• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home  >  American Express • British Airways • Iberia  >  Why is British Airways Back to 1:1 with American Express?
American ExpressBritish AirwaysIberia

Why is British Airways Back to 1:1 with American Express?

Matthew Klint Posted onJuly 15, 2017November 14, 2023 6 Comments

a red and blue ribbon with blue text

Without notice or explanation, American Express Membership Rewards points once again transfer on a 1:1 basis to British Airways Avios.

American Express confirmed (via TPG) that this is not a temporary change akin to a transfer bonus.

Today, two of Amex’s Membership Rewards airline transfer partners, British Airways and Iberia, are increasing the transfer ratio for their rewards program, Avios. The transfer is increasing from a 5:4 to a 1:1 transfer ratio.

With this update, Amex’s Membership Rewards program now offers the most 1:1 airline transfer partners – 11 in total.

Membership Rewards now also offers Card Members the opportunity to transfer points to 21 reward program partners, which is more than any other U.S. credit card rewards program.

Plenty of corporate verbiage, but the point is clear: this is not a temporary change.

What was the reason for this sudden change?

To understand why AMEX ever went from 1:1 to 5:4 in the first place, we should probably acknowledge that Chase had something to do with it: Chase issues a co-branded British Airways credit card and offers 1:1 transfers from its Ultimate Rewards program.

The transfer rate “devaluation” was originally announced on June 04, 2015 and took effect on October 01, 2015. I don’t think it is a stretch to assert that Chase pressured British Airways to pressure AMEX to make this change.My first hunch was that there was a two-year sunset clause on this prohibition, but were that the case then we’d be a bit early.

 

 

My revised hunch is two-fold. First, American Express had a growing stockpile of British Airways Avios and found that consumers (wisely) were not willing to part with their Membership Rewards points at a ratio less than 1:1.

We book often with British Airways or Iberia Avios at Award Expert but have avoided AMEX to BA transfers precisely for that reason–cheaper do the same thing on Chase. At 5:4 AMEX simply wasn’t competitive to Chase.

Second, Chase’s 5/24 rule is slowing down the proliferation of points, presumably including British Airways Avios even though that particular card does not fall under the rule (cannot apply for more than five cards every 24 months). I suspect Chase wasn’t cutting it in terms of conversions and British Airways persuaded Chase to loosen up.

Put another way, I’m speculating this was a supply/demand issue with British Airways wanting to find a way to maintain status quo on it points sales. This probably proved a better strategy than American’s (cut the cost of purchased points, but hope to make it up on volume…)

CONCLUSION

Whatever the reason, it is nice to see AMEX to BA transfers back to 1:1. Later today I’ll lay out my five favorite Avios redemptions.

Previous Article Surprisingly Delicious Meals out of Tel Aviv on United
Next Article Pittsburgh – Vegas Now $20 Each-Way

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • a group of people standing on a street

    Police: British Airways Crew Lied About Armed Robbery To Hide Night Of Heavy Drinking

    November 16, 2023
  • a man in a suit and tie standing in front of a plane

    British Airways CEO Offers Career Advice

    November 10, 2023
  • a plate of food on a tray

    No Food Or Drinks On British Airways Today?

    October 5, 2023

6 Comments

  1. jediwho Reply
    July 15, 2017 at 8:52 am

    Positive that BA card does not fall in the 5/24 rule — have read on FT and various other blogs and also from my recent experience of applying and getting approved.

  2. Marshall Reply
    July 15, 2017 at 10:13 am

    BA is exempt from the 5/24 rule. I’m sure that people were not going to give up AMEX points at a 20% loss though. I know I wouldn’t. I would transfer them to another ONEWORLD partner for 1-1 ratio.

  3. Kyle Stewart Reply
    July 15, 2017 at 10:29 am

    I know I stopped transferring AMEX Membership Rewards to Avios once the change went into effect. Do you think the occasional transfer bonuses (25% more Avios when you transfer MRs during a specific window) will come back or will the dust settle on this for awhile first?

  4. Sam Reply
    July 17, 2017 at 7:02 am

    Not sure if this is for everyone but there is an additional bonus on Amex – Avios transfers – I’m getting 250:350 now, so an additional 40% on top of the newly re-instated 1:1 rate.

    Makes a huge difference to the 250:200 it was last week. Now for every 1000MR you transfer you’re getting 600 additional avios, that’s 75% extra!

  5. Wellwisher Reply
    July 17, 2017 at 9:41 am

    I just made the transfer and then came across this post. Are they making avios worth next to nothing with these upcoming changes. Please warn readers to carefully decide if they really need to transfer. All these Amex transfer ratio changes and bonuses point me to something ominous.

    http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2016/11/04/british-airways-avios-changes-coming-2017-cuts-coming-ba-product-become-like-norwegian/

  6. Pingback: Aha! The endgame is revealed! 40% transfer bonus to Avios - Points with a Crew

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for November

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 60,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • Cyber Monday
    The Only Thing I’ll Say About Cyber Monday November 27, 2023
  • American Airlines A321T First Class Review
    Review: American Airlines A321T First Class New York – Los Angeles November 27, 2023
  • Woman Squats Frontier Airlines
    Unreal: Woman Drops Pants And Squats To Pee On Aisle Floor When Flight Attendant Denies Her Lavatory Access On Florida Flight November 27, 2023
  • Southwest Airlines Bizarre Escape
    A Bizarre Escape From Southwest Airlines November 27, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • a woman with blonde hair holding a blue sign
    United Airlines Faces Another “Young, White, Blonde” Charter Flight Lawsuit November 4, 2023
  • a row of seats in an airplane
    15 Hours In Qantas A380 Premium Economy Class… November 6, 2023
  • a seat belt in a plane
    American Airlines Flight Attendants Find A New Way To Avoid Serving Passengers November 1, 2023
  • a plate of food on a table
    United Airlines Adds Mid-Flight Tapas Service On Longhaul Polaris Route (Full Menu) October 30, 2023

Archives

November 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  
« Oct    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss

Privacy Policy

© Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.