Originally Posted by
FirstCent
1) 80,000 points through AMEX Memberships Rewards. Note: 100,000 points can be used for a roundtrip Upper Class ticket on Virgin Atlantic from the US (West Coast) to London. That is worth $8,500 at full fare, and my family tries to take advantage of this "freebie" once per year.
3) This transaction helped me reach the $250K minimum on my Platinum card to earn a Black card. This reason alone made it worth it as I can now check that off my life "to do" list... (And for those who do not see the value in the black card, the concierge service is worth it alone. I had a client meeting on Valentine's Day, and all of the choice restaurants were full. My concierge got me a reservation at a very exclusive location - with just two hours notice).
I understand number 3. If you want a Cent, card usage is necessary and if you are willing to pay extra to get the card that makes sense to me. But otherwise you over paid I think... You could have bought 80,000 membership rewards points directly from Amex for only $2,000.00 (2.5 cents per point, up to 500k points per year).