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When you think of a credit card that doubles as a status symbol, you probably think of an American Express card—maybe the iconic, The Platinum Card® from American Express or the ultra-exclusive Amex Centurion. And, if you’re interested in traveling on credit card points, you’ve definitely heard the Amex Membership Rewards Points program mentioned.
If you’re new to the world of travel rewards, competing programs Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Bilt Rewards might be simpler to start with. But if you’re ready to dive in, Membership Rewards can help you go exciting places. With five consumer cards (meaning cards for personal use as opposed to business cards) that earn Membership Rewards and nearly two dozen airline and hotel partners that points transfer to, Amex is beloved by frequent travelers for good reason.
We’ll break down everything you need to know about Membership Rewards in 2024, including point values for different redemption options, the complete list of transfer partners, and which cards earn these coveted travel rewards.
What is Amex’s Membership Rewards program?
Membership Rewards is a flexible credit card rewards program. Spending with an eligible American Express card will generate points that you can redeem for statement credit, gift cards, travel expenses (e.g. flights and hotels) or even transfer to one of Amex’s 21 partner loyalty programs (such as Delta SkyMiles and Hilton Honors).
Membership Rewards Points are generally worth between 0.6 and 1 cent each, depending on how you redeem them. We recommend using them for travel, whether in the Amex Travel portal or by transferring them to partners, as that typically offers a better value than cash back. These points don’t expire—which is a plus—and you can likely score a sizable welcome bonus of 60,000 points or more depending which card you’re applying for.
Which American Express cards earn Membership Rewards Points?
Speaking of cards, you should also know that not all Amex cards generate Membership Rewards Points. Some—like the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express—generate straight cash back. Others are co-branded cards that generate hotel points or airline miles, and it’s pretty easy to tell which ones those are based on the name of the card (e.g. the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card).
So to keep things simple, here’s a complete list of personal American Express credit cards that are open to new applicants and generate Membership Rewards Points as of this writing:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- American Express® Green Card
- Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express
- Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
The Centurion card (colloquially known as the Amex Black card) we mentioned at the beginning of this article also generates Membership Rewards points, but it’s only available by invitation, not to mention it charges a stunning $5,000 annual fee.
To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, see this page.
To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, see this page
To view rates and fees of the The Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.
To view rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, see this page.
All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, see this page.
All information about the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
All information about The Centurion Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Intro bonus
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of card membership| Annual Fee | $695 |
| Purchase APR | See Pay Over Time APR |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | None |
at Bankrate
Reward Rates
- 5XEarn 5x Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year)
- 5XEarn 5x Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel
- 1XEarn 1x points on other eligible purchases
Other benefits
- Travel benefits including hotel and car rental chain statuses, car rental insurance, trip cancellation/interruption and travel delay protection
- Consumer protections including extended warranty and return protection
at Bankrate
Now that you know the basics, let’s dive into the pros and cons of the program—as well as the specifics of earning and redeeming points.
Amex Membership Rewards: Pros and cons
Pros
- Points have no expiration date.
- The Amex Rewards Points Calculator makes it easy to see your redemption options and values, and you don’t even need an Amex account to tinker with it.
- Amex has a generous list of 21 transfer partners including Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, Delta SkyMiles, and more.
Cons
- Membership Rewards Points are worth just 0.6 cents per point when redeemed for statement credit (compared to Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which are worth a full penny).
- The list of 21 transfer partners is excellent—but it’s still missing a few key players like Hyatt and United.
- Points transfer to most partners at a 1:1 rate or better but that’s not so in all cases (JetBlue TrueBlue, we’re looking at you).
Membership Rewards Points explained
Membership Rewards Points are the “currency” you earn and redeem in the Membership Rewards program. There’s no fancy name for them, and Amex often refers to them as just “points.”
How to earn Membership Rewards Points
There are four primary ways to earn Membership Rewards points:
- Using your Amex card for everyday spending – The Amex Green Card, for example, generates 3X on restaurants, travel, and transit, plus 1X points on all other purchases.
- Earning welcome bonuses on new cards – For example, the Amex Green, Gold and Platinum all offer welcome bonuses measured in points (instead of miles or cash). Consider the Gold, which offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Adding additional cards – If you trust any friends or family members enough to add them as authorized users to your Amex credit card account, you’ll generate points from their purchases, too.
- Enrolling in Amex Offers – Finally, and like most credit card companies these days, Amex has a rotating selection of temporary promos you can score with select retail partners. Think “spend $150 with Ray Ban, get $30 back”—that kind of thing. You’ll earn points on the original purchase and then get a statement credit on your account for the amount offered in the promo.
