For the month of September 2022, American Express US is putting on a veritable bonanza of transfer bonuses.
If you’ve gotten into the US credit card game, you’ll most certainly want to think about making some moves with your Amex US Membership Rewards points this month.
Amex US Transfer Bonuses to 12 Partners
Until September 30, 2022, you can earn the following bonuses when you transfer Amex US MR points to one of 12 airline and hotel partners:
- 25% transfer bonus to Aer Lingus AerClub
- 20% transfer bonus to Aeromexico Club Premier
- 15% transfer bonus to Aeroplan
- 25% transfer bonus to Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- 15% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles
- 25% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios
- 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- 20% transfer bonus to Qantas Frequent Flyer
- 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- 25% transfer bonus to Choice Privileges
- 30% transfer bonus to Hilton Honors
- 20% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy
With such an abundance of transfer bonus possibilities, which programs might you consider transferring points to – especially as a Canadian who dabbles in US credit cards?
Let’s take a look at some of my top picks for where I personally might transfer my Amex US MR points, with various different travel goals in mind.
1. Book ANA First Class with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for 43,000 US MR Points
For anyone who’s inclined to redeem points for aspirational travel experiences, this is hands-down the best way to take advantage of Amex US’s September bonus bonanza.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club charges only 55,000 or 60,000 Flying Club miles to book a direct flight on ANA First Class from the US West Coast or East Coast, respectively.
Once you factor in the 30% transfer bonus, that reduces to only 43,000 or 47,000 US MR points.
In addition to North America–Tokyo flights, you could also book one of ANA’s New 777 First Class routes to London or Frankfurt for the same 60,000 Flying Club miles or 46,200 US MR points with the 30% bonus.
Since award space cannot be searched online, you typically need to locate ANA First Class award space using another search engine (like ExpertFlyer or Aeroplan), and then call Virgin Atlantic to book.
2. Boost Your Balances with Aeroplan / Avios / Flying Blue
Virgin Atlantic & ANA First Class is the only singular sweet spot that I think is worth aiming for under these Amex US September 2022 transfer bonuses. Some of the other transfer partners may still be appealing, but they’d be pursued with other purposes in mind.
For example, maybe you’re looking to keep things fairly simple in terms of your airline points for the time being, without spreading yourself too thin across multiple programs.
If that’s the case, then consolidating your points balances to programs that we can easily earn in Canada might make the most sense.
The 20% transfer bonus to Aeroplan could be your best bet if you’re eyeing one of Aeroplan’s best sweet spots, or perhaps the 25% transfer bonus to the Avios family of programs (British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus) in pursuit of a Qatar Airways Qsuites redemption.
Keep in mind that Avios are freely transferrable between British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus’s Avios programs, as long as your accounts have been open for at least 90 days.
Therefore, it doesn’t matter too much which of the three Avios programs you convert points to – just pick the one that you’re most likely to use the soonest.
Similarly, Air France/KLM Flying Blue is a program that we’ve recently gotten to know as a new Amex MR transfer partner up here in Canada.
By combining the points you earn from the Canadian side with the 25% transfer bonus from the US MR side, you can boost your balance and reach sweet spots – like the program’s monthly Promo Rewards or 64,000 Flying Blue miles for Air France business class from Los Angeles to Tahiti – that much quicker.
3. Diversify Your Options with Avianca LifeMiles
Of course, most Canadians get into the US credit card game for the express purpose of diversifying their options compared to the programs we have access to in Canada.
In this regard, Avianca LifeMiles and its 15% transfer bonus is perhaps the most interesting, as it can be a useful diversification option for Star Alliance premium flights even if Aeroplan is your primary program.
Lufthansa First Class is the primary example that comes to mind. With Aeroplan, you’ll pay either 90,000 or 100,000 Aeroplan points for a one-way transatlantic flight in Lufthansa’s most luxurious cabin.
Compare that to 87,000 Avianca LifeMiles, equivalent to 76,000 US MR points with the 15% bonus in play, and you can easily see how it can be useful to keep on hand a stash of LifeMiles to supplement your Aeroplan balance.
Similarly, consider a simple transatlantic flight on Swiss business class from Chicago to Zurich: that’s either 70,000 Aeroplan points or 63,000 LifeMiles, equivalent to 55,000 US MR points with the 15% bonus.
Keep in mind that LifeMiles works best with simple, straightforward routings like the examples presented here. On the other hand, the program has its fair share of quirks, such as offering cheaper pricing on mixed-cabin awards that can be used to your advantage.
4. Book an Aeromexico Round-the-World Award for 184,000 US MR Points
For the true maximizers out there, perhaps the opportunity to book a 16-segment round-the-world award on SkyTeam airlines (while sharpening your Spanish skills through Aeromexico’s call centre) for only 184,000 US MR points is too good to resist.
We’ve covered the Aeromexico Club Premier round-the-world award in detail, noting that it’s a highly complex redemption opportunity that could nevertheless be very powerful if you managed to pull it off. You could stop in 15 cities around the world over the course of a year while flying in SkyTeam’s best lie-flat seats.
The caveats? You’ll likely face $1,000+ in fuel surcharges, the booking process can be fairly arduous over the phone, and of course, who knows when this type of trip will be realistic given the state of the world.
Still, if you feel like rolling the dice on a post-pandemic sabbatical, a comprehensive round-the-world trip for 220,000 US MR points is normally already a sweet deal – and it’s even better with a 20% transfer bonus, bringing the cost down to 184,000 US MR points.
Conclusion
While a transfer bonus bonanza to 12 airline and hotel partners might look overwhelming at first glance, we can distill the list down to a handful of potentially attractive uses of Amex US MR points from a Canadian collector’s perspective.
I’d focus all my attention on the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club sweet spot during this round of transfer bonuses if a deeply-discounted ANA First Class redemption is something that interests you.
Otherwise, this is a decent opportunity to either consolidate your balances into popular award programs like Aeroplan or Avios, or diversify into adjacent programs like Avianca LifeMiles for your future flying needs.
