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If you’ve been building up a balance of American Express Membership Rewards and wondering what to do with them, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve redeemed hundreds of thousands of Amex points over the years and have used nearly every transfer partner American Express offers.
Whether you’re looking for cheap business-class flights or unique hotel stays, your Membership Rewards can help get you there. Instead of diving directly into booking with Amex Travel, let's look at five of the best Membership Rewards transfer partners for maximizing your points.
Related: Guide to Amex Membership Rewards Transfer Partners
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Air France–KLM Flying Blue
Air France and KLM share a loyalty program called Flying Blue, and the deals here can be tremendous if you know where to look. Between the two airlines, you'll find service between Europe and around two dozen destinations in the U.S. and Canada, making finding a deal easier than you might think. And because Air France and KLM are part of SkyTeam, you can often also redeem Flying Blue miles on partner airlines throughout the alliance.
We've previously covered some of Flying Blue's sweet spots, but here are a few highlights.
If you are looking to fly between the continental U.S. and Hawaii, Flying Blue partner Delta can get you there for as low as 35,000 miles round-trip in economy.
SAS, which serves most of Scandinavia, is a newer member of SkyTeam. Many of its flights require far fewer miles than comparable itineraries on Air France or KLM. Some economy flights between Copenhagen and the rest of Europe are as few as 5,600 miles.
Kenya Airways offers flights throughout Africa as well as some destinations in Europe and Asia. Bounce around safaris and snag a flight between Johannesburg (JNB) and Nairobi (NBO) for only 34,000 miles in business or 14,000 miles in economy.
If you’re in Asia and looking to head Down Under, Vietnam Airlines offers flights from Hanoi to Melbourne — an over nine-hour journey — for only 57,000 miles in business class. For a flight this length, I’d consider that to be an amazing use of points.
A quick honorable mention goes to Flying Blue's own nonstop flights in economy or premium economy. You can find some amazing low prices between the U.S. and Europe. One-way economy tickets can price as few as 25,000 miles, and premium economy can come in at 40,000 miles — a real value for the length of the flight.
Lastly, Flying Blue publishes a rotating monthly list of Promo Rewards with discounts up to 50% and provides some of the best award rates of any airline program in the world. The Promo Rewards list is a fantastic way of discovering new destinations; simply browse the list each month and see what catches your eye.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
London-based Virgin Atlantic operates flights to the United States and parts of the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. While the airline offers plenty of award availability on its own flights, the real value of Flying Club comes from its partner redemptions. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a phenomenal transfer partner.
Virgin’s partner Delta Air Lines doesn’t release much award space to partners, especially in premium cabins. But when it does, the deals are a steal. Delta awards start at just 7,500 Virgin points each way. Or fly a bit further for 11k points — such as Atlanta (ATL) to Nassau (NAS):
Or, you can fly from the United States to Europe for only 47,500 miles each direction — albeit with steep taxes and fees.
A majority of the flights leave from Delta's East Coast hubs like New York City (JFK), Detroit (DTW), Boston (BOS), and Atlanta (ATL), but every now and again, a deal sneaks in on a longer flight like Seattle or Los Angeles.
While the taxes and fees can be substantial, the low mileage cost can still make these awards worthwhile in the right circumstances.
Flights within Europe on partners like Air France, KLM, and SAS can also be great deals. Short-haul flights start at just 4,000 points in economy or 8,000 points in business class. Given how expensive business-class tickets within Europe can be, these awards can provide excellent value.
Iberia Club
Iberia is part of the Avios ecosystem shared by Aer Lingus, British Airways, Qatar Airways, and Finnair. Avios can be combined across all the programs, so if you earn on one, you can redeem on any of them. Many people focus solely on British Airways because it's the largest program in the group, but you'd be missing out on some of the best premium-cabin deals available through Iberia.
For the low, low price of 40,500 Avios, you can fly from the East Coast of the U.S. to Madrid in Iberia’s business class. With flights from New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Washington, D.C. (IAD), and even Chicago (ORD) — yes, Chicago is considered part of the East Coast — you’ll be flying in style to Spain.
I love Iberia’s business class. The food is always good, and the wine/drinks selection showcases the flavors of Spain. If you fly this in the reverse, from Spain back to the U.S., make sure to give yourself extra time to enjoy the lounge in Madrid’s Barajas airport. My husband and I will always arrive early and spend time there.
