Welcome to FT. Your question is a common one but it is also way,way too broad to get a meaningful answer.

1. Where do you like to go?

2. How do you like to get there? For example, for me it would be Europe and, most important, in either Business or First Class. You will discover the greatest redemption value is in redeeming for those types of airline tickets, but you need to be able to generate a lot of points for that, and it needs to mean something to you. There are many people who would rather use the points for two coach trips rather than one in Business Class

3. How often do you wish to get away? What level of hotel do you like to stay at? I have found that hotel redemptions usually give pretty low value with AMEX so I use other credit cards, like the Starwood AMEX or the Hyatt Visa, to get my points for hotel rooms and suites.

I'm sure you get the idea by now. Save your points, read FT, go to www.boardingarea.com and read the blogs there, ask questions, etc. You'll figure out what works for your specific situation. You'll find a wealth of information here that will be useful when your questions get more targeted.

Again, welcome aboard!