American Express Membership Rewards

I know that as a Dave Ramsey follower, I shouldn't use credit cards. I do believe they are very dangerous and I aspire to have all my credit cards (about $4,000 left off cc debt) paid off once and for all.

But . . . I did get some great free gift cards by signing up for two credit cards recently. I got an American Express card and got $250 in free gift cards (which I used for Christmas gifts). Then I got a Citibank card and will get $200 in free gift cards (got $150 for signing up and another $50 for using the card for charges).

Now I just got an email from American Express offering me 5,000 membership rewards points (which translates into $50 in gift cards!) if I sign up for their "extended payment option". This is free and applies only to purchases over $200 - which will give you the option to not pay the balance in full, though you still have the option to pay the balance in full.

I know that it is dangerous to "play with snakes", and I do believe that the credit card companies ARE snakes. But I am considering doing this before I close the card (it has a zero balance as does the other card I signed up for).