyone knows this answer, but, I wonder what is the quickest way to find out? Thanks again for this great info...we weren't able to use our points on our most recent DW trip So for sure we will next time!!!