Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are pictured outside a Boeing factory on March 25, 2024 in Renton, Washington.
Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
An ex-worker at Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the 737 fuselage, said he almost has a fear of flying from his time there.
Santiago Paredes, a former quality manager of 12 years at Spirit, accused the firm of rushing safety inspections.
He said he would find "over a hundred defects" per day when carrying out final inspections.
A former employee of Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems said he nearly developed a fear of flying because of what he saw during his 12-year stint inspecting aircraft fuselages there.
Santiago Paredes, who was a quality manager at Spirit's Wichita facility, told CBS News in a Wednesday report that he would observe "over a hundred defects every day" when conducting final inspections of 737 fuselages.
"Working at Spirit, I almost grew a fear of flying," said Paredes. "There's about two or three units that is in the back of your mind, that you know you would never want to fly on."
"You think there are planes out there that you wouldn't want to fly on?" CBS senior transport correspondent Kris Van Cleave asked Paredes.
"Oh yeah," Paredes said. "Knowing what I know about the 737, it makes me very uncomfortable when I fly in one of them."
Boeing outsources the manufacturing of the 737 fuselage to Spirit and, when assembling the plane at its own facilities, employs a team that finds and fixes defects.
Paredes, who left Spirit in 2022, called the operation a "recipe for disaster." He accused the company of fostering a work culture that pressured inspectors to clear fuselages faster so they could hit deadlines.
The former quality manager said he was even nicknamed the "Showstopper" by his bosses because he would delay deliveries by pointing out issues.
He also told CBS that he often found defects near door panels like the one that blew out midair on an Alaska Airlines 737 flight in January, which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground more than 170 of the planes.
In February, the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary investigation into the January incident said bolts were missing from the 737 Max 9's door plug.
"Why'd that happen? Because Spirit let go of a defect that they overlooked because of the pressure that they put on the inspectors," Paredes said.
Paredes told CBS that he once sent an email pushing back against his managers' requests to speed up inspections and then was removed from his leadership position. He complained to human resources and was later reinstated, but resigned, he told the outlet.
He is now a whistleblower in a lawsuit against Spirit brought by shareholders. In court documents, he was identified as "Former Employee 1" until coming forth to speak publicly about his experience, the BBC reported.
Another whistleblower at Spirit, John Dean, was also meant to give testimony in the lawsuit but died from a sudden illness in early May.
Spirit has said that the allegations in the lawsuit are false.
Paredes' accusations are the latest blow to the embattled Spirit and Boeing, which have both faced intensifying scrutiny after the January door plug incident. The 737 Max has become the subject of criticism from several whistleblowers, who accused the manufacturers of compromising safety standards to fill deliveries more quickly.
Employees work on a production line manufacturing lithium battery products at a factory in Yichang, Hubei province, China.
Reuters/Stringer
China published draft regulations for the battery industry and it wants to curb overproduction.
That appears to be at odds with China's official stance that there's no industrial overproduction in the country.
The West has been complaining about China's overcapacity, but analysts say it doesn't apply to all sectors.
The West has been complaining that China is overproducing goods and dumping them on the global markets. The comments have incurred the ire of Bejing, which has, as recently as Monday, denied the claims.
In its proposal, the ministry lays out plans to regulate the battery industry — which, alongside electric vehicles and solar cells, is a key pillar of growth in China's economic transformation.
The proposal covers a range of issues, including minimum technical standards and ecological guidelines for battery production. Notably, however, it also states that lithium-ion manufacturers should avoid building factories that "simply expand production capacity."
China's battery production in 2023 alone was already big enough to fill global demand, according to an analysis from BloombergNEF.
The proposal illustrates China's concerns about overcapacity — which it sees differently from the West, even if Chinese leader Xi Jinping's administration is pushing back on the claims. It comes just as Xi wraps up his first trip to the European Union in five years.
China's overcapacity problem doesn't extend to all sectors
To be sure, the issue of overcapacity in China doesn't extend to all sectors.
As a separate Bloomberg analysis found, the problem is mainly in areas where China already had the upper hand over the West, such as lower-tech goods and building materials after the country's real-estate bust.
The country is also producing a vast oversupply of solar panels and batteries.
Analyses elsewhere also support Bloomberg's findings that China's factory production is not flooding global markets in every sector.
