Quick Points: Why you should be careful with synced loyalty accounts

As the managing editor for credit cards here at TPG, I pride myself on getting the most out of my credit card points and miles. Part of my routine is checking my card accounts every Thursday.

One of my favorite cards is the American Express® Gold Card, which offers up to $10 per month in dining credits (up to $120 per year in statement credits) with select merchants, including Grubhub (enrollment required). To maximize this card perk, I make sure to put in an order every month.

So, you can imagine my shock and horror when I checked my Amex account and saw that I had somehow accidentally redeemed almost 4,000 Membership Rewards points for my Grubhub order.

My card redemption mistake

I placed a $27 order for some bao on a lazy Sunday. My laziness extended to inadvertently selecting the option to cover my purchase with points.

Given TPG values Amex points at 2 cents each, I would never — I repeat, never — use 3,979 points to cover a $27 purchase. That values the points at 0.68 cents each, roughly a third of the value I know I can get.

Even booking flights directly through American Express Travel results in a better option at a 1 cent per point rate.

When I saw the anomaly in my Amex account, I was very frustrated with myself. I contacted Amex and Grubhub, neither of which would refund my points.

How to avoid making the same mistake

There are advantages to linking your credit card points to some merchants when checking out. For starters, it makes the transaction process a breeze, as you don’t need to retrieve your card every time you make a purchase.

Additionally, Amazon sometimes offers product discounts when you redeem points from issuers like Chase, Citi and Amex. If you’re targeted for one of these promotions, the terms may allow you to redeem 1 point for 1 cent of value to trigger the discount. Then, pay as you normally would for the rest of your purchase with your credit card.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

However, when shopping with Amazon or other merchants like Grubhub, you usually won’t get decent value from using your points without a promotion.

Double-check that you have deselected the option to use your points before you check out.

For future Grubhub orders, I plan to go one step further and manually enter “0 points” and click “Apply” to ensure I’m not using any of my points.

It was frustrating to see almost 4,000 points — worth about $80 to me — go to such a silly purchase. The same 4,000 points could’ve been transferred to Delta SkyMiles to potentially cover a Delta award flight.

If you have linked loyalty accounts to any merchants that allow you to pay with rewards, take a second to confirm you won’t use any of your points to cover a purchase.

Related: Best dining credit cards