If you prefer earning rewards that can be used in multiple ways rather than points towards a particular airline or retail merchant, the American Express Rewards program is a good choice, giving you one airline mile per point or, in many cases, $1 in merchant rewards per 100 points.

American Express Rewards are available with American Express cards carrying an annual fee. Fee-free American express cards carry similar rewards, only two points get you one frequent flyer mile.

Featuring unlimited reward points that do not expire, American Express has partnered with more airlines and hotels than other credit card companies. If you prefer not to use reward points for travel, American Express also has generous retail and entertainment reward options, as well as the option to donate your rewards to charity.

Airline Rewards – Perhaps the best thing about American Express Rewards is that when you redeem points for airline travel, you receive a travel certificate or transfer your points directly to your frequent flyer program. This avoids the hassle of booking air travel directly with credit card points and allows you to combine lower point balances with frequent flyer points or cash to buy your tickets.

Here is a list of American Express Rewards program partner airlines.

Hotels - American Express Rewards lets you choose from certificates or point transfers with 15 of the world’s top hotel chains.

Car Rentals – If you’ve already got your air and hotel covered, you can use American Express Rewards to rent a car from Hertz, Enterprise, or Avis at the rate of a $50 certificate for every 5,000 points.

Shopping and Dining – Like most credit card rewards programs you can use American Express Rewards points to buy merchandise from select retail partners and redeem points for dining gift certificates. As an alternative, members can enroll in ShopAmex, a program allowing you to use your points to shop at a wide variety of online merchants and use your card to pay any remaining balance.

Donation – American Express gives you the chance to donate your American Express Rewards points to charity. With over 1,000,000 charities available on the American Express site, you can use your rewards to support almost any cause.

Interested in a card with the American Express Rewards program? Try the Amex Green Card or browse all American Express cards.