go to askmrcreditcard.com home page
menu-nav menu-nav
Home >
American Express

The Nest Credit Card from American Express Review

Picture of Item Reviewed

Editor's Rating:
Intro Purchase APR Regular APR Intro Balance Transfer Annual Fee Credit Needed
N.A. $0 Good
PROS
  • Points can be redeemed for Membership Rewards Options items
  • Get discounts from thenest.com and their retail partners
CONS
  • Cannot earn extra points from shopping with thenest.com and their partners
Executive Summary - The Nest started off as an online community for just married women in 2005 by the Knot.com. It entered into an affinity credit card agreement with American Express in late 2005 for a no annual fee rewards card. However, their agreement has ended and this card is no longer being issued by American Express.

How Did the Nest Come About - To understand how "The Nest" (actually it is a website www.thenest.com) came about, you first have to know the history of "The Knot" (www.theknot.com). The Knot.com is a wedding planning solutions site that was found in 1996. In 2005, they launched a sister site called "thenest.com", which is an online community for newly wed couples. In December 2005, both The Knot and The Nest came to an agreement with American Express to launch their affinity cards1.

How Does This Card Work? - The The Nest Credit Card from American Express is a quasi retail credit card from The Nest. This card allows you to earn Membership Rewards Option Points. The MR Options is the lower tier version of their regular membership rewards program (this version is now called MR Express!). The difference between the regular Membership Rewards program and this card is that the regular MR allows you to transfer points to airline and hotel partners. The Options program does not allow that and it is used in Amexs' other no annual fee cards like the Blue Card.

Because you earn MR Options points with this card, it means that you can redeem your points for their rewards. For example, you can redeem it for gift cards, merchandise and book your travel with their online travel booking portal. Back then, MR was the best reward program so card holders should be pleased about this.

But what about rewards from The Nest Itself - Unlike other "affinity cards", you do not actually earn "extra points" when you make any purchases with The Nest or its' related retailers. You still earn the standard one points per dollar when you make any Nest related purchases. This is different from retail store credit cards where you normally earn between 3% to 5% in rebates or points when you use their affinity card to shop at their stores. This is a feature that is lacking with The Nest credit card. However, you do get discounts and savings at The Nest and their partner retail stores.

Welcome Gifts - Those who sign up for this card will get a "The Nest Planning Kit", which is filled with many helpful items to get a couple started. It includes "The Nest Planning Binder", which is designed to help you organize and manage home expenses and joint finances.

New cardholders also get 5,000 bonus points. You will receive 10,000 bonus points if you spend $15,000 a year on your card.

Did We Recommend This Card? - Well, this card would probably have appealed to newly weds or couples who surf TheNest.com site a lot, are part of the community and shop at their partner stores online. These people may want to consider The Nest Credit Card from American Express since they can can get discount and savings for these purchases. The really disappointing feature of the card is that you cannot earn extra points when you shop with The Nest. The one thing I do like about the card is it's cool design!

The Nest Credit Card Is No Longer Available - Amex is no longer offer this card. I suspect this is due to the lack of interest and perhaps lack of profitability of the card.

References
1. XO Group Inc: The Knot Milestone



Related Posts: