How To Redeem Membership Rewards Points
One of the programs strongest features is its flexibility with redemption options. That said, most of these redemption options will give you less than 1 cent per point in valuea figure thats a standard minimum for many credit card rewards programs.
Redemption options include:
- Transfers to other rewards programs
Business Class To Bali With A Stopover In Singapore 190k Points Round
If getting your photo taken swinging above the rice terraces of Bali is on your bucket list, why not add to it a picture of you enjoying the luxurious Business Class cabin of Singapore Airlines. Often cited as one of â if not the â best airline in the world, Singaporeâs Business Class is on par with First Class service on some airlines.
Flying Singapore Airlines doesnât just give you one of the most direct routes to Bali, it also allows you the opportunity to stopover for a few days in Southeast Asiaâs business hub on your way to/from paradise. Since the airline is very strict on releasing award seats to partner airlines, youâll need to transfer points to Singaporeâs KrisFlyer program to book these flights. From the West Coast, itâs 190K points, and from the East Coast, itâll be 198K points, round-trip. Still, just under the threshold of 200K.
Fly Lufthansa First Class To Europe
Lufthansa 747-8 First Class Window Seat. Image Credit: AuPACS
If youre looking for a classy way to fly to Europe, one of the best ways to do so is on Lufthansa first class. Lufthansa first class includes the ability to experience one of the best airport lounges in Europe and even complimentary chauffeur service!
Offered only on flagship 747-8 aircraft, this product is incredibly comfortable, luxurious, and spacious.
Its one of the few first class products left that you can book to Europe with points!
The trick here is that unless you have a ton of Lufthansa miles, you can only book these flights up to 15 days before departure.
In this case, the best way to redeem Amex points for Lufthansa first class is to transfer them to Avianca LifeMiles. With LifeMiles, youd save nearly a thousand dollars in each direction on fuel surcharges.
If you transferred your points to ANA, for example, youd have to pay $900+ in additional taxes and fees one-way or $1,800+ round-trip!
Here are a few example tickets you can book:
- Chicago Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
- Los Angeles Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
- Houston Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
- Miami Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
- New York City Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
- San Francisco Frankfurt one-way in Lufthansa first class for 87,000 LifeMiles
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Later: Enjoy The Worlds Best Business Class For 70000 Asia Miles One
Qatars flag carrier has lie-flat beds on all its Australian flights, including some which feature the QSuite. Youll get a sliding privacy door as well as delicious food and attentive customer service.
Unfortunately, flying from Sydney costs an extra 20,000 miles and availability is not as good as from the three other cities. Qatar Airways is currently one of the few carriers with regular flights to and from Australia, so this could be good for essential travel.
Read more:How to redeem points for travel on Qatar Airways from Australia
Fly Around The World With Ana Miles
Transferring your Amex points to ANA is one of the best ways to fly business class to Japan. But its also without a doubt the best way to book an around-the-world ticket in style. Talk about a bucket-list trip!
But beware: This is not for the faint of heart. Booking one of these around-the-world itineraries is complex and full of potential pitfalls. Stitching together the award availability to fly Star Alliance airlines across the globe can be time-consuming especially in business class.
But trust us, its worth the work to book a trip around the world in business class for 125,000 or 145,000 miles total. Yes, that means a trip around the world is easily within reach with your Amex points.
Our friend Gilbert at God Save the Points put together an amazing guide spelling out everything you need to know to book. Here are some things to keep in mind:
- You have to fly west-east or east-west, and you cannot backtrack.
- You can book up to 12 flight segments, with eight total stopovers .
- Your trip must last at least 10 days.
- You can only fly with Star Alliance airlines like ANA, EVA, Turkish, United, Lufthansa, etc.
How many miles it will cost you to book will depend on which cabin youre flying and how long your total journey is:
You could easily do much more, but heres a quick example of a very simple around-the-world trip you could book for 125,000 ANA miles.
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Fly Qatar Airways Qsuites To Doha
Qatar Airways QSuites Quad Pod. Image Credit: Qatar Airways
As we mentioned previously, QSuites is one of the worlds best business class products.
Not only can some of the middle seats be turned into double beds, but some rows of business class seats can actually be converted into Quad pods, which is essentially an enclave of 4 seats where everybody can see and communicate with each other.
Qatar Airways QSuites is also famous for its amazing Mediterranean dining, luxurious amenities, fantastic service, and plush bedding. It also the biggest U.S. route network for a Middle Eastern airline in the world. To book these award tickets, youll probably want to use Asia Miles. Here are some awesome redemptions you can make:
- Atlanta Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 75,000 Asia Miles
- Boston Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 75,000 Asia Miles
- Dallas-Fort Worth Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 90,000 Asia Miles
- Houston Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 90,000 Asia Miles
- Chicago Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 90,000 Asia Miles
- Los Angeles Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites 90,000 Asia Miles
- San Francisco Doha one-way in Qatar Airways 90,000 Asia Miles
- Miami Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 90,000 Asia Miles
- Philadelphia Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 75,000 Asia Miles
- New York City Doha one-way in Qatar Airways QSuites for 75,000 Asia Miles
Fly Air France Business Class To Paris
Air France Business Class. Image Credit: Air France
Air France offers a stellar business class product on almost all of their long-haul aircraft. This is especially true for Air Frances flights to/from the U.S.
