Amex's Membership Rewards program sometimes offers transfer bonuses. Usually, one at a given time. But, we have never seen anything like it before. Amex currently offers a dozen transfer bonuses, as I mentioned a few days back. This post will recap the opportunity and share my thoughts on it. I'll also discuss how I feel about this promotion and whether I plan to make any speculative point transfers.
There are many Amex transfer bonuses available in September
Amex Membership Rewards in the United States currently offers bonuses on transfers to over a dozen hotel and airline partners at once. These are the September transfer bonuses I'm seeing:
Transfer Amex points from Aer Lingus AerClub to receive a 40% bonus
Transfer Amex points from Aeromexico Club Premier to receive a 25% bonus
Transfer Amex points to Air Canada Aeroplan for a 20% bonus
Transfer Amex points to Air France KLM Flying Blue and receive a 25% bonus
Transfer Amex points to AviancaLifeMiles with a 15% bonus
Transfer Amex points to British Airways Executive Club for a 40% bonus
Transfer Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles and receive a 25% bonus
Transfer Amex points from Iberia Plus to Iberia Plus for a 40% bonus
Transfer Amex points from Qantas Frequent Flyer to Qantas Frequent Flyer for a 20% bonus
Transfer Amex points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for a 30% Bonus
Transfer Amex points to Hilton Honors and receive a 30% bonus
Transfer Amex points to Marriott Bonvoy and receive a 30% bonus
Double check to make sure that the transfer bonus you are expecting is reflected in points before you transfer them. For more information on how long Amex points transfers can take, click here
Amex Membership Rewards points can be earned by cards that earn multiple points for every dollar spent in certain categories. This is combined with transfer bonuses and will quickly add up to a lot of points.
Transfer Amex points to British Airways and receive a 40% bonus
Why is Amexs offering so many bonuses to its customers?
To be honest, I'm a little puzzled. As I mentioned, we have only seen one or two transfer bonus per year in the past, but never a dozen. These bonuses are the majority of all bonuses we have ever seen except that they were all in one.
This promotion has been confirmed to be legitimate. What are the possible explanations for this? Although I have a few ideas, this is speculation.
Amex could have a major financial incentive to allow people to transfer points from Membership Rewards to partners even though Amex is responsible for the transfers. I'm not sure if there is an accounting benefit or some other incentive, considering this is a very strange time in the industry.
Amex can sometimes buy points in bulk from partners before they are due. However, Amex bought a lot of points and not many people are transferring them. Amex wants people to do this, as those rewards are already paid.
Is Amex looking to compete to get more people to sign up for Membership Rewards cards, or has Amex worked in partnership to encourage transfer and mileage activity that is mutually beneficial to both partners and customers? It's going to be a difficult few months for airlines as the summer travel season ends and travel restrictions remain in place.
Although I don't know the answer, we have never seen anything quite like it before.
Transfer Amex points to Air France KLM with a 25% bonus
Which transfer bonus is worth it?
These are, in general, some of the programs you should consider transferring points to. This includes the general value and the transfer bonuses.
Air Canada Aeroplan is great for Star Alliance redemptions and other partner redemptions. I also love the stopovers on one way awards for 5,000 more miles. We don't often see transfer bonuses to this program.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue is great for transatlantic business flight redemptions on Air France or KLM. Other SkyTeam partners don't have as much award space.
Avianca LifeMiles are useful for Star Alliance routings in countries where prices are lower than through Air Canada Aeroplan.
British Airways Executive Club is great for short-haul redemptions. The 40% transfer bonus is enormous, but the program is also well-known for devaluing without notice.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is most valuable for All Nippon Airways business and first class redemptions. This is a sweet spot in the program.
Transfer Amex points to Virgin Atlantic and receive a 30% bonus
Can I make speculative Amex point transfers?
Below I share my opinion on which transfer partners are the most valuable. But how do I approach this offer personally, without any immediate need for transfers? As I have Amex points and a healthy balance, I plan to make some speculative transfers. I can see myself benefiting from these promotions.
I don't plan to transfer any points until the end of the month. This is because I have no reason to restrict my flexibility at the moment. Two speculative transfer are what I have in mind.
First, I believe Ill Transfer a Good Many Points to Air Canada Aeroplan.
This bonus is very rare.
Although my Aeroplan miles balance is low, I have transferred points from Amex multiple times in the past year without any transfer bonus.
Aeroplan is not only valuable for its ability to redeem Star Alliance partners but also for the possibility to redeem on Aeroplan partners like Gulf Air, Etihad and Gulf Air (and the list continues to grow).
Aeroplan's new program was launched at the end 2020. I don't think there will be any devaluations of partner awards.
There are many creative routes and stopover options, but a transatlantic first-class redemption on Lufthansa will usually cost 100,000 Aeroplan Miles. That's 84K Amex Points with the bonus.
For Lufthansa's first class, Aeroplan miles can be used
Also, I think I'll speculately transfer a lesser number of points to Air France KLM Flying Blue
Flying Blue is so convenient for transatlantic business class redemptions with Air France or KLM. It is usually available when other programs are not.
Flying Blue miles have been very expensive in the last year. My past redemption patterns indicate that I will need to redeem more miles.
Although we do see some transfer bonuses to Flying Blues, a 25% bonus seems solid
Transatlantic flights can be made easier by flying Blue miles
I also considered two other transfer partners, but ultimately decided against them:
Although I would transfer Amex points to British Airways Executive Club to redeem short-haul flights, I don't have the funds right now to do so.
Although I am tempted to transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club it is impossible to predict when we will be able to travel to Japan again.
Although I would love to go back to Japan, I am trying to be realistic.
I would recommend speculative transfers only if you are confident that you will be able book travel within six months. However, this depends on your specific situation.
Bottom line
Amex Membership Rewards currently offers a dozen transfer bonuses to Amex partners. Given the available options, it could be a good idea to speculate about transferring some points. You have several weeks to decide so I wouldn't make any transfers right away.
Are you planning to take advantage of the Amex transfer bonuses What partners are you most interested in?
