Oct 9, 2013, 1:33 pm
Last edit by: gooselee
Q. Where can I find a list of the airline and hotel transfer partners?
Partner airline and hotel programs, transfer ratios, and rules vary by the country where your American Express card is issued:
Australia: Airlines & Hotels
Canada: Airlines & Hotels
International Dollar & Euro Cards: Airlines & Hotels
New Zealand: Airlines & Hotels
UK: Airlines, Hotels
USA: Airlines & Hotels Transfer ratios explained below.
Q. What are the transfer ratios to USA airline and hotel partners?
Q. How long does it typically take to compete a transfer?
MR USA airline and hotel partner transfer times.
Q. How can I use Membership Rewards points to travel on American Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines or other carriers which are not transfer partners?
Membership Rewards (USA) points can be transferred to three or more frequent flyer programs in each of the international alliances. Any program can arrange award travel on flights operated by all members of the same alliance. Points cannot be transferred from one frequent flyer program to another, instead you redeem for a partner award. The number of miles required is determined by the program through which you redeem, not by the airline operating the flights. Programs in the same alliance will require different amounts of miles, and different co-payments, for the same flights. Do not transfer until you understand the full cost of the flights you need. Do not transfer until you have confirmed availability for your specific dates and route.
To travel on American Airlines, US Airways or any other OneWorld carrier redeem through:
To travel on Delta Air Lines or any other SkyTeam carrier redeem through:
To travel on United Airlines or any other Star Alliance carrier redeem through:
To travel on Alaska Airlines redeem through:
Q. Rather than transferring now, can I preserve my Membership Rewards USA points balance without paying any annual fee?
Apply for an American Express Everyday card, and link it to the same Membership Rewards account. You may then close the other cards.
Partner airline and hotel programs, transfer ratios, and rules vary by the country where your American Express card is issued:
Australia: Airlines & Hotels
Canada: Airlines & Hotels
International Dollar & Euro Cards: Airlines & Hotels
New Zealand: Airlines & Hotels
UK: Airlines, Hotels
USA: Airlines & Hotels Transfer ratios explained below.
Q. What are the transfer ratios to USA airline and hotel partners?
For most frequent customer programs, 1,000 Membership Rewards points will equal 1,000 miles, points or credits and must be transferred in 1,000-point increments unless otherwise noted.
The only exceptions are:
JetBlue Airways: 250 points = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue® points; must be transferred in 250-point increments
El AL Israel Airlines: 1,000 points = 20 Matmid points
Starwood Preferred Guest®: 1,000 points = 333 Starpoints®
Hilton®: 1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors™ points
Virgin America: 200 points = 100 Elevate points; must be transferred in 200-point increments
The only exceptions are:
JetBlue Airways: 250 points = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue® points; must be transferred in 250-point increments
El AL Israel Airlines: 1,000 points = 20 Matmid points
Starwood Preferred Guest®: 1,000 points = 333 Starpoints®
Hilton®: 1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors™ points
Virgin America: 200 points = 100 Elevate points; must be transferred in 200-point increments
Q. How long does it typically take to compete a transfer?
MR USA airline and hotel partner transfer times.
Q. How can I use Membership Rewards points to travel on American Airlines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines or other carriers which are not transfer partners?
Membership Rewards (USA) points can be transferred to three or more frequent flyer programs in each of the international alliances. Any program can arrange award travel on flights operated by all members of the same alliance. Points cannot be transferred from one frequent flyer program to another, instead you redeem for a partner award. The number of miles required is determined by the program through which you redeem, not by the airline operating the flights. Programs in the same alliance will require different amounts of miles, and different co-payments, for the same flights. Do not transfer until you understand the full cost of the flights you need. Do not transfer until you have confirmed availability for your specific dates and route.
To travel on American Airlines, US Airways or any other OneWorld carrier redeem through:
- Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
- British Airways
- Iberia Airlines
------------------ - El Al is not a OneWorld member, but they do have a rewards partnership with American Airlines, see HERE. Ends October 31, 2014.
- Hawaiian Airlines is not a OneWorld member, but they do have a rewards partnership with American Airlines, see HERE.
To travel on Delta Air Lines or any other SkyTeam carrier redeem through:
- Delta Air Lines
- AeroMexico
- Alitalia
- FlyingBlue (Air France, KLM, Air Europa, Kenya Airways, Aircalin and Tarom.)
*Note: DL permits one-way awards as of 01 JAN 2015, however trips originating outside of USA carry additional surcharges.
To travel on United Airlines or any other Star Alliance carrier redeem through:
- Aeroplan (Air Canada) No fuel surcharge on flights operated by UA and many other airlines. Read current list HERE.
- All Nippon Airways. Read about ANA fuel surcharges HERE. Read about changes to partner redemption charts in April 2015 HERE.
- Singapore Airlines. Read HERE
Read about Singapore Airlines' reciprocal mile conversion arrangement with Virgin Australia HERE.
