CRAZYBUBBA

Being a Canadian Amex cardholder makes it a little difficult to get good value from the product. The transfers to FF programs are 1000:750, over the board with the exception of Air Canada (1:1), which I'm reluctant to use because the redemptions require more points, they don't fly to central america (at least not with reasonable connections/schedules), and the fuel surcharge thread has me scared.

Can I simply transfer my MRs to an American member's account (different name) and then make transfers? What do other Canadians do?

drwilliams

I generally just transfer to Aeroplan. You can use these points on any Star Alliance Carrier, where the fees are much lower and the routes more varied.

If you can fly out of a US airport, the savings are quite substantial. I typically pay $150 to $175 minimum in taxes / surcharges to fly from my home airport in New Brunswick, and less than $20 to fly from the nearest US airport with any decent connections (BGR). The drive is about 3 hours, but the savings for a family of four is good.

redtop43

I have made transfers to other member's accounts (including one this morning) so here's what I can tell you.

First, if the person you are transferring to is an additional cardmember on your account, it's not a problem, you can link their account to yours. The other person doesn't have to actually use the card.

Second, at least in the case of Air Canada, I was told that you can link one account to your MR account, even if it's not yours. They told me that Amex pays extra if you transfer points to multiple accounts, or something like that, but anyway, Mrs. RedTop has one Aeroplan account linked to her card, and it's not hers.

Finally, they will usually do "courtesy transfers" although I don't know how many or how often. If it's the first time you've asked to do it, you're probably in the clear.

Just call MR and ask. Of course, whether it's advisable to do it is up to you. Every airline has its pitfalls as far as routes, availability, and fees.

mia

I think CRAZYBUBBA is asking about transfers to another person's Membership Rewards account. I think redtop43 is referring to transferring to another person's frequent flyer account.

Magic01273

Agreed thats how I read it too.

Transfering your MR points to another members MR account (in another country) wouldn't be permitted.

Transferring your MR points to someone elses FF account can sometime work.
But you do need to speak to amex and/or the airline to check I think... Many airline partners validate account names and reject transfer requests if they don't match. Some may not, but most do I believe.

Others on these boards may know specifics...

CRAZYBUBBA

Yes, I was thinking of using my sister's MR account to launder points into some usable form.

Wow, that's rough. I guess that I'll try out aeroplan (1:1) or possibly BA (1:.75).

turtleisland

Others have talked about transferring MR points between countries.

Has anyone successfully transferred Canadian MR points to US MR points?

Magic01273

Transfers of points can be done to MR accounts in other countries *that are in your name" in some circumstances but they can never be done to another members' accounts (in your country or any other country)

mia

This has been my understanding, but in this post American Express UK seems to be offering to transfer points to a spouse's account as a "gift" for a GBP15 fee:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16576312-post68.html

I can imagine an exception for a transfer to a member of the same household, but would be very surprised if this is broader.

turtleisland

I just called two Amex Canada reps and the first said this cannot be done; the second said the only way was to close the Canadian account and then do a Global Transfer to open it.

mia

Second one is a mangled version of what I believe is the correct answer. There is no need to close your Canadian account to use Global Transfers to open an account in another market, but you still must meet the requirements for the card in the other market. In this example it means you probably need a Social Security number to establish the USA card account. Then, you can transfer points, in either direction, between your own Membership Rewards accounts in the two countries.

Magic01273

Exactly - which is pretty much the same as the scenario already described on these forums whereby a UK CM can transfer UK program points to the Intl Dollar Card program by holding both active accounts.

turtleisland

If anyone has actually done a CA MR -> US MR transfer now would be the time to step up!

It seems at this point it may be a UK-only benefit. I've called thrice now on this and I've given up.

CRAZYBUBBA

I think that I've made peace with it.

I'm excited about the opportunities to use BA miles + cash for upcoming trips, in my approximation the value per MR transferred to BA is $.014, which isn't that bad. Also, the aeroplan website isn't clear about taxes/fees/surcharges but I may phone them and see what the all-in cost of using miles with them is, since that may offer me a return closer to the $.02 mark.

Magic01273

can you clarify - are you trying transfer points from a Canada account to a US account in your name? And 3 people have told you its not possible?

Are both the Canadian and US accounts "membership rewards"?