How to redeem American Express Membership Rewards for maximum value

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with new information.

While your points and miles have the potential to take you to most destinations in the world, loyalty programs don’t exactly make it easy for you to discover all the best options. So without the proper knowledge, it can be tough to find strategies to redeem your rewards at maximum value.

Case in point: American Express Membership Rewards points. They offer innumerable redemption options, thanks to the program’s many transfer partners, but it can be challenging to pinpoint the best ways to fully use these points. Today, we’ll go over the strategies you should consider when it comes to putting your hard-earned American Express Membership Rewards points to use.

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How to earn American Express Membership Rewards points

Even with a once-in-a-lifetime welcome bonus policy lingering in the background, racking up a large stash of Membership Rewards points isn't complicated. That's because there is a wide variety of credit cards through which you earn these points. Let’s narrow the field and look at five popular cards with bonus categories that earn the most Membership Rewards points and have substantial ancillary benefits.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

Current bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership.

Earning points:

• 5 points per dollar on airfare purchased directly from airlines or Amex Travel (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar).
• 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel.
• 1 point per dollar on other purchases.
• Targeted members may also have an offer to earn 10 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide (on up to $25,000 in purchases) during the first six months of cardmembership.

Annual fee: $695 (see rates and fees).

Official application link: Amex Platinum.

American Express® Gold Card

Current bonus: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months of card membership. However, you may be targeted for a 75,000-point bonus through the CardMatch tool (offer subject to change at any time).

Earning points:

• 4 points per dollar at restaurants worldwide.
• 4 points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (on the first $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar).
• 3 points per dollar on airfare purchased directly from airlines or via Amex Travel.
• 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Annual fee: $250 (see rates and fees).

Official application link: Amex Gold.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Current bonus: Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Platinum Card within the first three months of card membership.

Earning points:

• 5 points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel.
• 1.5 points per dollar in select business categories and eligible purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.
• 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Annual fee: $695 (see rates and fees).

Official application link: Amex Business Platinum.

American Express® Business Gold Card

Current bonus: Earn 70,000 bonus points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.

Earning points:

• 4 points per dollar in the two categories you spend most on each month. The options include airfare purchased directly from airlines; U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio); U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions; U.S. purchases at gas stations; U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery; and U.S. purchases for shipping. You'll earn 4 points per dollar on the first $150,000 in combined purchases each calendar year (then 1 point per dollar).
• 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Annual fee: $295 (see rates and fees).

Official application link: Amex Business Gold.

American Express® Green Card

Current bonus: Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first three months of card membership.

Earning points:

• 3 points per dollar on dining at restaurants worldwide and on takeout and delivery in the U.S.
• 3 points per dollar on travel and transit.
• 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Annual fee: $150 (see rates and fees).

The information for the Amex Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Other options for earning Amex points

Once you have a card that earns Membership Rewards points, you can leverage Rakuten, one of our favorite online shopping portals here at TPG. When you click through Rakuten to a participating merchant’s website, you can earn bonus Amex points for every dollar you spend. If you don’t currently have a Rakuten account, you can sign up here and enjoy a one-time bonus of $30 (or 3,000 Amex points) when you spend at least $30 within 90 days of becoming a member.

You can also earn extra Membership Rewards points via targeted offers. Amex regularly offers cardholders the opportunity to earn bonus points by adding authorized users to their cards and completing associated spending requirements to earn a bonus. Amex cardholders can also earn bonuses by referring a friend or small business to apply for a credit card; after approval, you would receive a bonus for referring the applicant. Lastly, retention calls can be a good way to add points to your balance.

Redeeming Membership Rewards: High-value options

If you want solid value from your American Express Membership Rewards points, transferring them to partner hotel and airline loyalty programs is your best bet.

When you convert points into a hotel or airline currency, you can redeem them for free hotel nights and award flights that might otherwise be quite costly. Moreover, you might stretch the value of your points even further by taking advantage of periodic transfer bonuses to specific partners.

