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BIG Thank You, American Express, Or…

Thank you, American Express
Written by Charlie

So, a big thank you, American Express, or a thanks a lot, AwardWallet?

I got an e-mail on my phone tonight that made me dash to my computer to login to my Membership Rewards account. The e-mail I got was from AwardWallet with my recent awards activity. All of the figures in the e-mail were amounts and changes that I knew about except one.

Thank you, American Express

First thought – “Whoa, what in the world?!?!”

I checked my accounts and my wife’s accounts and kept getting numbers that I knew were right. At first, my mind and heart were racing so fast that I didn’t figure it out. The only changes that I immediately thought of were that I had recently closed my last Membership Rewards card (annual fee came due and was not using it enough nor did they offer me enough of a reason to stay right now). I wondered if there was some type of account audit they ran before closing the account and they found that they owed me 500,000 Membership Reward points (they gave my wife $800 one time because of a Membership Rewards audit)! My next thought was that they were trying to make me feel bad about closing my card, because when you close your last card with access to the Membership Reward program, you lose any remaining points. I thought they may have thrown a ton of points in the account just so it could drive me crazy. 🙂

Once I calmed down, I figured out what happened – it was actually the AwardWallet software, not American Express, that “gave” me those points. I had also recently changed my Delta Reserve card to a Delta Platinum card. The name “Platinum” must have made AwardWallet assume it was a regular Amex Platinum (that earns Membership Reward points) and assigned my Delta miles to my (closed) Membership Rewards account. So, no extra points – just a good heart workout for me tonight! Thanks a lot, AwardWallet! 🙂

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

1 Comment

  • Yup, AW does have some glitches. It will report balance increases all the time because it temporarily shows 0 miles/points then goes back up to the correct amount. If you update award wallet on your computer, it takes 4-5 minutes, but if you update your balance on their iPhone app, it only takes 50-60 seconds. Not sure why.