American Express Membership Rewards - I need some help understanding MR levels

Ok I currently have a Blue card with Amex and a Corporate Green Card. A little less then a year ago I paid around 35 bucks I think to link the cards so that my Green card could collect MR points as well. I normally redeem my points for Southwest points. I had been redeeming them for 1250 per 1 southwest point. In Jan I believe that was changed to 1500... sad but no biggie. Anyway just 2 weeks ago I redeem some points and for some reason it redeems at 3000 points = 1 southwest point????? So I called Amex and after waiting forever I get to someone. She tells me that I don't have full MR or some crap like that I only have options? What should I be doing different I could probably easily qualify for a platinum amex if needed would that help at all? I easily spend 3k+ a month on the corp amex would this help me get comped the MR level ? Thanks for any feedback that can be offered.

Alright....im not an expert, but here i go

It seems you are on the Membership Rewards Options program not the regular Membership Rewards Points program. You are collecting points for a 2:1 in most cases ratio. IE.... 5,000 MR OPTIONS = 2,500 Delta skymiles or whatever airline you plan to fly. I dont belive that the blue card is eligable for the regular program as it charges no annual fee. However i have heard if one card is on the regular program, then when you link cards to that card, they too collect regular MR points. You need to speak with a customer service rep and get it worked out, because a 2:1 ratio is horse......fooey LOL.

Are there different levels of MR for charge cards? I'm on the UK Classic. Is there one above where you get more MR per £ (obviously for some premium)...

Cheers,

Chris

I don't think there's anything above MR Classic, just below. Here in Switzerland it's called MR Basic. Gives you only half the points and the redemption options are rather limited (e.g. no exchange into FF miles). Basic is free while Classic costs CHF 50/year unless you have a Gold Card or higher.

andy

I beleive the Amex Plat card will give you 1:1 ratio. And if you link your blue and corp amex to the Plat card under one account, you can earn MR points off those cards for no annual fee as well.

There are no "levels" to MR - just types of cards that affect what the redemption rate is. In the US, you have a choice of Rewards Green Card or Preferred Rewards Green. The difference is the annual fee and the redemption rate of points.

The Rewards Green has a fee of $65 for the card and a 2:1 redemption rate. The Preferred Green Card has a fee of $110 and a 1:1 redemption rate.

The same also applies to the Gold cards, where you have 3 different cards offering 2 different redemption rates (2:1 and 1:1) - the other difference being earning rates and fees (or no fees) for additional cards. The fees vary from $90 (Rewards Gold, 2:1 redemption) $110 (Preferred Gold 1:1 redemption) or $150 (Preferred Plus Gold, 1:1 redemption).