If you want to maximize your credit card rewards, I always recommend earning transferable points currencies for your spending whenever possible. In this post I wanted to take a detailed look at how to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, given how many people earn this currency for their credit card spending.
In this post:
Amex Membership Rewards points are easy to earn
There are several credit cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points. American Express has both personal and business cards, letting you maximize your rewards across a wide variety of spending categories.
The following are the best personal cards for earning Amex points:
- The American Express® Gold Card (review)
- The American Express® Green Card (review)
- The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card (review)
- The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express (review)
- The Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
The following business cards earn Amex Membership Rewards points:
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review)
- The American Express® Business Gold Card (review)
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
Read about my Amex credit card strategy here.
The information and associated card details on this page for the Amex EveryDay Credit Card, Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card, and American Express Green Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
How much Amex Membership Rewards points are worth
Based on my methodology of valuing points currencies, I value Amex Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each. For that matter, that’s how much I value all major transferable points currencies. There’s no science to that, but rather I think it’s a fair but conservative valuation for how much value you could get if you’re maximizing your rewards.
How you can redeem Amex Membership Rewards points
Let’s take a brief look at how you can redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, and then we’ll talk about how you should redeem points to maximize value.
Amex Membership Rewards points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. The program has the below 21 partners (the most of any transferable points currency), including 18 airlines and three hotel groups, and most transfers are at a 1:1 ratio.
Airline Partners | Hotel Partners |
|---|---|
Aeromexico Club Premier | |
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles | |
There are plenty of other ways to redeem Amex points as well. Among other things, Amex Membership Rewards points can be redeemed in the following ways:
- Toward cash, in the form of a statement credit
- Toward shopping directly with popular retailers
- Toward gift cards with a variety of retailers
- Toward flight and hotel purchases
The catch is that generally speaking you won’t get more than one cent of value per point with these redemption methods. There is one exception when it comes to paying for flights, which I’ll address below.
The best uses of Amex Membership Rewards points
You’ll get the most value with your Amex Membership Rewards points by transferring them to travel partners. That’s because all other options typically get you at most one cent of value per point, and you can hopefully do better than that. Below I wanted to share what I consider the best uses of American Express Membership Rewards points to be, roughly ranked starting with my favorite.
If transferring to airline partners, it’s important to understand that you’ll generally get the most value redeeming for international flights, especially in business class. Also, if you’re new to redeeming points, check out my top 10 tips for redeeming points, so you can hopefully get the best value.
Transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan
Air Canada Aeroplan is probably my single favorite frequent flyer program. Not only does Aeroplan have more airline partners than any other airline loyalty program, but you can also add stopovers to awards for 5,000 points one-way.
If you’re looking to redeem on Star Alliance, or a variety of other airline partners (ranging from Air Mauritius to Gulf Air), booking through Aeroplan is an excellent option. For my own travels, I redeem more points through Aeroplan than any other frequent flyer program.
Transfer to All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
Amex is the only major points currency to partner with All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club. That’s exciting, because this Star Alliance carrier’s frequent flyer program has some incredible redemption opportunities, like roundtrip business class from the United Sates to Europe for 88,000 miles, or a round the world business class award (with up to 29,000 miles of travel) for 170,000 miles.
While the program potentially offers lots of value, there’s a huge learning curve to understanding this program, so make sure you do your research prior to transferring any points. This includes that there are restrictions on who you can redeem for, there are big carrier imposed surcharges on some partners, and more.
Transfer to Avianca LifeMiles
Amex Membership Rewards has no shortage of Star Alliance partners. If you want a straightforward one-way award on a Star Alliance airline with just one or two segments, Avianca LifeMiles may be your best option. LifeMiles has great redemption rates without fuel surcharges. For example, a transatlantic business class award will generally start at 63,000 miles one-way, while a business class award to Southeast Asia will start at 78,000 miles one-way.
Just be aware that sometimes LifeMiles doesn’t have access to the same award space as other programs, so you’ll want to check that in advance.
Transfer to Singapore KrisFlyer
Singapore Airlines restricts most of its first class and business class award space to members of its own KrisFlyer program. So while the airline is in the Star Alliance, don’t expect to be able to snag Singapore Airlines long haul premium cabin awards through other programs.
Fortunately Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer has fair redemption rates, pretty good award availability in business class (and sometimes even in Suites and first class), and limited surcharges. This could be useful whether you want to travel on the world’s longest flight from New York to Singapore, or want to take one of Singapore Airlines’ fifth freedom flights, like New York to Frankfurt.
Transfer to Emirates Skywards
Emirates Skywards is the best way to book most Emirates tickets with miles. This could be useful whether you want to take one of Emirates’ fifth freedom flights (from Newark to Athens or New York to Milan), or whether you’re looking to fly with the airline to Dubai and beyond.
