Transferring your credit card points to different airline and hotel programs makes them incredibly valuable—and that’s where American Express Membership Rewards points truly excel.
With over 20 transfer partners at your disposal, a world of travel opportunities opens up. But whether you’re a newbie or an expert traveler, these transfers are a whole new can of worms.
We’ll show you how to transfer your Amex points from cards like *amex platinum* or the *amex gold* – and highlight some of the best partners.
The Best Amex Transfer Partners for Your Points
Before we get into the “how?”, let’s cover the “who” and “where?” As in, who does Amex partner with? Where can you transfer your Membership Rewards?
With more than 20 transfer partners overall, Amex has the largest stable of airline and hotel partners out there – more than similar points programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, or Citi ThankYou Points.
Below are the current options, as well as how long it takes to move Amex points from your account to an airline or hotel brand – and some of our favorite options.
Airline Transfer Partners
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| AeroMexico | Airline | 1:1.6 | 3-5 days |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| ANA | Airline | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Avianca | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Delta | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Hawaiian | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Iberia | Airline | 1:1 | Up to 24 hours |
| JetBlue | Airline | 1.25:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qatar Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
Unlike Chase transfer partners – from which every single point transfers on a 1:1 basis to an airline or hotel account – there are some poorer transfer ratios here. For example, you’ll need to transfer 1.25 Amex points to JetBlue to get 1 mile.
That said, there are a handful of great options to consider, too. In fact, this can easily be the best use of your Amex points.
Here’s a quick example: Say you’re flying from Seattle (SEA) to Seoul (ICN) – many travelers would simply log into their Amex account to book via Amextravel.com. There’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple, but with cash prices regularly north of $600 one way, you’ll need almost 65,000 points to book.
When booking through Amex’s travel portal, every point is worth a flat 1 cent toward flights. That means a $600 flight would cost you 60,000 Amex points.
But here’s where turning to Amex transfer partners can really shine. You can book this exact same flight through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – one of Amex’s airline partners – for just 31,000 Amex points. That’s less than half the amount of points required when booking directly with Amex Travel!
The Best Airline Transfer Partners
Delta Air Lines
SkyMiles may not be the best if you’re aiming to fly business class – despite some amazing deals recently – but transferring Amex points to Delta can still be great for scoring dirt-cheap SkyMiles flash sales. And if you’re looking to pad your Delta SkyMiles balance, transferring Amex points is one of the easiest ways to do it.
For example, just 17,000 Amex points instantly transferred over to your Delta account could get you a trip to Maui (OGG) and back. That’s cheaper than you’ll find with almost any airline.
Air Canada
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is great, especially if flying business class is your thing.
Business class flights from the U.S. to Europe start at 60,000 points – or you can fly the incomparable Lufthansa First Class for 90,000 to 100,000 points each way. You can get all the way to Asia in business class for as low as 55,000 points – or 75,000 points, in most cases. If you’re looking to stay closer to home, you can fly United on transcontinental jaunts up front from 25,000 points each way or roundtrip coach flights at the same rate.
One amazing feature of Aeroplan is that you can add a stopover to any award ticket for just 5,000 additional points.
All Nippon Airways
Want to fly to Japan in business class for the same amount of miles most airlines charge for economy? ANA Mileage Club is your answer, with rates as low as 100,000 miles for a roundtrip to Japan in lie-flat seats. And it’s another great transfer partner with dirt-cheap rates to fly to Europe as well – just 100,000 miles roundtrip.
ANA raised award rates in April 2024, which is never good news – but it’s still one of the best Amex transfer partners, period.
Related reading: How to Fly Business Class to Europe for 100K Points Roundtrip
Virgin Atlantic
For years, Virgin Atlantic was our go-to workaround to book Delta-operated flights for less and one of our favorite pathways to redeeming Amex points.
