Transfer american express points to alaska airlines

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When you're dealing with credit card points and airline miles, there are some key differences. The ability to transfer credit card points to different airline and hotel accounts makes these points incredibly versatile and valuable. And that's an area where American Express Membership Rewards points truly excel.

With nearly two dozen Amex transfer partners at your disposal between airlines and hotel chains, the ability to transfer American Express points open up a world of travel opportunities. But whether you're a newbie to points and miles or an old hand, these transfers are a whole new can of worms, with confusing twists and considerations to keep in mind.

We'll show you how to transfer your American Express Membership points – and some of the best Amex transfer partners to keep in mind.

• 20+ Amex Transfer Partners to Choose From
  • Amex Airline Transfer Partners
  • Amex Hotel Transfer Partners
• American Express Transfer Bonuses Sweeten the Deal
  • Top American Express Transfer Bonus Partners
  • Chase vs Amex Transfer Bonuses: Who Wins?
• How to Transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points
  • Do Your Research Before You Transfer Your Amex Points
• How to Earn Amex Points

20+ Amex Transfer Partners to Choose From

Before we get into the “how?”, let’s cover the “who” and “where?” As in, who is Amex partners with? Where can you transfer your American Express Membership Rewards?

With more than 20 transfer partners overall, American Express has the largest stable of airline and hotel partners out there – more than similar points programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, or Citi ThankYou Points.

Below are the current options, as well as how long it takes to move points from your American Express account to an airline or hotel brand – and breakouts on some of our favorite options.

Amex Airline Transfer Partners

Let's go over some important points before we highlight some of the strongest American Express transfer partners. Unlike Chase transfer partners, from which every single point transfers on a 1:1 basis to an airline or hotel account, there are some poorer transfer ratios here. For example, you'll need to transfer 1.25 points to JetBlue to get 1 TrueBlue mile.

That said, there are a handful of great options to consider here…

The Best Amex Airline Transfer Partners

Let's run through some of the best, most worthwhile Amex transfer partners – and areas where they shine.

• Looking to pad your Delta SkyMiles balance? American Express Membership Rewards are the only credit card points that transfer to Delta, making these credit cards a strong option if you want to hop on the next great SkyMiles flash sale.
• Air Canada's Aeroplan program is great, especially if flying business class is your thing. With a hybrid pricing formula that charges more points the farther you fly, business class flights from the U.S. to Europe start at 60,000 points – or you can fly the incomparable Lufthansa First Class for 90,000 to 100,000 points each way. You can get all the way to Asia in business class starting at 75,000 points. Or stay closer to home and redeem flights on United, with transcontinental jaunts up front at 25,000 points each way or roundtrip flights to Hawaii starting at 25,000 points.
• Looking to fly to Japan in business class for the same amount of miles most airlines charge for economy? ANA Mileage Club is your answer, and it's another great transfer partner with dirt-cheap rates to fly to Europe as well: Just 88,000 miles roundtrip – read our guide on how to book business class flights to Europe using ANA miles
• Virgin Atlantic is one of our absolute favorite Amex transfer partners, and it's another great option. When Delta is charging 280,000 SkyMiles or more to fly in Delta One, you can snag the exact same seat by transferring just 50,000 Amex points to Virgin Atlantic. In general, Virgin Atlantic can be a great way to save miles to fly Delta. Frequent transfer bonuses of 10% to 30% or more just make it better.

• Keep Iberia in mind, as it offers one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe in business class using miles: 34,000 miles each way! It's worth considering Iberia if you have some short domestic flights in the U.S. coming up, as you can use miles from this Spain-based carrier to fly on American Airlines due to their partnership through the Oneworld alliance, too.
• Air France and KLM's Flying Blue program can be worth a hard look, especially if you're catching a big discount on one of the monthly Flying Blue Promo Rewards tickets to Europe. Flying Blue slashes economy, premium economy, or business class award tickets on select routes between the U.S. and Europe by as much as 50% each month. But one of our favorite uses of Flying Blue miles is booking Delta flights from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii. Time it right and you can find flights just 35,000 miles round-trip, no matter where you depart from.
• Singapore Air’s KrisFlyer Miles program is a strong option, largely because it is so easy to pile up points. Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Marriott Bonvoy points all transfer to Singapore, too. Transferring miles to Singapore is your only way to book business or first class on one of the world’s best airlines. However, the airline has also expanded the ability to book online with partner airlines.
• Avianca Lifemiles is one of the strongest airline programs out there. This quirky Colombian airline's miles are insanely versatile and lucrative. As a whole, LifeMiles mixes good rates on award flights with very low fees and no fuel surcharges. Considering many airlines pass on hundreds of dollars in fees, that’s a recipe for a great frequent flyer program. You can book domestic flights on United Airlines for fewer miles than United itself would charge. It’s also one of the best ways to book flights in business or first class to Asia.

Amex Hotel Transfer Partners

While Chase has some very valuable hotel transfer options like Hyatt in its portfolio, it's an admittedly weak spot for American Express Membership Rewards.

The Best Amex Hotel Transfer Partners

None of them. Honestly.

The idea of building your stash of hotel points may seem alluring. That's especially true with Hilton Honors, with its 1:2 transfer ratio that means transferring 1,000 Amex points nets you 2,000 Hilton Honors points.

But the fact of the matter is that these hotel points are worth far, far less than almost any airline you've got at your disposal with Amex. We'd much rather have 10,000 miles with Iberia, Virgin Atlantic, etc. than 10,000 points with Marriott or Hilton because those airline miles will get you much farther.

