Lots of Transfer Bonuses for Amex Membership Rewards Points

On the day when the Amex Schwab Platinum card is supposed to lose the 1.25 cents cashing-out option (going down to 1.1) for Membership Rewards points, Amex has launched many transfer bonuses for airline and hotel partners. You can still cash out the points for 1.25 cents for now, but that should go away at any moment. However, those who know how to maximize value, can usually do better with transfer partners. That especially true with airline partners, and thanks to these current transfer bonuses, the transfer ratio is now much better.

One bonus that stands out is for Avios, where you can get an extra 40% in points. So for every 1,000 Membership Rewards points that you transfer, you would receive 1,400 Avios points. But there’s also a 30% bonus for Virgin Atlantic, 25% for Flying Blue and Hawaiian, 20% for Air Canada Aeroplan and many others. There are 12 transfer bonuses in total, so you have plenty of options.

Transfer Bonuses

Avios (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus): 40% bonus (1000:1400)
Virgin Atlantic: 30% bonus (1000:1300)
Flying Blue: 25% bonus (1000:1250)
AeroMexico: 25% bonus (1000:2000)
Hawaiian: 25% bonus (1000:1250)
Aeroplan: 20% bonus (1000:1200)
Qantas: 20% bonus (500:600)
Avianca LifeMiles: 15% bonus (1000:1150)
Hilton Honors: 30% bonus (2000:2600)
Marriott Bonvoy: 30% bonus (1000:1300)

Check out your accounts. You might see different bonuses as well. All the airline transfer bonuses are available until September 30. The two hotel transfer bonuses are available through October 31, 2021.

Guru’s Wrap-up

We see these transfer bonuses from time to time. But this is a rare occasion where Amex has offered these many transfer bonuses at once. This is a good opportunity to transfer points if you have immediate travel plans. But don’t transfer points speculatively. You can’t transfer them back.

Did you cash out all your Membership Rewards points through Schwab? Or if you have a good stash of points, which transfer bonus are you most excited about?