We’re just a few hours away from the end of the most lucrative American Express Membership Rewards transfer bonus we’ve seen this year. This is your last call to take advantage of the 40% British Airways transfer bonus from AMEX.
With high fuel surcharges and generally poor values on longhaul redemptions (if you can even the find space), you might think why even bother. That would be a mistake.
It is true that British Airways Avios are poor value for longhaul redemptions compared to oneworld partner American Airlines. But sometimes unique partnerships (like Air Italy) make even those redemptions worthwhile.
> Read More: Air Italy A330 Business Class Review
The true value with British Airways Avios, at least for me, is shorthaul redemptions. These are not “sexy” redemptions, but you can extract great value from them. I share of a great example here.
Should I Transfer Miles If I Don’t Have A Specific Trip Booked?
While my general advice is to always keep points in flexible accounts like Membership Rewards until they are actually needed, I make an exception when transfer bonuses are lucrative enough and I have a history of making redemptions with that loyalty program.
I’m in Europe all the time and make use of Avios on shorthaul routes when the revenue price is cost-prohibitive. The 40% bonus is liking icing on the cake, making already valuable redemptions even more valuable.
CONCLUSION
I’ve already transferred over 100,000 points to British Airways. You do not need to transfer that many, but even 15-20k may end up being a lifesaver if you need a shorthaul flight on American Airlines, Alaska, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, JAL, Qatar…and the list goes on.
Did you transfer any points over to British Airways during this AMEX transfer bonus?
I did take advantage of this promotion, but for a long-haul BA award. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. But 36,000 MR points for the new Club Suites struck me as a pretty good deal, even with the fuel surcharges.
Agreed. It’s not too bad when flying nonstop.
It would have been helpful had the author listed exactly when the promo ended instead of his overly vague “in a few hours”.