Here are some of the best programs to transfer your points to and some sample redemptions.

Book Delta flights to Europe (with no fuel surcharges) and ANA first class through Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club gutted its Delta award chart, but it left one sweet spot behind: business class flights to Europe (excluding the U.K.).

You can book one-way Delta flights from the U.S. to Europe for just 50,000 points in Delta One business class. This is an excellent deal, especially since you don’t have to pay fuel surcharges. Book flights equipped with Delta One Suites for the best experience.

Unfortunately, the rest of Virgin Atlantic’s Delta-specific award chart is distance-based and not particularly useful. It can sometimes make sense to book short-haul Delta domestic tickets with the program if cash fares are expensive. You can book flights 500 miles or shorter for just 7,500 points in economy. Just check Delta SkyMiles (another Amex transfer partner) first to see if it has a better price.

Related: When and how to book Delta awards with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Another time you might transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is to book ANA first-class tickets. You can book a one-way flight to Japan from the U.S. West Coast or East Coast for 55,000 and 60,000 points, respectively. This is an exceptional deal and beats ANA’s award chart for first-class tickets. Here’s a look at the full award chart. Note that the prices below are for round-trip tickets, but you can book one-way for half the cost.

Book Oneworld economy flights using British Airways Avios

You can transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to British Airways at a 1:1 transfer ratio. The program regularly offers transfer bonuses that allow you to maximize its distance-based award chart further. However, even without a bonus, there’s still a lot of value to be found in the program.

For instance, many routes from the East Coast of the U.S. to Dublin on Aer Lingus fall under 4,000 miles in length. You can book these flights in economy for just 26,000 Avios round trip on off-peak dates. You can also fly short-haul outside North America for as few as 4,500 Avios each.

Domestic U.S. flights less than 600 miles cost 7,500 Avios in economy and flights between 601 and 1,151 miles cost 9,000 Avios. This can be a good deal on last-minute fares on business-heavy routes, like LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

Perhaps the best use of Avios is flying from the West Coast to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines for just 13,000 Avios each way. Plus, Alaska flights are now bookable on the British Airways website, so there’s no need to call to book. Make sure you read our full guide on how to maximize the British Airways award chart.

Fly round-trip to Madrid on Iberia

One of the best ways to redeem Amex points is booking Iberia business class on off-peak dates. This can be a terrific use of your points, especially when considering the low points price and minimal fuel surcharges.

Iberia flights from the U.S. to Barcelona and Madrid start at just 17,000 Avios one-way in economy and 34,000 one-way in business class. You’ll find the cheapest flights from Boston and New York City, but other cities have attractive pricing too. Here’s a look at Iberia’s award chart:

Snagging a round-trip economy award flight to Europe for just 34,000 miles (or business class for 68,000 miles) can be a fantastic deal. Plus, availability isn’t too difficult to find when traveling on off-peak dates.

Utilize Etihad Guest partner award bookings

While using miles for flights on Etihad’s own metal rarely results in good value for your Membership Rewards points, the Etihad Guest program does have various partner awards you can book. The uniqueness of the individual partner award charts opens up some high-value trips you can book for comparatively few miles.

One great example is with American Airlines, and this can result in some substantial savings. A one-way, first-class flight from the U.S. to Europe, for example, would only set you back 62,500 Etihad Guest miles compared to 85,000 to 175,000 AAdvantage miles. Since you can’t transfer your Membership Rewards points to American, this is a great option to snag AAdvantage award flights with your Membership Rewards points.

Here’s a sample of other current Etihad partner awards you can book. All are priced based on a one-way ticket unless otherwise noted:

• New York to Casablanca, Morocco with Royal Air Maroc: 44,000 miles (business) or 22,000 miles (economy).
• New York to Brussels on Brussels Airlines: 44,000 miles (business) or 27,000 miles (economy).
• San Francisco to Seoul, South Korea on Asiana Airlines: 59,000 miles (business) or 35,000 miles (economy).
• American Airlines A321T business-class transcontinental flight: 32,500 miles.
• American Airlines Flagship first class to Asia or Europe: 62,500-67,500 miles.