Unless if you're a few thousand points short of a redemption and topping off your hotel account would get you there, you're probably better off skipping Amex hotel transfer partners.

American Express Transfer Bonuses Sweeten the Deal

You like airline miles, right? How about some free miles?

Several times every year, American Express teams up with a specific airline or hotel program to give travelers a bonus to transfer their miles. From 10% extra to 30% or more, these bonuses are basically free airline miles. And lately, we've seen at least one new transfer bonus opportunity each month.

Top American Express Transfer Bonus Partners

When it comes to Amex transfer partner bonuses, there are some frequent culprits. And that's not a bad thing.

At least once or twice a year, we see transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Iberia, and Air France/KLM, ranging from 20% to as much as a 40% bonus. Every now and again, we'll see bonuses of 20% to 25% or so to Avianca LifeMiles, Qantas, and occasionally Air Canada Aeroplan.

Unfortunately, it's been more than a decade since Amex has offered a transfer bonus to Delta SkyMiles – don't count on it happening again. And we're not aware of Amex ever rolling out a transfer bonus to ANA Mileage Club.

That said, here are some of the best historical transfer bonuses we've seen:

• In the spring of 2022, we saw a stellar 40% Amex transfer bonus to British Airways Avios, unlocking great deals like flying Qatar Qsuites for just 50,000 points or roundtrip flights to Hawaii for only 19,000 points.
• Last year, we saw the floodgates open with no less than 12 Amex transfer bonuses to an array of Amex transfer partners.
• We typically see transfer bonuses of 30% to Virgin Atlantic at least twice a year, which is a great way to book Delta One suites for cheap or even fly first class to Tokyo and back on ANA.
• Just like British Airways, we've seen Amex transfer bonuses to Iberia as high as 40% – meaning you can book a roundtrip flight to Madrid in business class for as low as 49,000 Membership Rewards points.

Chase vs Amex Transfer Bonuses: Who Wins?

Though it has started to change, Chase has been more stingy with these transfer bonuses than Amex.

That's part of the reason why, in the battle between Amex points vs Chase points, the Amex transfer bonus reigns supreme. Amex seems to roll out transfer bonuses more frequently than their No. 1 competitor – and bigger bonuses, too.

The same is largely true with Capital One points, though that has also started to change.

Curious how to track when these transfer bonuses pop up? Log in to your Amex account and check out the list of transfer partners, or just sign up for our daily newsletter. We'll let you know as soon as one of these great offers pops up.

How to Transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points

American Express allows you to transfer Membership Rewards points in 1,000-point increments (except jetBlue, which allows transfers of 250 points at a time) to any of the American Express transfer partners listed in the table above. Just how many points you'll get will depend on each partner's transfer ratio. 

Thrifty Tip #1: You’ll need an account with that airline or hotel chain before you start the transfer. No matter the airline or hotel, creating one of these accounts is free and only takes a few minutes.

First things first, you'll want to log in to your Amex account for the card that earns you Membership Rewards points. From there, click the “Rewards” option in the menu bar. 

From here, click the “Transfer Points” tab and then hit “View All” when it pops up below. 

And voila: All your Amex transfer partner options will pop up. Any loyalty accounts you've already linked will hover at the top of the page. And any current transfer bonuses will be highlighted with some handy orange text and a big “OFFER” sticker.

Do Your Research Before You Transfer Your Amex Points

Just beware: Once your transfer goes through, you can’t pull those miles back into your Amex account. That makes it critical to do your research and make sure sending your miles to that partner is the best way to go, and that the award tickets you want to book are available. 

Once you've decided where you want to transfer your points and linked the account, you're ready. Just click on the account and enter how many points you want to transfer over.

With a handful of different transfer ratios, it can be difficult to keep track of how many miles you'll actually get. Luckily, Amex makes it very clear just how it shakes out.

You'll have to enter some details from your Amex card to finalize the transfer. And finally, there's one last quirk to be aware of. When you transfer to U.S. airlines (Delta, jetBlue, or Hawaiian), you'll get hit with a small fee: .06 cents per point. A transfer of 20,000 Membership Rewards points will cost you $12. These fees are capped at $99. And while American Express allows you to cover the fee with points, that's a bad decision.

Once you're done, just hit confirm and transfer those points. Most of these transfers will clear instantly, but a handful of partners take 12 to 48 hours or more. Check out the chart above to get a sense of how long it may take to get those miles in your account.

Thrifty Tip: Want to combine with a spouse, friend, or family member? If you add them as an authorized user, American Express allows you to transfer Membership Rewards directly to their own airline or hotel accounts (after a waiting period).

How to Earn Amex Points

Now you just need some American Express points. You’re in luck. American Express has a handful of credit cards to earn Membership Rewards points.

We love The Platinum Card® from American Express. It starts with an 80,000 point welcome bonus after spending $6,000 in six months, but be sure to check and see if you qualify for a 150,000-point bonus via CardMatch That’s a huge stash of points that could get you some serious travel. Add in the unbeatable suite of travel perks like unrivaled lounge access, $400 in credits split between airline fees and Uber rides, and it’s easy to see why the array Amex Platinum Benefits makes it one of our favorite cards.

After Amex revamped the card with some great rewards for dining purchases and credits, this card is easily one of the best all-around cards on the market (terms apply).

Bottom Line

It's not quite as simple as using your points toward a great flight deal, but the ability to transfer American Express points opens up a whole new world of travel. Use this guide to maximize those Amex points.

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