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)
Aug 1, 2021 | 7:03 pm
#946
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 931
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Aug 2, 2021 | 12:37 am
#947
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 21,003
Aug 2, 2021 | 6:13 am
#948
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 2,084
Im currently trying to book two J next summer. As far as I can they dont exist. I wish I would have realized this before I transferred the points.
Aug 2, 2021 | 8:31 am
#949
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DFW
Programs: AA (Lifetime Gold, 1MM),UA(Premier Silver), Hilton(Silver), Marriott (LTT), Hertz (PC)
Posts: 263
I redeemed almost all of my MR points to Marriott when they had the 1.4x promo and immediately converted all to airline miles using the 65000 points -> 25000 miles option, then used the miles on first class for 4 to Hawaii when the rate was cheap back in March.
Not the best deal but good enough to me as I may or may not renew the platinum card anyway.
Aug 3, 2021 | 11:40 pm
#950
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Virgin Atlantic Silver, IHG Diamond, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, AA Platinum Pro, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 1,478
I redeemed almost all of my MR points to Marriott when they had the 1.4x promo and immediately converted all to airline miles using the 65000 points -> 25000 miles option, then used the miles on first class for 4 to Hawaii when the rate was cheap back in March.
Not the best deal but good enough to me as I may or may not renew the platinum card anyway.
Not the best deal but good enough to me as I may or may not renew the platinum card anyway.
Aug 4, 2021 | 7:30 am
#951
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DFW
Programs: AA (Lifetime Gold, 1MM),UA(Premier Silver), Hilton(Silver), Marriott (LTT), Hertz (PC)
Posts: 263
I was hoping to use it for JAL business class which would have been 2.5cents/MR points but Japan is locked down.
I combined remaining miles with the MR points so it end up being about 1.56cents/MR but I get to lay flat during a red eye flight on AA.
Not the best deal but I'd do it just not to fly in Economy on a redeye flight, which would have been miserable.
I agree I "could" save the points and wait until Japan is open again but no one knows when that would be.
Aug 24, 2021 | 5:01 pm
#952
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Titanium, UA Gold (*G), DL Silver, Makers Mark Ambassador
Posts: 5,061
Doing some planning for my upcoming honeymoon (May 2022) and trying to figure out the best use for my MR points. FIance wants to go somewhere with an overwater villa so I'm looking at using 140k AA miles to go DFW-DOH-MLE in Q Suites. Have 150k (and counting) MR points and looking for the best options to use them. Would like to spend a week or so in Europe after MLE before flying back to the states.
I had also tossed around the idea of burning the 140k AA miles on JL or CX to get to Thailand and book a paid ticket in J to Europe as prices are fairly inexpensive right now before flying back to DFW.
Any advice is appeciated as this will be my first large redemption for longhaul J and I'm sure I'm missing something!
I had also tossed around the idea of burning the 140k AA miles on JL or CX to get to Thailand and book a paid ticket in J to Europe as prices are fairly inexpensive right now before flying back to DFW.
Any advice is appeciated as this will be my first large redemption for longhaul J and I'm sure I'm missing something!
Sep 1, 2021 | 11:05 am
#953
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 9,928
Doing some planning for my upcoming honeymoon (May 2022) and trying to figure out the best use for my MR points. FIance wants to go somewhere with an overwater villa so I'm looking at using 140k AA miles to go DFW-DOH-MLE in Q Suites. Have 150k (and counting) MR points and looking for the best options to use them. Would like to spend a week or so in Europe after MLE before flying back to the states.
I had also tossed around the idea of burning the 140k AA miles on JL or CX to get to Thailand and book a paid ticket in J to Europe as prices are fairly inexpensive right now before flying back to DFW.
Any advice is appeciated as this will be my first large redemption for longhaul J and I'm sure I'm missing something!
I had also tossed around the idea of burning the 140k AA miles on JL or CX to get to Thailand and book a paid ticket in J to Europe as prices are fairly inexpensive right now before flying back to DFW.
Any advice is appeciated as this will be my first large redemption for longhaul J and I'm sure I'm missing something!
MLE plus Europe makes sense geographically, Thailand and Europe together, why? Because you can or because you want it?
May is not a good weather month in the Maldives. Nor in French Polynesia. Do you want to go in rainy season?
To MLE from DFW, Qatar is the way to go if available.
Right now there are transfer bonuses on MR, figure out who has availablity (once you know where you want to go). I'd check IB for the TATL portion, they have lower fees than BA. If there is a Star Alliance Routing, and you can use Air Canada, there may be a stopover option for 5k additional; One World (and I think Sky Team) don't have free stopovers (although I'd be happy to be corrected). AA, BA, IB don't have free stopovers. BA has the best availability and the worst fees. IB has better availability using Avios than AA has access to using AA miles and the current MR transfer bonus is 40%. Seats on IB J not quite as good as AA J (and definitely not as good as Q suites), but lie flat and decent.
Get a trial free version of Expertflyer - or just subscribe. For something like this, there is no substitute other than paying for the booking service from Gary (View From the Wing) or Ben (One Mile At a Time).
Sep 1, 2021 | 11:10 am
#954
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: BAEC Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Titanium, UA Gold (*G), DL Silver, Makers Mark Ambassador
Posts: 5,061
Thanks for the response. I think we'll end up doing MLE + Europe. Didn't even think about rainy season however. Fiance just said she wants an overwater villa.
The Thailand-Europe thing was just to do a RTW and the fiance thought they would have some good overwater options but I'm not finding much.
The Thailand-Europe thing was just to do a RTW and the fiance thought they would have some good overwater options but I'm not finding much.
Sep 5, 2021 | 5:54 pm
#955
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP Gold, MR LTT, HH Dia, IHG Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 37,269
Some great transfer offers for September
Sep 5, 2021 | 6:18 pm
#956
Flyertalk Posting Legend Moderator: Credit Card Programs, American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Diners Club, Eco Travel, Signatures
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA, IHG & Marriott Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 51,827
Thank you. Discussion here: AMEX offering 12 transfer bonuses for September?
Sep 6, 2021 | 11:32 am
#957
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 52
Best ways to use the AMEX transfer bonus?
I have about 60k AMEX points I'd like to transfer to 1 or 2 airline partner(s) to take advantage of the transfer bonus this month. I'm primarily based out of SFO and IND and travel often to Asia (SIN, BKK), India (BOM, DEL), and domestically between SFO-IND, SFO-Hawaii, etc.
Considering both the bonus, and the availability of award tickets, I was thinking that Aeroplan or Avios would make the most sense.
Also considering Virgin as they have a good availability to India.
Thoughts?
Considering both the bonus, and the availability of award tickets, I was thinking that Aeroplan or Avios would make the most sense.
Also considering Virgin as they have a good availability to India.
Thoughts?
Sep 16, 2021 | 6:36 pm
#958
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 931
We are planning a trip to Turkey and another European country. Which program is best for this trip? We would need 3 or 4 business class tickets, so any program that releases 1 or 2 tickets at a time is not good for me. Thanks.
Sep 16, 2021 | 9:21 pm
#959
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,631
MR should finally step up, and add TK as transfer partner! Might as well consider AS too, while they're at it. 
Oct 19, 2021 | 11:42 pm
#960
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 391
Any good winter redemptions (premium/coach) using Amex points from West Coast?
Any epic deals using Amex points for premium or economy cabins to countries abroad that are allowing vaccinated US travelers over winter break? (from either SFO or LAX)