135MM EF L On Order -- AMEX Rewards Pays Off Again

Hi,

I just hit the order button for the 135MM EF f/2 L Got it from Amazon.com at no cost by cashing in 126K points in my AMEX Rewards Program. To boot I get another $100 (rebate) off my 30D and $50 rebated for the lens...all-in-all I get a free lens and $150 in cash...what a deal!

I took ground shipment as it was free...so now the waiting game begins

Ducks are on standby...

Thats awesome! How much did you have to spend to get the free lens though?

So lemme get this straight...You got a free lens by taken advantage of the AMEX Rewards Program. You put all your monthly bills on the card, and then pay off your card monthly, incurring no interest charges?

That's a sweet lens though! Congrats!

Thats a sweet deal, congrats

MegaTron wrote in post #2277060
Thats awesome! How much did you have to spend to get the free lens though?

I have been in the AMEX Rewards program for about 4 years now. I charge all my bills to AMEX (gas, utilities, phone, cable, food, clothing, B+H (), travel, hotel, and others. I average about $4.5K per month in charges for everything...but remember it is my only credit card and I zero balance it at the end of each month. That is why I use AMEX in the first place...you must pay all charges at the end of every month.

In four years I have collected enought points to get for "free" the EF 100MM Macro and now the 135MM EF L. I ordered both lenses this year.

I am now at zero points will start over...but what a way to "feed" my hobby.

The only cost is the the AMEX Rewards Program charges $75 a year as a management fee to run the program.

The last time I checked every Canon lens from 500MM down was available for various amounts of points. Ditto for most Sigma and Tameron lenses as well. IMHO it is a great way to pay your bills and get back in the long run.

Sure it takes a long time to build up enought points for a quality lens but "the journey of a 1,000 miles starts with the first step."

Its great that you are able to manage your money like that and get something out of it.

It may have taken you a long time to build up those points, but at least they went towards something.

Congrats on the new lens.

JimAskew wrote in post #2277125
I have been in the AMEX Rewards program for about 4 years now. I charge all my bills to AMEX (gas, utilities, phone, cable, food, clothing, B+H (), travel, hotel, and others. I average about $4.5K per month in charges for everything...but remember it is my only credit card and I zero balance it at the end of each month. That is why I use AMEX in the first place...you must pay all charges at the end of every month.

In four years I have collected enought points to get for "free" the EF 100MM Macro and now the 135MM EF L. I ordered both lenses this year.

I am now at zero points will start over...but what a way to "feed" my hobby.

The only cost is the the AMEX Rewards Program charges $75 a year as a management fee to run the program.

The last time I checked every Canon lens from 500MM down was available for various amounts of points. Ditto for most Sigma and Tameron lenses as well. IMHO it is a great way to pay your bills and get back in the long run.

Sure it takes a long time to build up enought points for a quality lens but "the journey of a 1,000 miles starts with the first step."

So those 'free' lenses cost you $300 - still a bargain though...

kevin_c wrote in post #2277197
So those 'free' lenses cost you $300 - still a bargain though...

Kevin,

I failed to mention a piece of the puzzle. AMEX offered me a 30% points discount on any redemption from 1 NOV to 26 NOV 2006. The 135MM EF L listed at $906.00 or 186K points at Amazon.com for I got it for 126K points or an effective discount of $271.80...so the cost to me over four years, given I bought this lens at the 30% off, was $28.20 or $7.05 per year

Ahh those bargins This how one buys those things that can not be otherwise justified

yay for AMEX

and yay for Canon!

JimAskew wrote in post #2277431
Kevin,

I failed to mention a piece of the puzzle. AMEX offered me a 30% points discount on any redemption from 1 NOV to 26 NOV 2006. The 135MM EF L listed at $906.00 or 186K points at Amazon.com for I got it for 126K points or an effective discount of $271.80...so the cost to me over four years, given I bought this lens at the 30% off, was $28.20 or $7.05 per year

Ahh those bargins This how one buys those things that can not be otherwise justified

Mmmm... not bad I suppose.

Regardless of how much of a deal you received, one thing is for certain, you got one heck of a lens. One of, if not my overall, favorite.

JimAskew wrote in post #2277125
I have been in the AMEX Rewards program for about 4 years now. I charge all my bills to AMEX (gas, utilities, phone, cable, food, clothing, B+H (), travel, hotel, and others. I average about $4.5K per month in charges for everything...but remember it is my only credit card and I zero balance it at the end of each month. That is why I use AMEX in the first place...you must pay all charges at the end of every month.

I do the same thing. I haven't used my points yet. I only have about 60,000 saved up. Can't wait to use them. I think I'm going to convert them to air miles and take a vacation.

JimAskew wrote in post #2277125
....The only cost is the the AMEX Rewards Program charges $75 a year as a management fee to run the program....

Does Amex actually charge you an additional fee to be in the Rewards program? I've only ever paid the normal annual fee that Amex charges every cardholder, as far back as '83 at least.

I normally use my Rewards points for hotel and rental car charges during vacations. Even though I've looked at merchandise before, I never really considered redeeming points for camera equipment.

Hmmm. I wonder what I could get for these?

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Holy Crap! How long did it take you to amass 363,577 points???!!!

JimAskew wrote in post #2277044
Hi,

I just hit the order button for the 135MM EF f/2 L Got it from Amazon.com at no cost by cashing in 126K points in my AMEX Rewards Program. To boot I get another $100 (rebate) off my 30D and $50 rebated for the lens...all-in-all I get a free lens and $150 in cash...what a deal!

I took ground shipment as it was free...so now the waiting game begins

Ducks are on standby...

Great story about the points. This is the smartest use of a credit card that I have heard, you pay it off in full (meaning these are essentially cash purchases and the card is just a 'front end' interface to the money), same as I do, but I don't use Amex and don't get these rewards...

Will definitely look into the rewards and point systems for future cards though!!