After a slew of devaluations, the days of booking 50,000-point Delta One award to Europe are over – all but the shortest Delta flights now cost substantially more than they used to. But the power of transferring points to Virgin goes beyond Delta.
It’s a stellar way to book flights to Europe with Air France or KLM for as low as 6,000 points each way. You can even book lie-flat seats to Rome with ITA Airways or fly ANA business or first class to Tokyo via Virgin Atlantic.
Plus, we routinely see transfer bonuses from Amex to Virgin of 30%, which makes these deals even better.
Iberia Airlines
Keep Iberia in mind for your next trip to Europe, as it offers one of the cheapest ways to get to fly in business class using miles.
For as low as 34,000 miles each way, you can book Iberia business class to and from Madrid (MAD). That’s less than most airlines charge for a one-way ride in economy, making this one of the best deals in the world of points and miles.
Want to save some points? Iberia also offers flights to Spain in economy for half the cost: as low as just 17,000 miles each way, or 34,000 miles for a roundtrip to Madrid.
Like Virgin Atlantic, we frequently see Amex offering bonuses of up to 30% on transfers to Iberia and other Avios airlines.
Air France and KLM
Air France and KLM’s Flying Blue program are worth a hard look no matter if you’re heading abroad or sticking close to home … especially if you’re catching a big discount with one of the monthly Flying Blue Promo Rewards tickets to Europe.
Flying Blue regularly slashes economy, premium economy, or business class award tickets on select routes between the U.S. and Europe by as much as 50% each month. Those monthly deals can lead to gems like this uber-cheap one-way flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
But even without those discounts, Air France and KLM’s mileage program can be worthwhile. With low rates and fairly solid availability to book award flights, this is one of the best ways to book business class to Europe. You can regularly find business class seats bookable for just 50,000 miles each way.
Again, we regularly see transfer bonuses from Amex that make these deals even better.
British Airways
Fancy a trip to Hawaii or the Caribbean? Or maybe you want to fly the world’s best business class all the way to the Middle East? British Airways Avios has got you covered.
British Airways is a stellar Amex transfer partner. Consider this: You can book your own Qatar Airways Qsuite from many U.S. cities to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 Avios!
And because you can combine Avios between British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar, and Finnair, you have even more options.
Airline Transfer Partners to Avoid
It’s not all sunshines and roses. Sprinkled in among the many winners on this list of Amex transfer partners are some real duds that probably aren’t worth paying attention to, including:
- JetBlue is the only airline to which Amex points don’t transfer on a 1:1 basis.
- Etihad used to be a great way to save on American Airlines flights to Europe or Royal Air Maroc business class to Morocco, but 2023 changes to the program have blunted those sweet spots.
- Aeromexico may look alluring thanks to the 1:1.6 transfer ratio, but it’s a confusing and hard-to-use program.
Hotel Transfer Partners
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choice Privileges | Hotel | 1:1 | Instant |
| Hilton Honors | Hotel | 1:2 | Instant |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Hotel | 1:1 | Instant |
The Best Hotel Transfer Partners
Hotel transfer partners are a bit of a weak spot for Amex. Unless you’re getting in on a big transfer bonus, most of these options aren’t worth considering.
Having said that, it could make sense to transfer to Hilton Honors if you’re short a few thousand points or want to take advantage of one of the top-tier Hilton properties from our Thrifty Traveler Premium Hotel Alerts! But keep in mind: Even though Hilton points having a 1:2 transfer ratio, these hotel points are worth far less than almost any airline.
Transfer Bonuses Sweeten the Deal
You like airline miles, right? How about some free miles?
Several times every year, Amex teams up with a specific airline or hotel program to give travelers a bonus to transfer their miles. From 10% extra to 30% or more, these bonuses are basically free airline miles. Typically, we see at least one (or more) transfer bonuses each month.
Time it right to coincide with one of these promotions and you can come out even further ahead when transferring your Amex points.
Top Transfer Bonus Partners
When it comes to Amex transfer partner bonuses, there are some frequent culprits. And that’s not a bad thing.