"We find emerging, but not overwhelming, macro proof to support the recent geopolitical narrative of excess Chinese goods production that unfairly undercuts global manufacturing competitors on price," wrote Louise Loo, the lead economist at Oxford Economics, in a note on April 30.
Loo said cyclical oversupply is likely in the near term due to China's economic woes, which have hit domestic demand, but it is not a persistent issue over time.
Still, this does not sit well with the West, which is trying to ramp up its own onshore battery capacity with government incentives in markets including the US,Canada,Europe, and India.
As Chim Lee, a China analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, wrote in a note on April 15, the "super-cycle" in strategic sectors —such as those of EVs and renewable equipment — is politically charged.
"These sectors are highly politicized globally: lower prices can be perceived as the result of government support, but they are also key to accelerating the green transition," Lee wrote.
China's global share of battery manufacturing capacity is expected to fall
Despite the West's consternation, there is an upside for the bloc. China's global share of battery manufacturing is expected to decline in the years ahead, according to a report from the International Energy Agency, or IEA, published on Monday.
China now accounts for more than 80% of battery manufacturing capacity, followed by the US and the EU with around 5% each, per the IEA.
However, China's share of battery manufacturing could fall to around 60% by the end of the decade, while the US and EU could each triple their share to about 15% thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act and policies to support energy transition commitments, according to the IEA.
Kennedy said on Wednesday that he's confident of winning a presidential debate even if he were to eat a couple more of those "brain worms."
"I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate," Kennedy wrote in a post on X.
"I feel confident of the result even with a six-worm handicap," he said in a subsequent post.
Kennedy's remarks came after The New York Times wrote about his health issues in a report published on the same day. Kennedy claimed that doctors found a dead worm in his brain during his divorce deposition in 2012, per The Times.
Doctors, Kennedy said, told him that the dark spot that appeared on his brain scan was "caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died."
Kennedy's campaign press secretary, Stefanie Spear, earlier confirmed with BI that he was indeed infected with a parasite 10 years ago but has since recovered.
"Mr. Kennedy traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia in his work as an environmental advocate, and in one of those locations, contracted a parasite," she said.
The presidential candidate's bizarre challenge on Wednesday can be seen as a lighthearted attempt to cast aside concerns about his health.
After all, the Kennedy campaign has long been positioning the 70-year-old as being more alert and fit than his rivals — 81-year-old President Joe Biden and 77-year-old former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy even posted a video of himself working out while shirtless in June.
"Questioning Mr. Kennedy's health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition," Spear told BI.
Both Biden and Trump are fundraising aggressively to fund their 2024 war chests. But Kennedy, too, has won the support of wealthy and powerful backers like billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey. He's also running for the White House with Nicole Shanahan, the ex-wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin.
Kennedy's growing profile appears to have ruffled Trump's feathers, who told reporters last week that he will not be debating the long shot presidential hopeful.
"He's not a serious candidate," Trump said of Kennedy on May 2. "They say he hurts Biden. I don't know who he hurts; he might hurt me. I don't know. He has very low numbers, certainly not numbers that he can debate with. He's got to get his numbers a lot higher before he's credible."
Representatives for Kennedy didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Tesla cut over 3,400 North American job postings down to just three.
The hiring freeze comes after Tesla's challenging first quarter, marked by layoffs and missed earnings.
Tesla's official careers page and LinkedIn showed different results.
If Tesla is your dream company, you'll have to compete for one of just three listed US jobs.
On Wednesday, the electric vehicle maker cut over 3,400 job postings in North America to just three. The now-axed roles, which were mostly in California, Texas, and Nevada, were listed on Tesla's official careers page as recently as Tuesday, according to a Quartz analysis of archived pages.
The hiring freeze comes after one of Tesla's hardest quarters. The company went through a wave of "hardcore" layoffs and saw at least six executives leave. In a series of back-to-back blows, the company's first-quarter earnings missed estimates by nearly every measure, it recalled nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks, and it entered a price war with Chinese EV rivals teaming up against the company.
Even the three US roles that remain don't appear to be full-time jobs, although they are labeled as such. They're for Tesla's "manufacturing development program," a seven– to 16-week training program at community colleges in Texas and California that gives applicants an "opportunity to transition into a full-time Production Associate." The Nevada version of the program is marked as an internship and is only four to sixweeks long, according to Tesla's website.
