Back to School Giveaway with American Express

The school year has started, and boy do I feel like we have plunged back into the deep end!  We just had our Back to School night, and my head is swimming with all the event dates, equipment lists and volunteer positions.  To make matters worse, my wallet is considerably lighter, what with all the equipment fees and classroom donations and field trip fees, not to mention everything I had to spend to get all the kids back to school!

Fortunately for American Express members, they've been accumulated Membership Rewards points with all their everyday purchases -- and not only can they redeem their points for great hotel and travel deals, they can also redeem their points for all kinds of Back-to-School merchandise!  Members can redeem MR points in increments as low as 2,500, which gets you a $25 gift card at Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Lands End and other great retailers.  They even have a brand new Back to School catalog (http://bit.ly/AmexMRcatalog) that lets you pick up fall essentials like tablets, e-readers, Tumi carry on luggage and more!

It's great news for cash-strapped parents -- you can basically equip your child with every Back-to-School essential item using Membership Rewards points!  Want to see how easy it can be?  American Express invited me to play around with 50,000 Membership Rewards points and see what kinds of "Back to School" must-haves I could come up with.


CLOTHES: 10,000 POINTS
Every kid knows how important that First Day of School Outfit can be!  For 10,000 Membership Rewards points, you can redeem a $100 gift card to many retailers including Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Lands End and more,

Check out more Back to School looks for $100 on my #AmexB2S Back to School board on Pinterest!


LUNCH: 10,000 POINTS
When it comes to lunch, savvy parents know that presentation is everything.  Redeem 10,000 points for a $100 Pottery Barn Kids gift card and you can get everything you need to make the cutest, coolest lunches in the schoolyard!

WHEELS: 15,333 POINTS
With these cool Razor scooters, your child can ride to school in style -- without adding to traffic or emissions overload!  They're just a tad over 15,000 points.

AFTERSCHOOL LEARNING: 13,940 POINTS
After he does his homework, give your child some downtime to relax, let loose and chill out by playing some fun videogames on the new LeapsterGS from Leapfrog (13,940 points).  But sshhhh... don't tell him he's actually complementing the learning that he does at school, thanks to Leapfrog's award-winning gaming system that combines entertainment and education in one fun package!

And there you have it.... a complete back-to-school package for your elementary school-age child, all for 50,000 points!   The best thing about it is, you can mix and match to suit your needs.  Only have 25,000 points to spare?  Cut out the LeapsterGS and the scooter!  Need more clothes?  Spend your entire points stash on giftcards -- you can even use your Membership Rewards points to pay for stuff on Amazon!

There are so many ways to use MR points for back-to-school, I'm going to save a few more of my finds for a future post.  Stay tuned for my Back to School looks for middle schoolers and moms!  Can you think of a Back to School look you'd love to get on Membership Rewards points?  Share your ideas   on what to do with 25,000 points for a chance to win a $250 Amex gift card...........

Win a $250 American Express gift card!
What would YOU buy with 25,000 Membership Rewards points? Share your answer and you could win big -- one lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a $250 American Express gift card!


Required Entry
Leave a comment on this page telling me which item(s) from the Membership Rewards Catalog you would choose if you had 25,000 Membership Rewards post. This entry must be completed before other entries apply.


Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. 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) Follow bonggamom on Instagram (1 entry)

3) Follow bonggamom on Pinterest (1 entry)

4) Pin this giveaway on your Pinterest board -- please make sure your pin contains the hashtag #AmexB2S (you can use the "Pin It" button at the bottom of this post -- 1 entry).

5) Repin any of the pins on my Back to School Pinterest board containing the hashtag #AmexB2S -- there are 12 of them!  Please make sure your repin contains the hashtag #AmexB2S in the pin description (up to 12 extra entries).

6) Write this on the Bonggamom Finds Facebook Page:
I entered to win a $250 American Express gift card on Bonggamom Finds! http://bit.ly/T8MbNW

7) Share this giveaway (here's the link:  http://bit.ly/T8MbNW   ) on your Facebook page (1 entry -- note, if this entry happens to be the winning entry, I will ask the winner to provide a screenshot of their FB page as proof that they shared)

8) Follow @bonggafinds on Twitter and tweet this, up to once per day (1 entry per day):
RT @bonggafinds Enter to win a $250 @americanexpress GC! To enter, share what u would buy w/ 25k rewards pts @ http://bit.ly/T8MbNW #AmexB2S




Good luck... and stay tuned for an additional $50 Amex gift card giveaway post in 1-2 weeks!



The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on September 17, 2012; I will draw a winner at random on September 18 and post his/her name after she/he confirms acceptance. Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here.


Disclosure: This is a compensated post.  Thanks to American Express for providing the prize for this giveaway.  I curated the "Back to School" looks on this post, and on my Pinterest page, using options taken from the American Express Membership Rewards Catalog, but the choices were solely my own.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.  Click here for full disclosure.


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