luckych4rms

Hey everyone, NEWBIE here but semi got an idea. I have 65K miles on my AMEX. I know , or at least think, I cant transfer them to my AA account. MEX said I coud transfer my miles to Mexicana which was the cheapest with 90k miles needed but how could I get the other 35k miles.

Basically I'm trying to get thee damn AMEX points to use. Any help?

soitgoes

First, welcome to FT.
The AmEx membership rewards forum may be a better place for this, but don't do anything--if a mod thinks that's where it should be they'll move it there.

You can transfer MR points to a number of airline FF programs:
JetBlue Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Delta Air Lines, All Nippon Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Mexicana, Frontier Airlines, EL AL Israel Airlines, Southwest Airlines, AirTran

You mention Mexicana, I presume because you're interested in flying on American award travel. It would help to know more about where/when you're trying to go. Maybe AA wouldn't be the best way to get there, maybe it would. Maybe Mexicana would be a good choice for a transfer, maybe it wouldn't.

Also, if you have 65K MR points and need 90K miles for an award, you're talking about a difference of 25K, not 35K.

flying_bubba

Transferring AMEX points to airlines is one way to use them. AMEX now offers an online travel service that allows you to buy an actual ticket and use the points towards that ticket. So, your 65K point is good for $650. You can earn miles on that ticket, and possibly upgrade (depending on the class of fare), etc. You should check that out. I forget where I saw this on AMEX's site, but you have to create a separate login for travel, and the ticket prices may not be as competitive as if you looked elsewhere, but it is an option.

Bubba

og

Your profile doesn't say where you are, but if you have an Australian issued AMEX card, then AMEX points can go to QF (and hence redemptions all OW carriers), VS, and a stack of others including *A.

flipside

Welcome to Flyertalk. I'll go ahead and move this to the AMEX forum.

Regards,

Flipside

mia

You are correct, Membership Rewards points cannot be converted to American Airlines AAdvantage miles, but can be transferred to Mexicana which offers award travel on American. If your card is issued in the USA you can purchase additional Membership Rewards points when you make the transfer. If you need to transfer 90,000 but have only 65,000 American Express will charge $625 for the additional 25,000 points.

You may wish to compare this to the option of using the points to purchase an American Airlines ticket from the American Express travel website. As mentioned, your 65,000 points could be used for $650 credit toward the ticket price. Is the ticket price greater than $1275?

747LWW

Reminder to self: Self check AmEx use of reward points.

writetorich

1- Are there any "processing fees" or transaction fee in addition to the 2.5 cents awards.

2-If I should ever be lucky enough to actually be targetted for a bonus or a good bonus comes along , can I purchase along with my exsisting balance. (I know that purchases can't be to "bank" the points. Rather they need to be done at time of transfer.-- If there is a 666:1000 general starwood promo , instead of 333:1000 then I could see buying a lot of M.R. points IF permitted.


For smarter people than me , what would the Starwood points actually cost?

mia

<<any "processing fees" or transaction fee in addition to the 2.5 cents awards.>>

No. Straight $25 per 1,000, and no points earned on the fees.