Points Santa

I received a couple of separate packages at my residence in the past week.  I had ordered a few small travel related products on Amazon, so at first I thought the packages might be those items.  When I looked at the package closer, each of them said “American Express” on them.  

Shut Down?

My first thought was that I was being shut down.  Lately I’d read about some bizarre shut down stories from Chase, so the topic was on my mind.  Then after that panick flash had left my mind, I realized that a shut down would not come in the form of a package.  So if the boxes weren’t bad news, what were they?

Gifts!

Upon opening the first box, a nice gray leather essentials bag appeared.  The leather looks and feels high quality, both on the outside and inside.  It’s branded with a small “SPG” logo on the outside, but it’s not that noticeable.  On the inside, the leather is very soft, almost like suede.  The bag is definitely the read deal, and not synthetic leather.  The bag even had a nice scent to it too, like it was just put together a few minutes before.  Gray isn’t the color that I’d go with for a first choice, but it’s still a nice piece.

A few days later the same thing happened.  I came home from work and noticed a package at my feet upon opening my door.  I like this trend!  This was a similar size box to the first, but what was inside was just as mysterious for me.

The second box contained a brand new Amazon Fire 7 Tablet.  That was a pretty big shock indeed.  I had just been talking to a buddy of mine that’s going on a trip to Eastern Europe with me in a few months and he mentioned gadgets that he was consider getting.  He wanted something with internet, that could take photos, but that had a larger screen than a typical phone.  Jackpot!

I put considerable spend on my Amex rewards cards and have had the accounts for a few years now.  All the accounts are in excellent standing, but I’m guessing the spend for the year triggered the gifts?  I’m also assuming that many others are getting the same gifts, but I haven’t heard about other Amex Santa’s out there yet.

How Much Did Santa Spend?

It looks like the Fire 7 Tablet (8GB) is selling for $49.99 online, and the SPG essentials bag is tough to estimate value for, but possibly $30-$50 seems like a fair value considering it is actual leather.  So all in all, I was sent roughly $100 worth of goods for Christmas as a thank you for my business.  Thank you Amex Santa is probably an appropriate response.

Is this Amex gifting standard issue?  It’s certainly the first gift that I’ve received from a credit card company.  Have you received any gifts for any of the rewards cards that you have?