American Express: New Transfer Bonuses
American Express (US) just announced several new transfer bonuses:
- 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Miles valid until 8/31/24. For every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer, you get 1,200 Hawaiian Miles.
- 30% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios valid until 9/30/24. For every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer, you get 1,300 British Airways Avios.
- 30% transfer bonus to Iberia Avios valid until 9/30/24. For every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer, you get 1,300 Iberia Avios.
- 30% transfer bonus to Aer Lingus Avios valid until 9/30/24. For every 1,000 Membership Rewards points you transfer, you get 1,300 Aer Lingus Avios.
Don’t sleep on these limited-time transfer bonuses!
Importantly, Qatar Airways and Finnair also use Avios as their loyalty programs’ currency. Since you can combine your Avios across all Avios-bearing airlines (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, and Qatar Airways), this 30% bonus indirectly works for Qatar Airways and Finnair as well!
What’s more, you can use any of these Avios airline programs to book other Oneworld alliance airlines at a discounted rate as well. We’ll go over some examples below.
Note that in order to leverage this bonus, you need an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points, Amex’s transferrable points currency. This bonus is not applicable to any of American Express’ co-branded credit cards with specific airline or hotel loyalty programs, such as Delta or Hilton, which allow you to earn points or miles only in that partner’s specific loyalty program. Additionally, certain cards – like The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express and the American Express Cash Magnet® Card – only earn cash back in the form of Reward Dollars, not transferrable Membership Rewards. Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout!
Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points include:
- Amex EveryDay® Credit Card
- Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card
- American Express® Green Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
30% Transfer Bonus to British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia Through Sept 30, 2024
If you don’t know how to leverage this transfer bonus, keep reading for some ideas! Please keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive: it’s only meant to show you some of the possibilities at your fingertips, and hopefully inspire your travels.
Iberia Business Class to Madrid
Usually, select airports from the US East Coast can fly to Madrid for 34K Avios in business class (one-way) if you book through Iberia’s frequent flyer program. Using this 30% transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 27K Amex Membership Rewards points to book this type of flight!
Aer Lingus Business Class to Dublin
On off-peak dates, Aer Lingus Business Class to Dublin costs 50K Avios. With the 30% transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 39K points to book this flight!
Finnair Business Class to Helsinki
Finnair Business Class to Helsinki usualy costs 62.5K Avios. In this case, you can book this sort of flight for only 49K points! While Amex doesn’t directly offer the 30% transfer bonus to Finnair, you can transfer 49K Membership Rewards points to British Airways Executive Club, then combine your British Airways Avios with your Finnair Avios.
Qatar Airways QSuites to Doha and beyond
Qatar Airways QSuites to Doha usually costs 70K points, whether you’re booking via British Airways Executive Club or Qatar Airways Privilege Club. By leveraging Amex’s 30% transfer bonus to either of these airlines, you’d only need to transfer 54K Membership Rewards points to book this 70K Avios flight!
What’s more, you can fly beyond Doha for just a few additional miles! QSuites to the Maldives usually cost 85K Avios one-way, which means you’d only need to transfer 66K Membership Rewards points to book them during this transfer bonus period.
Similarly, Qatar Airways QSuites to Bali usually costs around 100K Avios. However, by leveraging the transfer bonus you’d only need to use 77K points to book this flight:
Cathay Pacific Business Class to Hong Kong
You can usually use Finnair’s frequent flyer program to book Cathay Pacific Business Class to Asia for 75K Avios. By indirectly leveraging the 30% transfer bonus (transfer Membership Rewards points to British Airways, then combine your Avios with Finnair), you only need 58K points to book this business class flight to Hong Kong!
JAL Business Class to Tokyo
Flying Japan Airlines (JAL) Business Class to Tokyo can vary in cost, but routes from LAX typically require 77,250 Avios when booked through British Airways. However, by taking advantage of a 30% transfer bonus, you only need to transfer 60,000 Membership Rewards points to enjoy this experience. This competitive pricing is comparable to American Airlines AAdvantage’s standard fixed-chart rate for JAL flights to Tokyo, which is also 60,000 AAdvantage miles and is regarded as one of the best ways to travel to Asia.
Fly: Qatar Airways QSuites to Bali
Cost: 77K points (originally 100K)
Book through: Qatar Airways
20% Transfer Bonus to Hawaiian Airlines Through Aug 31, 2024
American Express’ 20% transfer bonus to Hawaiian Airlines, running through August 31, 2024, is also not to be overlooked! The best way that you can leverage it is to book Hawaiin Airlines First Class to Hawaii in their lie-flat suites, available on routes operated by a Boeing 787-9! A route like LAX-HNL usually costs 40K Hawaiian Miles, but you’d only need to transfer 31K Membership Rewards points during this promo.
Happy travels!
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Note: Opinions expressed here are ours alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
