Should I use amex rewards on a rental car certificate or something else?

[marriedmarylander]

One option is a $50 certificate to use at Avis or Hertz. We plan to rent a car for a day to go from WDW to Universal, so $50 should cover that. However, renting a car from Alamo is only about $30. I'm wondering do you think we should just pay and go through Alamo instead and use my Amex rewards for something else? There isn't anything else specifically travel related , but they have gift cards for the Gap - nothing specific I need but they have basic tanks and shirts I could get (I don't like their pants don't fit me right), and other stores like Linens and Things - but then I'm afraid I'll just go buy some stuff I don't need for my house. What do you guys on Budget Board think?

 

[disneygalsdd]

I just used all my points for gift cards and cxled my Amex. I got 3 of the Linens N Things for $50, then had a 20% off entire purchase. When I got there I realized that it said one per visit, the mgr said no problem, I could use more BUT I had to spend $50 as there is no change back.

I have used the Toys R Us and Lands End ones before and they come just like regular gift cards, no restrictions.

darn it, I am not 12, it's my dd's sign-on.

 

[Karibeth19]

We transfer our Amex points to Hilton Honors points for free hotel rooms! We drive to WDW, and since it takes two days, we always stay overnight in a Hampton Inn. With our Amex points the rooms have been free for the past two trips. We also use them for trips to Dallas to visit my in-laws, hotel rooms for away OU football games, or just whenever we need to stay in an hotel room. If you are not a member, joining HH is free and sometimes they offer bonuses, like 20% more points for your Amex pts. (ex: 1000 Amex points=1200 HH points). It's worth checking into; I know we've saved a lot of money over the years by doing this!

 

[Tinkaroo]

I cashed in AmEx points for an Avis certificate - and was just pleasantly surprised!! My ressie that I made in January just went down by $90 (and yes, this was using the codes that AmEx requires you to use when booking)! I'm so excited. An 8-day full-size car rental is now $160 after all the taxes and surcharges - the base rate is $120. You might find a cheap deal on Avis, too!

Also, the hotel idea is a good one. Through 3/31, you can transfer points to a Starwood account (it's free to sign up, and their hotels are Westin, Sheraton, etc.) at a rate of 2:1, when it's normaly 3:1. The minimum transfer is 1,000 points. A one-night stay at the Swan or Dolphin (owned by Starwood) is 10,000 SPG points - those are considered category 4 hotels. Other hotels are cheaper per night. There are no blackout dates. If you don't have enough for a night's stay, you can also use points to upgrade your reservation, get resort credits, etc.

 

[Alicia Gist]

I would not use AMEX for a car certificate for sure. It's not the best deal. Go to the transportation board or mousesavers and you can find codes for rental cars. We got a great deal at Christmas that was much better than using the amex certificate. Look at the fine print. I don't think you can use the amex certificate with any codes. We've used amex for Gap, Toys R Us, airline or hotel points. I've even considered getting a Gap card and selling it on ebay. Those things go for almost face value. I saw one the other day that was a $50 card that went for $49.

 

[marriedmarylander]

Thanks! We need a car for just one day and there aren't many coupons for that. There are some which save a couple bucks. I think with Alamo car rental is about $30 though. You are definately right about selilng cards on ebay. However, ebay fees seems to be high to me. I sold something for $15 recently and the final value fee was more than $1, plus insertion fee (45 cents). Selling something for $50 could cost me $3-5 in fees just to sell.