Amex points vs Aeroplan miles
 

In your opinion today, what's more valuable? Amex points or Aeroplan miles? Considering converting Amex points to Aeroplan, but honestly it's not like I'm going anywhere. I just want something to do.

Since you can convert Amex 1:1 to Aeroplan, MR are objectively worth at least as much as Aeroplan.

With current promos, there may be reason to transfer now, but otherwise, if you have no plans to close your Amex account, keep them as Amex.

Amex has the flexibility to move to other airlines. While it may not be 1:1, it does give you options

For example, I moved miles over to Delta to book a RT J class reward for two on Air Tahiti Nui to Tahiti a few years back for myself and my wife. This is before UAs flight there and there was no *A option available.

Before the Covid outbreak Amex would run occasional promos to convert their points to Avios ... it's normally a 1:1 rate the same as Aeroplan, but you would occasionally see offers of 1:1.5 or even 1:2 for even greater value.

I've done it a few times, always just waiting for one of the promos so I could get better value. Redeeming Avios against BA flights has never been a problem in either Y, PE or J ... they seem to all have reasonable availability and the hard/soft product is similar to AC ... in some cases (PE or J on the A350, for example) substantially better. Even in Y on the old 777s, BA is pretty good - especially considering you're getting TATL for what's effectively just over 20,000 Amex points (with conversion bonus) and around $375 in taxes/fees. Y product is comparable to AC but with better food. On that basis, I consider Amex points to be more valuable than Aeroplan points.

Have never tried to redeem Avios for flights on AA so I can't speak to that.

Agree with this 100% - Also makes sense to keep your most flexible currency as much as possible, giving you the most options coming out of the current environment

When did Amex Rewards points become transferrable to BA or IB Avios miles? At least on the Canadian card program? On the other hand, I've found Avios offer the worst redemption rates and additional fees. Of course, one never books an Aeroplan award on an airline that has similar outrageous fees.

In any case, I'd be in no hurry to convert MR points to any program unless you need a specific "rare" award seat. But with the drop off in bookings it appears there's huge inventory for awards on almost all partners from October through next April. And I'd also wait for the next conversion bonus when it comes up for the program into which you intend to move your MR points.

A decade+ at least.

Also, with the double miles promo on the Platinum card (even the pay with points is double redemption) at the moment it makes no sense to transfer them to AE right now, worse case you get 2c/MR point statement credit which is not bad value considering the other uses at the moment.

Rewards Canada: Limited Time Offer: Increased value in American Express Use Points for Purchases (1,000 points = up to $20!)

Beat me to it. Amex has offered Avios conversions for many years. I haven't seen a 1:2 promo in a while, but they just did a 1:1.5 in the fall.

Fixed that for you :)

Been a very long time. Many years. In fact, I joined FT a little over five years ago, and I'm pretty sure that every time a conversion promo has rolled around, people have complained about how Amex wasn't included.

Avios has some sweet spots, e.g. 9K points for a domestic J flight in Australia with QF (with YQ). Like most programs, it can be good or terrible, depending on how you use the miles.

I don't think I've ever transferred any miles to BA, but I have transferred some miles to DL once. Having them as options adds some extra flexibility vs Aeroplan, which is nice

I disagree. The 2x promo makes earning more attractive, but my Aeroplan redemptions are consistently worth more than 2 cpm, so being able to redeem miles for cash (statement credit) at 2cpm is nicer than doing it at 1 cpm, but still not worthwhile compared to transferring to Aeroplan.

(I do agree with the advice in this thread that generally it's better to have them sitting at Amex rather than Aeroplan, but am still more than happy to transfer them to Aeroplan if I have a good use for them right away).

I agree with your point, I meant it more for the average AMEX user (or the people freaking out about getting their cards cancelled recently!) instead of you sophisticated traveller types :D

I guess even in a situation where your two options are to redeem 1 million Amex points for $1, or transfer 1:1 to Aeroplan, the flexibility is worth something, so you're right.

We've got some great value from flights to and from Florida for the family during the holiday season on AA using Avios, over the years. Even with the distance based pricing by segment (very much a YMMV situation, but works out OK for us).

​​​​​​Having to typically fly via CLT is balanced out by flights to a couple of airports that are better served by OW (e.g. GNV) than *A that happen to work nicely for us.

The other Avios sweet spot for me is Reward Flight Saver (RFS) redemptions for short hops when I'm in Europe (particularly last minute trips that could be pricey). It's also a convenient way to position for ex-DUB longer haul flights and avoid excessive APD ex-UK.

I have enough BA Avois atm (over 600K).

My other Amex conversion partner is Aeroplan. I never transfer to Delta, Asia Miles or any other that takes less than a 1:1 transfer ratio.

Anyway, so Aeroplan is my only transfer choice for the foreseeable future.

Goes without saying, transferring Amex to hotel programs, even Marriott, is a terrible value, since Marriott transfers 3:1 to airlines.

I just dumped all my Amex points to Aeroplan to get the P25K status— not knowing that I already got it from a newly approved CIBC credit card, which I applied for because I wanted the 50K welcome bonus for the P25K status. Yes I’m confused by how this whole thing works but at least I got the P25K status.

unfortunate the Amex Gold doesn;t have the promo. I'd be all over it.

Sitting on the fence could work for now, as nobody knows what is the "new Aeroplan" ... Why move MR points to Aeroplan not knowing their new value, especially, when the new program is to be introduced very shortly. Lets wait and see what these Aeroplan miles are worth once AC finally gets us the details.

Keep in AMEX for now, and perhaps afterwards (for the flex reasons mentioned above...).