Amex Schwab Platinum Invest With Rewards
A Frequent Miler post last week mentioned the Amex Schwab Platinum Invest With Rewards benefit has a “new simplified format.” Indeed, the format is simpler. But it’s not new. I described this new-at-the-time layout here at Miles to Memories over a year ago.
Various outlets cover similar topics, and timeframes can vary. Such content can jog consumers’ memories, even if the author considers it new. (For what it’s worth, I often caveat my discoveries with some version of “new to me,” cognizant that what I notice isn’t necessarily late-breaking.) So then, it’s a timely opportunity to remind readers of the improved Amex Schwab Platinum Invest With Rewards redemption experience, including a few interesting wrinkles some may not have noticed yet.
Amex Schwab Platinum Invest with Rewards Experience
Amex has streamlined the Schwab Platinum Invest with Rewards redemption experience for cashing out Membership Rewards points. Again, you can read in-depth about the changes here. But these are the major differences between the legacy redemption experience and this newer version:
- Amex Schwab Platinum cardholders no longer need to enter their specific card information, such as card number, expiration date, zip code, and CID. This has probably been my favorite aspect of the change. I’ve enjoyed immediately redeeming as a longtime user of the Invest with Rewards benefit. The redemption process is much faster since this improvement.
- Cardholders can simply type the exact number of Membership Rewards points they want to redeem. They no longer are required to pick from different denominations to aggregate for their desired redemption.
- Given the above, cardholders can completely zero out their Membership Rewards balances via cashout if they so choose. That’s because there’s no longer a minimum 1k point redemption requirement, previously the lowest denomination a cardholder could redeem.
Hitting The 1.1 Cents Per Point Maximum
Last year, Amex phased out uncapped Membership Rewards redemption at 1.1 cents per point for Schwab Platinum cardholders. Now, these cardholders can only obtain that redemption value up to 1 million points per calendar year. Membership Rewards points redemptions beyond this threshold are now worth 0.8 cpp for the remainder of the year. But beyond one’s own records, how does Amex advise Schwab Platinum cardholders they’ve hit this 1 million point threshold?
Along with the above updates, Amex added this functionality. I described how Amex enforces the 1 million Membership Rewards points redemption threshold here.
Unfortunately, as part of the update, Amex didn’t provide Schwab Platinum cardholders how many points they’ve redeemed at 1.1 cpp so far in the calendar year. I rely on my own records for that, anyway. But it would be nice to have another tracker on progress here other than manually reviewing points history in my Amex profile. Perhaps that could come in the future, but based on how infrequently this interface is updated, I don’t expect it.
Conclusion
A minor consolation to last year’s Amex cashout devaluation is a more streamlined, useful Amex Schwab Platinum Invest with Rewards redemption platform. Schwab Platinum cardholders have more flexibility and ease to cash out Amex Membership Rewards points.
Here at Miles to Memories, we focus just as much, and sometimes more, on redeeming points for cash money compared to travel-related redemptions. Rewards can benefit us on an everyday basis, without any direct connection to travel. Of course, we enjoy redeeming on travel, also. But why limit ourselves?
I’m into “rewards,” not simply “travel rewards.” Travel augments my life, but I’m not defined by it. Consequently, there’s no reason to be so myopic with the rewards I earn and redeem. I imagine some of you disagree, and like Mr. Lebowski, I’m cool with that. But perhaps some of you identify with my style. For everyone who cares about the larger array of reward types, I’m here for you. I’ll continue writing from a wider scope at Miles to Memories.
Long live cashout!
Love this post! The same guys also said that they discovered Turkish Miles amd Smiles routes that had been covered by at least two blogs before their “discovery”. In fact. I had booked myself several times before they found it. I guess it all comes back to… people who do stuff on the internet for money.