American Express Membership Rewards Offering iTunes!

I am psyched! (I don't know if people say that anymore, I might be showing my age.)

American Express has just added iTunes to Membership Rewards--you can get 25 songs for 3,000 points or 50 songs for 5,500 points. Looks they put a bit of a premium on them, as you would expect those numbers to be 2,500 and 5,000, but that's not a big deal to me. I have a lot of points that are going to get sucked up in iTunes.

A lot of people like to get cash back from their credit cards, but for me personally it's more fun to rack up points and have the option to buy things I might not spend my money on otherwise. Yes, I know the argument that cash back allows you to buy anything you want, and using points ties you to certain rewards when you could have cash money. But if you get cash back, you usually just pocket it and don't get anything special. Points, on the other hand, allow you to get stuff you want but couldn't otherwise justify to yourself.

I've already gotten an iPod Nano from Amex's ShopAmex feature, and I probably wouldn't have been in a hurry to get one otherwise -- I'd hopelessly desire one, sure, but I probably wouldn't have been able to justify forking over $300 for it. I was happy to give up those points, though, because they never existed as money in my hands, you know what I'm saying?

Ah, it's a good day.