Make sure to look at the ANA, Air Canada, and Air Seychelles partner charts for using Etihad miles. Each partner award chart in Etihad Guest has its own sweet spots.

Fly Singapore Airlines premium classes

Even after Singapore KrisFlyer’s 2019 devaluation and 2022 devaluation, using your miles for any Singapore Airlines-operated flight can be a great deal. With the carrier’s renowned Suites class, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more luxurious seat in the sky.

You can fly the newer first-class suites on the A380 for 155,000 Membership Rewards if you book Singapore to Sydney or vice versa. You can fly in a suite on the route from New York to Frankfurt, Germany route for 97,000 miles — but you have to find saver availability, which can be challenging. Advantage award space is more plentiful but will cost 143,500 miles one-way.

One thing that makes these redemptions so special is that you can only book premium cabins on Singapore Airlines flights using KrisFlyer miles. Thankfully, they’re among the easiest currencies to earn. The program is a 1:1 transfer partner with not only Membership Rewards but also Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

KrisFlyer also allows you to book Star Alliance partner awards online, making it easier to take advantage of sweet spots like the continental U.S. to Hawaii one-way flight on United for 19,500 miles in economy or 26,000 in business.

Transfer to Flying Blue for flights to Europe and North Africa

Flying Blue is Air France and KLM’s joint loyalty program. The program prices award tickets dynamically and often has good deals on flights from North America to Europe and North Africa. You’ll sometimes find these flights for as low as 15,000 miles one-way in economy and 62,500 miles in business class.

For example, here’s a flight from Boston to Amsterdam in KLM business class for 62,500 miles and $194.10 in taxes and fees.

Or, you can book New York to Paris in economy with Air France for 15,000 miles and $61.20 in taxes and fees.

Bear in mind that fuel surcharges on these awards can be a little hard to handle — close to $400 per person if you booked the business-class flights round trip. However, 30,000 miles for round-trip economy flights and about $120 in cash can still be a great deal. There are also occasional bonuses for transferring points from American Express to Flying Blue, so pricing on some routes becomes even more attractive. Don’t count on Flying Blue to always provide the best value, but it has the potential under the right circumstances.

Transfer to ANA for cheap Star Alliance business-class flights

Due to lenient routing rules and a great award chart, you can piece together incredible award ticket itineraries using ANA’s Mileage Club.

The first way to maximize this transfer partner is by flying to Japan on off-peak dates. You can score round-trip tickets from the U.S. for just 40,000 miles in economy on ANA metal and 75,000 miles round-trip in business. That’s really cheap, even when you consider fuel surcharges;109,980 yen is roughly $815. Plus, you can add a free stopover, as long as your itinerary isn't wholly within Japan.

You can also score an excellent deal on Star Alliance business-class flights from the U.S. to Europe — which extends to Istanbul. These flights cost just 88,000 miles round-trip, but you’ll pay high fuel surcharges when flying with carriers that levy them. Thankfully, you can avoid these by booking flights on SAS, LOT Polish Airlines, United and others that do not add fuel surcharges to their tickets. This is one of the best deals for booking tickets to Europe in business class.

There are other gems to investigate, too, including reasonably priced around-the-world tickets that allow eight stopovers for as little as 100,000 miles in business class, but be sure to confirm availability before you transfer points.

Other high-value transfer partners

Depending on what specific routes you are trying to fly, other Amex transfer partners like Air Canada Aeroplan, Asia Miles, Delta SkyMiles, Avianca LifeMiles and even a transfer to Qantas could make sense if you know the sweet spots in those programs. Do some research on these programs and see if you can leverage them for a future trip.