It’s even possible to redeem miles for Emirates first class, though it could take some work. A shower in the sky is a worthwhile reward, though! A first class award between the United States and Europe costs 102,000 Skywards miles one-way, if you can find award availability.
Transfer to Air France-KLM Flying Blue
If you want to fly across the Atlantic in business class, it’s tough to beat Flying Blue, as this is the key to unlocking Air France business class and KLM business class awards. Not only is this great if you’re looking to travel to Amsterdam and Paris, but the two airlines have extensive route networks throughout Europe and beyond.
You can generally expect that transatlantic business class awards will start around 55,000 miles one-way, with mild fuel surcharges (around $200 one-way). You can sometimes get even better pricing if you can book a Flying Blue Promo Rewards offer. Flying Blue now offers stopovers on one-way awards at no extra cost, though you do have to book by phone.
Transfer to British Airways Executive Club
British Airways Executive Club is a useful frequent flyer program, especially for oneworld redemptions. Executive Club has a unique distance based award chart, so it’s a particularly useful points currency if you’re trying to redeem for travel on Alaska or American from or within the United States. Avios can be a great deal for travel to Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Avios are also useful for short haul redemptions in other regions, including within Asia and Australia. Lastly, Avios are an excellent value for travel in Qatar Airways business class, which is regarded as one of the best in the world.
Can you pay for flights with Amex points?
Unlike with Chase Ultimate Rewards, there’s typically not an efficient way to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points directly toward the cost of a flight. Amex’s “Pay With Points” program for flights generally lets you redeem points toward flights at around one cent per point, which isn’t great.
There are two exceptions, though:
- The American Express® Business Gold Card (review) offers a 25% rebate on Pay With Points airline bookings; this can get you up to 1.33 cents of value per point toward airfare
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review) offers a 35% rebate on Pay With Points airline bookings; this can get you up to 1.54 cents of value per point toward airfare
Now, there are some things to be aware of:
- This rebate only applies when booking first or business class travel, or economy travel on your designated U.S. airline (you can designate an airline in your Amex account)
- You can pool your Amex points across all cards and redeem at these rates, assuming you have one of the above cards
- With this redemption option, the Amex Business Gold offers up to 250K points in rebates per year, and the Amex Business Platinum offers up to 500K points in rebates per year
- You need to have the full Amex points for the redemption upfront (based on the rate of one cent per point), and then the 25-35% points rebate will post to your account within 6-10 weeks
I’d say this could be a good deal, though as you can tell, there are some major limitations here in terms of the cards you need to have, and how the redemptions work.
How not to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points
I tend to think that if you feel good about an award redemption then that should be enough. At the same time, I’d generally aim to get more than one cent of value per Amex Membership Rewards point. As a result, I’d highly recommend avoiding the following redemptions:
- Transferring points to Choice Privileges, Hilton Honors, and Marriott Bonvoy; these programs no doubt offer value in general, but based on the transfer ratio this just doesn’t make sense, as these points are worth less than other currencies on a per-point basis
- Redeeming points for merchandise, statement credits, etc.; this will get you at most one cent of value per point (and in many cases even less), so you don’t want to redeem that way
- Redeeming points through Amex Travel toward the cost of hotels, flights, and rental cars; the exception is if you have a card that offers a rebate on “Pay With Points” flight bookings, as that’s the primary way you’ll get more than one cent of value per point with this redemption option
Bottom line
Amex Membership Rewards is a popular points currency, especially given how many people have products like The Platinum Card® from American Express and American Express® Gold Card.
Amex has more transfer partners than other transferable points currencies, and generally that’s going to be the best way to use your Amex points. Personally my favorite Amex partners are Air Canada Aeroplan and All Nippon Airways Mileage Club, though I also get quite a bit of value from partners like Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, Singapore KrisFlyer, and more.
To those who collect Amex Membership Rewards points, what are your favorite uses of the currency?
Do not forget Platinum Amex holders get back 35% of points spent on preferred airline and any first class or business ticket.
Keep tack as Amex requires a push to get it rebated
Down side of Amex travel is that cancelation refunds are given as statement credit at penny a point. Do not use unless travel plans firm.
Sometimes with good cash fare booking through Amex Travel is better deal than transferring punts...
Do not forget Platinum Amex holders get back 35% of points spent on preferred airline and any first class or business ticket.
Keep tack as Amex requires a push to get it rebated
Down side of Amex travel is that cancelation refunds are given as statement credit at penny a point. Do not use unless travel plans firm.
Sometimes with good cash fare booking through Amex Travel is better deal than transferring punts to airline for an award ticket - have to factor in tax on award ticket value of miles earned on revenue ticket.
