Quickest Way To Earn Points… Your Friends!

Do you have that one friend that always offers to pay for everything and then you can just Venmo them?… They are most likely hunting for points! I am personally guilty of this as it is an easy way to collect points that you otherwise would not earn… and if you aren’t earning points you are inherently making a smaller ROI for your cards. Let’s look at a couple of reasons why I personally offer to “Just Venmo me”.

Free Points

Let’s just get this one out of the way first… I am offering to pay for things with my card and have you Venmo me for personal gain of points. Over the past year I have earned an additional 10,000 points on purchases by using my personal American Express and having someone Venmo me for their portion, which equates to around $200 in points. All of my friends know that I am DEEP into the points game, so this should come as no surprise.

Discounts Others Can’t Get

As discussed in my previous posts, American Express cards often come with hotel or rental car status that brings down the price of your stay. When I use my status(card) to pay for trips, it saves the entire group money. If you combine that with some of the recent American Express Membership Offers, this could be hundreds of dollars off! I recently booked a trip to Maine with family and was able to stack both the 5X points for booking directly with Delta, with the “Spend $400 get $200 back” offer from Amex, thus saving each party $100.

Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty

Purchase protection and extended warranty are arguably the most important factor as to why I offer to pay for something and receive cash or Venmo in return. With cards like the American Express Platinum, you are automatically extending both the return window and warranty that normally comes with products. There is nothing worse than purchasing a big ticket item for a family member, only for it to break two months after the warranty. If this entire purchase is on your American Express Platinum, you would simply fill out the form and be reimbursement for the full purchase. I personally have used this service and it is very straight forward.

Do you have a friend who is always offering to pay for things? Are you that friend who is always offering? Drop a comment below as I am curious how many others are earning or losing points!