I’ve long been a fan of American Express and all the travel benefits the company gives to its cardholders, but lately I’ve noticed some of its most popular perks disappearing.

After November 30, 2009, cardholders will no longer be able to redeem Membership Rewards points for Hertz car rental certificates. I know many members of the program rent from Hertz solely to use these certificates and will find this very disappointing. Certificates ordered before the program ends will expire on June 30, 2010.

If you have AMEX Open, you know the draw for that card is a percentage of cash back on purchases from several companies. Two of the major partners in the program were Delta and Jetblue on which members earned 3-5% back when they purchased airline tickets. The Delta benefit ended earlier this year and I just got word that the Jetblue benefit has also ended. At this point there are no airline partners in the program.

I suppose these changes are due to the rough economic climate but hopefully this trend won’t continue and AMEX will look for new partners to stay competitive and worthy of their hefty annual fees.