American Express Membership Rewards - What's the best use of 150,000 mem reward pts?

As per the thread title - I would like to get some opinions on the best use of 150,000 pts. these days. I assume some sort of upgraded international air travel, but I would like some insight on current promotions, best transfer strategies, etc. For what it is worth, I am based in Detroit, and am a Centurion holder. Any insight greatly appreciated.

As per the thread title - I would like to get some opinions on the best use of 150,000 pts. these days. I assume some sort of upgraded international air travel, but I would like some insight on current promotions, best transfer strategies, etc. For what it is worth, I am based in Detroit, and am a Centurion holder. Any insight greatly appreciated.

Nick,

In short, your question is way too broad.

1. You need to do some research before you ask your question.

2. Let us know what you have found that interests you.

3. Provide details as to whether you want -- Flights (domestic, international, class of service,) hotels, gift cards.

Research the previous posts and revise your original post. At that point, the many really smart people on Flyertalk can provide you with good advice.

I guess it depends on your location.
Amex Canada you can transfer these points to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio. With 150k miles you can get a round trip to Europe on Business class on any of the star alliance partners.

I am no expert but if you like Delta or Northwest you can transfer to Delta and get a 30% bonuse. You must register for the bonus and transfer before Dec 31st. I think the only reason I like this deal is because I am one of the fools who lets miles acumulate as they lose value every day.

I am no expert but if you like Delta or Northwest you can transfer to Delta and get a 30% bonuse. You must register for the bonus and transfer before Dec 31st. I think the only reason I like this deal is because I am one of the fools who lets miles acumulate as they lose value every day.

Will they lose more or less value if languishing with delta or with amex?

Will they lose more or less value if languishing with delta or with amex?

Your, lessthanzero, monkier was one of my fav movies. Also your bring a funny yet serious point. In today's enviornment you could move points to carrier that goes BK and your points are worth less than zero. How many times can a airline go BK? If a tree falls in the woods...? I also would apreciate someone pointing out best use values that are truely a great value no matter what catagory.

Best value is probably 3 x VS MFU (Virgin atlantic upgrade from premium econ to upper class) - yielding a value of around 8 cents per point. Other upgrades may offer comparable value but may be harder to secure as a non-elite.

You should be able to get around 5 cents per point for a business class or first class award seat transatlantic or transpacific on many of the airline partners.

Best value is probably 3 x VS MFU (Virgin atlantic upgrade from premium econ to upper class) - yielding a value of around 8 cents per point. Other upgrades may offer comparable value but may be harder to secure as a non-elite.

You should be able to get around 5 cents per point for a business class or first class award seat transatlantic or transpacific on many of the airline partners.


Are the Virgin upgrades capacity controlled? Is Virgin Prem Econ equivlent of BA World Traveler + where you pay between $300 to $700 more each way for a little more leg room than standard econ?

thats $1500 in shopping/restaurant gift cards if you prefer. thats a full 10 cents per point.

thats $1500 in shopping/restaurant gift cards if you prefer. thats a full 10 cents per point.
You mean 1 cent per point. Not the best use of MR IMO.

1500/150000=.01

Aeroplan. Thats 2 business class tickets to europe (well, 160,000 is but close enough).

thats $1500 in shopping/restaurant gift cards if you prefer. thats a full 10 cents per point.

Where did you learn math?

I think the best use of your points is transferring it to your favorite frequent flyer program.
In Canada 1 point = 1 miles and aeroplan
A business class is usually not less than 4000 USD to europe and you need 80,000 MR (80,000 miles) to get 1 business class. Meaning 20 cents / point

May want to check your math. $.05/point.

May want to check your math. $.05/point.

