Hilton, Delta and more: Complete guide to Amex Membership Rewards transfer partners

Transferable credit card points are the most valuable travel rewards currencies you can collect. There are a few reasons for this:

American Express Membership Rewards? points offer a larger selection of transfer partners than any other bank-issued rewards program (such as Chase Ultimate Rewards? points or Capital One miles). Amex has 21 airline and hotel programs to choose from. Here’s what you need to know about each of them.

How to earn American Express Membership Rewards points

Many American Express cards earn Membership Rewards points — several of which offer healthy intro bonuses worth potentially $1,500 or more in travel.

One thing to keep in mind is that American Express restricts you to earning the welcome offer on each card once per lifetime. If you’ve had a card before, don’t count on earning the bonus a second time. American Express typically warns you before your application is submitted if you’re not eligible to earn the bonus.

These are some of our favorite American Express Membership Rewards points:

How to transfer American Express Membership Rewards points

The act of transferring Amex points to an airline or hotel loyalty program is easy — and most transfers deposit instantly into your loyalty program.

Begin by heading to your Membership Rewards-earning card’s online account. Under your points balance to the right, click “Explore Rewards.”

You’ll then be taken to a page that displays your total calendar year earnings, options to redeem your points and more. Click the “Earn and Redeem” tab at the top of the page and find the “Transfer Points” link.

You’ve found the complete list of Amex transfer partners. To convert your points to another rewards currency, select the program you’d like to use. You’ll first be prompted to link your airline or hotel loyalty program to your Amex account. If you don’t yet have a loyalty account, you’ll need to add one first (it takes just a minute or two).

At this point, you’ll be asked to enter the amount of points you’d like to transfer. You will then need to authorize the transfer with a secondary authentication method (usually entering the three-digit number on the back of your Amex card). Your points will transfer, and you’ll then have the ability to book award travel.

Important note: When you transfer Amex points to a partner, you can’t convert them back into Amex points. Transfers are a one-way street — so be absolutely sure you want to convert your points when you formally request a transfer. For example, you should double-check that there are available award flights or hotel stays for your desired dates before you transfer.

Now that you know how to transfer your points, let’s look at all of Amex’s transfer partners. Transfers are 1:1 unless otherwise specified.

Aer Lingus AerClub

Aer Lingus is Ireland’s official airline. Its rewards are known as “Avios,” and it’s the same points currency used by British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Qatar Airways.

Aer Lingus uses an award chart based on travel “zones.” You’ll find that the farther your flight, the more miles you’ll pay. Aer Lingus also uses peak and off-peak pricing (though the majority of the year is off-peak).

Aer Lingus charges fees that tend to hover around $125. Not devastating, but enough to give you pause as you evaluate other options. That said, its award prices from select East Coast cities to Ireland are unbelievably low — as little as 13,000 miles each way in economy. That’s tens of thousands of miles lower than some competitors.

Aeromexico Rewards (1:1.6)

A part of the SkyTeam airline alliance, Aeromexico is a lesser-used loyalty program. There simply aren’t as many useful sweet spots within the program. It prices its reward flights in two ways, depending on the flight: an award or “dynamic pricing” (which means Aeromexico can charge you whatever they want day-to-day and flight-to-flight).

Still, this doesn’t mean Aeromexico points are of no use. You can fly between select U.S. cities and Mexico for as little as 18,000 points. You can even fly from Mexico to Hawaii for as little as 34,000 points. Again, not remarkably competitive, but the favorable transfer ratio makes it worth consideration.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada Aeroplan is a member of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance. This means you’ll have loads of options for just about anywhere you’re trying to go. Aeroplan uses a combination of a zone-based award chart and a distance-based award chart.

In other words, the number of points you’ll pay will depend on:

Aeroplan also allows you to build stopovers on many international flights for 5,000 miles. This means you can visit multiple cities during your travels for marginally more than a round-trip flight. One notable rule is that your stopover cannot be in the U.S. or Canada.

Air Frace-KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France and KLM. This program is dynamite for travel to Europe, as it frequently publishes Promo Rewards that can lower the economy price across the Atlantic to just 15,000 miles each way. You can even find business class flights to Europe for as little as 50,000 miles each way.

Air France and KLM are members of SkyTeam, which means you can use your rewards to fly on partners like Delta, Virgin Atlantic and others. Flying Blue also has non-SkyTeam partner airlines you can redeem miles on like El Al and Air Mauritius.

Flying Blue tends to charge around $100 in taxes and fees for economy flights and north of $200 for business class flights (this varies depending on your route). But the low points price is often worth the out-of-pocket.

