Amex Adds LHW Leaders Club As Transfer Partner: Worth It For Luxury Hotels?

Amex Membership Rewards, which is one of the major transferable points programs, has just added a new points transfer partner. Specifically, you can now move points to Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club, potentially unlocking stays at hundreds of luxury properties, including some of the most well regarded in the world.

Transfer Amex points to Leaders Club at a 4:1 ratio

The Amex Membership Rewards program in the United States has just added Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) Leaders Club as its newest transfer partner. The transfer ratio is 4:1, and you can transfer Amex points in minimum increments of 1,000 points (which would earn you 250 Leaders Club points).

This is Amex Membership Rewards’ 20th travel transfer partner, and fourth hotel transfer partner. Amex is the second transferable points currency to partner with Leaders Club, after Citi ThankYou (though with Citi the transfer ratio is 5:1, so on the surface, Amex is a better deal). There are several great cards earning Amex Membership Rewards points.

What is Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club?

Many people understandably might not be familiar with Leading Hotels of the World or Leaders Club, so let’s talk about that. Leading Hotels of the World is a collection of independent luxury hotels, with over 400 properties in 80 countries around the globe. Chances are that you’re familiar with some of LHW’s properties, even if you didn’t know they were associated with the group.

You should think of Leading Hotels of the World as more of a hotel marketing group than as a single hotel group. LHW doesn’t manage its hotels, but rather markets a group of otherwise independent luxury hotels. As a matter of fact, many properties of smaller hotel groups, like Rocco Forte, etc., belong to LHW.

Leading Hotels of the World is along the lines of Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), which Hilton Honors has a partnership with. I would say that on balance LHW properties are a bit higher end than SLH properties, as LHW has some truly iconic properties, like the Ritz Paris.

Is transferring Amex points to Leaders Club worth it?

What is award pricing like with Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club? Pricing is dynamic, and you can search award costs by logging into your account and then going through the booking process.

Let me note that what’s really cool about this partnership is that you can redeem at some independent luxury hotels that you can’t otherwise currently efficiently book with transferable points.

Based on just about all the hotels that I’ve searched, each Leaders Club point gets you an average of around eight cents (in USD) toward the cost of a hotel stay — in some cases it’s a bit higher, and in some cases it’s a bit lower. So when you factor in the 4:1 transfer ratio from Amex Membership Rewards to Leaders Club, that means you’re potentially getting a very respectable two cents of value per point.

That’s a really good redemption rate, though let me note that the eight cents of value is in comparison to what LHW would otherwise charge, and in some cases you might find better rates elsewhere. Furthermore, these luxury hotels almost entirely belong to programs like Virtuoso, so you are giving up some perks by booking this way.

Bottom line

The Amex Membership Rewards program has added Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club as its newest transfer partner. Points transfer at a 4:1 ratio, and this is a great opportunity to book independent luxury hotels that you couldn’t otherwise efficiently redeem points for.

As of now, it appears to me that Leaders Club points are worth around eight cents each toward the cost of a redemption, so given the 4:1 transfer ratio, you could be redeeming Amex points for around two cents each toward luxury hotel stays. That could be a great value, assuming these are properties you’d otherwise conisder booking.

What’s your take on transferring Amex points to Leaders Club?