Feb 10, 2022, 8:19 am
Last edit by: mia
Click HERE to read discussion from 2015 - 2021.
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 (UK Issued): Airlines & Hotels
New Zealand: Airlines & Hotels
UK: Airlines, Hotels and Rail
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
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, Alaska Airlines, or any other OneWorld carrier redeem through:
American also has partnership outside OneWorld with:
Alaska 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:
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.
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 (UK Issued): Airlines & Hotels
New Zealand: Airlines & Hotels
UK: Airlines, Hotels and Rail
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
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, Alaska 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
Alaska also has partnership outside OneWorld with:
- SQ Singapore Airlines https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/p...s_AwdChart.pdf
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.
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?
Jan 16, 2022, 7:48 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, DL Silver, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Gold, HHonor Gold, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 352
Transfer Membership Rewards points to which airline or hotel program?
anyone knows if AMEX currently charge the exercise tax for MR points transfer to ANA? My last Delta transfer was charged but I read that it is only for domestic airlines? thanks
Feb 9, 2022, 10:41 am
#3
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 12
Anyone having issues today transferring MR to CX Asia Miles? I keep getting "We apologize for the inconvenience. The system is currently unavailable. If you require assistance please call Membership Rewards Customer Service at 1-800-AXP-EARN."
Other transfer programs seem to be working okay. Spent an hour on the phone with Amex support troubleshooting just about everything we can think of and eventually they just filed a ticket for their backend team. We ensured my name, phone, and address all matched my CX profile and they even humored me by attempting the transfer with all sorts of variants of my first and last name, transposed and with/without middle name/initial. Nothing seems to work. Just curious if this is isolated to my CX account or an AMEX system-wide issue. Saw reports of something similar happening last year for Emirates transfers with a similar error message.
Other transfer programs seem to be working okay. Spent an hour on the phone with Amex support troubleshooting just about everything we can think of and eventually they just filed a ticket for their backend team. We ensured my name, phone, and address all matched my CX profile and they even humored me by attempting the transfer with all sorts of variants of my first and last name, transposed and with/without middle name/initial. Nothing seems to work. Just curious if this is isolated to my CX account or an AMEX system-wide issue. Saw reports of something similar happening last year for Emirates transfers with a similar error message.
Feb 15, 2022, 4:53 pm
#4
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 42
Closing Platinum card, where should I deposit the points?
My Platinum card is up for renewal in June and I won’t keep it. I don’t want more than one high end card and I think the CSR is better for smaller fee. I have 160k MR points and I’m wondering where to transfer them to. I could put them in my Skymiles account if I can’t think of a better use.
Was looking for a ANA deal using Virgin Atlantic but sounds impossible to accomplish. I know I want to get a biz ticket to Japan, should I open a ANA account and deposit the points there? Any other options where I’d get more value than my Delta account?
Was looking for a ANA deal using Virgin Atlantic but sounds impossible to accomplish. I know I want to get a biz ticket to Japan, should I open a ANA account and deposit the points there? Any other options where I’d get more value than my Delta account?
Feb 15, 2022, 4:58 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 42
Feb 15, 2022, 5:16 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,531
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trib...tional_Airport
(I can't say whether any of the air service to KTM is suspended due to the pandemic.)
Feb 16, 2022, 7:06 am
#8
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,335
My Platinum card is up for renewal in June and I won’t keep it. I don’t want more than one high end card and I think the CSR is better for smaller fee. I have 160k MR points and I’m wondering where to transfer them to. I could put them in my Skymiles account if I can’t think of a better use.
Was looking for a ANA deal using Virgin Atlantic but sounds impossible to accomplish. I know I want to get a biz ticket to Japan, should I open a ANA account and deposit the points there? Any other options where I’d get more value than my Delta account?
Was looking for a ANA deal using Virgin Atlantic but sounds impossible to accomplish. I know I want to get a biz ticket to Japan, should I open a ANA account and deposit the points there? Any other options where I’d get more value than my Delta account?
Feb 21, 2022, 7:34 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2016
Programs: None
Posts: 3
Booking Rewards on US Domestic
I’m having trouble finding domestic availability on partner programs of either American or United, to use Amex MR. I can find availability directly using Amex Travel, but at premium point cost. I checked Avianca and a few other partner sites but they are showing very little availability. Travel is from ORD to MIA. Any suggestions on how to use MR for domestic travel on these airlines for this route?
Feb 21, 2022, 8:12 am
#11
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
The operating airline (AA or UA) must make award seats available to partner programs. Typically, they only make the lowest "saver" tier available to partners, and typically they make the same seats available to all partners. If you look at aa.com and united.com and do not see low mileage award seats available, you will not find them on any partner. This is more difficult to judge than it used to be, because airlines have replaced fixed tiers with dynamic award pricing. I would not expect much availability if flying to Florida in the winter.
When you look at Amex Travel you are not seeing award seats, you are purchasing a ticket with money, and then using points to offset the charge.
When you look at Amex Travel you are not seeing award seats, you are purchasing a ticket with money, and then using points to offset the charge.
Feb 21, 2022, 9:28 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,531
I’m having trouble finding domestic availability on partner programs of either American or United, to use Amex MR. I can find availability directly using Amex Travel, but at premium point cost. I checked Avianca and a few other partner sites but they are showing very little availability. Travel is from ORD to MIA. Any suggestions on how to use MR for domestic travel on these airlines for this route?
But I would also check cash fares on that route, including on Southwest, bookable only at southwest.com. Southwest flies out of both ORD and MDW.
Feb 26, 2022, 12:48 am
#13
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,550
I’m having trouble finding domestic availability on partner programs of either American or United, to use Amex MR. I can find availability directly using Amex Travel, but at premium point cost. I checked Avianca and a few other partner sites but they are showing very little availability. Travel is from ORD to MIA. Any suggestions on how to use MR for domestic travel on these airlines for this route?
As noted in another thread, I recently booked a $1170 ticket on AA for $729 on Amex, but they wanted $201 for another ticket that was $174 directly from AA.
Sometimes you get a discount on points; i.e. a $100 ticket might be available for 9000 points rather than the notional 1 cent per point. Note that many Amex cards give a rebate on points so that if you spend 10,000 points you might get back 2500, 3500, or 5000 depending what kind of card you have.
AA has cards that earn points directly, but there are no transfer parnters like you can transfer Amex MR to a dozen or so airlines, and the same with Chase UR points.
Last edited by redtop43; Feb 26, 2022 at 10:02 am
Feb 26, 2022, 6:32 am
#14
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Feb 26, 2022, 6:25 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,335