There are many ways to use your American Express Membership Rewards points. However, not all of these uses provide the same value.
Sometimes, each Amex point could be worth just half a cent. Other times, Amex Membership Rewards points can be worth more than 5 cents each. That’s quite a big difference.
Here, we’ll walk you through the different values you might get when using your Amex points, helping you understand the different uses and why the point values are different. This way, you’ll know your options and know when you’re getting good value from your points.
Table of contents
The value of Amex points when booking using the Amex travel portal
If you’re interested in using your Amex points for travel, the Amex Travel booking portal lets you pay cash or use points to book flights, hotels, cruises, and rental cars. However, not all of these redemptions provide the same value.
The benefit of using your Amex points for bookings with Amex Travel is that it’s extremely easy. You can search for multiple types of travel, filter by your preferred travel partners, set preferences, and more. It functions like many other travel websites you’re used to, though you have the option to pay with points at the end. That’s super convenient.
For flights using the Amex travel portal, your points are worth one cent each toward flights. That means you’ll need 10,000 points for a flight that costs $100.
When it comes to hotels, that same one-cent rate applies to bookings with the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program — an exclusive program for Amex Platinum card members, extending extra benefits at luxury hotels around the world.
However, your Amex points are worth less toward other hotel bookings – just 0.7 cents each. That means you’ll need 14,286 points for a $100 hotel stay.
You’ll find that same rate of 0.7 cents per point when using points toward rental cars, but your Amex points can be worth even less toward cruises. With cruises, you’ll find your points are worth anywhere from 0.5 to 0.7 cents each. That means you’ll need anywhere from 14,286 to 20,000 points for every $100 cruise cost.
The tradeoff comes in value. First, not all bookings with Amex Travel provide the same value, meaning some provide okay value while others provide poor value. And this tradeoff in value looks even less impressive when you compare it to the next option: using points with transfer partners.
The value of Amex points when transferring to a partner
American Express has an impressive list of 21 transfer partners: 18 airlines and three hotel programs. The value of your Amex points here will vary greatly. However, you have the chance to get incredible value if you learn how to leverage these programs correctly.
And that’s the tricky part: If you want to do it yourself, you need to learn how these programs work and which might be better for one flight while another is better for a different flight. That level of learning, time spent researching options, and learning about how the programs are different can be a turn-off. (Or you can just use point.me, but we’ll get to that in a minute.)
If you’re willing to spend the time, though, you can unlock incredible value. That’s especially true if you understand that these programs all have partners, meaning you could send your points to a British program to book a flight with an airline from Hong Kong. Yes, you read that correctly.
Consider this example: Flights from the East Coast to Europe cost around $400 each way most days on full-service carriers that include checked luggage and a meal. Transferring your Amex points to Air France or KLM’s shared Flying Blue program allows you to pay just 20,000 miles per person. After subtracting the taxes and fees from the value of using your points, Amex points are worth around 2 cents each here.
Now consider booking that same flight in business class. Flying Blue awards start at 50,000 miles each way, but these flights regularly sell for over $2,000 each way. That makes your points worth 4 cents each.
Unfortunately, not every seat on every flight is available on miles. That means you’ll need to spend time looking for the right program to book with and flights that work for your travel plans. And that’s where point.me can help. When you search a route, point.me will show you all the different options for airlines and loyalty programs and the number of points required on each so you can easily compare all your options in one place.
How to calculate your Amex points value
How do you calculate the value to ensure you’re getting good value? Look at the number of points you’ll need to redeem. Compare that to the cash cost of your flight or hotel reservation, and subtract from any taxes and fees required for booking with points.
For example, if you would pay $50 in taxes and fees for a flight to Europe, subtract that from the $400 cost of the flight. Take that number ($350) and divide it by the number of miles required for the booking: $350 divided by 20,000 points equals 1.75 cents per point. That’s how much each point is worth on that booking.
Notice that we’ve mostly talked about flights. That’s because American Express’ airline partners tend to provide much better value than the hotel programs. That’s not always the case, however, and it can be worth exploring options with Choice, Hilton, and Marriott to see what value is available. The best values will typically come at the cheapest and most expensive hotels — rarely for the hotels in the middle.
If you’re getting less than one cent per point on a particular booking, booking through the Amex Travel portal can make more sense than transferring points to the reward program for your booking.
Here’s the full list of the Amex transfer partners, including the ratio at which Amex points transfer to each program:
- Aer Lingus AerClub — 1:1
- Aeromexico Rewards — 1:1.6
- Air Canada Aeroplan — 1:1
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue — 1:1
- All Nippon Airways Mileage Club — 1:1
- Avianca LifeMiles — 1:1
- British Airways Executive Club — 1:1
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles — 1:1
- Choice Privileges — 1:1
- Delta SkyMiles — 1:1
- Emirates Skywards —
- Etihad Guest — 1:1 t
- HawaiianMiles — 1:1
- Hilton Honors — 1:2
- Iberia Plus — 1:1
- JetBlue TrueBlue — 5:4
- Marriott Bonvoy — 1:1
- Qantas Frequent Flyer — 1:1
- Singapore KrisFlyer — 1:1
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club — 1:1
How much value can you get with your Amex points?