At least once or twice a year, we see transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Iberia, and Air France/KLM, ranging from 20% to as much as a 40% bonus. Every now and again, we’ll see bonuses of 15% to 25% or so to Avianca LifeMiles and occasionally Air Canada Aeroplan.
Unfortunately, it’s been more than a decade since Amex has offered a transfer bonus to Delta SkyMiles.
How to Transfer Amex Points
Amex allows you to transfer points in 1,000-point increments (except to JetBlue, which allows transfers of 250 points at a time). Just how many points you’ll get will depend on each partner’s transfer ratio.
Thrifty Tip: You’ll need to create an account with that airline or hotel chain before you start the transfer, which only takes a few minutes and is free.
First things first, you’ll want to log in to your Amex account and click the “Rewards & Benefits” option in the menu bar.
From here, scroll down to the “Ready to Redeem?” section of the page and click the “Transfer Points” tab, then hit “View All” when it pops up below.
And voila: All your Amex transfer partner options will pop up. And any current transfer bonuses will be highlighted with some handy orange text and a big “OFFER” sticker.
Know where you want to transfer your points? Just click that airline (or hotel) partner and confirm your loyalty account details. Enter the number of points you want to transfer, then hit the option to “Review Transfer” to proceed. You’ll have to enter some details from your Amex card to finalize the transfer.
Amex has a default warning that points may take 24 hours or more to hit your loyalty account once you’ve confirmed your transfer … but that’s rarely accurate. Most Amex points transfers happen instantly, meaning you can immediately turn around and redeem those points.
Barring any technical snafus, the only Amex transfer partners you may need to wait on are ANA Mileage Club (up to 48 hours), Aeromexico, and occasionally Iberia.
Do Your Research Before You Transfer Your Points
Once you’ve decided where you want to transfer your Amex points and linked the account, you’re ready. Just click on the account and enter how many Amex points you want to transfer over.
With a handful of different transfer ratios, it can be difficult to keep track of how many miles you’ll actually get. Luckily, Amex makes it very clear just how it shakes out, as you can see here with JetBlue.
Once you’re done, just hit confirm and transfer those points. Most of these transfers will clear instantly, but a handful of partners take 12 to 48 hours or more. Check out the chart above to get a sense of how long it may take to get those miles in your account.
Just beware: Once your transfer goes through, you generally can’t pull those points back into your Amex account. That makes it critical to do your research and make sure sending your Amex points to that transfer partner is the best way to go and that the award tickets you want to book are available.
And finally, there’s one last quirk to be aware of. When you transfer to U.S. airlines (Delta, JetBlue, or Hawaiian), you’ll get hit with a small fee: .06 cents per point. A transfer of 50,000 Membership Rewards points, for example, will cost you $30. These fees are capped at $99.
Thrifty Tip: Want to combine with a spouse, friend, or family member? If you add them as an authorized user, Amex allows you to transfer points directly to their own airline or hotel accounts (after a waiting period).
How to Earn Amex Points
We love *amex platinum card* for all its travel perks and benefits.
New cardmembers can earn an 80,000-point welcome offer bonus after spending $8,000 in six months … but be sure to check and see if you qualify for a 175,000-point bonus via CardMatch – or if a friend can refer you for an even bigger offer.
Learn more about *amex platinum*.
There’s also the *amex gold*, which might just be one of the best credit cards, period.
It starts with a standard, 60,000-point welcome offer after spending $6,000 in the first six months. But you may be able to qualify for a whopping 75,000-point welcome bonus using CardMatch, which is hard to beat … unless you get a friend or family member’s referral link for an even better bonus!
Learn more about the *amex gold*
Bottom Line
It’s not quite as simple as redeeming your points through a travel portal, but the ability to transfer Amex points opens up a whole new world of travel.
Use this guide to get started and learn how to maximize your Amex points.
