American Express Membership Rewards - 5000 MR Points for taxes on Plat Amex!!

Received a card in the mail today for my Platinum Amex Card:
"Earn 5000 Membership Rewards bonus points by paying federal taxes with your platinum card from American Express"
from 3/15-4/15 in addition to the 1 point per $ you charge.
This includes 1040 and 1040ES
www.officialpayments.com/amex4.jsp (http://www.officialpayments.com/amex4.jsp)

points will be awarded in 6-8 weeks

So I sent in $50.00 for Estimated, paid $1.25 fee and will get 5051 points!
JudyJFLA

Anyone know if this is Platinum only or whether it will work with others (Centurion, plain ol Membership Rewards amex)?

And if this is targeted?

The link doesn't spell out details of the offer.

Does anyone have a promotion code or more information about this bonus? I tried calling Amex regarding this and they had no record of any such promotion. Thanks for your help!

My bet is that it is double miles on first $5,000 and if you pay just $50 you get 100 MR points not 5,050. That is the deal on the Starwood Card and on the Delta Skymile card. The Skymile card might not have a $5,000 limit on double miles.

I got that offer before, but it was with the Gold Rewards Plus card.

They stopped doing that two years ago :(

Now I have to settle for the double miles offer.

Which, with the amount of taxes that I have to pay, it is almost a wash :rolleyes:

I think the reason why they stopped, is the same reason you are getting those 5051 points, people were just making very small payments.

I received an ad in the mail from American Express that matches the one in the original post. Pay your taxes, including your estimated taxes, at officialpayments.com by April 15, 2004, and you get 5,000 bonus Membership Reward points. The ad has a Platinum Card icon somewhere on it, I believe (it's downstairs, and my foot's asleep, so I don't want to go find it now). The payment service adds a convenience fee consisting of a percentage of the tax payment--which I suppose makes sense, because the government won't let them withhold a percentage of your taxes to pay the credit-card issuer.

I've been wrestling with whether to do this. I have to pay close to $15,000 in estimated taxes every quarter, and the convenience fee is around $360 for that amount. That's $1440 if I use this four times a year, so I would get (15,000 x 4) + (360 x 4) + 5000 = 66,400 Membership Reward points. The question is, are that many points--plus the extra interest my money draws in the bank for the month while the payment floats, since my Amex bill closes on the 11th of the month--worth spending $1,400?

(And will it help me get a Centurion???????? just kidding!)

I've been wrestling with whether to do this. I have to pay close to $15,000 in estimated taxes every quarter, and the convenience fee is around $360 for that amount. That's $1440 if I use this four times a year, so I would get (15,000 x 4) + (360 x 4) + 5000 = 66,400 Membership Reward points. The question is, are that many points--plus the extra interest my money draws in the bank for the month while the payment floats, since my Amex bill closes on the 11th of the month--worth spending $1,400?

(And will it help me get a Centurion???????? just kidding!)

Depends on how you value your points. Doing $5,000 for $125 and getting 10,000 points seem to ne a fair deal. Beyond that the points cost 2.5 cents each. For domestic travel that would be $625 oer coach ticket, likely too high. For BC international travel at 120,000 miles that would be $3,000 for a ticket that can cost over $6,000 - perhaps ok.

I usually stick with double mile offers. Delta's skymiles card may have an unlimited match. The Starwood Card does double for up to $5,000 and for 20,000 points you get a free ticket on several airlines.

BTW, I used taxes to get me over the hump and qualified for the Centurion card. I made an exception to my double miles rule and considered the cost an investment. For me the Card was worth its cost.

Depends on how you value your points. Doing $5,000 for $125 and getting 10,000 points seem to ne a fair deal. Beyond that the points cost 2.5 cents each. For domestic travel that would be $625 oer coach ticket, likely too high. For BC international travel at 120,000 miles that would be $3,000 for a ticket that can cost over $6,000 - perhaps ok.

* * *

BTW, I used taxes to get me over the hump and qualified for the Centurion card. I made an exception to my double miles rule and considered the cost an investment. For me the Card was worth its cost.
Hmm, I just multipled 66 by 25 and got $1,650, so the fee for the taxes is less than it would cost to buy that many points. I guess the 66,000 points are more than enough for two round-trips to the Caribbean, although depending on the time of year and destination a ticket may be had for less than $825. (Taking it from a non-economic standpoint, Ms1995hoo is not as enamoured of the idea of rejiggering the itinerary to figure out the maximum points--she just wants to get the free ticket because money is tighter for her. Since she has the timeshare, I guess some tradeoff is appropriate.) Something to chew on over the weekend, I guess. I have considered it from the Centurion point of view as well.

Thanks for the thoughts.

1995hoo,
can you please post the promotion code on the mailing from Amex for the 5000 bonus points? Hopefully it is not a targetted offer...

1995hoo,
can you please post the promotion code on the mailing from Amex for the 5000 bonus points? Hopefully it is not a targetted offer...
Here is the entire text of the thing:

Earn 5,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points by paying federal taxes with your Platinum Card® from American Express.*

Whether it's a deck chair, an airplane seat, or at a spa, help yourself get there sooner by paying federal taxes with your eligible Platinum Card. It's quick and easy. And from 3/15/04 through 4/15/04, receive 5,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points in addition to one point for virtually every dollar you charge on federal taxes.

Here's how to pay your federal taxes with the Card:
1) File your individual federal tax return (Form 1040, 1040-ES, or 4868) by mail or online.
2) Use your Platinum Card to pay by contacting Official Payments Corp.®

Paying state and local taxes with the Card:
You may be able to charge state and local taxes with the Platinum Card. Just contact Official Payments Corp. for details about participating states and municipalities.

Official Payments Corp.
www.officialpayments.com/amex4.jsp
1-800-2PAY-TAX(SM) (1-800-272-9829)

[Following small print:]
NOTE: All tax payments made with the Card are subject to a convenience fee charged by Official Payments Corp. Complete information about the fees will be provided when you call Official Payments Corp. or visit www.officialpayments.com/amex4.jsp.

*Bonus points will be awarded for federal tax payments made from 3/15/04 through 4/15/04. Limit one 5,000 bonus point award per Membership Rewards account. To earn bonus points, you must be enrolled in the Membership Rewards program at the time of your charge and you must charge your tax payment on an eligible, enrolled Platinum Card from American Express. Bonus points will be credited to your Membership Rewards account within 6-8 weeks after charges appear on your billing statement. Bonus ID: 1550.

Just an update. My 5000 bunus MR points for the $50 est tax payment have already posted to my MR account. Compared to United's slow service, this was really a suprise. WTG Amex Platinum card!
JudyJFLA