Redeeming Your American Express AIR MILES Credit Card Rewards

Summary: In 1997, American Express Canada forged an agreement with AIR MILES rewards program to launch the American Express AIR MILES credit card exclusively for Canadian citizens. Eight years later, in 2005, an undisclosed duration for the multi year agreement extending the partnership between American Express and AIR MILES was signed.

In 1997, American Express Canada forged an agreement with AIR MILES rewards program to launch the American Express AIR MILES credit card exclusively for Canadian citizens. Eight years later, in 2005, an undisclosed duration for the multi year agreement extending the partnership between American Express and AIR MILES was signed. American Express Canada acknowledged that the reward scheme of AIR MILES in the American Express AIR MILES credit card has contributed significantly towards the expansion of the Amex membership base in the country. The company even added in a press release statement, that association with loyalty programs, such as the American Express AIR MILES credit card programme, is necessary for a credit card product to be competitive and to be able to penetrate the credit card market in Canada. This observation was drawn from the results of a survey of 1,000 Canadians, where one of the survey findings indicated that close to 50 percent of all Canadians are members of some form of rewards program. By merely using your American Express AIR MILES credit card for your charity donations, purchases on leisure and entertainment, service and subscription, merchandise, gift cards and certificates, travel, music CD's, movie DVD's and a lot more at participating sponsors, you will earn your reward miles at a rate of one point for every fifteen- or twenty-dollars depending on your American Express AIR MILES credit card. There is no limit on the number of rewards miles that you can collect or redeem through your American Express AIR MILES credit card. You choose from the four different kinds of American Express AIR MILES credit card reward offers, namely, Print an Offer, Click an Offer, In-Store Offer and Contest Offer. With Print an Offer, you can print the offer published in the Sponsor's website. You can then take the printed coupon when you shop at the Sponsor's store so you receive the bonus offer. You may wish to take advantage of the Sponsors' American Express AIR MILES credit card holder bonus offer featured in their websites through Click an Offer. This type of offer is only redeemable via online shopping, so you do not need to visit their physical stores. The In-Store Offer, on the other hand, can only be redeemed at the Sponsor's location. You do not need to purchase anything on your American Express AIR MILES credit card from the Sponsor to receive your bonus; you only have to visit the location to earn it. The Contest Offers are those contests offered by Sponsors where you get the chance of winning some items including bonus reward miles. When you want to redeem the reward miles you have earned on your American Express AIR MILES credit card for an item you like, but you are lacking a few hundred points for the item, you are still given the chance to redeem the reward. You can actually purchase, using your American Express AIR MILES credit card, the lacking reward miles provided that they will not exceed half of the total reward miles needed for the item. For each reward mile, you will have to pay thirty cents plus gross sales tax. This scheme is available on all rewards. Note, however, that you can't ask for a cash refund once you purchase the additional reward miles, irrespective of whether the transaction was done on your American Express AIR MILES credit card or not.