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American Express Membership Rewards are some of the most valuable points you can earn. On average, AwardWallet users typically redeem them for 1.96¢ apiece when transferred to one of Amex's lucrative transfer partners. Moreover, American Express offers an array of cards that earn Membership Rewards, many of which carry generous welcome offers.
If you've accumulated a stockpile of Membership Rewards, you may wonder if you can transfer some of your points to a friend or family member. The answer, regardless of your relationship status with Amex, is “it's complicated.”
In this post, we'll look at the ways you can and can't share your Membership Rewards with someone else.
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Can You Transfer Amex Points to Another Person?
If you want to move your Membership Rewards points directly from your account to another person's Amex account, the straightforward answer is that you can't. Unlike programs like Chase or Capital One, you can not transfer or combine points with another member, even if they are your spouse or family member.
American Express automatically combines all the points from your Membership Rewards-earning cards into one pool, but you can not combine them with anyone else.
You also can not transfer your Amex points to another person's loyalty program. For example, I can't send my Membership Rewards points directly to my husband's Flying Blue account for a flight redemption. According to the American Express terms and conditions:
“Membership Rewards Points can only be transferred by you into an account in your name.”
The silver lining here is that there's a workaround; there are still a couple of ways you can share your Amex points with someone else.
Related: 5 Excellent Redemption Strategies for Amex Membership Rewards Points
How To Transfer Amex Points to Someone Else
Although American Express states that you can only transfer to an account with a loyalty program in your own name, there is a way to get around this rule. If you want to transfer your Amex points to someone else's loyalty account, they must be an authorized user on your card and need to be for at least 90 days before you unlock this functionality.
Therefore, if you know you'll want to transfer points to someone else's loyalty program, you must plan ahead. When you are ready to transfer Membership Rewards, you will see the option to transfer to your own or another eligible cardholder's loyalty account.
You'll link your authorized user's loyalty account to Amex, just as you did for your own account. If you need to brush up on the steps, here's a step-by-step guide on how to transfer Amex points to partners.
Amex transfer partners
One of the best aspects about Amex is the number of valuable transfer partners you can send your hard-earned points to. As a refresher, here's the list of Amex's 21 partner programs:
Amex transfer fees
In most cases, transferring your membership rewards to a loyalty program is free. However, Amex does levy a small charge when you initiate a transfer to a U.S. domestic airline programs such as Delta, JetBlue, and Hawaiian Airlines — even if you're transferring to your authorized user's loyalty accounts. According to American Express:
“Every time you transfer points into a U.S. airline frequent flyer program, your linked Card account will be charged an excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 per point (with a maximum fee of $99). We charge this fee to offset the federal excise tax we must pay when you transfer points.”
Therefore, if you were to transfer 10,000 Membership Rewards to your Delta SkyMiles account, you would pay a $6 fee. This is not a huge penalty, but with larger point transfers, it can add up. You can also redeem extra Amex points to cover this fee, but the value you'll get for your points here (half a cent per point) is abysmal. Always charge it to your card.
Thus, you may want to consider booking domestic travel through other transfer partners, taking advantage of airline alliances and partnerships. This will allow you to redeem fewer points in the aggregate and save on out-of-pocket costs.
Related: Do American Express Membership Rewards Points Expire?
Can You Use Amex Points to Book Travel for Others?
If adding an authorized user is not optimal, you can certainly book travel for someone else through the American Express Travel portal. For example, if I wanted to use my points to book a hotel for my parents, I could do so through Amex Travel without them being cardholders. I also don't need to be traveling with them.
Additionally, some programs will let you pool or transfer your points once the points are in your loyalty account. Hilton Honors, for example, will allow you to either pool or transfer your Hilton points to other members for free.
Therefore, if I wanted to use my Amex points to book a Hilton stay for my parents, I could initiate a transfer to Hilton Honors and book them a stay myself or transfer my points to their Hilton account and have them book their own stay.
Related: How Families Can Use Family Pooling To Share Points and Miles
Bottom Line
There isn't a direct way to transfer points between Amex Membership Rewards accounts. However, you can still use your points to book travel for friends and family by adding an authorized user, making reservations through the Amex Travel portal, or leveraging programs allowing you to pool or transfer miles to someone else for free. With numerous ways to earn Membership Rewards, it's helpful to know that you can also share them.
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