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American Express has launched a new transfer bonus for those with Membership Rewards-earning cards. The targeted deal offers a 10% to 20% bonus when transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan, Air Canada’s on-again, off-again rewards program. There’s no specified end date for this deal, and Amex points usually appear instantly in your Aeroplan account after a transfer has been initiated.
Normally you can transfer Amex points to Aeroplan at a 1000:1000, or 1:1 ratio, but with this deal, you’ll earn either 1,100 or 1,200 Aeroplan miles for every 1,000 Amex points you move. Note that this offer is targeted, so it may not appear in your account. I didn’t see it on my Business Platinum® Card from American Express OPEN but TPG Editorial Director Julian Kheel had the 10% version attached to his profile (along with the previously existing 40% British Airways Avios transfer bonus).
Aeroplan miles are one of the more useful mileage currencies in the Star Alliance. You can book flights on partner carriers in premium cabins at great rates, especially to Europe, though in many cases you will have to pay carrier surcharges. However, it only takes 55,000 miles for a one-way business class award to Western Europe — that means you’d only need to transfer 50,000 Amex points with the 10% transfer bonus, or 46,000 with the 20% bonus.
That means you could be flying in United’s new Polaris business class for as few as 46,000 miles, and when redeeming Aeroplan awards on United, there are no significant surcharges.
On the other hand, if you’re willing to shell out some serious cash for the surcharges, you can fly Lufthansa First Class for 70,000 Aeroplan miles, or just 59,000 miles with the 20% Amex transfer bonus. In either case, you’ll pay about $780 in surcharges for one direction.
So check your Amex account to see if you’ve been targeted for this transfer bonus, and if you’ve been missed this time, don’t fret, as Amex consistently runs transfer promotions with its airline partners. In this year alone, we’ve seen transfer bonuses for Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, JetBlue, Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic. And as noted above, right now you can transfer Amex points to British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus Avios and earn an impressive 40% bonus in the process — that promotion ends on November 15.
Don’t have any Amex points? You can earn Membership Rewards points with a wide variety of American Express cards, including:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express — Earn a 60,000-point welcome bonus after spending $5,000 in first three months
- American Express® Gold Card — Earn a 25,000-point welcome bonus after spending $2,000 in first three months, plus 20% back as a statement credit at US restaurants within the first 3 months of your card membership, up to $100. This offer is available to new card members who apply by 1/9/2019.
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express — Earn up to 75,000 bonus points for spending $20,000 in the first three months of card membership
For more on how to maximize Aeroplan miles, check out these guides:
Source: thepointsguy.com