44 million Membership Rewards points, here are 5 ideas on how to use them
David Portnoy is not a famous face in Italy, but in the US he is a real VIP. Not only because he is [...]
David Portnoy is not a famous face in Italy, but in the US he is a real VIP. Not only because he is the founder of a very famous website dedicated to sports and betting, but also because of all his many other activities. Among them is his love for pizza, which has led him to review, alone or with super VIPs, thousands of American pizzerias with his famous phrase "One bite", that is, a bite.
In this article:
He is also famous for being banned for life from NFL stadiums, except then managing to sneak into the VIP box at the SuperBowl every time, and getting kicked out as on the last occasion in Los Angeles.
The master of points: @stoolpresident pic.twitter.com/o5V8tID9vN
- Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 15, 2022
Today we are talking about this character because, thanks to a video that has gone viral in the world of serial accumulators of points and miles, he showed the world that he has over 44 million MR points in his account.
History
In recent days "El Presidente," as his friends call him, went to a Rite Aid chain store to buy a pack of chewing gum and paid with his American Express Centurion, or Amex's most exclusive credit card, issued (for a fee) only by direct invitation.
The Rite Aid chain allows, through a partnership with American Express, to pay by discounting points directly from the store's POS. The discussion stems from here: the cashier asks David if he wants to use the points and then states candidly that he has never seen anyone with more than 44million Membership Rewards points.
Membership Rewards points
In America, as all serial accumulators know, it is possible to collect many more points than in Italy. Sure, the Centurion already accumulates 1.5 points per dollar spent, but then there are the multipliers that allow the bill to rise much more easily than in Italy.
![Everything you need to know about Membership Rewards points: how to use them, how to transfer them, how not to waste them [agg.2023].](https://staging.theflightclub.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IMG_3720-900x675.jpeg)
Obviously also in Italy there are chances to make a million points in a year through the various offerings, as the introduces a friend, welcome bonuses and other strategies, but not to the level of the US. In the end it's all about the ability to spend: if, for example, you buy a 170 million painting at auction, you score a truckload of points.
If you are not yet an American Express customer and want to start accumulating Membership Rewards points, you can take advantage of the offer to get your Gold card for free for the first year and start earning your first MR. For do good things, you don't need millions of points, you need far fewer.
5 ideas on how to use 44million points
Not only are the accumulation rules different in each market, conversion and reuse rates are also customized for each nation. Here is how David might use, in Italy, his 44M points
- The worst way would be to convert them into money, and thus discount the charges from the card account. 44million points would become the "pittance" of 176,000. For a normal person that is 10 years of credit card spending, but for David's standard of living, we are probably talking about a few months, hardly a year.
- The second worst way might be That of converting points into voucher for tickets with ITA Airways. He could get 1100 vouchers worth €200 each, So 220 thousand euros in ITA Airways ticketing. In any case, a value already higher than the conversion to cash with the shop with points.
- He may decide to Convert points at a rate of 1:1 into Hilton points e live two years at the Waldord Astoria in Bangkok At a cost of 80,000 points per night. Here, thanks to Diamond status, he would have free breakfast, access to lounges for free eating/drinking, basically he could live at no cost for quite some time. Or given the expensive electricity/gas and his passion for sports, he could transfer for 8 years or more to the Sheraton Milan San Siro At a cost of 15 thousand Bonvoy points per night.
- Convert them all into Emirates Skywards points and with 32million of points book no less than 350 tickets to fly from Milan to New York in business class aboard the A380, and with the rest upgrade to first class whenever there is an open seat.
- Living in Milan and working in Madrid (or London). Being able to redeem about 32million Avios points. Points convertible into 4266 tickets to fly from Linate to Madrid/London and back, every weekday, for 7 years.
In conclusion
Portnoy is not the man with the most Membership Rewards points in the world, According to him, he does not even need to use them. He could then spend his swag on book free tickets for friends and family, donate the points to charity or simply accumulate them for later use all at once and buy an island or a ticket to go to space. Surely I would know how to use them, too bad I can't give them to anyone.
