One of the least discussed ways to use miles & points is to redeem them for merchandise. Well, there’s a reason most of us in the miles & points community don’t talk about it – it’s almost always a terrible deal!
Million Miles Secret Agent Simon commented on Facebook:
Have you done an article on the Amazon and Hilton arrangement to use Hilton points for Amazon purchases? Looks like a bad deal to me. Thoughts?
Simon is right! It’s NOT a good deal to use your Hilton points for Amazon purchases.
Bad Deal: Non-Travel Point Redemptions
I’ve written about how to shop on Amazon with Chase Ultimate Rewards points and AMEX Membership Rewards points. And how to use United Airlines miles to buy merchandise.
If you use Hilton points for Amazon purchases you’ll only get ~0.2 cents per point. But you can easily get 2X to 4X as much value per point when you use your Hilton points for free nights!
So I do NOT recommend using Hilton points for Amazon purchases. Because there are many more valuable uses for your points.
Is It Ever a Good Deal?
Occasionally there are great deals, like the targeted offer to save $30 off a $60 Amazon purchase by paying with a single AMEX Membership Rewards point. Or your points might expire before you can redeem them for travel.
In those situations, I say go for it! Because at the end of the day you should do what brings you the most satisfaction. And that might not always be travel.
Bottom Line
One of the ways you can use your miles & points is to purchase merchandise. But this is almost always a bad deal, because you won’t get nearly as much value for your points.
So unless there is a special offer, or your points & miles are about to expire, I would NOT recommend using your points in this way.
But as always, you should do what brings you the most happiness.
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My husband spent all of our miles/points to buy stuff on Amazon that he thought was “free”. Imagine my reaction when he told me how the stuff he was getting was all free and I realized what he meant. Long story short, I did cry some. Are there worse things in life? Of course. But, I did shed some tears.
My advice, once you attach your credit card to get the “good” offer, remove it just in case!
Removing the card just in case is a good idea. I hope that what he bought was for you! 😉
No, which makes it all so much worse! But, the silver lining is he was never into acquiring points before but I now have him out there with me! So perhaps in the long run we’ll earn many more miles than he “lost”. Here’s to hoping!
Consider it an investment! Seems like it’s paying good dividends.
I remember when I first started with credit cards, redeeming for gift cards and thought it was a great deal!
I’ve done the same thing before, Boonie!
I can top that. I used to get magazines :(.
Maybe they’ll be collectible items one day!