The founder of Barstool Sports, David Portnoy, flexed on social media showing himself buying a pack of gum with a Black Card for $1.59 – and the terminal displays his available Membership Rewards balance of 44,403,931 points.
Sure, you can use Amex points at Rite Aid. It’s a poor value, but it’s an opportunity to show the balance in an ironic setting. The employee comments “you probably could go on a trip” and Portnoy boasts “I’ve gotta be a league leader with points.”
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The top person in the U.S. Membership Rewards program at one point had over 120 million points. A decade ago the President of the American AAdvantage program shared several people were nearing 100 million points in her program. And many people have heard about 2 billion Membership Rewards points in the Hong Kong program but while that’s a large number it’s not actually as big as it sounds (given inflated earning and redemption rates).
So in a sense 44 million points makes the person in the video a piker, especially if they’re earning them with an Amex Black Card, generally at a single point per dollar spent. While Dave Portnoy calls himself ‘master of points’ simply by virtue of having a lot, he’s hardly maximizing his earn.
