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Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
American Express Membership Rewards® features several Membership Rewards credit cards and many travel partners you can transfer your points to. Whether you’re thinking about getting a Membership Rewards card, or you’re looking for ways to maximize your stockpile of Membership Rewards points, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s everything you need to know about American Express’s rewards program.
| Personal Credit Cards | The Platinum Card® from American Express American Express® Gold Card |
| Business Credit Cards | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express American Express® Business Gold Card |
| Redemption Options | Travel via Amex Travel or Expedia Statement credits Gift cards Merchandise Charitable donations Transfer to travel partners |
| Value Per Point | $0.005 – $0.01 Up to $0.02 |
See the best credit card sign-up bonuses here
Earning Membership Rewards Points
In the rewards card world, Membership Rewards has a reputation for its hard-to-earn points. That’s largely due to Amex’s once-in-a-lifetime welcome bonus policy. If you’ve had an Amex credit card in the past, you won’t be eligible for the introductory offer should you apply for the same card again.
THE PLATINUM CARD® FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Platinum Card® from American Express has a special offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 in purchases within your first 6 months.
Membership Rewards® points are some of the most valuable in the market. Redeeming these points by booking travel through American Express or by redeeming for gift cards will give you a standard 1 cent per point value. The 100k bonus points are worth $1,000 going this route.
You can potentially get more value by transferring your points to Membership Rewards travel partners. Using this strategy can get you up to an average value of 2 cents per point. Get around $2,000 in value with 100,000 points this way. Read more on this here.
With this card, earn 10X Membership Rewards Points for eligible purchases on the Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S. (up to $25,000 in combined purchases) during your first 6 months of Card Membership
5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
The biggest drawback to this card is the $695 annual fee (see Rates & Fees, Terms Apply), which puts it in the premium class of credit cards. The card has a market because it offers premium travel benefits, such as 5X points for flights (up to $500,000 on these purchases) and eligible hotels, access to 40+ Centurion Loung and Studio locations worldwide, up to $200 airline fee credit annually, and an annual Walmart+ membership. These benefits are given as statement credits.
For frequent travelers, the added benefits make sense in terms of value and added luxury.
AMERICAN EXPRESS® GOLD CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The American Express® Gold Card has a welcome bonus for 60,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $4,000 within 6 months.
Membership Rewards Points have great flexibility. We value each point to be worth up to an average 2 cents per point. At this value, 60k Membership Rewards Points can be worth up to $1,200.
The Amex Gold Card has plentiful perks. You’ll get:
- Choice between Gold or Rose Gold.
- 4X points at restaurants, including takeouts and deliveries.
- 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year in purchases (1X thereafter)
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- Up to $120 in annual dining credits (get up to $10 monthly statement credits)
- No foreign transaction fees
The annual fee is $250. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
THE BUSINESS PLATINUM CARD® FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has a welcome offer for 120,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. We value 120k points to be worth around $2,400.
This card earns 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. Also earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else. Cap applies.
Use Membership Rewards Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, and you can get 35% of the points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year. Also, get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year toward baggage fees and more at one qualifying airline. You will also get up to $179 back per year on your CLEAR® membership when you use your Card.
This is a premium business card with a $595 annual fee ($695 if application is received on or after 1/13/2022). See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
AMERICAN EXPRESS® BUSINESS GOLD CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
For a limited time, the American Express Business Gold Card has an offer for 70,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. The offer expires 11/10/2021.
This card earns 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month. These 4X points are capped at the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year.
Other card benefits include an Airline Bonus, where you’ll get 25% points back after you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with Amex Travel. This is capped at up to 250,000 points back per calendar year.
The annual fee is $295 for this card. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
Welcome bonus policy aside, you can stockpile points from a variety of Membership Rewards cards with bonus categories, as well as by utilizing Amex Offers.
Enroll in Amex Offers to earn extra, limited-time Membership Rewards points at participating retailers. Opt in via your online account or the American Express mobile app.
You can find more information on Amex Offers here.
Redeeming Membership Rewards Points
As with other points-based programs, the value of your rewards depends on how you use them The easiest way to redeem Membership Rewards points is to use them for a fixed value within the Membership Rewards program. But that won’t give you the best value for your points.
If you’re looking to maximize your rewards, you’ll want to transfer your points to a partner program.
Membership Rewards points do not expire.
Take your time stockpiling your points for bigger, better rewards.
This is where American Express Membership Rewards really shines. It has more transfer partners than any other credit card loyalty program in the United States. With dozens of airline and hotel partners, you’ll be able to book award travel with just about every major route, in classes on airlines which might otherwise be out of your budget.
PRO TIP: Link your loyalty accounts to your Membership Rewards account right now, if you haven’t already. This enables quick transfers when the time comes to turn your Membership Rewards points into miles.
