American Express expands rewards for 2006
American Express has expanded the list of retail and travel partners for its Membership Rewards loyalty programme, including the option to redeem points for Apple iTunes.
New redemption options are to be found among the programme's Travel, Shopping and Dining & Entertainment categories. Having added new partners to suit the latest consumer demands, the Membership Rewards programme for 2006 includes:
- Retail partners such as Blockbuster, Cole Haan, L'Occitane, and Talbots;
- Travel partners such as AirTran Airways, Loews Hotels and Preferred Hotel Group;
- Merchandise brands such as Bushnell, Davidoff, Dunhill, iRobot, Kate Spade, Kenneth Cole Reaction, Logitech, Montblanc, and Monster;
- Sports and adventure partners such as Troon Golf and ESPN Golf Schools.
Earning points Cardmembers earn 1 Membership Rewards point for every qualifying US$1 charged to eligible, enrolled American Express cards. In addition, many American Express card products offer the ability to earn double bonus points for purchases in everyday spending categories (including supermarkets, fuel retailers, drugstores, the US Postal Service, and wireless phone bill payments).
Redemptions Membership Rewards currently has over 140 redemption partners. Membership Rewards points are redeemable in a selection of reward categories including travel, retail merchandise, dining and entertainment, shopping and recreation gift certificates, unique experiences, financial services and charity rewards. Members may also customise their own redemption choices through the programme's Your Reward option. The points have no expiry date, and there is no limit on the number of points that can be earned.
In 2005, the programme launched a benefit that allows American Express cardmembers to book travel using Membership Rewards points instantly via the American Express travel web site, without blackout dates or restrictions, for airlines, hotels or cruises.
Redemptions summary The 2006 Membership Rewards redemption partners and options are:
- Airlines AeroMexico, Aeroplan, Air France, Air Jamaica, AirTran Airways, Alitalia, All Nippon Air-ways (ANA), Cathay Pacific Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, EL AL Israel Airlines, Frontier Airlines, GlobalPass, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Mexicana Airlines, Qantas, South African Airways, Southwest Airlines, SWISS and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
- Car Rentals and Rail Amtrak, Avis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz and Rail Europe.
- Charities More than 1,000,000 charitable organisations (through the American Express online donations portal).
- Dining and Entertainment AMC Theatres, American Express Be My Guest Dining Cards, Benihana, Blockbuster, Broadway.com, By Invitation Only Events for Platinum Cardmembers, The Capital Grille, CityPass, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Gold Card Events, Hollywood Movie Money, iTunes, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., LIVE NATION, Loews Cineplex, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants, The Melting Pot, Morton's, The Steakhouse, Restaurant Associates, Roy's, Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Telecharge.com, Ticketmaster, Tribeca Film Festival, US Open Tennis Championships and Your Reward.
- Hotels Best Western Gold Crown Club International; Fairmont Hotels & Resorts; Hilton HHonors (Hilton, Conrad, Coral by Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Scandic); Marriott International (Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn by Marriott, Fairfield Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, Spring Hill Suites by Marriott); Omni Hotels; Hyatt Hotels & Resorts; Priority Club Rewards (InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites); Starwood Preferred Guest, (Westin Hotel & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Le Meridien) and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Preferred Hotel Group (Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Summit Hotels & Resorts), Loews Hotels.
- Merchandise Some of the brand names represented include: All-Clad, Bang & Olufsen, Baume & Mercier, Bodum, Bose, Bowflex, Callaway Golf, Canon, Cobra, Creative, De'Longhi, Dyson, Fuji, Jabra, JVC, KitchenAid, Lagos, Le Creuset, Maui Jim, Nike Golf, Omas, Oreck, Panasonic, Pentax, PHILIPS, Reidel, Samsonite, Samsung, Sony, Swarovski, TAG Heuer, TaylorMade, The Northface, Toshiba, Trek, Tumi, Villeroy & Boch, Waterford, Wilson.
- Other options American Express Gift Cheques, American Express Travellers' Cheques, AwardPlanner and MileageManager, Link2Gov, Official Payments Corp., and USA TODAY.
- Retail Babies'R'Us, Banana Republic, Bloomingdale's, Brooks Brothers, Cole Haan, Crate and Barrel, Dell Computer, Red Door Spas, ESCADA, FTD.COM, Fortunoff, Gap, Gloss.com, Lands' End, Linens 'n Things, L'Occitane, PB Teen, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Restoration Hardware, Saks Fifth Avenue, Smith & Hawken, ShopAmex, Spa finder, Staples, Steiner Sports, Talbots, The Home Depot, The Sharper Image, Tourneau, Toys'R'Us, and 800wine.com.
- Sports and Adventure Abercrombie & Kent, American Skiing Company, Aspen/Snowmass, Butterfield & Robinson, Epiculinary, ESPN Golf Schools Presented by Lexus, Golf Academy of Hilton Head Island at Sea Pines, Intrawest Mountain Resorts, Lake Austin Spa, Mountain Travel Sobek, Moorings, NauticBlue, O.A.R.S, Richard Petty Driving Experience, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Adventure Parks, Troon Golf, Skip Barber Racing School, Space Adventures Ltd., Tauck World Discovery, Universal Golf Ticket, Universal Ski Ticket and Vail Resorts, Van Der Meer Tennis.
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