Jan 17, 2015, 11:52 am
Last edit by: mia
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
Germany: 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?
(The Canadian transfer ratios are listed directly on the Canadian site.)
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki lists all of the Amex USA airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
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 or any other OneWorld carrier redeem through:
American also has partnership outside OneWorld with:
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
Germany: 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.
In the USA version of Membership Rewards the exceptions are:
El AL Israel Airlines: 1,000 points = 20 Matmid points
Hilton®: 1,000 points = 2,000 Honors points (as of 1/11/2018)
JetBlue Airways: 250 points = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue® points
In the USA version of Membership Rewards the exceptions are:
El AL Israel Airlines: 1,000 points = 20 Matmid points
Hilton®: 1,000 points = 2,000 Honors points (as of 1/11/2018)
JetBlue Airways: 250 points = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue® points
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki lists all of the Amex USA airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
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 or any other OneWorld carrier redeem through:
- Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
- British Airways
- Iberia Airlines
- Qantas Airways
American also has partnership outside OneWorld with:
- Etihad
To travel on Delta Air Lines or any other SkyTeam carrier redeem through:
- Delta Air Lines (DL permits one-way awards as of 01 JAN 2015, however trips originating in Europe carry additional surcharges; Delta also imposes surcharges on trips using some partner airlines such as China Eastern or China Southern, but notably not on trips involving its European partners (as long as the trip originates outside Europe) or Virgin Australia.)
- AeroMexico
- Alitalia
- FlyingBlue (Air France, KLM, Air Europa, Kenya Airways, Aircalin and Tarom.)
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. See also transatlantic strategy discussion HERE. Read about changes to redemption charts in December 2015 HERE.
- All Nippon Airways. Read about ANA fuel surcharges HERE. Read about changes to partner redemption charts in April 2015 HERE.
- Avianca Airlines
- Singapore Airlines. Read HERE
Read about Singapore Airlines' reciprocal mile conversion arrangement with Virgin Australia HERE.
To travel on Alaska Airlines redeem through:
- BA British Airways
- CX Asia Miles https://www.asiamiles.com/en/earn-mi...irlines#redeem
- EK Emirates https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...-airlines.aspx
- SQ Singapore Airlines https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/p...s_AwdChart.pdf
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? (2015 - 2021)
Apr 27, 2018, 8:54 am
#781
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Apr 28, 2018, 8:52 am
#782
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
No knowledge.
The American Express Hilton cards earn $1 = 3 points for general spending, and the Membership Rewards to Hilton transfer ratio is 1000:2000.
The American Express Marriott cards will earn $1 = 2 points for general spending. The transfer ratio could be as high as 1000:1500, but I think it will be 1000:1000 as it was when Marriott user to be a Membership Rewards transfer partner, and as it is from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Marriott.
The American Express Hilton cards earn $1 = 3 points for general spending, and the Membership Rewards to Hilton transfer ratio is 1000:2000.
The American Express Marriott cards will earn $1 = 2 points for general spending. The transfer ratio could be as high as 1000:1500, but I think it will be 1000:1000 as it was when Marriott user to be a Membership Rewards transfer partner, and as it is from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Marriott.
Is anything known about why Amex MR -> Marriott, when it originally existed, got dropped?
And, yes, Amex is now a partner with Marriott, but Citi and Barclay are both partners of AA, and a lot of good that does for transferring anything to AA.
Apr 28, 2018, 9:30 am
#783
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: EWR/PHL/BWI
Posts: 4,412
But is even known yet whether Amex will continue with Marriott/SPG merged as a transfer partner? Amex MR transferred to Virgin America, but once VIrgin America merged into Alaska, they didn't transfer to Alaska.
Is anything known about why Amex MR -> Marriott, when it originally existed, got dropped?
And, yes, Amex is now a partner with Marriott, but Citi and Barclay are both partners of AA, and a lot of good that does for transferring anything to AA.
Is anything known about why Amex MR -> Marriott, when it originally existed, got dropped?
And, yes, Amex is now a partner with Marriott, but Citi and Barclay are both partners of AA, and a lot of good that does for transferring anything to AA.
Apr 28, 2018, 11:47 am
#784
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
- American Express has an excellent track record providing notice when transfer partnerships end. They have not yet announced the end of transfers to SPG.
- Marriott is a partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott seems to be carefully tweaking both issuers' co-branded cards to create near parity. Allowing transfers from Ultimate Rewards, but not from Memberships Rewards, is possible, but seems improbable.
Not if you need a few thousand points to top up your hotel account for an award. That's was the original proposition when Diners Club invented the multi-partner transfer program in the 1980's.
Apr 29, 2018, 9:57 am
#785
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
The Race to 2.0MM Points is On!
Between now and the end of the year, I have to get about 500k Marriott points (I will already have the nights) to nail in the lifetime Platinum Premier status which will only be offered through the end of this year, never again. And point transfers from SPG haven't counted up to now, and are rumored they'll never count (except for a roundabout workaround which is limited to 50k).
I already have about 1.7 million AA miles, plus 300k+ DL miles, plus 300k+ UA miles, plus 250k+ AS miles, plus 100k Avios. I don't see what airline I necessarily need to transfer MR points to in the near future. I was saving them in case I used up my DL miles suddenly, but now this Marriott lifetime status one-time chance seems to possibly be a better opportunity.
