Welcome to Flyertalk. No Membership Rewards redemption option even approaches the value of transferring to an airline frequent flyer program IF you subsequently redeem the miles for otherwise expensive tickets, such as international business or first class. Economy class airline tickets may also deliver good value if you redeem on a route with high fares due to insufficient competition.
Used for airline tickets you should return more than $0.02 per point. The Pay with Points program values points at $0.01 ($0.0125 for Platinum and Centurion cardholders.) Merchant gift cards offer $0.01. American Express gift cards offer $0.005. (Except during temporary promotions.).
Transfers to hotel programs are more difficult to value because hotel rates vary widely by location and date, but American Express sets the transfer rates low to protect their own hotel brand affinity cards.
Last edited by mia; Mar 20, 2011 at 11:09 am