To travel on Alaska Airlines redeem through:
- Asia Miles
- British Airways
- Delta Airlines
- Emirates
- FlyingBlue
Q. Rather than transferring now, can I preserve my Membership Rewards USA points balance without paying any annual fee?
Apply for an American Express Everyday card, and link it to the same Membership Rewards account. You may then close the other cards.
Transfer Membership Rewards points to which airline or hotel program? [2008 - 2014]
Feb 4, 2013, 1:35 pm
#316
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
Moderator action
brian1111's question has been appended to the sticky thread on this topic. It may also be helpful to glance the associated poll:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-partners.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-partners.html
Feb 4, 2013, 4:22 pm
#317
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 82
MR Point transfer before closing account
I would like to transfer all of my MR to my FF account before I close my AMX Plat. account before the annual fee is due. I have a balance of 97308 points. Does anyone know if I can transfer every single point or will I waste 308 points since the transfer online requires the transfer to be 1000 point increment? Thanks!
Feb 4, 2013, 4:38 pm
#318
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
In the process of transferring you could round "up" to the next multiple of 1,000 and American Express will "advance" you the difference. (This must be done by telephone, not online.) However, you would be liable to the cost of the advanced points when you close the account. The cost is $25 per thousand. I do not know if they prorate this to $0.025 in this circumstance.
Feb 4, 2013, 7:17 pm
#319
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Alabama
Programs: Not care as much as before...
Posts: 329
does AMEX still charge 0.006 c per mile transfer to delta right now? any other fee (ex surcharge)?
thx
thx
Feb 4, 2013, 7:27 pm
#320
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 82
Transfers to most programs are in 1,000 point increments. Where will you transfer? Have you verified that you have no "pending" points?
In the process of transferring you could round "up" to the next multiple of 1,000 and American Express will "advance" you the difference. (This must be done by telephone, not online.) However, you would be liable to the cost of the advanced points when you close the account. The cost is $25 per thousand. I do not know if they prorate this to $0.025 in this circumstance.
In the process of transferring you could round "up" to the next multiple of 1,000 and American Express will "advance" you the difference. (This must be done by telephone, not online.) However, you would be liable to the cost of the advanced points when you close the account. The cost is $25 per thousand. I do not know if they prorate this to $0.025 in this circumstance.
Feb 5, 2013, 2:19 am
#322
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southern Bavaria, Germany
Programs: LH Blue, BA Blue, Hyatt Gold
Posts: 1,517
A cheaper Amex as MR reward points vault
this would be fine. So apply and get any Amex Green card or a similar offer participating in MR rewards. Don´t know about the rules in the US but in Germany the cheapest option would be the Green or the Blue card.
And then you can decide later where to transfer your points. And have to agree to the other posters: Transfer rates to BA are very good and if having an existing BA account are processed within 1 and maximum 5 days.
Link:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...b-one-day.html
Hope this helps.
GUM
Feb 9, 2013, 6:37 pm
#323
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 76
Trying to help my mother in law use her AMEX rewards points. She is looking to book a flight to Milan. What is the best way for her to do it? Transfer to Alitalia?
Feb 10, 2013, 11:51 am
#324
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: SFO, SJC, OAK
Programs: Globalist, Diamond via Aspire
Posts: 113
Hi folks,
Pretty new to points and FT. Need your input here. TIA.
What I have: 200k+ MR points, ~80K UR, 110k UA and counting
Base hub: SFO
Main purpose of those points: China travel once a year.
My question: I can use UR/UA points for flights easily. But how do I use those MR points to get there with comparable cost?
Pretty new to points and FT. Need your input here. TIA.
What I have: 200k+ MR points, ~80K UR, 110k UA and counting
Base hub: SFO
Main purpose of those points: China travel once a year.
My question: I can use UR/UA points for flights easily. But how do I use those MR points to get there with comparable cost?
Feb 11, 2013, 8:12 pm
#325
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: ATL
Programs: DL SkyMiles PM/2MM, AA Plat, IC Diam. Amb., Peninsula regular, amanjunkie
Posts: 5,848
My friends have Amex MR points and want to use them to go from New York to Thailand at Thanksgiving or New Year's.
EF shows award availability for two pax in J on NH and TG routing IAD-NRT-BKK.
They have enough points to fly in J or even F. I understand that they can put their MR points directly into an NH account, which they don't have but could open.
I know well the rule that you should never put your points into an airline program until after you've confirmed award-seat availability.
But the Amex MR website indicates that it takes up to two days to get your points into NH. And word I've heard (perhaps here on FT) is that you can't hold award seats on NH, must issue ticket immediately.
So, what to do?
If NH isn't going to work, what would you all suggest for NYC-BKK? Depositing into Iberia and flying on BA or CX? CX in particular would be great, but what is award availability like? And can we solve the problem of getting points in right away after you've confirmed the award availability?
EF shows award availability for two pax in J on NH and TG routing IAD-NRT-BKK.
They have enough points to fly in J or even F. I understand that they can put their MR points directly into an NH account, which they don't have but could open.
