American Express Membership Rewards was launched in 1991 and is what many consider to be the first transferable points program. Today, Membership Rewards points — often referred to as “MR” — are among the most valuable credit card rewards points out there thanks to its suite of 21 transfer partners.
Today, we’ll dive deep into Amex Membership Rewards and learn how to earn and redeem them for maximum value.
American Express Membership Rewards is the loyalty program behind popular Amex cards like the American Express® Gold Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Here are a few key features of Amex Membership Rewards:
I’ve earned and redeemed millions of Amex Membership Rewards points since 2014, and it continues to be one of my favorite loyalty programs.
You can earn Amex Membership Rewards points using Amex’s suite of in-house credit cards. Note that you do not earn Membership Rewards points when spending on Amex’s suite of Delta, Hilton and Marriott cobrand cards.
Here are the best American Express Membership Rewards Personal card offers:
Check our Amex Membership Rewards Card reviews:
Here are the best American Express Membership Rewards Business card offers:
Note that your points accumulate in the same pool if you have multiple cards that earn Membership Rewards points.
It can make sense to have multiple Amex cards to leverage each card’s benefits and points-earning structure.
For example, the Amex Platinum earns bonus points on flights, while the Amex Gold earns bonus points at restaurants.
Many Amex credit cards have bonus categories that let cardholders earn extra points on certain purchases.
For example, the Amex Gold card earns 4 points per dollar at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with an airline or through AmexTravel.com, and 1 point per dollar everywhere else.
Dining and groceries are common everyday expenses, and charging them to your Amex Gold will help you rack up points quickly. My wife and I earned over 70,000 Membership Rewards points last year from leveraging these two bonus categories.
Rakuten is a shopping portal that lets you earn cash back on online purchases. Just sign up for an account, look for the merchant you’d like to shop with on Rakuten’s website and click the “shop now” button to earn with the portal.
But what does a cashback portal have to do with Membership Rewards points? You can set your Rakuten account to pay you in Membership Rewards points instead of cash. Every penny you earn on Rakuten transfers to one Membership Reward point.
Amex card members can earn bonus Membership Rewards points and cash back when redeeming Amex Offers at select merchants. You can view your available Amex Offers beneath your recent transactions on your Amex online account. These offers change regularly.
You have options when it comes to redeeming your Membership Rewards points. Generally, you get the best value when you redeem them for travel. That said, you have some other options, too — here’s a look.
The real value lies in transferring Membership Rewards points to airline and hotel partners. You can transfer points to various airline and hotel loyalty programs and then take advantage of redemption sweet spots found in said programs.
This often provides the best value for your points, especially if you redeem for business- and first-class flights. Most transfers process at a 1:1 ratio — meaning 1,000 Membership Rewards points equal 1,000 airline miles — with a few exceptions.
Here’s the full list of 18 airline transfer partners:
You can also transfer to three hotel loyalty programs:
Amex Travel is American Express’ in-house online travel agency where you can book flights, hotels, rental cars and even cruises. You can redeem Membership Rewards points for Amex Travel bookings at a rate of 1 cent per point, so a $100 flight costs 10,000 points.
This isn’t the worst use of Membership Rewards points, but it’s far from the best when compared to booking with transfer partners, where you can often get over 2 cents per point in value. That said, Amex Travel is easy to use and you’ll earn airline miles on flights you book through the portal. This is because they’re considered paid flights in the eyes of the airline.
There’s one way to increase the value of your points with Amex Travel. Amex Business Platinum cardholders get a 35% rebate on points redeemed for select flights on Amex Travel. All premium cabin flights (premium economy, business class and first class) are eligible, as are economy flights with one airline of the cardholder’s choosing.
Here’s a quick look at other ways to redeem your Amex Membership Rewards points. That said, these don’t often provide good value:
With 21 transfer partners, you can redeem your Amex Membership Rewards points for flights anywhere in the world. But if you need some inspiration, these are some of our favorite redemption sweet spots:
Leveraging these redemption sweet spots can help you get more than 2 cents per point in value from your Amex Membership Rewards points. For more inspiration, check out our list of the best ways to redeem Membership Rewards.
I’ve redeemed millions of Membership Rewards points for flights to Europe, Asia and beyond, often flying in business class. Add a Membership Rewards-earning card to your wallet to stock up for your dream trip.
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