All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
To view rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, see this page.
How to redeem Membership Rewards Points
Once you’ve amassed a nice pile of Amex points, here’s how you can redeem them:
- Transfer points to a partner – Transferring your Membership Rewards points to one of Amex’s 21 partner loyalty programs and then booking award travel directly with your preferred airline or hotel chain will likely net the best value. That’s particularly true if you are willing to learn how to leverage airline alliances (for example, using Avianca LifeMiles to book a seat on a United flight thanks to the Star Alliance).
- Book travel through Amex – Using the issuer’s portal, American Express Travel, you can book flights, reserve prepaid hotels, rent prepaid cars, book properties in the Fine Hotels & Resorts collection, book Select Homes + Retreats vacation rentals, take cruises, and purchase vacation packages. You can also opt for a more niche redemption of using your points to offset the tax offset fee that occurs when you transfer Membership Rewards Points to a partner, but this offers a subpar redemption value.
- Take a statement credit – You can either use points to cover past purchases on your card or just redeem points for a statement credit of a certain amount.
- Pay with Points at Checkout – Some of the partner merchants that allow you to do this include Amazon, Best Buy, and Grubhub.
American Express also allowed customers to use their points to shop with Merchant Partners, but as of this writing, that redemption option was slated to end June 12, 2024.
Now that you know your redemption options, which one should you pick for maximum value?
How much are Membership Rewards Points worth?
Here’s a quick chart with the cent-per-point value for each way you can use your Amex points:
| Redemption type | Point value |
|---|---|
| Pay With Points at Checkout | 0.7 – 1 cent per point |
| Gift cards | Up to 1 cent per point |
| Statement credits | 0.6 cents per point |
| Travel via the Amex portal | Up to 1 cent per point |
| Transfers to partners | Varies, but can offer outsize value if you save your points until you find a great deal |
| Pay With Points at Checkout | |
|---|---|
| Point value | 0.7 – 1 cent per point |
| Gift cards | |
| Point value | Up to 1 cent per point |
| Statement credits | |
| Point value | 0.6 cents per point |
| Travel via the Amex portal | |
| Point value | Up to 1 cent per point |
| Transfers to partners | |
| Point value | Varies, but can offer outsize value if you save your points until you find a great deal |
Now, let’s dig in and take a closer look. First of all, we’re big fans of how American Express offers an online calculator where you can see how much a certain number of points is worth toward specific redemption options—whether that may be a statement credit or an NYC taxi fare. You just enter the card you’re using, the amount of points (in multiples of 10,000) and the redemption type you’re considering (e.g. gift cards, statement credits, or travel).
Then, the calculator will show you how much your points will be worth towards that specific redemption option, barring merchant-specific promos.
Best of all, you don’t even need an American Express account to start looking—so you can estimate your future point values before you even apply for a card.
Here’s what it looks like:
Overall, Membership Rewards earns a 10 out of 10 for transparency, if not always for value.
We say that because one of the program’s biggest drawbacks is that you can only redeem points for cash back at a pitiful rate of 0.6 cents per point. This could put many Amex cardholders in a tough position from time to time; hoard points when you don’t have travel plans, or cash them in now to help cover your daily expenses, knowing you’re losing roughly 40% or more of their potential value by accepting this mediocre redemption rate?
It’s a difficult choice that members of Chase Ultimate Rewards, for example, don’t have to make. While Chase points may have varying redemption values when it comes to retail merchants and award travel after making a transfer to a partner loyalty program, at least they’re always worth a penny each as a statement credit or a deposit to your checking account.
In other words, “anchoring” point values to one penny each builds a tremendous amount of simplicity, stability and flexibility into a credit card rewards program. It’s a shame that American Express doesn’t follow suit in that regard.
Learn more: You’ve earned your Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus. Here are the best ways to redeem it.
All that said, if you’re primarily interested in Membership Rewards as a way to book heavily discounted travel, you probably won’t care much for the statement credit option. Instead, you’ll be much more interested in Amex’s transfer partners—and in that regard, the issuer delivers.
Membership Rewards transfer partners
One of Membership Rewards’ best features is its hearty list of transfer partners. You’ll be able to migrate points to a trio of major hotel brands (comprising well over 20,000 total properties worldwide when you add them up) plus a healthy mix of both domestic and international airlines including Delta, Air France, Etihad and more.