ANA Mileage Club

All Nippon Airways, or ANA, is the largest airline in Japan. It’s lauded for its high quality (including economy class), and it’s also home to some of the most jaw-dropping premium cabins in existence. And prices are beyond reasonable at 105,000 miles round-trip in ??business class (plus taxes and fees).

You can also fly on ANA’s Star Alliance partners for great deals. For example, you can book round-trip business class travel to Europe for just 100,000 miles on United Airlines. If you book that same flight directly through United, you’re practically guaranteed to pay around 160,000 miles.

There are two caveats with ANA:

As long as you’re at peace with these details, ANA is a great option.

Avianca LifeMiles

The loyalty program of Colombia-based carrier Avianca, LifeMiles is one of the best ways to book Star Alliance awards on the cheap. Avianca’s prices are in many cases better than the competition; you can sometimes find economy seats to Europe for 20,000 miles or less, business class seats for 63,000 miles and first class seats for 87,000 miles. Even better, Avianca doesn’t add fuel surcharges.

It’s also a great way to book domestic tickets on United. Prices vary based on the physical distance of your flight, but the cheapest flights cost just 6,500 LifeMiles. This includes popular short-haul flights like New York-LaGuardia (LGA) to Washington-Dulles (IAD).

That said, many report issues with Avianca LifeMiles. Oftentimes, the website doesn’t allow you to book award tickets, which can be especially frustrating after transferring Amex points.

British Airways Executive Club

British Airways is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, meaning you can use its rewards with partners like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Japan Airlines and more. Using British Airways “Avios” is a popular way to book American Airlines, since the carrier isn’t a transfer partner of any major flexible rewards currency.

British Airways doesn’t publish an award chart, but there’s still some rhyme and reason to its prices. You’ll be charged according to the distance of each leg you fly:

In other words, if your itinerary includes a connection, you’ll pay at least 24,000 miles. Not the best deal, but still a good fallback if you want to fly American Airlines but don’t have any American AAdvantage miles. Also note that British Airways charges fair award prices on its own metal, but be prepared to pay hundreds of dollars in taxes and fees.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Cathay Pacific is the official airline of Hong Kong and a Oneworld alliance partner. Similar to British Airways, it prices awards based on the distance you fly. Its Asia Miles program is less utilized than the majority of other Amex transfer partners, largely due to its redemption rates being less than exciting.

There are some exceptions, however, such as super long-haul flights (to Australia, South Africa, etc.), which price out at 110,000 miles in business class. Also, round-the-world itineraries can be a great deal, allowing you to travel up to 50,000 miles in business class for under 250,000 Asia Miles.

Delta SkyMiles

Delta SkyMiles are largely useful for one thing: Domestic flights. While you can fly all over the world with Delta miles, you may find yourself paying double or triple the price charged by other programs — particularly for premium cabins. It’s not uncommon to see Delta One prices exceed 300,000 miles each way.

But Delta miles can be exceptionally valuable for flights within the U.S. Delta operates according to dynamic pricing, so the miles you’ll pay is wholly unpredictable. You can often find one-way flights for 7,000 miles or less. And if you also hold an eligible Delta credit card, you’ll get another 15% off these already dirt-cheap fares.

Emirates Skywards

Emirates is continually praised for its luxury cabins — even the economy experience is more enjoyable than most. They’ve equipped their A380s with an onboard bar (exclusively for business and first-class passengers) and showers (exclusively for first-class passengers).

Though Emirates is headquartered in Dubai, the airline offers select fifth-freedom routes between the US and Europe for a great price. For example, you can fly from New York-JFK to Milan (MXP) for just 17,500 miles in economy.

Etihad Guest

Etihad is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Etihad gets similar rave reviews for its premium cabins, including its first-class “apartments,” which afford an outlandish amount of space for one person.

Though Etihad isn’t in a major airline alliance, it still partners with valuable carriers like American Airlines, Air France and JetBlue — and booking partner awards can be a really good deal.

For example, you can book JetBlue Mint (business class) from New York-JFK to Paris (CDG) for 80,000 miles through Etihad. The same ticket booked JetBlue TrueBlue costs 174,000 points.

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles

Transferring your Amex points to Hawaiian Airlines is rarely the right decision. Its prices are unimpressive, as it costs between 20,000 and 30,000 miles each way to Hawaii in economy from the U.S. Other programs can typically get you there for cheaper (though it’s always nice to have options).

