For those of us interested in using reward points, gaining the maximum number of rewards for every dollar spent and finding large sign-up bonuses to pay for that next flight to Europe, you’re bound to have heard of American Express. In Australia, American Express has a large presence and typically targets the premium end of the market who go out of their way to find the best rewards. While the last few years has seen several devaluations in the program, it is still the most flexible and one of the most rewarding programs available to Australians. Not only can you transfer them to up to 14 different airline and hotel partners but there are options that provide direct cashback as well as a host of other benefits that can save money for those who know how to use them. So, How much are Amex points worth? Let’s find out.
| Type | Value (per point) |
|---|---|
|
Cashback |
0.5c |
|
Gift Card |
0.5c |
|
Hotels |
0.72c |
|
Flights (Economy) |
0.77c |
|
Flights (Business) |
1.5c |
Cashback
0.5c
per point
Gift Card
0.5c
per point
Hotels
0.72c
per point
Flights (Economy)*
0.77c
per point
Flights (Business)*
1.5c
per point
How are points' value calculated?
I’ve altered the calculation slightly from my previous articles as American Express has recently devalued the conversion from Membership Rewards to Krisflyer. In my opinion, this does take away most of the benefit of using Amex to accumulate Krisflyer miles and puts it in line with other credit cards available. For this reason, I’ve assumed a conversion to Velocity points to redeem a return flight in economy and business class from Sydney to Singapore. As Velocity charges a carrier charge that Singapore Airlines does not, the taxes end up being higher at $300 for economy and $500 for business class but overall, the value is comparable. I’ve assumed a cash price for the tickets at $1200 for economy and $4500 for business class which were the fares available on the cheapest full-service carrier on the dates searched as this is how most people would book a ticket in real life.
Other things to take into account
Other things that you may not consider, and are much harder to assess, are the costs of the card itself and how this plays into the points value.
- The annual fee on Amex cards tend to be fairly high. Most cards offer a way to offset this through travel credits. While this theoretically cancels out the annual fee, it only makes sense if you actually use it. Also note that some bookings through Amex are more expensive than other engines so you might not truly be getting the value stated out of it.
- Credit card surcharges are becoming more common in Australia and Amex has a reputation for high surcharges. While this is an issue, it is important to add that in many cases Amex does not charge a surcharge and these tend to be the places you spend the most money and therefore, tend to accumulate most of your points. Have a look at where you spend your money and how much their surcharges are and you might be surprised that Amex is a pretty cost effective option.
What can you redeem ANZ Rewards Points for?
Flights
| Airline | Conversion | Minimum Miles |
|---|---|---|
|
Cathay Pacific |
2:1 Asia Miles |
5,000 Points |
|
Singapore Airlines |
3:1 Krisflyer Miles |
5,000 Points |
|
Virgin Australia |
2:1 Velocity Points |
2,000 Points |
|
Air New Zealand |
2,000 Points to 10 Airpoints Dollars |
2,000 Points |
|
Malaysia Airlines |
2:1 Enrich Miles |
1,000 Points |
|
Qatar Airways |
2:1 Avios |
500 Points |
|
Thai Airways |
2:1 Royal Orchid Miles |
5,000 Points |
|
Virgin Atlantic |
2:1 Virgin Points |
2,000 Points |
|
Eithad |
2:1 Etihad Guest Miles |
1,000 Points |
|
Emirates |
3: 1 Skywards Miles |
2,000 Points |
|
Hawaiian Airlines |
2:1 Hawaiian Miles |
2,000 Points |
|
Qantas |
2:1 Qantas Points |
2,000 Points |
The most valuable redemptions for Membership Rewards remains air miles. American Express offers a huge number of partners to choose from giving you a lot of flexibility. Most of these partners offer good value for money but as noted previously, a recent devaluation in the conversion to Krisflyer miles means you have better options available to you. Note that Amex has 3 main reward programs – Gateway, Ascent and Ascent Premium. The difference between them is Ascent adds Virgin Atlantic as a transfer partner while Ascent Premium adds Qantas as a partner. Ascent Premium is only open to Platinum and Centurion Card holders and is the only program that allows you to convert your points to Qantas. All other programs require you to choose Qantas points, losing any potential flexibility. There are also a number of partners which aren’t available in other programs such as Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Malaysia Airlines. This presents even more unique opportunities to redeem points!
American Express has also has their own travel portal and a partnership with Webjet to allow you to directly redeem points for flights. Webjet redemptions have a fixed rate of 0.5c per points and the price varies depending on the cost. The Amex Travel portal allows you to directly redeem Membership Rewards points for flights, hotels and car rental at the same rate.
A note on the Amex Travel portal
Several American Express credit cards come with a travel credit which can be redeemed on the portal. The portal has a fair few options for flights but doesn’t have all airlines available. In some cases, the prices can be higher than those you might find elsewhere. This means sometimes you might not truly get the full value from your points. It’s always worth comparing the price on different search engines before confirming the booking. I’ve found domestic flights tend to be priced close to what they are on the airline websites, but the portal doesn’t allow you to book Jetstar.
Platinum card holders also get access to the International Airline Program which gives discounts on flights with select airlines but only when flying in Premium Economy and above. Again, there are a select group of airlines included in this program and, while the discounts are real, you still must be willing to pay for a premium fare upfront which limits its usefulness to most people.
Transferring to Hotel Programs
| Hotel | Conversion | Minimum Miles |
|---|---|---|
|
Hilton Honors |
2:1 Hilton Points |
2,000 Points |
|
Marriott Bonvoy |
3:2 Marriott Points |
600 Points |
American Express also gives you the option of redeeming points with the Hilton and Marriott hotel loyalty programs. While in general I am a big fan of using hotel loyalty programs as they can offer great value at times, this is one of the few times that I don’t think the transfer is worth it. The above rate of 0.72c per point is probably one of the best redemptions that I’ve found. In general, you will get less than this. The transfer rates are poor, and you will get much more value if you redeem your points for flights or even on the travel portal in many cases. US American Express cards, to give you a point of comparison, give 2 Hilton points per 1 MR point i.e. nearly 3 times as much value once you take exchange rates into account.
Using Amex Membership Rewards for shopping
Amex is a little bit different from most bank reward programs in that they don’t offer a store selling items for points. This means you can’t directly redeem your points for a new phone, appliances or TVs. Instead, there’s a comprehensive network of both gift card redemptions and a way to directly spend your points at stores. These redemptions are all fixed at 0.5c per point. While this is a little bit less value than you would get from flight redemptions, but for those not keen on travelling, it presents a reasonable way to get value from points. Most major retailers are covered, and there’s also the option to use the points on supermarket gift cards which are as good as cash for most.
Cashback
Amex also provides a surprising amount of value when redeeming points for cashback. This amounts to 0.5c per point (or about 1% cashback equivalent on the popular cards). For those who don’t want to look for flight redemptions or have an interest in travelling, this is a great way to still get value from points and is essentially free money for doing nothing. The cashback is credited to your Amex account and subtracted from your statement.
The American Express Membership Rewards program is the most flexible rewards program available to Australians. It has a host of redemption options with many providing great ways to get value from your points. The large number of transfer partners means that you don’t have to align yourself with a specific airline and for those new to the world of points, this is a great program to get started with as it means you don’t need to commit to a single loyalty program until you’re ready to redeem your rewards.