As promised, here’s a complete list of Amex’s transfer partners. Note that transfer ratios are typically 1:1 and start at 1,000 points, but there are exceptions (e.g. 250 Membership Rewards Points = 200 TrueBlue points).
Airline partners
- Aer Lingus
- AeroMexico
- Aeroplan
- AIR FRANCE-KLM Flying Blue
- ANA Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue (250 Membership Rewards Points = 200 TrueBlue points)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer (500 Membership Rewards Points = 500 Qantas Points)
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel partners
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors (1,000 Membership Rewards Points = 2,000 Hilton Honors points)
- Marriott Bonvoy
How Membership Rewards compares to other rewards programs
Compared to rival programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards and Capital One Miles, Amex’s Membership Rewards stands out in ways that are both great and not-so-great.
As stated earlier, the program’s main drawback is its mediocre cash-back redemption rate. If you need to convert some of your hard-earned Membership Rewards Points to cash back in a pinch, you’ll only get 0.6 cents out of each one. Compare that to Wells Fargo Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards where you’ll always get at least a penny each from your points.
Another distinct disadvantage of Membership Rewards—at least, when compared to Chase–—is the lack of bonus multipliers toward travel booked in the issuer’s portal. When you redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points using your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card account, you’ll get an extra 25% in value (meaning each point is worth 1.25 cents each rather than only a penny). With the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, it’s a whopping 50% extra value per point.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Intro bonus
60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.| Annual fee | $95 |
| Regular APR | 21.49%–28.49% variable |
at Cardratings.com
Rewards Rates
- 5x5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit)
- 3x3x points on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 2x2x points on travel purchases not booked through Chase
- 1x1x points on other purchases
- 5x5x points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025 (that's 3x points in addition to the 2x points you already earn on travel)
-
- Additional perks: $50 annual hotel credit, trip cancelation/interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, complimentary Doordash and Instacart+ membership along with quarterly Instacart+ credits
-
- Foreign transaction fee: None
at Cardratings.com
But on the Amex side, not even the mighty Platinum Card offers a bonus multiplier to stretch your Membership Rewards Points any further in value.
To be fair, some would consider a well-timed transfer to be a “bonus multiplier” all by itself. In other words, converting 1,000 Membership Rewards Points to 1,000 Aeroplan points worth roughly $1,600 might feel like a 60% value multiplier for someone looking to book a flight to Montreal soon.
That segues us nicely into Amex’s biggest advantage over its contemporaries: its extensive list of transfer partners. Among the list of 21 total you’ll find a trio of major hotel brands, plenty of international flight partners and—shocker—three domestic U.S. airlines (which are less common on these lists than you’d think).
Having so many transfer partners is useful because it means your Membership Rewards Points have more value in more places. Who knows? Maybe you’ll make it to Vienna and back without having to spend a real U.S. dollar (other than taxes and fees, because even award travel isn’t truly 100% free).
Now that you know how the Membership Rewards program works, see our comparison of the Amex Green vs. Platinum and Gold cards to see which one might fit best for your unique spending needs.
American Express® Green Card
Intro Bonus
Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new card in your first 6 months of card membership.| Annual fee | $150 |
| Regular APR | See Pay Over Time APR |
Reward Rates
- 3xEarn 3X Membership Rewards points in expanded travel categories
- 1xEarn 3X points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide (including takeout and delivery in the U.S)
- All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by Fortune Recommends™.
Pros
- High earnings on travel and dining
- Membership Rewards points are valuable and flexible
- CLEAR Plus credit
Cons
- High annual fee for a mid-level travel card
- No trip cancelation insurance
- Additional benefits include a $100 LoungeBuddy benefit, trip delay and secondary car rental insurance
- Foreign transaction fee: None
Fortune Recommends™ has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Fortune Recommends™ and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefits guide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
Please note that card details are accurate as of the publish date, but are subject to change at any time at the discretion of the issuer. Please contact the card issuer to verify rates, fees, and benefits before applying.
About the contributors
Chris Butsch is an expert on the subject of credit cards. Chris is a two-time author who has made it his mission to help people build better lives through financial literacy and positive psychology. His writing has been featured in Forbes Advisor, HuffPost, ConsumerAffairs, Money Under 30, and Investor Junkie.
EDITORIAL DISCLOSURE: The advice, opinions, or rankings contained in this article are solely those of the Fortune Recommends™ editorial team. This content has not been reviewed or endorsed by any of our affiliate partners or other third parties.