Usually configured to have reverse herringbone seats for maximum privacy and comfort, Air Frances business class product is a stylish, tasteful way to fly to Europe in luxury.
Just like British Airways, Air France offers many nonstop flights to secondary cities in the U.S. Here are some awesome Air France tickets you can book with Amex points:
- Atlanta Paris one-way in Air France business class for 66,500 Flying Blue miles
- Boston Paris one-way in Air France business class for 63,500 Flying Blue miles
- Chicago Paris one-way in Air France business class for 58,000 Flying Blue miles
- Detroit Paris one-way in Air France business class for 68,000 Flying Blue miles
- Houston Paris one-way in Air France business class for 66,500 Flying Blue miles
- Los Angeles Paris one-way in Air France business class for 67,500 Flying Blue miles
- Miami Paris one-way in Air France business class for 53,000 Flying Blue miles
- Minneapolis Paris one-way in Air France business class for 72,000 Flying Blue miles
- New York City Paris one-way in Air France business class for 57,500 Flying Blue miles
- San Francisco Paris one-way in Air France business class for 71,000 Flying Blue miles
- Washington D.C. Paris one-way in Air France business class for 55,000 Flying Blue miles
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Best Ways To Redeem Amex Points
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American Express has been doing a large marketing push with increased welcome bonuses for new cardholders. Cards like The Platinum Card from American Express and the American Express Gold Card earn Membership Rewards points.
The value of Membership Rewards points can vary based on how you plan to redeem them. In this post, weâll go over the best and worst ways to redeem Amex points.
The data points in this post are pulled from the American Express Rewards calculator site:
Transfer To Airline Partners
The hands-down best way to spend your Amex points is to redeem them with a travel partner instead of booking through Amex Travel. Using the Amex Travel portal only gives a value of one cent per Membership Rewards point for flights, whereas transfers to airline partners, on the other hand, can yield up 15 cents per point if you play your cards right.
Amex partners with 19 airlines including AeroMexico, ANA, British Airways, Delta, JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic. Most Membership Rewards transfers process instantly, while others can take up to 48 hours.
Use the airline points to pay for flights, and you’ll see how the exchange rate works in your favor.
Hone in a little more, and you’ll soon find shrewd ways to stretch your points further. Like this little-known hack we love: Transfer your Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, then book a business or first class flight on All Nippon Airways . It’s a genius trick that can score you an upgraded flight from west coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco to Japan for just 90,000 points round-trip or 110,000 points round-trip . Flights from the East Coast cost just a little more.
A round-trip first class flight from the U.S. to Japan can easily cost $15,000. If you booked this through the Amex travel portal you’d have to cough up 1.5 million points. But by transferring your Amex points to Virgin Atlantic you’ll be paying just a small fraction of an otherwise gargantuan cost.
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Fly Star Alliance Business Class To Australia
Lets talk about connecting flights to Australia. If you have decided that booking a connecting flight is worthwhile, then youll suddenly have tons of options!
If you fly in ANA business class the whole way, youll potentially redeem fewer miles. Just keep in mind the seasonality rules to maximize your value.
- Chicago Tokyo-Haneda Sydney round-trip in ANA business class for 105,000-120,000 ANA miles
- Houston Taipei Brisbane round-trip in EVA Air business class for 120,000 ANA miles
- Los Angeles Tokyo-Haneda Bangkok Melbourne round-trip in United Polaris class and THAI Airways business class for 120,000 ANA miles
- New York City Tokyo-Narita Perth round-trip in ANA business class for 105,000-120,000 ANA miles
- San Francisco Taipei Bangkok Sydney round-trip in United Polaris class and THAI Airways business class for 120,000 ANA miles
- Seattle Seoul-Incheon Sydney round-trip in Asiana Airlines business class for 120,000 ANA miles
Book Delta Flights With Skymiles
If Delta is your airline of choice, you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to Delta SkyMiles. Unlike Avios and LifeMiles, the airline has dynamic pricing, so prices change by route, date and when you search. That said, weve found that domestic flights are generally one of the best ways to get value from the program.
For example, check out this flight from Chicago-OHare to Detroit it costs just 5,000 SkyMiles one-way in basic economy. This is a pretty excellent deal on this route, especially if cash fares are expensive.