Btw, one of the reasons I have 1.7 million AA miles is because I was collecting AA miles above all else from 2003 through early 2011 when I reached lifetime Platinum status at AA (at 2 million lifetime AA miles), about half a year before (in Dec 2011) AA stopped counting miles from all sources (including credit card signup bonuses) toward lifetime status. So I've been in one of these "lifetime status races" before. (And, btw, I also have experience from that of the value of shooting for the top elite status, even when the second-from-top elite status seems almost as good. When I was shooting for AA lifetime Plat, AA Gold gave me free access to exit row seats. But since then, exit row seats became part of MCE, and are no longer free for AA lifetime Gold, only for AA lifetime Plat. So that's why, even though currently there may not be that much difference between the top Marriott lifetime status vs second-from-top, I'd like to nail down the top level if I can, but I can only do that before Dec 31 2018.)
Last edited by sdsearch; Apr 29, 2018 at 10:06 am
May 10, 2018, 8:56 pm
#786
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 122
Hi I'm fairly new to AMEX Platinum US and have 80k MR points. I was about to book some flights and hotels from amextravel.com with my MR points but didn't think about transferring points to the airline or hotel rewards program until seeing this thread. Should I never use MR points to book directly on amextravel.com and always transfer the points to the airline or hotel rewards program instead?
May 11, 2018, 4:34 am
#787
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Membership Rewards is a weak program for hotels, no matter how you do it.
Jun 7, 2018, 4:53 pm
#788
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 243
Please post link to convert to Delta
This happens to me a lot. On all my devices I try to view all the partners to transfer to, and I am met with a spinning circle. Can someone post the direct membership rewards link to transfer Amex to Delta? I can find all the other airlines on google, just not delta.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Jun 7, 2018, 5:45 pm
#789
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
American Express issues cards in scores of countries. If you search for Membership Rewards pages using Google you may well end up on a page for another country where Delta is not a partner.
If your card is issued in the USA, all of the transfer partners are here:
https://rewards.americanexpress.com/...R&viewfullsite
Delta is here:
https://rewards.americanexpress.com/...R&viewfullsite
If your card is issued in the USA, all of the transfer partners are here:
https://rewards.americanexpress.com/...R&viewfullsite
Delta is here:
https://rewards.americanexpress.com/...R&viewfullsite
Jun 12, 2018, 1:20 am
#791
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP100K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold
Posts: 3,215
I just wanted to warn people not to jump the gun, and stupidly transfer out MR’s before deciding on an itinerary like I have done. Although in some cases it can be beneficial to have that back up mileage in SQ in anticipation of that F award opening up since it can take Amex a day or two to get Krisflyer miles to your account.
But I warn people like in my case. I transferred out 100,000 MR points to SQ hoping I could use them in the future. Then I transferred 100,000 out to Aeroplan with anticipation of an award to Europe. In both cases I ended up booking one-Way awards in F on Krisflyer and J on Aeroplan. So now I have 56,000 Krisflyer miles sitting in the account, and 45,000 Aeroplan miles sitting in that account.
This was a very stupid move on my part because obviously it would be nice to have an extra 10k in aeroplan for a premium cabin award to Europe from the States or vice-versa. And I will almost certainly now have excess miles in aeroplane if I redeem an award for 25,000 miles. And the 56,000 Krisflyer miles are almost good for nothing unless I want to travel within Asia or book a bunch of AS flights for 12,500.
So I warn you to keep them in your Amex account until you have a plan.
But I warn people like in my case. I transferred out 100,000 MR points to SQ hoping I could use them in the future. Then I transferred 100,000 out to Aeroplan with anticipation of an award to Europe. In both cases I ended up booking one-Way awards in F on Krisflyer and J on Aeroplan. So now I have 56,000 Krisflyer miles sitting in the account, and 45,000 Aeroplan miles sitting in that account.
This was a very stupid move on my part because obviously it would be nice to have an extra 10k in aeroplan for a premium cabin award to Europe from the States or vice-versa. And I will almost certainly now have excess miles in aeroplane if I redeem an award for 25,000 miles. And the 56,000 Krisflyer miles are almost good for nothing unless I want to travel within Asia or book a bunch of AS flights for 12,500.
So I warn you to keep them in your Amex account until you have a plan.
Jun 23, 2018, 8:09 pm
#792
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: SAN
Programs: 1K (since 2008), *G (since 1990), 1MM
Posts: 3,219
So I am new to using my AMEX points. So please excuse my ignorance. I want to use the points for a hotel stay at Hilton. Should I just book through Amex or transfer to Hilton. The reason I am uncertain is that because when I went to book it warned me that I may not get the benefits of the hotel. With the Platinum AMEX card I get Gold at Hilton and access to the lounge, but I usually book directly through the Hilton website. So in order to get the benefits of being Gold should I transfer the points to Hilton and book directly, or it does not make a difference. TIA
Jun 23, 2018, 9:09 pm
#793
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
In general, redeeming Membership Rewards points for a hotel stay is poor value. If you use them to pay-with-points through Amex Travel the value is $0.007/point. If you transfer to Hilton the ratio is only 1000:2000.
1. What is the cost of the room if you book on hilton.com?
2. How many Honors points are required for the same room?
1. What is the cost of the room if you book on hilton.com?
2. How many Honors points are required for the same room?
Jun 26, 2018, 3:09 pm
#794
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 152
I'm planning on transferring points to Virgin Atlantic for a one way LHR > LAX (I don't want to fly Norwegian). I've noticed that Amex regularly offers transfer bonuses of 30%. My question is, does Amex ever offer two bonuses to airlines at the same time? I noticed the Hawaiian Airlines one is happening right now.
Jul 1, 2018, 3:13 pm
#795
Join Date: Jul 2005
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Starwood Platinum, AA, SW, Delta
Posts: 885
What do you guys think of transferring MR points to Asiamiles?