Few airlines count award travel toward achieving status
Unless you score an award promo ticket this is about only way to fly Air France / KLM across Atlantic these days as their award redemptions are approaching the Delta Sky Peso
Not specifically towards points exactly, but points using the 'pay with points' option MAY be a bit higher than one cent each if a Platinum card is used and the airline is in the International Airline Program. The prices are reduced. I've seen generally 10-15%, sometimes a tad bit higher. It doesn't cover lots of airlines, but does seem to work with Delta, Air France, and KLM very often. It used to work with Iberia...
Not specifically towards points exactly, but points using the 'pay with points' option MAY be a bit higher than one cent each if a Platinum card is used and the airline is in the International Airline Program. The prices are reduced. I've seen generally 10-15%, sometimes a tad bit higher. It doesn't cover lots of airlines, but does seem to work with Delta, Air France, and KLM very often. It used to work with Iberia and British, but I haven't seen lower pricer on them in a while. Anyway, that's a method to get higher than one cent when using pay with points.
Aeroplan is not ll it is cracked up to be... had to cancel an Ottawa-Yellowknife itinerary for 2 because of fires (and AC trashing a very nice 787 J itinerary with a 3 legs). Now I'm stuck with 280K miles and cannot find anything reasonable to use it on... nothing from upstate NY to France on Star Alliance through next year. Flights out of Montréal are 275K OW. Worthless points.
Be careful before you transer Amex points to Aeroplan. Sorry I did it.
Best way is to transfer to a loyalty program that you will need the points in when there is a bonus to do so. Amex charges many more of their points to redeem with their travel center than Chase and does not provide the added bonus.
Transfer a couple hundred thousand points to Singapore and get Star Alliance Gold
Help me out on this. I did this during the pandemic, and got my Star Alliance Gold which will last until January 2024. Worked out great. But I thought that game was long over.
I did the same by transferring Brex (before they closed me out like most & +20% bonus) and the balance (+20 bonus) with Amex points to Singapore and received gold status. I too think that deal was over February 2022 if I remember correctly. Regardless, flew two in Singapore suites to Frankfurt this past April. I used net 233,333 points (Brex & Amex) for flight of a lifetime.
Reference your post on ANA. I’m allocating some for ANA. Maybe round trip to Honolulu
My understanding is the Amex Business Platinum redemption option has been changed and now offers up to 1,000,000 points in rebates per year. Is this accurate?
1) With a specific stock purchase in mind, I have redeemed points via Charles Schwab at 1.1 cents per point. Maybe not the most inspiring redemption, but the stocks I bought have gone up. I continue to value the cash out to Charles Schwab option offered.
2) The Hilton transfer bonus is a good one. I have taken advantage of that multiple times.
3) I haven't transferred to Delta in years. But it can make...
1) With a specific stock purchase in mind, I have redeemed points via Charles Schwab at 1.1 cents per point. Maybe not the most inspiring redemption, but the stocks I bought have gone up. I continue to value the cash out to Charles Schwab option offered.
2) The Hilton transfer bonus is a good one. I have taken advantage of that multiple times.
3) I haven't transferred to Delta in years. But it can make sense, especially if you want to redeem in domestic first class at 1.4 or 1.5 cents per point, as is occasionally possible. I generate enough Delta points via flying and Delta Reserve spend, though, so I am not using this option much.
Does the 35% points back on Amex Business Platinum still work if you pay for a flight with a combination of points and cash (for the points portion of the payment)?
Yes, you can get the rebate when using a combination of points and cash.
For the points rebate, how are mixed airlines handled ? Let’s say United is my designated airline. I do get an economy ticked issued by United, however some segments are operated by Lufthansa, possibly with a LH flight number.
Would such a ticket qualify for the pay with points rebate?
If UA issued the ticket I cannot thing of a reason it would not. I would think Amex goes by the 3 digit ticket airline identifier. Like I think AA begins with 001, and DL is 006. So that number would precede any ticket (number) you get issued by UA regardless of the carrier(s) actually flying the route(s).
It's hilarious that AMEX's closest partner(Delta/SkyMiles) wasn't even mentioned. Shows how useless Delta can be. In addition, there is an added "surtax"(or whatever it's called) to even transfer AMEX MR's to Delta on top on their usually insane SM requirements.
What, you don't enjoy paying 500,000 SkyPesos for a 7-hour flight? What's wrong with you?? :-P
Or 65,000 for a 58 minute flight...at 6 am...on a Tuesday....in BASIC...
I only transfer Amex points to Hilton during a transfer bonus offer. Then use those points for a stay somewhere like WA Maldives with a 5th night free. An example like this I believe is a great value compared to just normal hotel transfers.
Agree. Ben's overlooking this one for sure. When AmEx runs the 40% Hilton promo it's a solid way to redeem MR points.
For all the attention that miles and points get, I continue to wonder why more don't highlight the excellent use of points transferred to Iberia for transatlantic business class—it's literally the best value of any points use on a consistent basis.
Shhhh....we don't mention that one out loud!
Woah! Reading this article after it was posted ONE SECOND AGO! Ha! I feel special.