Amex has just launched a new partnership, which makes it easier to redeem Membership Rewards points for maximum value…
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Amex’s point.me for Membership Rewards points feature
I’ve written in the past about point.me, which is an award search tool that’s intended to make it easier to redeem your points (full disclosure — I have a small stake in point.me, as in early 2022 my award consulting service, PointsPros, joined forces with point.me). A point.me membership usually costs $12 per month or $129 per year for unlimited award searches, though there’s a new option for those with cards earning Amex Membership Rewards points.
Thanks to the new point.me for Membership Rewards points collaboration, those with eligible Amex cards can log into their Amex accounts and then do award searches with point.me, without even needing an additional membership.
The only catch with this collaboration is that you’ll only see redemption options available with Amex Membership Rewards points. Fortunately Amex has more transfer partners than any other transferable points currency, so that covers quite a few programs. So this could in some ways come in handy if you’re looking for help with redeeming other points currencies as well.
This is another great perk of having an Amex card, since this is a membership that some people would otherwise pay for.
This demystifies maximizing Amex points
As any miles & points geek knows, the trick to maximizing transferable points currencies is to understand the frequent flyer programs that you can transfer your credit card points to. You often don’t want to transfer your points to the program of the airline you actually want to fly with, but rather you want to transfer the points to the program offering the best redemption value. Those are often not the same, and this is where there’s a ton of value with programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, etc.
The beauty of point.me is that it really demystifies this for the average consumer. You can just enter your origin, destination, desired travel date, and class of service, and then you’ll see all the options that are available with your points.
This means you don’t actually have to know the redemption values of the different programs and don’t have to search availability with each program independently, as point.me takes care of that for you. Then point.me even gives you a step-by-step guide of how to transfer your points, since that can also be confusing.
Bottom line
Amex Membership Rewards has a new partnership with point.me, allowing those with eligible cards to use point.me to search for award availability. This is an exciting new collaboration that should benefit all kinds of consumers who want to maximize their rewards.
What do you make of the new Amex & point.me collaboration?
Is AmEx point.me just for single from/to/date combinations? It looks like point.me also has an "Explore" tool for when searching for a more flexible itinerary, but I don't see how to use that with the AmEx access.
I prefer AwardTool, which is far better than the point.me. This has became my favorite award search tool
Sorry to say this But, PointsYeah is very Good!
The problem is point.me is by far the worst of these search engine things available these days. Slow, inaccurate, and not even complete across all of the airlines. Basically a joke, amd honestly makes me think less of amex for even being associated with that crap.
I’ve heard several people echo this and I know from experience to be true as well: point.me is missing many award fights that are otherwise available on the airlines’ websites. Singapore being the most glaring example. Until point.me becomes more reliable, I don’t see myself relying on it much to find award deals.
A most consumer friendly and easier Award search access will drive up the demand for the valuable award seats but not their supply.
Hence overall making these search tools available "for free" by Amex may be off less help for those familiar with the different points programs.
Until a couple of years ago it was still relatively easy to find and book business class award seats between major destinations. They have become very sparse.
Not working for me. I have many cards , including Platinum Amex. I just get an "upgrade" button that doesn't work.
Never mind, working now!
I'm seeing limited options on the search (e.g. no quantas flights to new zealand, no emirates or any flights to MLE). This normal or do I have too many filters? played around with dates ~6 months out
I'm not seeing this option on either my Plat business or gold personal? What tab gets you there?
amex.point.me
I don't see any Aeroplan results contrary to what's being advertised
Seats.aero has both the cached continent to continent search and the slower 'live' point to point search
So much for just buying the annual point.me membership a few days ago LOL. I only use it exclusively for AMEX points - wonder if I can get my money back. Doubtful
Why does my blue search box say "Upgrade Now" instead of "Search" and not allow me to actually proceed with a search? Are only some Amex cards included?
Bilt introduced this feature several months ago. Of course, it's point.me for only the programs Bilt transfers to, but that is still quite a few, including Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and, uniquely, American Airlines.
I was so impressed I got a full point.me subscription and have been able to use it multiple times already.
AwardTool and PointsYeah are way better and best of all, FREE!
Can we assume this works for all AMEX partners like ANA & Qatar (not included in the BILT app searches)?
Just tried it but doesn't seem to work with AMEX Canada accounts. Would be nice if you added them too.
OK, I thought I was the only one. I tried from Canada and it doesn't work
What's the point? It's only supposed to show awards that can be redeemed when transferring from US AMEX MR points (which is very different from what Canadian AMEXs have access to).
How does Point.me compare to Seats.aero? I’m aware of the former but due to the limited trial I didn’t explore it much. Because Seats.aero allowed free searched up to two months in the future it allowed me to really get into it before shelling out money for the pro membership. Curious to hear pros and cons if anybody knows?
Get ready for mass devaluations now that the points & miles world will be as easy as a Google search.
Rip points niche.
Luckily the points and miles world is more than just MR though.
And you whine but probably never ever called Air Canada before.
This is great for the average consume. However, better educated consumers also mean greater demand for those sweet spots in each of the frequent flyer programs, which in turn will cause the sweet spots to disappear and the frequent flyer programs to become less valuable.
Congratulations Ben!
So is Aeroplan going to sue AMEX now for 3rd party searching like they sued the other guy?
Silly Bob, I’m sure Amex has approvals already, not like “the other guy”.
Amex (UK) also officially partnered with Global Airlines so I don't think Amex was really thinking through.
But but "fraud".
AC us using 3rd party scrapers and "fraud" as an excuse to block a dozen partners (SK added to the block list this week)
I m confused, now they are allowing any fraudster with an Amex easy access...hmmm