35% Pay with Points rebate for Business Platinum cardholders

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has another benefit if you use points to pay for economy airfare (on the carrier you choose for your up-to-$200 airline fee statement credit) or any business- or first-class airfare booked on Amex Travel on any airline. In that case, you’ll receive 35% of those points back (up to a million bonus points per calendar year). That means a $1,000 ticket costs 65,000 points, giving you a redemption value of 1.54 cents per point. Enrollment is required for select benefits.

This may not be the absolute best value for your points, but remember that tickets booked through Amex Travel are treated as revenue fares by the airlines. This means you will earn redeemable and elite-qualifying miles on these tickets. If you want to skip the hassle of looking for award space and redeem points to book inexpensive fares, the Business Platinum Card can be a valuable addition to your wallet.

Redeem Membership Rewards: Poor-value options

There are many ways to redeem your Membership Rewards online. Most of these options represent a poor value and should generally be avoided. These include:

Using points for statement credits

This is like a cash-back option for covering eligible charges on your billing statement. What are eligible charges? There does not appear to be a solid definition, and American Express can change whatever charges it deems eligible at any time without prior notification. You’ll only receive 0.6 cents per point with this option, though, so it’s not a good return. If you want to use points to cover your everyday purchases, consider opening a cash-back credit card instead. One of the best cash-back credit cards is the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. Check out our full review for more information.

Shopping on Amazon

After linking your Amazon and Membership Rewards accounts, you can use points to pay for your purchases at a slightly better (but still poor) value of 0.7 cents per point. You should deactivate this option to prevent accidental and unauthorized use of your points. The one exception is when Amazon sends out targeted offers for discounts that apply using Membership Rewards at checkout. You’ll only need to redeem 1 point to trigger the discount. Redeeming a single point to get $40 in Amazon discounts is worth it.

Donating through Just Giving

American Express has partnered with a third-party website named Just Giving, which allows you to donate to various causes, charities and individuals. You can search all charities eligible to receive donations through the Just Giving website. You have to create an account and enter your Amex Membership Rewards-earning card to find the number of points corresponding to the dollar amount. The platform adds a 5% charge to any donation.

Shopping with Membership Rewards

You can find almost anything under the sun via the Membership Rewards online shopping mall. The only thing you won’t find is value, as your points are worth a standard 0.5 cents each when redeemed this way.

Redeeming for gift cards

You may redeem your points for gift cards to shops, rental car agencies, restaurants and even Airbnb. Most of the time, you redeem points for a flat value of 1 cent each, but some instances yield slightly better or slightly worse values. Steer clear of these redemptions if you want to maximize your Membership Rewards points.

Redeeming for paid travel — with one exception

There are a few options in this category with significantly different values. We’ve written about how you can pay for travel with points through Membership Rewards. This option gives you a value of 1 cent per point toward airfare and 0.7 cents per point for cars, hotels, vacations or cruises. Again, one exception to this rule is using The Amex Business Platinum to cover paid flights with a 35% rebate.

Using low-value transfer partners

Except for some obscure or rare situation, you probably won’t want to transfer Membership Rewards to programs like Hawaiian, Hilton or Marriott (unless there’s a transfer bonus). These programs either lack sweet spots or make it easier to book flights with other currencies. It’s too easy to earn Hilton points with cobranded cards like the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card or through paid stays. The same applies to Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. The moral of the story: Don’t waste Membership Rewards by transferring them to partners where you can easily rack up points in other ways. The exception is if you need just a few more points to make a high-value redemption.

The information for the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

There are many ways to earn Amex Membership Rewards points, such as with the Amex Gold Card and Amex Business Gold Card. Like the other transferable points programs, American Express Membership Rewards offers great sweet spots to those who do their homework on the various transfer partners and potential redemptions. Take the above examples to heart, and make sure you choose the best American Express card for you and use your points wisely.

Official application link: Amex Platinum.
Official application link: Amex Business Platinum.
Official application link: Amex Gold.
Official application link: Amex Business Gold.

Additional reporting by Ryan Smith, Stella Shon, Joseph Hostetler, Victoria Walker and Andrew Kunesh.

For rates and fees of the Amex Green Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold, click here.