Long transcontinental flights offer great deals too. For example, this flight from New York-JFK to San Francisco costs just 10,500 SkyMiles in basic economy and 14,000 in standard economy. This is an excellent redemption for one of the longest domestic flights in the U.S.
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Buy Merchandise Through Amex Or Tickets Through Ticketmaster
Amex offers a shopping portal that has a wide range of different products, all of which can be purchased with Membership Rewards points. However, you’ll only get 0.5 cents per point, so if you were set on using points for merchandise, you’d be better off going through a shopping partner like Amazon, or possibly buying a gift card.
To redeem points at Ticketmaster, you’ll need to call Amex after using your card to pay for your Ticketmaster purchase, then use points at a rate of 0.5 cents each to cover the charge.
Fly United Polaris Class Nonstop To New Zealand
United Airlines operates a single nonstop flight to New Zealand, which can also be booked using ANA miles. Keep in mind that finding award space on this route is just as hard as finding award space on Air New Zealand flights!
- San Francisco Auckland round-trip in United Polaris business class for 120,000 ANA miles
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Redeem Your Points At The Amex Travel Portal
The American Express Travel portal is a full-fledged travel site that lets you book all kinds of travel, including hotels, vacation packages and cruises. All travel booked through the American Express Travel portal is booked at a rate of 0.7 cents per point. This makes it a relatively unattractive option for using your American Express points.
Like most travel sites, American Express Travel lets you search for airfare within a date range and from a variety of airlines. You can book any available flight with your rewards starting at 5,000 points. The average value per point for airfare is 1 cent.
To the airline, tickets booked through American Express Travel appear as cash tickets, so you will earn miles and elite status on your rewards flight. This is another factor you should consider when determining the overall value of your ticket.
Lets illustrate that with an example. Say a flight costs $300. Any American Express cardholder could book this flight for 30,000 points. But if you have the Business Platinum card and its an eligible flight, youd get a 35% rebate of your points, or 10,500 Membership Rewards. That puts your net cost at 19,500 points.
Tip: If you have The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you receive a 35% rebate on all points used for premium cabin travel through amextravel.com . Additionally, when you select one airline, economy class travel on that airline also receives the 35% rebate. You can change your selected airline once per year.
How To Earn American Express Membership Rewards Points
The quickest way to earn American Express Membership Rewards points is to open an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points and earn a welcome bonus. Youll also earn Amex MR points on your everyday spending with these cards. You can also take advantage of bonus offers to earn even more points by enrolling your card in specific Amex offers that match your spending habits.
Amex Centurion Lounge at DFW
The current highest offers are on the Platinum cards.
The Gold Card is one of my favorites for everyday spending. It earns 4 points per dollar at restaurants, 4 points per dollar on up to $25,000 annually at US supermarkets, and 3 points per dollar on qualifying travel expenses.
American Express Gold Card
Current Offer: 60,000 American Express Membership Rewards points. The minimum spending requirement is $4,000 in the first 6 months.
The American Express Gold Card earns 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines, 4 points per dollar at restaurants, and 4 points per dollar at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 in purchases annually. For restaurants and grocery store spend, this is one of the highest earn rates available for travel cards. So if you eat out frequently and/or grocery shop frequently, this may be a good card for you. Terms apply. Click here for more information
The annual fee of $250 is a little steep, but this card has some statement credits to help offset the fee.
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Book Qantas First Class With Partner Miles If Youre Lucky
Qantas First Class. Image Credit: Qantas
If youre uber flexible and have the time to constantly search for award space, you might be able to book Qantas first class with partner miles.
This isnt unprecedented, though Qantas has released first class award availability in the past to partners around January 2020, October 2019, August 2018, October 2015, and January 2014.
We wouldnt recommend holding out if you want to have any control over when you travel to Australia. But nonetheless, if you can find Qantas first class availability with partner miles, the best Amex partner is Asia Miles:
- Los Angeles Sydney one-way in Qantas first class for 120,000 Asia Miles
- Los Angeles Melbourne one-way in Qantas first class for 135,000 Asia Miles
- Dallas-Fort Worth Sydney one-way in Qantas first class for 135,000 Asia Miles
Fly Lufthansa First Class To South Africa Without A Stopover
Lufthansa 747-8 First Class. Image Credit: AuPACS
Lets say you wanted to fly Lufthansa first class to South Africa, but you werent interested in stopping over in Germany. In that case, the best deal is actually to transfer your Amex points to Avianca LifeMiles.
Because LifeMiles gets you access to the best mileage pricing without paying for fuel surcharges, this is the best way to reserve Lufthansa first class to South Africa.
Youll save 30,000 points one-way when booking through LifeMiles compared to the 135,000 Aeroplan miles . Here are the best redemptions you can make:
- Chicago Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
- Los Angeles Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
- Houston Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
- Miami Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
- New York City Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
- San Francisco Frankfurt Johannesburg one-way in Lufthansa first class for 105,000 LifeMiles
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