The Amex Membership Rewards program in the United States has just brought back what I consider to be one of the most lucrative transfer bonuses offered by the program.
In this post:
40% transfer bonus from Amex to Avios
Through Sunday, May 15, 2022, the US Amex Membership Rewards program is offering a 40% bonus when you transfer points to British Airways Executive Club. Make sure you actually see this bonus when you log into your Amex account before making a transfer, as it’s possible that not all members are eligible for this.
For what it’s worth, the same transfer bonus is being offered to Aer Lingus AerClub, but not to Iberia Plus.
Points ordinarily transfer at a 1:1 ratio, so during this promotion they transfer at a 1:1.4 ratio. Since the bonus is hardcoded into the transfer ratio, you can take advantage of this promotion multiple times. Transfers between the programs are generally instant.
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Earn 4x Membership Rewards points on airfare purchased directly from airlines
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $295
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
We’ve seen this transfer bonus a few times before, but it’s usually offered at most once per year.
Is acquiring British Airways Avios worth it?
British Airways Executive Club can be a polarizing frequent flyer program, given its unconventional distance based award chart. There’s a lot to love about British Airways Avios, including the ability to redeem them for great value on short haul flights with oneworld carriers, like Alaska and American.
That being said, there are hefty fuel surcharges when redeeming Avios for travel on British Airways, which many members find to be frustrating. One interesting wrinkle is that redemption rates on Qatar Airways were recently largely improved, and you can now redeem just 70,000 Avios (along with some surcharges) for a one-way business class award between the United States and Doha. That has the potential to be a phenomenal deal, especially with a transfer bonus.
See this post for some of the best uses of British Airways Avios.
There are lots of ways to earn British Airways Avios
While a 40% bonus on transfers from Amex to British Airways is exceptional, I just want to point out the other ways to earn British Airways Avios. British Airways Executive Club partners with multiple transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios:
- Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review)
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
- Iberia Visa Signature® Card (review)
Lastly, British Airways Executive Club often sells Avios with a bonus.
Bottom line
At the moment the US Amex Membership Rewards program is offering a 40% bonus on points transfers. We’ve seen this promotion a few times before, and it has the potential to be an exceptional deal. There are lots of great uses of British Airways Avios, whether you’re looking to travel short haul on Alaska Airlines or American Airlines, or long haul on Qatar Airways.
I think there are situations where it could be worth making a speculative transfer, assuming you have redemption plans in the coming weeks and months in mind.
Do you plan on transferring Amex points to British Airways Avios with this bonus?
I am a Canada Amex customer. Im assuming this isn't viable in Canada? Anyone tried calling customer support so see if they will honour it?
Anyone experiencing significant delays with transferring their points? I'm almost at 24hours and its still not posted
The fact that fuel surcharges are even heftier ex-US is precisely because of these sort of 40% bonuses that never occur elsewhere...
@DenB - are you ever not complaining?
@MK - do you ever discuss people's contributions on the merits?
Something to note is that you can freely transfer BA Avios to either Iberia or Aer Lingus. So even though the bonus is for BA, you can transfer to BA and then move those to Iberia. There are some technicalities to this so make sure your BA account and your Iberia accounts are linked first.
QR reimposed significant surcharges just days ago. If you've been reading all the great news about reduced redemption rates on QR using BA Avios or QR Avios, with easy transfer between them, you might have missed it. Ben hasn't posted about it yet. It's not nothing. Wait for Ben's post on new QR surcharges before acting on this opportunity.