There are 28 jobs listed in Europe on Tesla's website, mostly in Tesla's Brandenburg Gigafactory in Germany. There are none posted in any other region outside Europe.
Tesla's career page and its LinkedIn don't seem to be in sync.
On LinkedIn, the company advertised 35 openings on Thursday, including the three in the US and the 28in Europe. It also added some roles in the Dominican Republic on Thursday — these roles have been listed in Mandarin.
The automaker announced it would cut over 10% of its 140,000 employees in April, but people inside the company told Bloomberg that they expect that over 20,000 people may be asked to leave.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, sent outside standard business hours.
Ukraine's parliament passed a bill on Wednesday to conscript inmates to fight Russia.
The bill, if enacted, imitates the Russian approach of using prisoners to fuel its war efforts.
But unlike Russia, Ukraine says it will not send violent criminals to the battlefield.
Lawmakers in Ukraine passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow the country's military to recruit prisoners to fight on the battlefield.
The bill, which has yet to be signed into law by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will allow Ukraine to mimic the Russian tactic of drafting convicts for their war effort.
"The only way to survive in an all-out war against an enemy with more resources is to consolidate all forces. This draft law is about our struggle and preservation of Ukrainian statehood," Olena Shulyak, the head of Zelenskyy's party, said in a post on Telegram.
Russia has long been relying on prisoners to plug its manpower gaps, with some inmates being promised full pardons if they survive a six month stint on the battlefield. In fact, Russia's reliance on convicts has even caused its prison population to plummet, per the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
In October, the country's Deputy Justice Minister Vsevolod Vukolov revealed that Russia's prison population has dropped from 420,000 before the war to a historic low of 266,000, per The Washington Post.
But while Russia hasn't imposed many restrictions on which prisoners they conscript, the Ukrainian bill is a lot more particular on who gets selected.
For instance, prisoners who have been convicted of violent crimes such as terrorism, premeditated murder, or rape will not be allowed to participate. In addition, prisoners will only be eligible for the scheme if they have less than three years left on their sentences.
"Prisoners who have a longer period left to serve in prison — and those sentenced to life imprisonment all the more so — will be immediately rejected without the right of reconsideration," Shulyak told Ukrainian news outlet Pravda.
Roughly 15,000 to 20,000 prisoners are expected to be mobilized if the bill is enacted, Pravda reported on Wednesday.
The passing of the bill comes at a precarious time for Ukraine, which has to reckon with what US officials are calling a reinvigorated Russian army. Last month, Ukraine reduced the draft age from 27 to 25 in a bid to bolster its troop numbers.
"The army is actually now larger — by 15 percent — than it was when it invaded Ukraine," US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli said in a House Armed Services Committee hearing last month.
Representatives for Ukraine's defense ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Could Trump's next courtroom outburst or gag-violating Truth Social post really be the final straw that gets him locked up on contempt of court?
Yes, courthouse veterans said Wednesday — but that doesn't have to mean a correction bus drive to the city's notorious Rikers Island jail.
Instead, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is far more likely to give Trump a taste of incarceration by ordering a short stint in a small, secure space right behind the courtroom, experts predicted.
"It's a small staging room, or witness room," said Arthur Aidala, who knows the space well.
His client, Harvey Weinstein, ate lunch there with his legal team every day during the former movie mogul's 2020 sex crimes trial, held in the same 15th-floor courtroom as Trump's trial is now.
"They could definitely put him in that room Mr. Weinstein used to use and say he can't leave," said Aidala, who recently got Weinstein's conviction overturned.
The room has one window, cream-yellow walls, and a small conference table ringed by wooden chairs with vinyl cushions.
The door locks from the outside.
"We went through that door 20 or 30 times. It's pretty grimy in there," said Aidala, of Aidala Bertuna & Kamins.
"You could fit maybe 10 people," Aidala added of the space. "One former president and nine Secret Service agents. "
'Therapeutic remand'
Lawyers have a name for when a Manhattan judge orders a defendant to cool his heels behind the courtroom for a few hours, said longtime public defender Arnold Levine.
Another judge soon let him out, but not before Levine spent time handcuffed to a courtroom bench and then locked up inside a fourth-floor holding pen.
If prosecutors accuse Trump of violating his gag order again, it would trigger the same dayslong process of motions-filing and oral arguments that preceded his two previous contempt-of-court sanctions, which so far have amounted to just $10,000 in total fines.