One of my favorite sweet spots (shh, don’t tell anyone) is the route between Madrid and Mexico City. At roughly 5,400 miles in length, you’re going to snag that 12-hour flight for only 50,500 Avios in business class. Because not many people are looking for seats between those two capitals, availability is often better than on Iberia's U.S. routes, for only a modest increase in Avios.
Related: How To Search and Book British Airways Avios Award Flights
Choice Hotels
While Choice Hotels might be best known in the United States for its budget brands like Comfort Inn & Suites and Sleep Inn, it also has a unique partnership with luxury hotel brand Preferred Hotels & Resorts. But first, you'll need to transfer your points to Choice Privileges.
You can use your Choice points to book a stay at more than 300 Preferred Hotels & Resorts worldwide, including some absolutely epic redemptions at once-in-a-lifetime hotels.
Some hotels start out at a mere 20,000 Choice points per night and go up from there, while others can cost more than 100,000 points. That said, the sweet spot for many properties seems to fall in the 40,000-60,000-point range.
Another unique aspect of Choice Hotels is its award availability at many U.S. properties. Most times, if a room is available for cash, it’s bookable via points. That means your points may be able to book a standard king room or even a king suite for little or no additional cost.
Choice is adding new hotels to its portfolio constantly, and not everything is a two-star property on the side of the highway. Choice partners with Radisson and Radisson Blu, Cambria Hotels, and the Ascend Collection, offering elevated stays at hundreds of hotels throughout the United States and beyond.
Related: Do American Express Membership Rewards Points Expire?
Air Canada Aeroplan
The biggest strength of Air Canada Aeroplan isn't flying Air Canada. It's about the 50+ partner airlines you can book using Aeroplan points. Because Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, you can use Aeroplan points to fly partner members like ANA, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, and dozens of others, often at better rates or with better availability than those airlines' own programs offer.
The fixed award chart remains intact for all major Star Alliance partners like ANA, Lufthansa, Singapore, and Swiss, which is hard to find in most award charts. Most programs have shifted to fully dynamic pricing, where award costs fluctuate with cash fares. Aeroplan has kept that stability mostly intact, meaning you can actually plan a trip looking at the number of points you’ve got or you know you’ve got coming up.
Award flights booked through Aeroplan don’t come with huge fuel surcharges. While you may pay a modest partner booking fee, it's often far less than the hundreds of dollars in carrier-imposed fees that other loyalty programs charge.
One of Aeroplan's most underrated features is its stopover policy. When you book a one-way award ticket, you can add a stopover of up to 45 days for just 5,000 additional points. For example, you could fly from New York to Delhi in business class and spend a few days in Amsterdam along the way.
Rewards Credit Cards That Earn Membership Rewards
Before you can redeem Amex Membership Rewards, you'll need to earn them. Here's a quick recap of our favorite rewards cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points:
$895Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
$325Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on cruises booked and paid through amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
And three small business cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points:
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
$895Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 2X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
$375Rates & Fees
(Terms apply)
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
No annual feeRates & Fees
(Terms Apply)
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
Other Ways to Maximize Your Amex Points
In this post, we focused on the Amex Membership Rewards transfer partners that generally provide the best value. However, there are three important callouts to consider when transferring your Membership Rewards.
First, check out the transfer bonuses American Express offers. You might find that one month there’s a 30% bonus to transfer from one program, and the next month another program pops up. Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue frequently appear on Amex's transfer bonus list, which can reduce the number of Membership Rewards points needed for an award.
Here's a current list of Amex transfer bonuses:
Second, please don’t transfer points speculatively. Just because you see a transfer bonus doesn’t mean that you should send points over without a plan. Programs can devalue their points overnight with no warning, and you might have points in your account, but the flights you want on the day you want them have suddenly disappeared. In almost every circumstance, we advise against these speculative transfers.
Lastly, understand that while most transfers happen immediately, some transfers may take up to seven days to show up in your account. Award space is fleeting, and a flight you see today might not be there tomorrow. It might be worth calling the airline first to check availability and ask if they would consider a courtesy hold for a couple of days while you’re waiting for those points to post.
Bottom Line
With so many transfer options available, getting the best value for Membership Rewards points can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task. The trick is to figure out your plan before you start accumulating points, so you can work toward collecting points for that goal once you learn the ins and outs of the best Amex transfer partners for you.
If you learn strategies to maximize the value of Amex’s 20 travel partners, you can rest easy knowing your Membership Rewards points will help you reach your travel goals.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees), American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)