Aside from focusing on the value in “cents per point,” let’s look at some real-life examples of how to use your Amex points for maximum value.
One option is to book short-haul domestic flights on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines using British Airways Avios. These airlines are all members of the Oneworld alliance, and booking flights through British Airways can sometimes be cheaper than booking through the American AAdvantage or Alaska Mileage Plan rewards programs.
For non-stop flights under 650 miles, you’ll redeem 8,250 Avios per person. This distance covers flights from Chicago to Wichita, Kansas, or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Short flights with little competition can be expensive, so these redemptions offer solid value.
Want to fly to Spain in business class? By transferring your Amex points to Iberia, you can book a one-way business class from the East Coast to Madrid for 34,000 points each way during off-peak dates. These flights regularly sell for $2,000 or more.
You also can use Flying Blue miles, the shared program of Air France and KLM, for monthly Promo Rewards at great value. This changing list of destinations offers award flights for as much as 50% off, though typical discounts hover around 25%. Imagine flying to Europe or onward to Africa or the Middle East for 25% fewer miles than normal.
Without the discount, you can fly from the East Coast directly to Paris or Amsterdam for 20,000 miles per person in economy, 35k in premium economy, and 50k in business class.
The value of Amex points when redeeming for Amazon.com purchases, statement credits, or gift cards
You can redeem Amex points for things other than travel. However, the values here aren’t very good.
Amazon or Best Buy purchases: 0.7 cents each
Statement credits: 0.6 cents each
Gift cards: Up to 1 cent each, but often less
The best use of your Amex points
Wondering the best way to use Amex points so you’re obtaining good value? Consider these options:
- Flight redemptions offering above 1 cent per point in value
- Hotel redemptions only if the value is above 1 cent per point
- Topping off an award account to be able to make a valuable redemption
- Solid flight options include expensive, short-haul flights booked with British Airways and Flying Blue promo rewards
- Flying in premium economy or business class almost always provides a high redemption value
The worst use of your Amex points
Conversely, are you wondering what uses of points you should avoid? We recommend not using your points in these methods:
- Using points on Amazon
- Shopping with points online
- Redeeming for gift cards
- Paying with points in the travel portal if you could use fewer points through a transfer partner
- Anything that provides less than 1 cent per point in value
Frequently asked questions about Amex points
How much are 10,000 Amex points worth?
You should never redeem points for less than 1 cent each in value, so 10,000 points should be worth at least $100. However, you can get upwards of 4 cent per point by transferring Amex points to airline partners, so 10,000 points can generally cover a 3-4 hour domestic flight in economy one way.
How much are 30,000 Amex points worth?
If you could book a $250 flight for one person for 10,000 points, then you could book three of those for 30,000 points. At a minimum, 30,000 points are worth $300, but they could be worth much more if you’re booking a flight to Europe or South America — and we often see one-way fares to those destinations from the U.S. for 25,000 points.
How much are 50,000 Amex points worth?
At our minimum of 1 cent each, these points are worth $500, but consider that you could fly to Paris in Air France business class for 50,000 points. Those flights typically cost several thousand dollars, so you can get some outsize value when your transfer points to the airlines.
How much are 100,000 Amex points worth?
At a minimum, these points should be worth $1,000 when paying for flights in the travel portal or gift cards offering 1 cent apiece in redemption value. However, you could fly round-trip to Europe in business class with Air France or KLM for 100,000 points. Those flights would cost over $5,000 per passenger most days.
How many Amex points does it take for a free flight?
The number of Amex points required for a free flight depends on where you’re flying, what cabin (economy, premium economy, business, or first class), and what award program you’re transferring points to. You might pay anywhere from 5,000 to 100,00 points or more. That’s why understanding transfer partners is valuable: You might use program A today for a flight to Brazil but could use program B next month for a flight to Hawaii, using whichever program best suits your needs.
How many Amex points are needed to fly in business class to Europe?
The best option for using Amex points for business class to Europe will be off-peak dates (think dates outside popular holidays) with Iberia Plus. For 34,000 points per person, you can fly from the East Coast to Madrid. Conversely, you could use Flying Blue to fly on Air France or KLM from anywhere in the U.S. to Europe for 50,000 points in business class.
Do Amex points expire?
No, Amex points don’t expire as long as your account is open and in good standing.
Summary
There are numerous ways to earn and redeem American Express Membership Rewards points. Not all uses of these points provide the same value, so Amex points are worth anywhere from 0.6 cents each to as much as 10 cents each when redeemed for pricey first-class flights.
That’s a huge range, but, on average, you should aim to redeem your Amex points for at least one cent per point. That’s the value you can get when redeeming points for flights in the travel portal or for some gift card redemptions. As you get more skilled in using your Amex points, your baseline redemption goal might increase over time.
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