LOL You are right.. I am jet lagged :D

Just safe the point until you pass the 19,000,000 mark and get the yacht (http://www99.americanexpress.com/myca/loyalty/catalog/action?request_type=un_intlCatalog&action=RewardDetailSearch&Face=de_DE&rewardID=SHOP-1083&seqNo=2) :)

Just safe the point until you pass the 19,000,000 mark and get the yacht (http://www99.americanexpress.com/myca/loyalty/catalog/action?request_type=un_intlCatalog&action=RewardDetailSearch&Face=de_DE&rewardID=SHOP-1083&seqNo=2) :)

lol Why stop there? 27,000,000 for private jet flights http://www99.americanexpress.com/myca/loyalty/catalog/action?request_type=un_intlCatalog&action=RewardsSearch&Face=de_DE&categoryId=All&pageNo=5&lowPoints=100000&highPoints=All&fromSearch=Yes

The 30% bonus is tempting but Delta awards cost so much more than the rest of the Asia carriers. 100K in CX business and 90K in NWA business. (Not that those are transfer options) Is Delta's business class so much better than the rest for the 120K award cost?

Delta airlines old biz class product stinks imho. And award availability was very tight and I spent 280k just to get to europe in summer a few years ago. Reports on other threads say stadard millage awards are easier now the economy stinks. Now they also have several award tiers instead of restricted and sky choice and they allow you to blend awards. Simple supply and demand but the miles still devalue every year imho

Join and transfer them to BMI Diamond Club at 1:1 transfer rate. A r/t air ticket on any *A carrier in first class between the USA and Europe will set you back 90k BMI 'Destinations' Miles. The scheme also allows you to do cash+miles redemptions on all *A carriers, apart from LH. So, for example, miles+cash for SFOLHRSFO would be 45k miles + around £400 in cash + taxes. A much more efficient use of your miles balance if redeeming for a premium ticket.

Join and transfer them to BMI Diamond Club at 1:1 transfer rate. A r/t air ticket on any *A carrier in first class between the USA and Europe will set you back 90k BMI 'Destinations' Miles. The scheme also allows you to do cash+miles redemptions on all *A carriers, apart from LH. So, for example, miles+cash for SFOLHRSFO would be 45k miles + around £400 in cash + taxes. A much more efficient use of your miles balance if redeeming for a premium ticket.This is very interesting and just the kind of advice I was looking for. Anything work other than Europe from the U.S. For some reason U.S. to Asia is 200K in F. Not sure what the thinking is with that?

This is very interesting and just the kind of advice I was looking for. Anything work other than Europe from the U.S. For some reason U.S. to Asia is 200K in F. Not sure what the thinking is with that?

Don't get too excited, BMI isn't a transfer option for US Membership Rewards. Also, I think US-EUR (or vv) flights in C+P business are 37,500 miles and 210 GBP. Did they raise it?

Don't get too excited, BMI isn't a transfer option for US Membership Rewards. Also, I think US-EUR (or vv) flights in C+P business are 37,500 miles and 210 GBP. Did they raise it?

You can find the full table of mileage redemptions on the BD scheme here (http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/src/html/diamondclubhowtospendmiles.html).

E.g.

US-Europe using full miles - in F/C/Y respectively:
90k / 67.5k / 45k

Using cash + miles (minus LH)
50k / 37.5k / 25k

So as to your answer, troyb don't confuse domestic US J/C (F) with international F. The rates you know for international J/C redemptions are unchanged.

For anyone not used to flying up front among the *A carriers servicing these routes (international) UA F, BD C/J, LH C, LX C, NZ C are all much of a muchness. Though I'd likely prefer NZ for its truly flat beds and consistently excellent C product (with fewer routing options: it's just LAXLHR), followed by either or LH / LX. The American carriers always tend to score less well in my book, simply because their business appears driven by maximising soft revenue from mileage UGs, rather than focusing on a true premium product for paying pax -- not a gripe at anyone redeeming an award seat, mind you, just the overall shabby approach to a premium offer I've experienced on any US airline, on any (and many) routes I've flown in a mix of both J/C and F.

If I were American I would feel very aggrieved about being so short sold on both the overall quality of service and both hard / soft product (I also appreciate you don't really have a choice, so far).

150k Mem Reward Pts = 100 Credits on Southwest.

100 credits will get you 6 Round Trips in USA on Southwest.

Plus, at 100 credits you receive a Companion Pass.

So in essence, if you designate your wife as the Companion on your 6 free roundtrips, she will fly for free (so it's like 12 R/Ts).

