What is the best use of American Express Membership Rewards points?
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I have written numerous articles before about using American Express Membership Rewards points and a few pieces on how I value airline miles and hotel points. This meant that, when a reader suggested I summarise the best ways to use Amex points, I had a lot of existing data to pull together.
This will become another reference article for the site. It does NOT cover every Membership Rewards redemption but it does cover the bulk of the pseudo-cash, cash and travel options. All that is missing is the various merchandise options and they are generally poor value.
The Amex Membership Rewards website is here if you want to look for yourself at what is available.
Please post below with any comments, observations or anecdotes about your own redemptions.
0.75p – 1.5p per point
Airline miles. My most recent piece on valuing Avios points, based on the post-devaluation numbers, is here. It is impossible to tie down a tighter range because of the number of different airline partners and the various ways (upgrade, long-haul, short-haul, economy, premium) you can redeem.
1p per point (potentially)
Melia Hotel redemptions. You redeem for a voucher for a free night – 14,000 points for Grand Melia down to 5,500 points for a Tryp Hotel. The issue is that ‘Offer runs for limited dates only’ and it is not clear if there is a price cap beyond which vouchers will not be accepted for that night. (Go to the MR website and type ‘Melia’ in the search box to see the options.)
1p per point
Club Carlson hotel transfers. I explain my valuation in this article. [EDIT: Following the June 1st 2015 devaluation, Club Carlson points are worth less than they were. That said, 1p per Amex point is still possible, just more difficult.]
0.75p per point
Starwood Preferred Guest hotel transfers. I explain my valuation in this article. 1.5p per SPG point means, at a 2:1 exchange rate, 0.75p per Amex point.
0.66p per point
Hilton HHonors hotel transfers. I explain my valuation in this article. Remember that the conversion rate is 1:2 to Hilton.
0.5p per point
Retailer gift cards – Starbucks, M&S, Harrods, SpaFinder, iTunes, car hire vouchers etc.
0.5p per point (potential for up to 1p per point)
Value of a Nectar point, given that you can redeem Amex points for Nectar points at a 1:1 ratio. Occasional Nectar redemptions offer better value than this, eg during a ‘double up’ promotion at Sainsbury you would get 1p. Photobox gives 0.6p per Nectar point. Caffe Nero gives roughly 0.75p. Pizza Express gives 0.75p but there are restrictions on use.
0.5p per point
Approximate value of using your points for Eurostar tickets (15,000 points for Standard, 30,000 for Standard Premier) based on the maximum cash price of tickets which are offered for redemption. This article explains more.
0.45p per point
Redeeming for TripFlex statement credit – ie using your points to settle a travel-related charge to your statement. I explain more in this article.
0.45p per point
Redeeming for American Express gift cards which can be used in any UK shop or online store which accepts Amex.
0.45p per point
Linking your Amex account to amazon.co.uk and paying for your purchases directly with points (more in this article)
0.4p per point
Redeeming for American Express statement credit. This is fall back option – there is no excuse for redeeming for anything worse than this ratio.
0.19p – 0.33p per point
Typical merchandise redemptions, eg Samsung Gear Fit at £89 on Amazon vs 45,000 points (0.19p). Some others are a bit better eg Galaxy Tab 4 at £117 vs 41,000 points (0.29p) or iPad Air 64GB Wi-Fi at £396 vs 119,210 points (0.33p). In all of these cases, you are better off buying the item at Amazon on your Amex card and taking 0.4p per point of statement credit to pay it off.
I hope this gives you some ideas for using your points. If you use them sensibly, the 20,000 points sign-up bonus on the free American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (see review) could be worth £200 – and in the very worst case (taking statement credit) you will still receive £80.
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