American Express transfer partners

If you want to get the most mileage out of your Membership Rewards points, transferring points to one of American Express’ 20 travel partners can be one of the best ways to spend your Membership Rewards points.

Transferring credit card points can be a tricky process, and travel cards differ in the specifics of what they offer. In order to find the best values, you have to navigate the terms and conditions of each transfer partner — understanding the routing restrictions and keeping an eye out for fuel surcharges and other hidden fees — and you need to familiarize yourself with their awards charts. If you’re ready to transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points, read on.

American Express airline partners

We’ve compiled a list of American Express’ travel partners for you. As you can see from the chart below, point values can vary drastically.

American Express hotel partners

Airline partners

Here are the details on Amex’s airline transfer partners.

Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier airline of Ireland and one of the largest in the country. Though not a part of any of the major airline alliances, Aer Lingus is a partner of other major carriers, including United, British Airways and JetBlue. Among large rewards programs, the average value of an Aer Lingus rewards point is the average 1 cent. While you can get decent value out of your AerClub rewards, they don’t stretch quite as far as other programs’.

• Estimated point value: 1 cent
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: Region and season based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates.
• Fuel surcharges: High fuel surcharges on many airline partners, including British Airways; avoidable with some partners, including United

Aeromexico

Aeromexico is Mexico’s global airline, with service mostly focused in Mexico and across the Americas. Club Premier miles on their own are average in value, but because the transfer ratio is favorable — 1.6 Club Premier miles for each Membership Rewards point — transferring Membership Rewards points to Aeromexico is a decent value. In general, the best use of Club Premier miles is off-season tickets from the U.S. to Central America and the Caribbean as well as flights within Mexico.

• Estimated point value: 1.6 cents
• Airline alliance: SkyTeam
• Rewards chart: Region and season based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: Capacity-controlled awards seats
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on Aeromexico flights and many partner airlines

Aeroplan

Aeroplan is the loyalty program of Air Canada — Canada’s largest domestic and international airline. It is a member of the Star Alliance, and you can use Aeroplan’s very relaxed routing rules — which allow up to 15 stopovers on a “Round the World” fare — along with its massive network of Star Alliance partners to travel across the globe.

• Estimated point value: 1.5 cents
• Airline alliance: Star Alliance
• Rewards chart: Region-based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates,; seats capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: High fuel surcharges on many airline partners, including Air Canada; avoidable with some partners, including United

All Nippon Airways (ANA)

ANA is the largest airline in Japan. It’s a good choice for flying to Japan — especially off-season when the awards prices are lower — but you’ll need to look out for blackout dates and fuel surcharges.

• Estimated point value: 1.4 cents
• Airline alliance: Star Alliance
• Rewards chart: Zone-based for ANA flights and region-based for partner flights. — number of required miles for ANA flights depends on zone, seasonality and class of service (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: Blackout dates on some ANA flights, based on origin and destination city
• Fuel surcharges: Large surcharges on international ANA flights, plus fuel surcharges on most partner flights

Asia Miles

Asia Miles is the loyalty program of Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific. Use Asia Miles to travel across Asia, Oceania and North America. Outside of reward flights, you may even use your miles to upgrade your flight class if you already have a confirmed ticket.

• Estimated point value: 1.3 cents
• Airline alliance: Oneworld
• Rewards chart: Distance-based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates on Cathay Pacific flights; awards seats capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on Cathay Pacific flights and on some partner airlines

Avianca

Avianca is the flag carrier of Colombia and the second-largest airline in Latin America. With a high point value and large flight coverage thanks to its membership in the Star Alliance, Avianca LifeMiles are a valuable rewards currency.

