I guess that depends on where you live.... In Vancouver a small house starts at 700K. Can you still get a house in Phoenix for 30K?

I did "Cash Advance" up to 20K in 1 transaction, I didn't take the cash, instead I opted for a Money Order which can easily be deposited in any back account.

And perhaps Amex has courtesy cheques? I just received some for my Costco Amex (Credit card, not a charge card) this week. There was a 6 month low interest period. I think it was 0.99% but they had a 1% transfer fee so not worth it for me. This could be one way to "Cash" out the credit.