So many of you have American Express Membership Rewards points. Maybe you got 75,000 on Tuesday…maybe it was 100,000 a couple weeks ago…or maybe you’ve been saving them for a while. You have a few good transfer options for your points. For me, only the last 3 make sense. For some of you, only the last one matters:
- Wait for Delta promotions. In case I haven’t made it obvious, I hate the Delta SkyMiles program. If you feel differently, you’ll occasionally find a decent transfer bonus.
- Wait for a crappy transfer bonus. You’ll see some weak transfer options pop up for Hilton, Virgin, or other airlines where the math doesn’t really work in your favor. Virgin sometimes works because you can transfer again to Hilton (at a 2 to 1 ratio).
- Transfer to a great airline. There aren’t many left for Membership Rewards, but Singapore Air comes to mind. One of the great premium cabins in the world!
- Wait for a British Airways promotion. There’s always a bonus popping up (usually 30% to 50%) on transfers to British Air. I’ve done it a few times, and these points are incredible for short flights like the west coast to Hawaii.
- Transfer to All Nippon Airways (explained below).
ANA just stopped charging fuel surcharge fees on partner flights with United. This was already the case with US Airways. This is great news. Translation: Fuel surcharges suck. When you use miles to book an international flight and still have to pay hundreds in fees, it takes the fun out of using miles at all. ANA has a great mileage chart based on distance. It’s definitely a great use of your Membership Rewards or Starwood points.
