Does a ticket bought with Amex points earn EQM?
 

Hi! Relative newbie here - I'm working on 1K status for this year, and just wondering: if I buy a ticket to fly on UA using some of my American Express rewards points, will I earn miles toward my premier status?

Thanks!

Did you intent to use pay with points? If so, yes.

If not, how do you intend to use MR points for UA flights?

If you don't know, then you might want to ask that question in the Amex forum.

Pay with points is usually not the best value you can get from your MR points. The other methods I can think of involve transfers to other MR partners and using those points for an award ticket which won't earn PQMs on UA. There might be some other ways to do it that will earn PQMs. Not sure. The people in the Amex forum on FT will know.

-David

Thanks so much, David - silly me. I forgot that almost no *A partners are MR airlines. Any idea whether it would count toward PQM if I flew on Air Canada that way? I agree that paying with miles is not worth it.

If you transfer your MR points to a FF program and then buy the ticket that way it is an award flight and will not accrue PQMs nor RDMs. If you buy the ticket through the AmEx travel portal and pay the bill with your MR points at the penny/point rate then it is a regular revenue ticket and it will accrue points like normal.

Got it - thanks, sbm12!!