100 credits will get you 6 Round Trips in USA on Southwest.No offense but they could not pay me to fly 6 round trips on Southwest with or without my wife.

Transfer to DL. for 140k miles you can fly SQ25/26 all the way to SIN in F.

Then with the bonus you'll have miles left over for something else.

Transfer to DL. for 140k miles you can fly SQ25/26 all the way to SIN in F.

Then with the bonus you'll have miles left over for something else.

On any of these airline deals, be sure and scout availability of awards before committing...some of these partner awards, in particular, can be hard to score.

On any of these airline deals, be sure and scout availability of awards before committing...some of these partner awards, in particular, can be hard to score.

Very wise advice. Award seats in SQ F can be especially hard to come by.

I was facing a sort of similar situation. I had 51K MR points and was ready to cancel the card before the annual fee kicked in. I have been collecting UA MP miles for a long time and have had very good luck scoring seats. But since they are not an MR option anymore I had to figure out where to park all of those points. Ultimately I opened an AC Aeroplan account and moved them there 1:1. Looks like they have low mileage requirements and a couple of searches turned up what appeared to be available seats.

I was facing a sort of similar situation. I had 51K MR points and was ready to cancel the card before the annual fee kicked in. I have been collecting UA MP miles for a long time and have had very good luck scoring seats. But since they are not an MR option anymore I had to figure out where to park all of those points. Ultimately I opened an AC Aeroplan account and moved them there 1:1. Looks like they have low mileage requirements and a couple of searches turned up what appeared to be available seats.

Book partner metal to avoid ugly YQ surcharges on rewards.

Are the Virgin upgrades capacity controlled? Is Virgin Prem Econ equivlent of BA World Traveler + where you pay between $300 to $700 more each way for a little more leg room than standard econ?

On day of flight not capacity controlled - if there is an open seat in UC when you check in you can MFU into it.

PE is similar to WT+, but not the same as UA E+. Yes, a few hundred $ extra RT for what is basically a domestic F seat, and with the recent upgardes to the hards products both WT+ and PE are starting to get close to what some airlines were offering in C/J in the mid-90s.

Does anyone like ANA miles program? i know they transfer in from Am Ex.

Does anyone like ANA miles program? i know they transfer in from Am Ex.

It isn't horrible, but AC might be better, depending on the reward you're going for. AC is an immediate transfer (I think) while ANA takes a few days and they will not hold the reward seat for you while the transfer is pending. And I'm pretty sure that ANA has some pretty steep fuel surcharges on all redemptions, even partner metal, that would be worse than AC.

It isn't horrible, but AC might be better, depending on the reward you're going for. AC is an immediate transfer (I think) while ANA takes a few days and they will not hold the reward seat for you while the transfer is pending. And I'm pretty sure that ANA has some pretty steep fuel surcharges on all redemptions, even partner metal, that would be worse than AC.

Gosh, i've always had so much trouble with AC. I go on their site to check avail and i always see such higher points for the legs i want. i must not be reading it right? i just checked and round trip for two in business in May would be 940K miles. Huh?

Gosh, i've always had so much trouble with AC. I go on their site to check avail and i always see such higher points for the legs i want. i must not be reading it right? i just checked and round trip for two in business in May would be 940K miles. Huh?

I wouldn't use the AC site to check availability; for that the ANA site is still - by FAR - the best tool out there. The 940K redemption you are seeing sounds like a penny/point redemption rather than a decent reward rate.

I wouldn't use the AC site to check availability; for that the ANA site is still - by FAR - the best tool out there. The 940K redemption you are seeing sounds like a penny/point redemption rather than a decent reward rate.

oh... so to get aeroplan's best reward rate do you call in? In any event i do like ana on line. quick and simple. though availabilities are tough nowadays.

oh... so to get aeroplan's best reward rate do you call in? In any event i do like ana on line. quick and simple. though availabilities are tough nowadays.

You have to find a day where the correct reward bucket is available to be able to redeem for it.