• Estimated point value: 1.7 cents
• Airline alliance: Star Alliance
• Rewards chart: Variable pricing and no published chart
• Bookingrestrictions: No blackout dates; awards capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: No fuel surcharges on Avianca or partner flights

British Airways

British Airways — the second largest airline in the U.K. — is notorious for charging large fuel surcharges for their flights across the Atlantic and offering scant awards seats on its own flights. Still, its awards chart offers some excellent values. Since it is distance-based, you are best off using Avios points for short flights —in Europe, where British Airways doesn’t incur fuel surcharges, and within the U.S. with a partner airline, such as American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

• Estimated point value: 1.4 cents
• Airline alliance: Oneworld
• Rewards chart: Distance-based and no published chart — can use its calculator to find the cost of a flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; awards capacity sometimes extremely limited
• Fuel surcharges: High fuel charges for British Airways flights across the Atlantic; avoidable surcharges with some of its airline partners, either within U.S. or Europe

Delta SkyMiles

U.S.-based Delta airlines is the largest airline partner in the Membership Rewards program. Though not as valuable as a few other airlines, Delta SkyMiles are still more valuable than average, plus Delta doesn’t incur fuel surcharges on most of its flights or its partner flights.

• Estimated point value: 1.61 cents
• Airline alliance: SkyTeam
• Rewards chart: No published chart; miles vary each flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; capacity-controlled awards seats
• Fuel surcharges: Possible fuel surcharges on Delta one-way flights from Europe and the Middle East and Delta partner flights

Emirates Skywards

Emirates is a pretty posh airline brand based out of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The best use of points is first-class travel on Emirates flights, but you’ll need to keep an eye out for fuel surcharges.

• Estimated point value: 1.2 cents
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: Zone-based, no published chart; use its calculator to find cost of flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates on Emirates flights; awards seats capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: Large fuel surcharges on Emirates and partner flights

Etihad Guest

Etihad is the flagship carrier of the UAE. Awards are generally good for flying to Abu Dhabi. You’ll need to look out for fuel surcharges on some flights as well as navigate a phone reservations line to book flights with partner airlines.

• Estimated point value: 1.4 cents
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: Distance-based and no published chart; use its Miles Calculator to find the cost of  flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; capacity controls on GuestSeat fares but can book any available seat with an OpenSeats fare
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges for some destinations on Etihad

Flying Blue

Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France–KLM, the merge of Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. You can find good values in economy class on Air France–KLM and its partner airlines, but you’ll need to keep an eye for fuel surcharges, especially on flights to Europe.

• Estimated point value: 1.2 cents
• Airline alliance: SkyTeam
• Rewards chart: Region-based; no published chart; use its Miles Price Estimator to find the cost of  flight
• Booking restrictions: Rewards seats subject to blackout dates and capacity controls
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on KLM flights and many partner airlines;  fees vary drastically and can be very reasonable on economy fares

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines is the flagship carrier of the Hawaiian Islands, with services mostly focused on flights between Hawaii and hubs in Asia, New Zealand, Australia and the east and west coasts of the U.S. The best choice for Hawaiian Airlines points is flights from mainland U.S. to Hawaii. However, you should shop around with other Membership Rewards airlines, which can sometimes offer better values on flights to Hawaii.

• Estimated point value: 0.9 cents
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: Region-based for Hawaiian Airlines flights (one-way segments only); different types of charts for each partner; use calculator to find cost of  flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; awards seats capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on Hawaiian Airlines and partner flights

Iberia Plus

Iberia, Spain’s flagship airline, is owned by the same company as British Airways, and you can transfer Avios points between both programs. While the service on Iberia is reportedly not at the same level as British Airways (and the time to transfer points can be longer), you can use Avios on Iberia to route through Spain rather than London Heathrow, sparing yourself expensive airport fees.

• Estimated point value: 1.5 cents
• Airline alliance: Oneworld
• Rewards chart: No published chart but appears to be distance-based — can use Avios Calculator to find the cost of  flight
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; awards seats capacity controlled
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on Iberia flights and many partner flights; avoidable fuel surcharges on North American flights by booking with some of its partners

JetBlue

JetBlue is a budget carrier based in the United States. The number of points required for a flight is linked to the cost of the fare and doesn’t vary much, which means you’re not going to find a lot of sweet spots for your points. But the value of points is high for most fares and across all fare levels, so most airfare redemptions are a good value. You can also find a good value on flights to Hawaii through JetBlue’s airline partner, Hawaiian Airlines.

