American Express Membership Rewards Points [Guide]

Aeroplan

Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is in the Star Alliance (alongside United) and also can access Etihad Airways and Emirates awards. The ability to spend just 5,000 more miles to add a stopover on a one-way award is fantastic and the rates remain competitive with the best of all possible options on most Star Alliance awards. You can also add a lap infant to an Aeroplan award for just 2,500 miles or CAD$25.

Compare that to most programs which require 10% of the cash fare and you’ll see why many love to redeem via Aeroplan.  

Miles expire after 18 months of no activity but any activity will extend the miles by 18 more months.

Virgin Atlantic

Amex frequently has transfer bonuses of 30% to Virgin Atlantic, which can make a good deal even better. The best use of Virgin Atlantic points is a ticket to Japan on ANA in Business or First Class. One way in First is just 72,500 – 85,000 miles, which is absolutely fantastic for more than 12 hours in ANA First Class but an even better value (if you don’t mind just business class is to spend just 52,500- 60,000 points from the US to/from Japan.Beyond that, Virgin can also often book US domestic flights on Delta for a fraction of Delta’s cost.

Virgin can also mix and match with SkyTeam partners, including Air France and KLM.

AsiaMiles

The Cathay Pacific program is great to have in your back pocket for Oneworld awards. If you don’t have American AAdvanatge miles (and no bank points transfer there – only Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt, the credit card for paying rent free) Cathay’s AsiaMiles is often the next best option on longhaul flights.

AsiaMiles are also a better way to book British Airways longhaul premium cabins. Mixed cabin award itineraries can be a great use of AsiaMiles, with long segments in business or first connecting to a short flight in a lower cabin can be much cheaper than flying the same cabin class all the way through.

British Airways Avios

Due to their distance-based award chart, Avios are excellent for short-haul awards on Oneworld carriers like American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qantas. Note that when you book an award with little to no tax (like AA awards domestically [$5.60 per segment] or JAL awards within Japan [$0], you can cancel for just the loss of your taxes. Else, awards are $55 to cancel. You can also freely transfer and combine your BA, Iberia, and Aer Lingus Avios via avios.com.

In “advanced mode,” you can link a Finnair Avios account to your BA Avios account and then call in to book Finnair sweet spots like 40,000 points for an AA transcend from NY-LA in 3 cabin First Class (for as long as they fly the 3-cabin planes!)

Singapore Airlines

You can transfer from any bank point into Singapore and that’s what’s great – the combinability from all of your various bank points to get to an award. You can only book long haul awards in First Class / Suites on Singapore metal with Singapore’s KrisFlyer miles.

Delta SkyMiles

Not often a great deal since Skymiles is an opaque program with notoriously high rates. However, you’ll find great deals from time to time. For example I paid just 12,000 Skymiles last year to fly New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia when the cash fare was over $1,000. So, it’s good to have an optional way to get more Skymiles beyond the Delta Skymiles credit cards.

Avianca

Useful for booking award flights with no surcharges when they are charged by most other carriers. An example is Lufthansa to Europe for 70,000 – 80,000 in Business class or 90,000-100,000 miles in First Class. Here are more details on the best ways to spend Avianca Lifemiles. But also read: LifeMiles Awards – Changes and Cancellations: What You Need to Know.

Emirates

Booking Emirates directly with Emirates was great for a while – until they hiked surcharges to a ridiculous level in 2023.

However, you can also fly their Fifth Freedom routes like EWR-ATH and JFK-MXP which have *slightly* lower surcharges. If you are booking summer travel, book 328 days in advance, if you can. That’s when they open award bookings.

Note that children are no longer welcome in 1st Class.

You can also read my Emirates A380 First Class Review.

Honorable Mentions – Choice Hotels and Hilton

Hilton points transfers can be decent when they have a transfer bonus of 1:2.5 or 1:3. With 5th night free on awards when you have Silver status or higher with Hilton and no resort fees on awards, it *can* be a good deal.

Also, fans of Choice hotels will point out that the brands can offer some decent deals on redemptions. Always worth checking.

Ways to Earn Amex Membership Rewards Points

Primarily, you’ll earn Membership Rewards points by spending on credit cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points

These include:

Personal American Express Credit and Charge Cards

• The Platinum Card
• The American Express Gold Card
• The Amex Green Card
• The Amex Everyday Cards

You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you're approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount - all with no credit score impact. If you're approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted. Terms apply. | How to apply for this offer. | Read our Review of the American Express Rose Gold Card