As a quick example let's take JFK-FRA for Feb 8-15. KVS takes its *A searches from the ANA tool, so I get the following results from it/ANA:

[KVS Availability Tool 3.3.3/Platinum - SNT: Awards/StarAlliance/JP-ANA] (http://www.KVSTool.com/?R)
JFK New York John F Kennedy Int'l NY US [KJFK]
FRA Frankfurt Metro / Frankfurt Int'l DE = FRA HHN [EDDF]
SUN 08 Feb 2009 / 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- ---- -------------
LH 401 JFK 15:50 FRA 05:25 +1 333 FS+ CS- YS+
LH 403 EWR 18:10 FRA 07:50 +1 333 FS- CS+ YS+
SQ 25 JFK 21:00 FRA 10:50 +1 744 FS- CS+ YS+
LH 405 JFK 21:45 FRA 11:10 +1 744 FS+ CS- YS+

[KVS Availability Tool 3.3.3/Platinum - SNT: Awards/StarAlliance/JP-ANA] (http://www.KVSTool.com/?R)
FRA Frankfurt Metro / Frankfurt Int'l DE = FRA HHN [EDDF]
JFK New York John F Kennedy Int'l NY US [KJFK]
SUN 15 Feb 2009 / 2 Seats

Carrier Flight From Depart To Arrive A/C Availability
--------- ------ ---- --------- ---- --------- ---- ---- -------------
SQ 26 FRA 08:20 JFK 11:05 744 FS- CS+ YS+
LH 400 FRA 10:45 JFK 13:35 333 FS- CS- YS+
LH 402 FRA 13:15 EWR 16:20 333 FS- CS- YS+
LH 404 FRA 17:00 JFK 19:45 744 FS+ CS- YS+

As you can see, there are Y seats on all the flights and J/F seats on some of them in both directions. By searching those same dates on the Aeroplan site I can find plenty of 50K Y rewards, a decent mix of 100K F rewards and then the 585K J rewards. But the 585K point rewards are on all AC metal, not partners, and that basically they are buying the tickets for cash prices using points rather than getting a recent redemption level.

So step one would be to find the availability using the ANA tool and then step two is to either call it in or book it on the web page. But finding the seats is the key. What dates/routes are you looking for?

anybody know the required fees and taxes for 2 EWR-LHR upper class tickets on VIRGIN using ANA miles?

I'm in a similar situation (and in the US) with just over 600K points on a platinum card. Since the financial markets crashed, AmEx has reduced my credit limit from something like $150K to $16K (as part of a broader program to reduce their unsecured debt, I'd imagine). Looking at AmEx's own financial issues, I am slightly worried that they might just cancel the card at some point or terminate the program as part of a restructuring. :rolleyes:

So I'm thinking of transferring the points or buying some asset with them so that I don't lose them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I don't travel out of the country much and don't use many hotel stays. So I had initially been thinking of getting $6K of gift cards at Saks, but the $0.01 rate seems so crappy.

150k Mem Reward Pts = 100 Credits on Southwest.

100 credits will get you 6 Round Trips in USA on Southwest.

Plus, at 100 credits you receive a Companion Pass.

So in essence, if you designate your wife as the Companion on your 6 free roundtrips, she will fly for free (so it's like 12 R/Ts).

Do you know how long these credits are good for? I do fly domestically, mostly on the West Coast, and though I don't love SW the value seems pretty good. That would 24 RTs (plus companion)...assuming they don't expire and SW stays in business. :)

Thanks!

Reduced from $160K to $16K with no credit problems/issues? Wow! To me, despite the bad times, that is hard to fathom. (My platinum ought to go down to about $160.) Better use those bonus point options while the old limits are intact.

Reward credits are valid for 24 months, but WN reserves the right to terminate an account that earns no credits in a 12 month period, so you'll need to keep your account active if you aren't earning points.

Reduced from $160K to $16K with no credit problems/issues? Wow! To me, despite the bad times, that is hard to fathom. (My platinum ought to go down to about $160.) Better use those bonus point options while the old limits are intact.

I rarely use the card anymore and haven't approached the limit in years. I expect they are just taking unused credit off the table to allocate elsewhere, since they are short. But who knows?

What do you mean by the "old limits"? Are there new limits expected? I'm pretty new to all this.

Thanks!