I know well the rule that you should never put your points into an airline program until after you've confirmed award-seat availability.
But the Amex MR website indicates that it takes up to two days to get your points into NH. And word I've heard (perhaps here on FT) is that you can't hold award seats on NH, must issue ticket immediately.
So, what to do?
If NH isn't going to work, what would you all suggest for NYC-BKK? Depositing into Iberia and flying on BA or CX? CX in particular would be great, but what is award availability like? And can we solve the problem of getting points in right away after you've confirmed the award availability?
Feb 14, 2013, 9:45 pm
#326
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 1,028
I booked 3 x J tickets with NH 2.5 yrs ago (flew LH/LX). Agent I spoke with held the seats for me until the MR points went through. took about 3 days if I remember correctly. As always, YMMV
Feb 14, 2013, 9:50 pm
#327
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 1,028
Hi folks,
Pretty new to points and FT. Need your input here. TIA.
What I have: 200k+ MR points, ~80K UR, 110k UA and counting
Base hub: SFO
Main purpose of those points: China travel once a year.
My question: I can use UR/UA points for flights easily. But how do I use those MR points to get there with comparable cost?
Pretty new to points and FT. Need your input here. TIA.
What I have: 200k+ MR points, ~80K UR, 110k UA and counting
Base hub: SFO
Main purpose of those points: China travel once a year.
My question: I can use UR/UA points for flights easily. But how do I use those MR points to get there with comparable cost?
Last edited by jmw2323; Feb 15, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Feb 15, 2013, 2:14 pm
#328
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: Amex MR, SPG Gold, HHonors Gold, AS MVP
Posts: 518
I would guess that all of these options will still cost slightly more in MRs than they would cost in URs transferred to United.
Feb 19, 2013, 12:32 pm
#329
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Kansas City, MO
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 3,649
award to Borneo with MR points transfer
Here's the trip I'd like to do:
2 tickets in J from Kansas City (MCI) to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu (BKI) with *A carriers.
I have 206K MR points
my Mom has 50K MR points
I have 465K SPG points
My goal is to use up all the MR points and cancel the AX cards before the renewal and fees come up in May.
I can get to Borneo on OZ (Asiana) via ICN, using ANA miles. I'd like to stopover at ICN on the way home so flying on OZ fits the plan. A routing MCI-ORD-ICN-BKI RT will take 115K ANA miles pp. for J and I can easily do this if I transfer my Mom's MR points into my ANA account. The problem is the YQ and taxes on each ticket will be $586 each.
Can anyone think of another plan to transfer the MR points to that would get us to Borneo without the high taxes and fuel surcharge?
2 tickets in J from Kansas City (MCI) to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu (BKI) with *A carriers.
I have 206K MR points
my Mom has 50K MR points
I have 465K SPG points
My goal is to use up all the MR points and cancel the AX cards before the renewal and fees come up in May.
I can get to Borneo on OZ (Asiana) via ICN, using ANA miles. I'd like to stopover at ICN on the way home so flying on OZ fits the plan. A routing MCI-ORD-ICN-BKI RT will take 115K ANA miles pp. for J and I can easily do this if I transfer my Mom's MR points into my ANA account. The problem is the YQ and taxes on each ticket will be $586 each.
Can anyone think of another plan to transfer the MR points to that would get us to Borneo without the high taxes and fuel surcharge?
Feb 19, 2013, 12:49 pm
#330
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: New York
Programs: Cutting down :-(
Posts: 604
Here's the trip I'd like to do:
2 tickets in J from Kansas City (MCI) to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu (BKI) with *A carriers.
I have 206K MR points
my Mom has 50K MR points
I have 465K SPG points
My goal is to use up all the MR points and cancel the AX cards before the renewal and fees come up in May.
I can get to Borneo on OZ (Asiana) via ICN, using ANA miles. I'd like to stopover at ICN on the way home so flying on OZ fits the plan. A routing MCI-ORD-ICN-BKI RT will take 115K ANA miles pp. for J and I can easily do this if I transfer my Mom's MR points into my ANA account. The problem is the YQ and taxes on each ticket will be $586 each.
Can anyone think of another plan to transfer the MR points to that would get us to Borneo without the high taxes and fuel surcharge?
2 tickets in J from Kansas City (MCI) to Borneo, Kota Kinabalu (BKI) with *A carriers.
I have 206K MR points
my Mom has 50K MR points
I have 465K SPG points
My goal is to use up all the MR points and cancel the AX cards before the renewal and fees come up in May.
I can get to Borneo on OZ (Asiana) via ICN, using ANA miles. I'd like to stopover at ICN on the way home so flying on OZ fits the plan. A routing MCI-ORD-ICN-BKI RT will take 115K ANA miles pp. for J and I can easily do this if I transfer my Mom's MR points into my ANA account. The problem is the YQ and taxes on each ticket will be $586 each.
Can anyone think of another plan to transfer the MR points to that would get us to Borneo without the high taxes and fuel surcharge?