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Invest With Rewards
Time flies. We’re a handful of days away from a new redemption value cap via the Amex Schwab Platinum’s Invest With Rewards feature. The masses would probably view this as a niche benefit, given that only a subset of Amex cardholders carry a Schwab Platinum and an even smaller portion in that group will bump into the cap. But for those it affects, including my wife and me, the devaluation is real. As 1 October approaches, impacted cardholders can take steps to minimize the negatives and adapt their strategies. I’m talking about a few of those items today. But first, let’s quickly reset what’s happening in several days.
Invest With Rewards New Redemption Value Caps
Effective 1 October, a Schwab Platinum primary cardholder can redeem up to one million Membership Rewards points at 1.1 cents per point (cpp), and the rate decreases to 0.8 cpp thereafter. This resets again on 1 January 2025 and continues annually. Plus, a primary cardholder may redeem a maximum of 4 million points via Invest With Rewards every seven calendar days. You can review the full details in DDG’s post.
Maximize Pre-1 October Cashout
I’m starting with the most obvious step cashout fans should take. Schwab Platinum cardholders should cash out as many Membership Rewards points as they see fit before 1 October. The newly-enhanced Invest With Rewards page makes cashing out all the way down to zero even easier now. And I recommend cashout fans do so in September. Remember, we get a fresh one million point cap to redeem via Invest With Rewards on 1 October until the end of the year.
Aggressively Earn and Burn the Rest of the Year
Since that’s the case, continue actively earning and redeeming through Invest With Rewards for the rest of 2024. Grab any timely Amex Membership Rewards-earning card welcome offers (no lifetime language or otherwise) and meet the minimum spend requirement well before the end of the year. That way, points will post and can be redeemed this year. For those in two-player mode with a spouse or domestic partner, replicate this strategy for the other primary cardholder (but this applies to pretty much everything I talk about in today’s article).
Of course, some of you are already on your way here. Many of the activities we’re doing now won’t post points until October, anyway. For instance, statements won’t cut in the Sep timeframe, or perhaps you won’t be able to meet the welcome offer (MSR) quickly enough. (Plus, it may be too late to move the statement cut date earlier, anyway.) That’s not a huge deal – more on that next.
Plan
So maybe buckets of points won’t post until after the new caps are in place on 1 October. That’s not bad news; it just means you have to keep closer track of your earning and burning in October through December. But if you want to optimize the new 1 million cap in those three months, you’re probably planning on doing that anyway.
As I’ve talked about before, I think we should consider knocking on this cap’s door during this three month period a good problem. Hobbyists are blessed to be able to earn Membership Rewards points so easily and quickly where we must take into account the new caps.
At any rate, map out a card signup and big spending strategy to take advantage of the Oct-Nov timeframe and execute it. This is a one-time opportunity at this “bonus” 1 million cap, so do everything you can to maximize it. Who knows what opportunities Amex will offer in 2025? I’m confident many lucrative Membership Rewards options will be available next year. Long story short, don’t put off to 2025 anything you can do this year.
Reassess Long-Term Goals
Cashout fans should begin considering what they will do with surplus Membership Rewards points beyond 1 million in 2025. Do their travel needs require partner transfers or Amex bookings which bring a value beyond 0.8 cents per point? Can they pursue other Amex cashout mechanisms bringing more than 0.8 cents per point (including Business Platinum/Business Checking or the Morgan Stanley Platinum), if they haven’t already?
Of course, plenty will opt for non-cashout options for superior value in their situations. But for those who answer the previous two questions with a “no,” redeeming via Invest With Rewards at the lowly 0.8 cents per point rate might actually be the smartest play for them. Right now, I’m fairly confident we’ll continue cashing out at 0.8 cents per point via Invest With Rewards.
Maximize Player Two
It’ll become even more integral for two-player households to leverage both of their Amex relationships. Throughout the year, flatten out Membership Rewards earning as much as possible across yourself and your partner. Avoid overly-unbalanced earning through one player. (Of course, never turn down opportunities to efficiently earn Membership Rewards, but try to spread around the earning across players where possible.) That way, with each player holding a primary Amex Schwab Platinum account, the cashout limit at 1.1 cents per point is essentially 2 million per year.
Amex Invest With Rewards – Conclusion
While the new cap is undoubtedly bad news, I’m intrigued to see how things play out, with others and ourselves. How quickly will we bump up against that one million cap (I think I know the answer here)? What will each individual decide to do? Which Amex travel partners suddenly become more popular? Like most everything in our hobby, I think nuanced decisions with Amex will continue to work out best. Think critically, and do big things!
How are you preparing for the Invest With Rewards changes effective 1 October?
The post Cashout Crunch Time! Preparing for the New Amex Invest With Rewards Cap appeared first on Miles to Memories.