• Estimated point value: 1.3 cents
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: No cost-based chart fares; most fares give good price per point
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates or capacity controls — can book available seats with points
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges on Caribbean fares

Qantas

Qantas is the only Australian airline in an airline alliance (Oneworld), plus the country’s flag carrier and largest airline. It’s one of the major airlines to consider if you’re flying to Oceania. The airline’s distance-based award chart makes it easy to find great deals on longer flights that fall toward the high end of each price tier.

• Estimated point value: 1 cent
• Airline alliance: Oneworld
• Rewards chart: Distance-based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; award seats might be limited; can only use miles to book flights for family members
• Fuel surcharges: Fuel surcharges limited; still could be applicable on some flights

Singapore KrisFlyer

KrisFlyer is the loyalty program of Singapore Airlines — the flagship carrier of Singapore. KrisFlyer doesn’t incur fuel surcharges for tickets booked on its own airlines. KrisFlyer miles are especially good for flying business and first-class to Asia on its own airlines.

• Estimated point value: 1.3 cents
• Airline alliance: Star Alliance
• Rewards chart: Zone-based (see rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: Awards seats subject to blackout dates and capacity controls
• Fuel surcharges: No fuel surcharges on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic is a British airline with service mainly directed between the U.S. and the U.K. The airline is not the best use of rewards points — adding heavy fuel surcharges to flights across the Atlantic — but you may be able to find good values on domestic flights with some of Virgin Atlantic’s partners like Delta, Air France and more.

• Estimated point value: 1.5 cents
• Airline alliance: None
• Rewards chart: Destination-based; little variation in the price (between 20,000 and 30,000 miles for an economy ticket) (See rewards chart here)
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates on Virgin Atlantic flights; capacity-controlled seats
• Fuel surcharges: Large fuel surcharges on Virgin Atlantic flights — may find no or low surcharges on partner airlines

Hotel partners

Here are Amex’s hotel transfer partners:

Choice Privileges

The Choice Hotels portfolio includes mostly midrange and economy-brand hotels — such as Comfort Inn and Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn. The value of redemptions is on the low side, so it’s not the best use of Membership Rewards points. Plus, you may find your options too limited since most hotels are located in the U.S. and properties can put strict limits on awards rooms.

• Estimated point value: 0.6 cents
• Rewards chart: No chart; price depends on date and time
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; awards rooms may be limited
• Hotel network: Good: More than 7,000 properties in more than 40 countries; more travel options with Choice Privileges

Hilton Honors

Hilton constitutes one of the world’s largest hotel brands — encompassing luxury brands such as Conrad and Waldorf Astoria, as well as midrange brands such as Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn. If you are going to use Membership Rewards points for hotel stays, Hilton is a good way to go. With a worldwide hotel network and a very flexible redemption policy, you can find Hilton hotels in most destinations.

• Estimated point value: 0.6 cents
• Rewards chart: No published chart; each property has maximum point amount; points can vary by day; maximum level of points tied to level of the property
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates or capacity controls; should be able to book standard room with points if available
• Hotel network: Excellent: More than 6,800 properties in 122 countries

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy is one of the largest hotel networks – including Marriott, W and Ritz-Carlton properties. The point value you’ll get for transferring membership rewards to Marriott Bonvoy isn’t great, but it is still a decent option for Marriott loyalists. Its properties span from mid-level to luxury, so no matter what kind of traveler you are, Marriott will likely have a property that suits your budget.

• Estimated point value: 0.8 cents
• Rewards chart: Category and peak-season based
• Booking restrictions: No blackout dates; no capacity controls
• Hotel network: Excellent: More than 8,000 properties in more than 130 countries

Tips for transferring Membership Rewards points

If you’re ready to transfer points, here are a few things to consider first:

• Be sure to create an account with the intended loyalty program before you try to transfer points.
• To keep your awards seat from disappearing while you’re waiting for your points to transfer, put your reservation on hold before transferring (if the program allows it), or make sure that there are multiple seats available on your intended flight or that there is more than one flight available on the same airline.
• To get the best value, be as flexible as possible. If you’re open to multiple destinations, you can find some great deals.

Amex offers a variety of transfer partners. Once you’ve decided on a loyalty program, whether it’s an airline or a hotel chain, to transfer to, the possibilities are nearly endless. All that’s left is to rack up points and book your next big vacation.