If cash is slightly tight this yr, chances are you’ll discover your American Specific Membership Rewards factors steadiness is greater than your financial savings account steadiness. In the event you fall into this camp, chances are you’ll surprise how one can flip a few of your Membership Rewards factors into vacation presents this season.
Sometimes we would advocate redeeming your factors for a visit. Journey is among the finest presents you may give anybody — particularly for those who may give your time and the reward of journey collectively. Additionally, redeeming your Membership Rewards factors for journey will usually present essentially the most worth in your factors.
Nonetheless, not everybody can journey or desires to journey. Though redeeming your factors for journey usually offers essentially the most worth on a cents-per-point foundation, the very best redemption is the one which helps you meet your targets. Proper now, your particular person targets might not contain a flight or resort.
Whether or not you wish to reward journey, a toy or the most recent and biggest gadget, let’s take a better have a look at the finest methods to redeem Amex Membership Rewards factors for presents this vacation season.
Switch Amex factors to journey companions to guide award journey
Some transferable rewards applications allow you to share rewards with others. Nonetheless, Amex is among the extra restrictive applications in relation to sharing. Particularly, Amex solely permits you to switch Membership Rewards factors to your loyalty accounts or the loyalty accounts of your approved customers.
Fortunately, most airline and resort loyalty applications let you guide awards for others once you’re touring collectively. Some loyalty applications even let you guide journey for others after they’re touring with out you. So, you could possibly give the reward of journey this vacation season by reserving award journey for others.
In the event you’re seeking to guide award journey this vacation season, you’ll be able to switch your factors to the next Membership Rewards switch companions:
- Airline loyalty applications: Aer Lingus AerClub, Aeromexico Rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, ANA Mileage Membership, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Government Membership, Cathay Pacific Cathay, Delta SkyMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Visitor, HawaiianMiles, Iberia Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Membership, Singapore Airways KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership
- Lodge loyalty applications: Selection Privileges, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy
TPG’s December 2024 valuations peg the worth of Membership Rewards factors at about 2 cents every. So, you may usually wish to goal to get a minimum of 2 cents per level once you switch to journey companions. Nonetheless, be sure that award availability exists earlier than transferring.
Each day Publication
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day publication
Be a part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s consultants
Though most transfers are prompt, it may typically take as much as 48 hours for factors to switch. Try our article on how lengthy American Specific Membership Rewards transfers take to estimate switch instances.
Associated: Which is the very best American Specific bank card for you?
Use Amex Pay with Factors to guide journey
Amex Pay with Factors permits you to redeem Membership Rewards factors for 1 cent every once you guide airfare via Amex Journey. So, a $1,000 flight would price 100,000 Membership Rewards factors for those who use The Platinum Card® from American Specific or the American Specific® Gold Card.
Nonetheless, holders of choose Amex enterprise playing cards get a rebate when utilizing Pay with Factors for airfare as follows:
- The Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Specific: Get 35% of your factors again once you use Pay with Factors for first- and business-class flights on any airline or flights in any class in your chosen airline, as much as 1 million factors again per calendar yr.
- Centurion Enterprise Card from American Specific: Get 50% of your factors again once you use Pay with Factors for first- and business-class flights on any airline or flights on a particular airline in any class. Per Upgraded Factors, starting Feb. 1, 2025, Amex will impose a cap of three million factors again yearly for cardholders.
The data for the Centurion Enterprise card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.
Better of all, you’ll be able to guide a flight for anybody utilizing Pay with Factors.
You may as well guide pay as you go inns, cruises, automobile leases and holidays utilizing Pay with Factors via Amex Journey. Nonetheless, you may solely get 0.7 cents per level, so $700 in pay as you go resort stays will price 100,000 Membership Rewards factors.
You will get a barely higher redemption price of 1 cent per level for those who use Pay with Factors for a pay as you go keep booked via Amex’s Nice Inns + Resorts program. Be mindful, although, that solely choose Amex cardmembers can entry this premium resort program.
Associated: Your full information to maximizing vacation purchases
Redeem Amex factors for reward playing cards
You may as well redeem Membership Rewards factors for quite a lot of reward playing cards. Nonetheless, redemption charges rely upon the kind of reward card and present (focused) affords obtainable:
- 1 cent per Membership Rewards level (for instance, $1,000 in reward playing cards for 100,000 factors) for many reward playing cards
- 0.85 cents per level for choose reward playing cards, together with Greatest Western, Bonefish Grill and Macy’s
- 0.7 cents per level for choose reward playing cards, together with Greatest Purchase, 4 Seasons, Hilton, Marriott, Starbucks and Uber
- 0.5 cents per level for American Specific reward playing cards (a $500 reward card for 100,000 factors). Notice that Amex is at present working a present card promotion, so your factors are value about 0.67 cents apiece.
Different reward card promotions on my Amex Platinum Membership Rewards account embody Apple reward playing cards at 1.06 cents per level; they had been beforehand 0.85 cents per level. Moreover, Delta Air Traces reward playing cards are at present being provided at 0.87 cents per level; they had been beforehand valued at 0.7 cents per level.
You will get a bodily or digital reward card for many redemptions. You may get hold of reward playing cards in numerous values, however most begin at $25 or $50.
Associated: What bank cards do you have to use to buy reward playing cards?
Use Amex Pay with Factors at checkout
Pay with Factors is not only for journey. You should use Pay with Factors at checkout once you store with numerous retailers, together with Amazon, Greatest Purchase, Dell, Grubhub, Seamless, PayPal, Ceremony Assist, Saks Fifth Avenue and Staples.
Nonetheless, paying with factors at these retailers normally is not a great use of your factors for those who’re in search of the very best return. You will solely get 0.7 cents per level for the retailers listed above once you redeem Membership Rewards factors. So, a $700 buy would price 100,000 Membership Rewards factors.
The redemption price is even worse at 0.5 cents per level for those who use Membership Rewards factors for occasion tickets via Ticketmaster.
Donate Amex factors to charity
You may as well donate your factors to charity. Particularly, you’ll be able to donate to greater than 1.5 million U.S. charities via JustGiving with Amex Pay with Factors.
You will get 0.7 cents per level once you make a JustGiving redemption. So, 100,000 Membership Rewards factors would offer $700 towards the charity you select.
Associated: The perfect bank cards to maximise your charitable donation
Cowl latest Amex card prices
In the event you purchase presents together with your card from retailers that do not take part in Pay with Factors, you would possibly think about using Membership Rewards factors to cowl your purchases.
Though you’ll be able to redeem Membership Rewards factors to cowl latest prices in your card, doing so will solely present a redemption price of 0.6 cents per level. So, you’d want 100,000 factors to cowl a $600 cost.
Associated: Earn extra and spend much less: Methods to use your factors and miles higher in 2025
Backside line
If money is tight or you might have a big stash of factors, chances are you’ll wish to use your American Specific Membership Rewards factors for vacation presents.
Need to give the reward of journey? You will get the very best worth out of your factors by transferring them to journey companions after which reserving luxurious resort stays or premium-cabin flights for family members. You may as well get 1 cent per level in worth when utilizing Pay with Factors to guide flights via Amex Journey.
Even for those who do not wish to give the reward of journey, you’ll be able to nonetheless get 1 cent per level in worth by redeeming factors for choose reward playing cards.
Understanding the redemption worth earlier than you redeem your factors for vacation presents is a good suggestion. One simple option to examine all of the choices in your Amex Membership Rewards factors is to make use of Amex’s Rewards Calculator.