"You get more due process" when you commit an act of contempt outside the courtroom, Levine said.
But if Trump acts out inside the courtroom again — say, if he heckles Daniels once more when her cross-examination continues Thursday — he risks the same immediate, on-the-spot "summary contempt" arraignment and sentencing that Levine faced in 1999.
There would likely be two big differences. Trump wouldn't be locked behind actual bars since there's no holding cell behind Merchan's courtroom.
And Trump would likely not be handcuffed at any point while in custody.
Trump was not cuffed during his 2023 hush-money arraignment. Former Secret Service agents told Business Insider at the time that cuffing the former president would hamper their ability to protect him should he ever need to be thrown to the floor or rushed to safety.
'Take charge'
For most defendants in Manhattan's criminal courtrooms, incarceration is heralded by the judge announcing, "Officers at the rail," said veteran defense lawyer and former Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Galluzzo.
"It's the worst feeling," hearing those words, said Galluzzo. "It's when the judge calls the court officers and tells them to surround the defendant so that he doesn't try to walk out of the courtroom."
But Trump already has at least two court officers standing behind him at all times in Merchan's courtroom, for his own protection. His officers are already "at the rail."
Reality will instead set in when the judge gives what's usually the final instruction to the court officers, "Take charge," Galluzzo said.
At that point, Trump would be led through a door to Merchan's right, and back to what was once Weinstein's grim and grimy lunch room.
"It's extremely rare," Galluzzo said of defendant gag orders in general. "Being held in contempt for violating one is even more rare. And this happening to an ex-president would be unprecedented."
Dip his toes in the water
Still, a stint locked up behind the courtroom will be the likeliest way for Merchan to "dip Trump's toes in the water for a little bit and give him a taste of what a jail cell would really be like," said Galluzzo.
"I think that's the next step in the escalation," agreed attorney Daniel Scott, a veteran Manhattan defense lawyer who's repped clients for 40 years at the courthouse where Trump is on trial.
"Rikers, logistically, would be a total nightmare," Scott said, adding, "It's bad enough for Joe Schmoe."
Trump's trial is in its third week of testimony. He is charged with falsifying 34 business records to conceal a $130,000 hush-money payment that silenced Daniels just 11 days before the 2016 election.
Trump has denied falsifying business records and has complained that his gag order is an infringement on his right to campaign for office.
Billionaire Barry Sternlicht is worried about America's regional and community banks.
Sternlicht told CNBC that banks may bear the consequences of the real estate crisis.
Only one bank has closed so far this year, but Sternlicht said more could be coming.
Billionaire Barry Sternlicht offered an ominous prediction about America's regional banks amid a coming commercial real estate reckoning.
The Starwood Capital Group CEO told CNBC on Tuesday that he thinks real estate's primary lenders — regional and community banks — could soon be bearing the brunt of high interest rates and inflation.
"You're going to see a regional bank fail every day, or not — every week, maybe two a week," Sternlicht said.
There are more than 4,000 regional and community banks throughout the US, many of which may not have the cash flow to handle major loan losses on real estate debt.
Sternlicht has been ringing the warning bells for more than two years, calling the situation an "existential crisis" in a January Bloomberg interview. Earlier this year, he predicted $1 trillion of losses on office properties alone. In the Tuesday interview, Sternlicht said Fed Chair Jerome Powell's ongoing rate hikes will continue to have consequences in the real estate sector for the foreseeable future.
"He's got a hard task with a blunt tool, and the consequence is the real estate markets are taking it on the chin because rates rose so fast. We could have handled this, but we couldn't handle it this fast," Sternlicht said. "The 1.9 trillion of real estate loans, that's a fragile animal right now."
Only one regional bank has shuttered since the start of 2024. Last month, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized $4 billion in deposits and $6 billion in assets from Republic First Bank, a regional lender operating in the Northeast with significant commercial real estate holdings.
Others have echoed Sternlicht's warnings. Scott Rechler, RXR CEO, made a similar prediction earlier this year, saying he thinks there will be 500 fewer banks in the US by 2026 as many commercial real estate loans start to mature.
"Community banks are important to our fabric," Sternlicht told CNBC on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden has become increasingly frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
President Joe Biden underlined his threat to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The White House has warned Israel of what will happen if they launch a large invasion of Rafah.
Biden said he would cut off Israel from offensive weapons if such an invasion occurred.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday underlined his warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if there's a large invasion of Rafah, vowing to cut the US ally off from offensive weapons.