Airline transfer partners include:
The best way to maximize your Membership Rewards points is to transfer them to a partner program. If you do your research, you’ll be able to get values over $0.01 (up to $0.02) per point.
Use your Membership Rewards points to book travel via the American Express Travel site or on Expedia. In either case, your Membership Rewards points will likely be worth between $0.007 and $0.01 when redeemed for travel, based on information we’ve gathered at the time of publishing.
In comparison, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth up to $0.015 when members book through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
You can bid on seat upgrades on multiple participating airlines using your Membership Rewards. This will get you at least $0.01 per point. But as the bidding escalates, your points can lose value. So make sure to keep that in mind.
Participating airlines include:
- Aerolineas Argentinas
- AeroMexico
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Avianca
- Air Mauritius
- Caribbean Airlines
- Ethiopian
- Etihad Airways
- Fiji Airways
- Gulf Air
- Icelandair
- Kenya Airways
- LATAM
- Malaysia Airlines
- Norwegian
- Qantas
- SAS
- Silk Air
- Singapore Airlines
- TAP Portugal
*The information presented has been collected independently by MoneysMyLife. It is current at the time of publishing and will be updated from time-to-time but for the most up-to-date information, please click here to find our source.
| REDEMPTION | VALUE PER POINT |
| Gift cards | $0.007 – $0.01 |
| Shop with points (Amazon, Walmart, etc.) | $0.007 |
| Charitable donations | $0.007 |
| Statement credits | $0.006 |
| Amex shopping portal | $0.005 |
*The information presented has been collected independently by MoneysMyLife and is for illustrative purposes only. It is current at the time of publishing and will be updated from time-to-time but value per point may change significantly. For the most up-to-date information, log on to your Membership Rewards accounts or click here for more information.
Membership Rewards Top Travel Partners
Researching so many travel partners and trying to find the best deals is a migraine-inducing task. Before going through all that trouble, check out our favorite Membership Rewards travel partners to transfer to and their sweet spots based on the information we gathered at the time of publishing:
| TICKET | CLASS | FROM | TO | MILES | AIRLINE |
| Roundtrip | Economy | N. America | Japan | 40,000+ | ANA |
| Roundtrip | Business | N. America | Japan | 75,000+ | ANA |
| TICKET | CLASS | FROM | TO | MILES | AIRLINE |
| One-way | Economy | U.S. | U.S. | 7,500+ | American |
| One-way | Economy | West Coast | Hawaii | 13,000 | American |
| One-way | Business | Chicago | Dallas | 16,500 | American |
| Roundtrip | Economy | Boston | Ireland | 26,000 | Aer Lingus |
Choice Hotels has several properties in typically expensive European cities. These hotels range from 8,000 to 25,000 points, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find some sweet deals.
You can also use Choice points to book Preferred Hotel properties, a group of luxury hotels.
| TICKET | CLASS | FROM | TO | MILES | AIRLINE |
| One-way | Business | U.S. | U.S. | 25,000 | American |
| One-way | Business | New York | Casablanca | 44,000 | Royal Air Maroc |
| One-way | Business | U.S. | Europe | 50,000 | American |
| One-way | Business | U.S. | Japan | 50,000 | American |
| One-way | Business | U.S. | South Korea | 50,000 | American |
Not many other rewards programs transfer to Hilton Honors, so take advantage of the great value you can get by booking award stays at expensive or luxury Hilton properties.
If you’re an elite member, you also get one free night when you book four nights using points.
| TICKET | CLASS | FROM | TO | MILES | AIRLINE |
| Roundtrip | Economy | U.S. | Hawaii | 35,000 | United |
| Roundtrip | Business | U.S. | Hawaii | 60,000 | United |
| One-way | First | Singapore | Sydney | 80,000 | Singapore |
| One-way | First | New York | Frankfurt | 86,000 | Singapore |
| One-way | First | Los Angeles | Tokyo | 107,000 | Singapore |
| TICKET | CLASS | FROM | TO | MILES | AIRLINE |
| One-way | Economy | U.S. | U.S. | 12,500 | Delta |
| One-way | Business | U.S. | Europe | 50,000 | Delta |
| One-way | Business | Detroit | Tokyo | 60,000 | Delta |
| One-way | Business | Auckland | U.S. | 62,500 | Air New Zealand |
| Roundtrip | First | U.S. | Tokyo | 110,000+ | ANA |
Bottom Line
American Express Membership Rewards is an extremely flexible points program, thanks to its large number of transfer partners. But unless you have a premium Amex card, like the Platinum Card, it’s not easy to earn points, especially when you compare Membership Rewards to other card programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards.
For the best value, transfer your Membership Rewards points to a partner loyalty program. Otherwise redeeming for rewards within the Membership Rewards program at fixed values will only get you up to $0.01 per point. That’s much less than what you would get with Chase Ultimate Rewards, where you can exchange your points at a fixed price of up to $0.015 per point.
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