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| Courtesy RGB Stock Photos |
Right now there are many of you who are starting to plan a big spring or summer wedding in 2017 with a honeymoon to follow right after! This is an event that should involve a rewards strategy and using a card like the American Express Gold Rewards Card can fit right in. While the wedding should be your main focus, since it’s an event that involves many large expenses, don’t forget about maximizing your rewards. While trying to get the most points possible from your wedding expenses may not have been your first to-do when you started planning, just keep reminding yourself that those points can be used for your honeymoon! They will also come in handy for big purchases that come after you’re married, like new items for your home or upgrading to a bigger TV. With the expense of a wedding in front of you (and/or your family) you can save money on the honeymoon portion, even if it is being funded by your parents or other family by utilizing your Membership Rewards points. Read on to find out how you can maximize your points and rewards for this grand celebration.
The Wedding
You’ve proposed or been proposed to and you’ve set the date for this amazing day – now comes the planning and of course the spending. Many of you want a traditional wedding: big, lots of people, the whole nine yards. These weddings cost a lot of money so, whatever you do, try to put as much of the spend on your Card as those points will come in handy for your honeymoon. The wedding dress, the reception hall in that fancy hotel, the catering, you name it. You put it on the Card. Some purchases like booking a reception hall in hotel could earn you 2x points since the hotel might fall under the travel category. Just remember to always consciously think about using your Card and try to refrain from cash, cheque or even debit. You want to earn as many points as you can to help you out on your honeymoon!
The Honeymoon
This is where all your hard work of putting all your wedding expenses on your American Express Gold Rewards Card comes in handy. You want to stay at an all-inclusive resort with no kids or families to pester you on the honeymoon. You want the utmost in service and luxury so you pick a great resort in St. Lucia or elsewhere in the Caribbean or Mexico. You would have a hard time using points or miles from traditional reward programs here as they typically don’t have all-inclusive resorts as part of their rewards catalogs. However, with the Membership Rewards® from American Express you can use your points for any travel charge and you’ll earn 2 points for every $1 spent on eligible travel purchases to boot when you actually book the resort! Not only should you use your Gold Rewards Card for the points earning and redemption, but also for insurance purposes as you’ll want your Card to keep you covered should anything go wrong. Once the charge from that resort (or whatever vacation you choose) shows up on your account, go online to log in to your Online Account and click on “Use points for eligible purchases” , or log onto the Amex App to redeem your points against that charge. You should be able to save a good portion of the costs with the points you earned getting the Card (New Cardmembers can earn 25,000 Welcome Bonus points) and then for your wedding spend (I know some people will spend $30,000+) so chances are you’ll have 50,000 or more points on your Card. That will save you $500 right off the bat and you still have 12 months after the travel charge to keep collecting points to redeem against it if you want.
Final thoughts
Remember, saving $500 on your honeymoon, even if it is fully funded by others, means you have $500 more to help pay for that condo, house, or furniture. If that isn’t a concern, you have $500 more to spend while you are on your honeymoon to make it that much more special! You’ll have lots more time to accumulate more points and as we see in the industry it is typically better to use up your points when you can rather than hoard them. The flexibility and ease of use with cards like the American Express Gold Rewards Card means you can enjoy redemptions at any time and reap the full benefits of the rewards the Card avails.
American Express Gold Rewards Card
• New American Express® Gold Rewards* Cardmembers can earn a Welcome Bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards® points just by making $1,500 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership.
• No Annual Fee for the first year; $150 Annual Fee thereafter*
• Transfer your points to frequent flyer or other loyalty programs, including 1:1 to Aeroplan®* and Avios
• Earn 2 points for every $1 on eligible travel and everyday purchases
• Charge any travel to your Card then pay for it with points
• 1 Free Supplementary Gold Rewards Card (a $50 value*) to help you earn points faster
• Add your eligible1 American Express® Card to Apple Pay, and use your eligible Apple device2 to pay for goods and services at participating American Express contactless merchants3
1. Available on eligible cards. Eligible cards are active American Express Consumer, Small Business or Corporate Cards (excluding Corporate Purchasing Cards and Corporate Meeting Cards) issued by Amex Bank of Canada. Prepaid cards and products (such as the American Express Gift Card) are not eligible.
2. Apple Pay works with iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus running on iOS 9 and above or an Apple Watch that is paired with an iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus. For a list of other compatible Apple Pay devices see apple.com/ca/apple-pay.
3. With participating American Express contactless merchants and Apple Pay in app purchases on eligible devices. Transaction limits may apply.
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details and current product information click the Apply now link.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in full.Conditions apply
®* Aeroplan is a registered trademark of Aimia Canada Inc.