"We're going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently," Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett in an interview that will air later on Wednesday. "But it's, it's just wrong. We're not going to — we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells."
Israel has considered for weeks whether to launch a major invasion of Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, where more than a million Palestinians have fled. Israel's military has confirmed that it has asked those there to leave parts of the city ahead of an operation. United Nations officials have warned that an invasion would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
According to the Associated Press, Israeli tanks have already entered Rafah. Biden characterized the current level of Israeli involvement as short of the attacks on "population centers" that would spark his ire.
Biden has reaffirmed the US' long-standing commitment to Israel's security, but he has expressed consternation over how Netanyahu and his war cabinet have led the war against Hamas since the terrorist organization's October 7 attacks.
In a stunning admission, Biden said that US-provided weapons had been used to kill civilians. The health ministry in Gaza has said more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war.
"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden said.
Already, the Biden administration has paused 3,500 bombs to Israel. Republicans in Congress, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have slammed that move. Biden is also facing immense political pressure on the left as protests on college campuses throughout the nation challenge his support for Israel.
The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.
The information for the following product(s) has been collected independently by Business Insider: Citi Premier® Card, U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card, Citi® Double Cash Card, Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, Citi Rewards+® Card, Citi Prestige® Card, Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card†, Capital One Spark Miles for Business†, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card, U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature® Card, U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card, U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card, U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Gold American Express® Card, U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard®. The details for these products have not been reviewed or provided by the issuer.
You can redeem Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Discover, Bilt, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, and Hilton points directly at Amazon checkout — but it's not always the best idea.
Crystal Cox/Business Insider
You can significantly reduce your shopping bill by redeeming credit card points on Amazon.
Many popular currencies participate, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards® and Amex Membership Rewards.
We don't usually recommend using points this way because they can be worth much more for travel.
Introduction to using credit card points on Amazon
Amazon makes it simple to redeem many rewards currencies from the best credit cards at checkout to offset your balance. We almost never recommend using your points this way, but it can make sense for you if you don't plan to travel in the near future.
Redeeming credit card points on Amazon can also a good strategy if you have a small points balance you won't otherwise use. And it can make Amazon Prime Day deals even sweeter if you use points to discount or pay for your purchase.
Here's everything you need to know about the benefits of using points for Amazon purchases.
Eligible credit cards for Amazon points use
Participating credit card programs
Multiple credit card programs allow customers to pay for Amazon purchases using their rewards. The full list is below:
Linking your card to Amazon
While each of the programs listed below has its own points system, linking your rewards card to Amazon is the same process across the board. Here's a step-by-step guide to account linking.
After logging into your account on Amazon, click on "Accounts & Lists" under your name at the top-right corner of the page. Once that page opens up, navigate to the "Your Payments" section toward the bottom left of the page.
Amazon
From there, scroll down the sidebar of your wallet until you find the "Add a payment method" button. Follow the prompts to add your rewards credit card. Once that's done, you can check your points balance on the Shop with Points account page to monitor your rewards programs. This is also the page you'll use to ensure that your account is not set up to pay with points by default.
Use Chase Points on Amazon
When you redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points with Amazon, you'll receive a value of 0.8 cents per point. Still, if you plan to use your points through Amazon, your best bet is to simply make your purchase with an eligible Chase card and then redeem your points for a statement credit later at a rate of 1 cent each.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening
Chase Sapphire Reserve® — 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card — 100,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening
To link your Chase Ultimate Rewards account with Amazon, click here. You'll then simply log in to your Amazon account, link your Chase card, and apply your Ultimate Rewards points at checkout.
Use Amex Points on Amazon
American Express Membership Rewards offers a very low redemption rate of 0.7 cents each for Amazon purchases — and the points value when redeeming for statement credits is even lower. If you want to make purchases with your Amex points, consider using them to purchase an American Express gift card at a rate of 1 cent per point, and then use those gift cards to buy your items.
You can earn Amex Membership Rewards points by opening and swiping cards like:
The Platinum Card® from American Express — 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership
American Express® Gold Card — 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $6,000 on purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership
You can link your Amex Membership Rewards account with Amazon by clicking here. You'll log in to your Amazon account, link your eligible American Express card, and choose to apply your points to your order at checkout.
