How I would use 50,000 American Express Membership Rewards points (and enter to win a $100 Amex gift card!)

Thank you to everyone who has left suggestions on ways to redeem 25,000 and 50,000 American Express Membership Rewards points! It looks like electronics and travel experiences are top favorites for ways to use your points to make some great memories with your friends and family. Of course, there are over 1 million kinds of rewards in the Membership Rewards catalog to choose from, so whatever it is you and your family would love to have or do, I'm sure you'll find something in the catalog to suit your fancy.

Now, fantasy time. What would I do with 50,000 points?

1) Shred some powder. 50,000 points is more than enough to give you and your family a great day of skiing at some of the best resorts in North America. A 1-day adult pass at Mammoth Mountain is just 8,000 points, and a child pass is just 4,000 points, and a night at their Grand Sierra lodge is just 25,000 points, so a family of 4 can enjoy a ski weekend for under 50,000 points! If you don't have kids, you and a lucky friend can stay even longer: a 5-day pass is just 25,000 points. And this deal at Mammoth is good till June, so you've got lots of hours of great skiing ahead. If you don't live near California, you can also redeem your points for ski experiences in Colorado, Utah and Canada.

2) Jump for Joy. Spring has sprung, and my kids are dying to get their winter wiggles out and hop like Easter bunny! There's no better to do that than with a fun SkyWalker Trampoline. Our backyard is pretty tiny, but fortunately the Membership Express Rewards catalog offers a small-ish 8-ft. trampoline for just 40,100 points. I swear, the trampoline would be for them, not for me. If you ever catch me jumping on it, it would be only because I'm testing it for safety. All afternoon.


3) Bake up a storm. After years of indecision, I finally bought a Kitchen Aid Classic Mixer last November, and immediately wondered how I could have waited so long. It has made baking so easy and fun -- even my daughter has gotten into baking because of it! I could have cheaped out and bought a hand mixer, but I'm glad I made the investment. If only I had known that the exact same Kitchen Aid mixer was in the Membership Rewards catalog for 43,800 points! All this time I could have been treating the family to some fresh-baked dough, without spending any dough in the bank.


4) Wish my daughter a Happy Birthday. The Pea's 10th birthday was on April 6, and one of the things she really, really wanted for her birthday was an iPod Touch. She already got an iPod for her birthday last year, so we told her that getting yet another iPod device this year was not in our budget -- but if I had 50,000 points, I would have loved to put a smile on her face by redeeming those points for an iPod Touch (40,700 points for the 8GB model, 47,400 points for the 8GB model plus a $25 iTunes gift card).


5) Wish myself a Happy Mothers Day. Okay, I know I said I would be generous and spend these fantasy points on my family, but hey, if momma ain't happy, no one is, and a girl has to treat herself once in a while, right? I've never owned a really nice bag, but I could never justify spending actual money for one, so using Membership Rewards points to get one would be perfect. I could pretend to be practical and get a Kate Spade laptop bag (38,500 points), or I could justify this Kate Spade Knightsbridge Darcy bag (49,400 points) by saying I would use it forever. Pah -- who needs an excuse, I birthed three children! Bring on the Kate Spade!


Next week I'll be publishing my top 5 finds for rewards at the 75,000-point level. I know, 75,000 points might seem like a lot, but if you keep using your American Express card, you'll be there before you know it. Here are three great tips to help you earn the most Membership Rewards points you can:


1) Shop at the Membership Rewards Bonus Points Mall
When you use your American Express Card and shop via bonuspointsmall.com, not only do you get 1 point for every dollar spent, you also get 3x bonus points. You still get to shop at your favorite online retailers, but you also rack up points much faster.


2) Take advantage of Bonus earning offers
From time to time, select partners offer bonus points when you make a purchase; go to the Bonus Points Offer section to see the latest bonus points earning opportunities (up to 10x bonus points)


3) Volunteer
Helping others is its own reward, but getting points for doing is always a nice perk. When you volunteer through the Members Project® program, you can earn 500 Membership Rewards points per hour of volunteer work, up to 10,000 bonus points per year. How awesome is that? They have a database of eligible volunteer opportunities and there a bit of paperwork/red tape involved (i.e. logging hours, getting them approved, redeeming bonus points certificate) but it's probably to prevent fraud, and totally worth it. Go to TakePart.com/MembersProject for more information, to find volunteer opportunities and to register. I love, love, love American Express for providing members with such a great incentive to help their communities!







Win a $100 American Express Gift Card!
American Express is giving away a $100 American Express Gift Card to one lucky Bonggamom Finds reader!


Required Entry
Browse the American Express Membership Rewards catalog at www.membershiprewards.com , then leave a comment on this post telling me which reward(s) you would choose if you had 75,000 Membership Rewards points. This entry must be completed before you can complete any of the extra entries below.

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following (maximum of 4 extra entries for this post). Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).


1) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger(1 entry).

2) Subscribe to Bonggamom Finds updates (1 entry).

3) Share the link to this post (http://ow.ly/4xK2t) on your Facebook page wall, along with the following text (1 entry):

If you had 75,000 American Express Membership Rewards points, what would *you* redeem them for? Share your answer with Bonggamom for a chance to win a $100 Amex gift card!

4) Tweet this (1 entry):
What would you do with 75k Amex rewards points? Tell @bonggafinds for a chance to win a $100 Amex gift card! http://ow.ly/4xK2t #giveaways

For more entries to this giveaway, check out post #1 and post #2 in my AmEx post series. That's a total of 15 entries, but hurry, this giveaway ends on April 14! I'll be announcing the winner of the $100 American Express gift card on post #4, coming up next week.


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on April 14, 2011; I will draw a winner at random on April 15 from all valid entries on my AmEx posts on March 28, April 4 and April 11. Winner will be announced on my April 18 AmEx post. Due to time constraints, winner will have 24 hours to respond to my email, otherwise I will draw an alternate winner. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!


Disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in American Express' Membership Rewards Program via complimentary Membership Rewards Points. Thanks to American Express for providing the $100 American Express Gift Card giveaway prize. Information about the Membership Rewards Program has been provided by American Express and is indicated in italics. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.