That said, Hawaiian tends to price its lie-flat business class seats from the West Coast to Hawaii more favorably than its partners. You’ll pay as little as 40,000 miles to travel, say, between Los Angeles (LAX) and Honolulu (HNL).

Iberia Plus

Iberia is the flag carrier of Spain and offers similar benefits to other airlines within the Avios family (British Airways, Aer Lingus, etc.). Award flight prices are based on factors such as flight distance and peak/off-peak travel dates.

Iberia is a Oneworld member, meaning you can use Iberia Avios to book flights on carriers like American Airlines and Qatar Airways.But the best way to use your rewards is to book travel to Madrid or Barcelona from select East Coast and Midwest cities like New York, Chicago and Boston.

Flights start at just 17,000 points in economy and 34,000 points in lie-flat business class on off-peak dates, which span most of the year. This has long been one of the cheapest ways to cross the Atlantic.

JetBlue TrueBlue (5:4)

JetBlue’s two largest hubs are in New York-JFK and Boston (BOS). It’s almost entirely focused on travel within the U.S., the Caribbean and northern South America — though it recently expanded to serve a few European cities.

For two simple reasons, JetBlue TrueBlue is objectively one of the worst Amex transfer partners:

This second point is a big deal, as it’s impossible to get truly outsized value for your rewards. You’ll generally receive a value of around 1.3 cents in value per JetBlue point. And because of the 5:4 transfer ratio, you’ll get a value closer to 1.04 cents per Amex point you transfer. Not a good deal.

Qantas Frequent Flyer

Qantas is the flag carrier of Australia and a member of Oneworld. It uses a distance-based award chart — which is unfortunate considering Australia is pretty far from the United States.

If you’re flying intra-Australia, you’ll find some great deals. Otherwise, you may want to save your points for partner awards, such as for short-haul American Airlines flights (which you can find for as little as 8,000 points) and medium- to long-haul El Al flights.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Similar to the other two Gulf carriers in Amex’s repertoire, Qatar Airways is known for its quality. It’s most famous for its “Qsuite” experience, considered by many to be the best business class seat in the sky. Book select Qsuites side-by-side, and you and a friend or family member can convert your seats into a proper double bed with sliding doors to fully enclose your suite.

You can book Qatar Qsuites from the U.S. to Doha (Qatar’s home base) for 70,000 Avios — or all the way to the Maldives for 85,000 Avios. Just note that you’ll pay a couple hundred dollars in taxes and fees.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines is one of the few airlines that still abides by a fixed award chart, making it easy to anticipate exactly how much you’ll pay for a given flight. As part of Star Alliance, you can book all sorts of partners with Singapore Airlines miles (United Airlines, Lufthansa, ANA and more). Not to mention, the airline has one of the most astonishing first-class seats in existence, called Singapore Suites. They’re pricey, but they’re a bucket list item if you can swing the points price.

Singapore Airlines is one of the cheapest options for booking flights to Hawaii from the East Coast. You can fly nonstop on United Airlines from anywhere in the U.S. for 19,500 miles each way in economy.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers some of the most confusingly low award prices for travel across the pond. The caveat is that you’ll have to pay taxes and fees — which are high when traveling in Upper Class (lie-flat business class).

As Virgin Atlantic is part of SkyTeam, you can use your points to book flights with Delta, Air France, KLM and more. Sometimes prices are lower than if you book directly with one of the aforementioned airlines, so it’s worth a quick search just to see if you get lucky.

Choice Privileges

Choice Privileges is a hotel loyalty program with well-known brands like Comfort, Country Inn & Suites, Cambria, EconoLodge and many more. You can reserve free nights at these hotels starting at just 8,000 points.

Unfortunately, reward nights are rarely a good value for your Amex points. Only convert your rewards into Choice points if you need a few thousand more to achieve a free night.

Hilton Honors (2:1)

Hilton is another ubiquitous hotel chain with popular brands including Hampton by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria, Embassy Suites, etc.

Despite the favorable 2:1 transfer ratio from Amex to Hilton Honors, this is still typically a bad move. The exception is if you’re booking a five-star stay, such as the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique or resorts that charge $2,000+ per night. In this case, it’s possible to get well over 2 cents in value per Amex point.

Marriott Bonvoy

The largest hotel chain in existence, Marriott offers a fantastic mix of economical and five-star properties. Still, it’s a poor destination for your Amex points. In very few circumstances will you manage to even flirt with the reasonable redemption value of 2 cents per Amex point after they’re converted into Marriott points.

Similar to Choice Privileges, you should only consider transferring Amex points to Marriott Bonvoy if you need just a few thousand points to secure your stay.

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