Use Citi ThankYou Points on Amazon
Per Business Insider's estimations, you'll receive just half of the average Citi ThankYou points value when redeeming your rewards for shopping with Amazon. This is not the currency to collect if you intend to regularly use your points for online shopping.
Citi issues credit cards like the Citi® Double Cash Card and Citi Custom Cash℠ Card which earn Citi ThankYou points you can use for travel, cash back, and more. Earning rewards on one of these cards and redeeming them for cash is your best route if you intend to use them for online shopping.
Click here to link your Citi ThankYou account to Amazon. Then just select your Citi ThankYou card as your payment method and choose to pay with points
Use Capital One Miles on Amazon
Again, Capital One miles are best used for travel — not for Amazon purchases. You'll receive less than half the average points value by redeeming them for shopping — a meager 0.8 cents each.
You can link your Capital One miles account to Amazon by clicking here. After you enroll your qualifying Capital One card, you'll see the option to pay with Capital One miles at checkout.
Use Discover Rewards on Amazon
Whether you collect cash back with the Discover it® Cash Back or miles with the Discover it® Miles, you can redeem them directly through Amazon to pay for all or part of your cart.
All Discover rewards are worth 1 cent each, whether you spend through Amazon or redeem for cash. Therefore, it's more beneficial for you to make your purchase with the card and later request a statement credit instead of using your rewards for the purchase.
This ensures you'll earn rewards for your purchase — which is especially handy if you have the Discover it® Cash Back, as its rotating bonus categories sometimes include Amazon purchases (from April 1 to June 30, 2024, you can earn 5% cash back at gas stations & electric vehicle charging stations, home improvement stores, and public transit on up to $1,500 in purchases after enrollment, then 1%).
Click here to link your Discover Rewards with Amazon and then select Discover as the payment method at checkout. You'll see the option to apply your cash back at that point.
Use Hilton Points on Amazon
You'd be hard-pressed to find a currency easier to earn than Hilton points. For example, The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card currently offers a welcome bonus of 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $8,000 in purchases on the card within the first six months of card membership (offer ends 06/05/24).
You'll even get 5x points on the first $100,000 spent on other purchases outside of eligible Hilton purchases each calendar year (then 3x points).
However, the redemption rate of 0.2 cents per point means you'll get a return of as little as 0.6% back on purchases. If you intend to use Hilton points to shop on Amazon, make a cash-back credit card your daily driver, instead.
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card — 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $6,000 in purchases on the card within your first six months of card membership
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card — 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card within your first six months of card membership
Hilton Honors American Express Card — 80,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership
Use Marriott Points on Amazon
You can't use your Marriott points directly on the Amazon website as you can with the previous rewards currencies. However, if you navigate to Marriott Shop With Points, you can purchase an Amazon gift card with your points at the following rates:
$25 gift card — 10,000 points
$50 gift card — 17,500 points
$100 gift card — 30,000 points
In other words, the most value you'll get by using your points with Amazon is 0.33 cents each — less than half the average value you'll receive by using your points for travel.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card — three Free Night Awards, each with a redemption level of up to 50,000 points, after you use your new card to make $6,000 in eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership
Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card — 85,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first six months of card membership
Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card — 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card — 5 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in your first three months from your account opening
Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card — 85,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in purchases in your first three months from your account opening
Use Bilt Points on Amazon
You can use Bilt Points directly through the Amazon website after enrolling your Bilt Mastercard® on Shop with Points. Then, when you checkout on Amazon, select the Bilt credit card and choose the number of points you'd like to apply to your order.
You'll only get around 0.7 cents per point when you redeem on Amazon, which isn't the best rate but better than some of the other options on this list. However, you'll get the most value out of your reward points when you transfer to airline and hotel partners.
Click here to enroll your Bilt Mastercard® with Amazon.
Use U.S. Bank Rewards at Amazon
It's easy to redeem U.S. Bank rewards through Amazon.com checkout, and you'll get a solid 1:1 rate. So if you have an eligible U.S. Bank card, and are looking to redeem rewards for Amazon purchases, you'll get a fair value. However, redeeming for travel through the U.S. Bank portal is still a more valuable redemption option.
That said, if your main objective is to redeem on Amazon anyway, you might as well get a cash-back card versus a points-earning card. The best U.S. Bank card option in this instance is the U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card, which can earn you 6% cash back at Amazon (when selected as one of two retail brand earning categories).
