Best Ways To Use Amex Membership Rewards Points

Transfer Points To Amex Travel Partners

The option with the most potential for outsized value is using your Membership Rewards to transfer them to one of the over 20 Amex transfer partners. That way, you can take advantage of each program’s specific pricing rules and sweet spots.

To do so, log in to your Amex account, and in the Membership Rewards section, click “Transfer Points” and “View All” to see all transfer partners and what the point conversion rates are. Then, follow the prompts to finalize the transfer. With only a few exceptions, most partner transfers have a 1:1 ratio. Also, Amex periodically runs transfer bonus promotions with specific partners.

Book Travel

Through Amex Travel, you can use your points to offset travel purchases like prepaid hotels, rental car reservations and even cruises at a rate of 0.7 cents per point and flights at a rate of 1 cent per point—meaning 10,000 Membership Rewards becomes $100 off your reservation total.

This is an easy way to use points for free travel, but because the redemption rate is inflexible at up to a penny a piece, it does not allow for any sweet spots or value maximization.

Go to “Explore Amex Travel” and start searching for flights, hotels or any travel reservation you want to use your points for. You’ll see the number of points needed to offset the full cost of the reservation, and clicking forward will book your travel while deducting the points from your account.

Pay With Points

Amex allows you to use your points at checkout to pay for purchases at select merchants like PayPal, Amazon, Best Buy and others. When you’re ready to check out, you’ll be given an option to use your Membership Rewards as a form of payment.

Points can be redeemed at a ratio of 0.7 cents per point.

Redeem for Gift Cards

You can turn your Membership Rewards into gift cards for you or anyone else you feel like treating. Redeeming your points for gift cards is not the best use of Amex points, as it yields a value of between 0.5 to 1 cent per point. However, it’s a very straightforward redemption.

Go to your account, click “Rewards and Benefits,” and then “Redeem for Gift Cards” to select from the over 80 available merchants.

Cover Card Charges

Use your Membership Rewards to offset purchases you’ve already made with your card at a rate of 0.6 cents per point. This is one of the least rewarding uses of Amex points, but it can help keep your balance low in a pinch.

Simply go to “Cover Card Charges,” select which charge you would like to offset and points will be deducted from your balance to cover the selected purchase.

Read More: Best Rewards Credit Cards

Flights to Europe

With approximately 18 airline transfer partners, there are plenty of award flights to choose from if you want to get to Europe. Flying Blue, the loyalty program for Air France and KLM, regularly runs discounted redemption rates as part of its Promo Rewards program. With promotional destinations changing every month, it’s not hard to find redemptions with a 25% discounted rate and sometimes up to 50%, taking your points even further than normal.

Thanks to Flying Blue’s lax definition of Europe’s borders, some destinations in North Africa, like Morocco and Tunisia, are included within that region, pricing cheaper than the rest of Africa and also participating in these Promo Rewards.

U.S. Domestic Flights

One of the best ways to redeem Amex points is for flights within the U.S. You can transfer your Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios, which uses distance-based redemption pricing. Flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines under 1,151 miles cost 11,000 Avios or less (excluding taxes and fees).

Air Canada Aeroplan also allows you to redeem 6,000 points for economy flights under 500 miles within North America, while economy flights between 501 and 1,500 miles cost 10,000 points when redeemed for any of Air Canada’s Star Alliance partners.

Flights to South America

Flights to South America can get pricey, particularly when flying to the southernmost countries like Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Luckily, Amex partners with ANA Mileage Club, which prices all of its award redemptions to South America the same, regardless of distance.

That way, you can fly on ANA partner United Airlines from the United States or Air Canada from Canada all the way to southern South America for just 60,000 miles in economy and 96,000 miles in business class round trip.

Flights to the Caribbean

Continuing to highlight the versatility of Membership Rewards transfers to British Airways Avios and Flying Blue, one of the best ways to use amex points is to fly to the Caribbean via these partners. Transfer to British Airways to redeem for short-haul flights on American Airlines out of Miami to destinations in the Caribbean for up to 11,000 Avios each way in economy (excluding taxes and fees), or transfer to Flying Blue to redeem for flights on Delta Air Lines for around 35,000 points round trip in economy.

Flights to Hawaii

Flying from the continental U.S. to Hawaii can also be cheaper with an assist from your Membership Rewards balance. If you’re on the West Coast, you can take advantage of British Airways distance-based award redemptions and transfer points to score flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines for 16,000 Avios each way in economy (excluding taxes and fees).

You can maximize Membership Rewards on both the earning and redeeming sides. To maximize your earnings, choose cards that allow you to earn extra points in categories where you spend the most.

To maximize redemption value, your best bet will be to focus on travel partner transfers, where you can often find value exceeding 1 cent per point—a higher yield than other redemption options. Also, take advantage of temporary transfer bonuses, where you can get anywhere from 10% to 50% more value from your points.

American Express issues multiple credit cards that can help you increase your Membership Rewards balances. Card offerings range from ultra-luxury premium cards, packed to the brim with travel perks and statement credits, to basic no annual fee cards. These are some of our top picks:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express ($695 annual fee): Best for earning on flights and prepaid hotels (Terms apply, see rates & fees)
• American Express® Gold Card ($250 annual fee): Best for earning on dining and groceries (Terms apply, see rates & fees)
• American Express® Green Card* ($150 annual fee): Best for earning on travel and transit
• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (No annual fee): Best for earning in flexible business bonus categories (Terms apply, see rates & fees)
• American Express® Business Gold Card ($375 annual fee): Best for earning a flat rate on all business expenses (Terms apply, see rates & fees)

Read More: Best American Express Business Credit Cards

• Hold an American Express Card. There are several ways to earn Membership Rewards, but the easiest and perhaps most rewarding is holding an American Express card that is part of the Membership Rewards program. Multiple options are available both on the personal and business side, each with its own earning structure and bonus categories and all offering different kinds of welcome bonus offers.
• Refer a friend. If you hold any Amex cards, you can refer your friends and family to apply for their own cards in exchange for some Membership Rewards. The amount varies by card and changes over time, so keep an eye out for any offers coming your way.
• Amex Offers. You’ll receive Amex Offers in your account that will enable you to earn bonus Membership Rewards for making purchases at a specific retailer or for spending a predetermined amount by a specific deadline.
• Shopping portals. For those who do most of their shopping online, you can take advantage of the Rakuten shopping portal, which lets you switch from its usual cash-back rewards to earning Membership Rewards instead. That way, every eligible purchase you route through the shopping portal adds to your overall Membership rewards balance.

There are many smart ways to use your Amex points. By learning the ins and outs of the Membership Rewards program, you can identify the redemption options that will yield the best value from your hard-earned points.

To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for American Express® Gold Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for American Express® Business Gold Card please visit this page.