You can earn U.S. Bank rewards on the following cards:
U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Gold American Express® Card — 30,000 bonus FlexPoints after spending $2,000 in eligible purchases on the card in the first four months from account opening
U.S. Bank Business Leverage® Visa Signature® Card — $750 in rewards when you spend $7,500 in eligible purchases on the card within the first 120 days of account opening
Click here to enroll your card with Shop with Points.
Use Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards at Amazon
The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of Business Insider's picks for the best Bank of America credit cards, and the only Bank of America credit card eligible to be enrolled in Shop with Points. It has a no-frills cash-back program that offers a value of 1 cent per point.
It's a no-annual-fee card and earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. New cardholders can earn $200 online cash rewards bonus after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days from account opening.
Once your card is enrolled with Shop with Points, you'll be able to view your eligible Bank of America point balance.
Click here to enroll your Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card with Shop with Points.
How to apply points to Amazon purchases
Once your rewards card has been linked to Amazon, you can apply points at check-out quite easily.
Redeeming points at checkout
First, navigate to your shopping cart page and click "Proceed to checkout." Under the "Payment method" section, select your rewards credit card if it isn't the default form of payment designated in your account. When you look through the list of connected credit and debit cards, you'll see eligible rewards cards with the value of your points in Amazon credit listed below them.
Adjusting points used for each purchase
Select the card you want to use, then use the text field to enter the number of points you want to use toward your total balance. If you're participating in one of Amazon's frequent promotions for American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can often trigger your discount or promotional cash back by paying with a single point.
Maximizing the value of points on Amazon
As mentioned several times, you'll rarely get good value from using your points on Amazon purchases. There are a few exceptions, such as when Amazon offers a generous discount or cash back from using a small number of points toward your purchases.
The best way to determine the value of your points is by comparing them against Business Insider's valuations. Our credit card experts have carefully calculated the value of each rewards system so you can tell if you're getting a good, mediocre, or poor deal on your exchange.
Conclusion
There are several options for smart shopping with credit card points on Amazon. Just keep an eye on each transaction to ensure that you're getting the best value. And at all costs, make sure you don't end up paying for your entire purchase with points by default.
Shop With Points at Amazon frequently asked questions
Which credit cards allow you to use points on Amazon?
Many major credit cards with rewards programs, such as those from American Express, Chase, and Citi, allow you to use points for Amazon purchases.
How do I link my credit card rewards account to Amazon?
From your account on the Amazon website, navigate to "Accounts & Lists", then "My Payments", and follow the prompts to connect your credit card. An eligible card with convertible points will automatically offer the option to pay with points at checkout. You can choose how many points to use.
Can I use points to cover the entire purchase amount on Amazon?
Yes, you can use points to cover the full cost of eligible purchases, or use a combination of points and another payment method.
Is it always a good value to use credit card points on Amazon?
The value of using points on Amazon can vary. It's important to compare the redemption value of using points on Amazon to other redemption options available through your credit card rewards program.
Can I use points for all items on Amazon?
Most items sold directly by Amazon and fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for purchase with points, but there may be restrictions on some products or categories.
Is Amazon Shop With Points a good deal?
Paying with points at Amazon is almost never as good a deal as other redemptions. You won't receive outsized value for your rewards, and the return rate you'll get is significantly below what you can expect if you use them for travel. A big exception is the aforementioned promotions that offer a significant discount for using just a single point.
How do I find discount promotions for using points at Amazon?
Amazon promotional discounts for shopping with points usually come to your email. You can also search online for discounts using a specific rewards currency. These offers are usually targeted, so if you haven't received an email with a link to enroll, you may be out of luck.
Overall, the vote tally was 359-43, with seven Democrats voting "present."
The vote came as something of a surprise — Greene had seemingly backed off from the threat on Tuesday, only to make a surprise bid to oust Johnson on Thursday.
Greene's effort had long been expected to fail after House Democratic leaders announced that they would vote to table her motion to vacate.
While most Democrats sided with their leadership, several of them did not, arguing that Johnson's brand of politics should not be affirmed and that their party should have extracted more concessions in exchange.
"It's important to send a very clear message that Mike Johnson is an extremist," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York told reporters on Tuesday. "This is not a decision that is just an easy giveaway."
It is unclear whether Greene will continue to force votes on ousting Johnson.
This story will be updated with a full list when it becomes available via the House Clerk.