How to Transfer Amex Points to American Airlines - Better Wander (2023)

Do you have some American Express points? Are you trying to book a flight through American Airlines?

Well, you may be surprised to learn that the transaction isn’t going to be as smooth as you think.

Luckily, I’ve figured out a way that you can “rig the system” a bit.

After all, I’m pretty sure you’ve worked hard to earn your points, so you should be able to use them, right? I’ll give you the full rundown in the guide below. Just keep reading.

Transfer Points to American Airlines – Bottom Line Up Front

The bottom line is, American Express points give you more bang for your buck. They partner with so many airlines, you’ll definitely be able to book a flight for a good deal using your points.

Explanation

So, there’s a long and short explanation as to whether or not you can transfer American Express points to American Airlines. Well, the short answer is no. You can’t transfer your American Express points to American Airlines to book flights.

However, there are a few other ways that you can somewhat take advantage of your Amex points for travel. I’ll delve into it a little more below:

American Express Reward Points Don’t Transfer to American Airlines

Although you can’t use your American Express points to book American airline flights, you can do so indirectly.

There are five American Express reward airline transfer partners that you can book through instead. Those flights are operated by American Airlines.

Basically, American Express has four Oneworld alliance transfer partners. Well, American Airlines is one of those partners, and you can book an American Airlines flight through one of those avenues, which includes:

• Qantas airlines
• Iberia plus
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

There’s also an additional American Express airline partner that you can book a flight through, which is Etihad Airways. Technically, they’re not in an airline alliance, but they do partner with multiple airlines. One of those is American Airlines. Therefore, you can redeem your Etihad miles that way.

American Express Airline Partners

American Express has numerous airline transfer partners. The major ones include:

• Oneworld
• Star Alliance
• Sky Team
• Non-alliance

It’s safe to say that you have to do a bit of maneuvering to use your American Express points for an American flight, but it’s possible…in a way.

How to Transfer American Express Points to Airline Partners

The process is quite simple. Start by selecting the partner that you want and insert the number of points that you want to transfer.

Next, make sure to verify the information before moving forward. All point transfers are final once they’re done. Lastly, complete the transaction by confirming your request.

The Best American Express Transfer Partners

Honestly, every American Express partner does things a bit differently. I have my favorites and I chose them based on the overall value that they provide and their redemption options:

British Airways Executive Club

This particular partner falls under the One World Airline Alliance. The Executive Club generally works best for Oneworld alliance flights, which includes those on American Airlines.

This is a good option because it works on a distance award charge. It provides better value for short flights that are close to the flight date. That’s a good deal because prices usually rise the closer that you book them to the departure date. So, if you can use your points instead, you’ll save on the overall cost of the flight.

Singapore Krisflyer

This is another good option, and it’s under the Star Alliance. It doesn’t matter if you want a domestic flight in the US or an international flight, you can get a lot of bang for your buck with this one.

You can utilize Singapore Krisflyer miles to travel throughout the US and Canada on United Airlines. Also, depending on the city that you fly out of, you can travel to Hawaii for less than 12,000 Krisflyer miles. That’s significantly less than the number of miles that it would require if you were to use your United Mileage Plus rewards.

In addition to those incredible perks, Singapore permits customers to transfer all of their transferable currencies like Capital One miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Being able to take advantage of all of these perks at once is remarkable. It gives you the opportunity to stockpile all of your points to pay for a fantastic trip.

Air France

Air France falls under the Sky Team. Their Flying Blue Loyalty Program is great for transferring points. The program allows you to transfer all of your point currencies. That makes it much more simple to consolidate everything.

Perhaps one of the most awesome aspects of using Flying Blue miles is the domestic flights via Delta Air Lines. Flying Blue doesn’t charge as many miles as Delta for the same flight. If you were to transfer your miles to Flying blue instead of Delta, you can definitely save some of your points.

Alternative Reward Services with AMEX Partner Airlines

American Express isn’t the only avenue you can use to accumulate flight points and miles. The following companies currently offer airline miles as a reward’s system:

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the best programs out there. You’ll get a 25-50% discount when you book flights through the Chase Travel portal. Essentially, your 1 point gets upgraded to 1.25-1.5 cents per point!

United Mileageplus Program

This is another awesome program for travel rewards, particularly because you can get a free checked bag for up to two people traveling with you on the same reservation. You can earn up to 5 miles per dollar spent when buying tickets through United.com. This adds up quickly when shopping online!

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

You can trade in your miles for one free ticket on Alaska Airlines or their partners. You can also redeem for flights on American Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, and other select partners. This is great because you’re not limited to one airline.

American Airlines AAdvantage Program

This is another fantastic points system for free flights! You can earn 1 mile per every 2 dollars spent on American Airline purchases. You can also double your miles, up to 100,000 miles each year. Plus, you can get one-time bonus miles when you reach a certain spending amount on the American Airlines website.

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Program

Delta is a popular airline for travel rewards. They offer free checked bags and priority boarding on most flights. You can earn 1 mile per dollar spent on Delta purchases. You can also get up to a 75% bonus when you redeem your miles for award flights, depending on the time of year.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Program

In many ways, this is one of the simplest and easiest travel rewards programs out there. You can either use those points for yourself or gift them to someone else. With Southwest flights starting at just $59 there are so many possibilities!

US Airways Dividend Miles Program

US Airways offers 1 mile per every 2 dollars spent on US Airways purchases and 1 mile per every dollar spent elsewhere. You can also get double miles after your first purchase and double miles for any purchases made through the US Airways shopping portal.

Using Flight Points Wisely

Using flight points provides such a thrill because you’re saving money. But before you rush to do anything, I highly suggest that you thoroughly read about how to apply your points when using them to book a flight.

Every airline has restrictions and stipulations for how points are to be used when purchasing a ticket. You want to make sure that you understand it completely. Sometimes, things can get a little tricky.

For starters, you may not have as much freedom as you’d like when picking your flight dates. Just like general flight prices, the points number of points for flights increases depending on the day.

So, you may find that you’ll have to adjust your schedule a bit if you want to get the most bang for your buck.

Also, you want to take the time to calculate things and make sure that it’s worth using your points for a particular flight.

Of course, anytime you can use them instead of cash, it’s a win. But sometimes the amount of points for the type of flight that you’re taking isn’t worth it. It might be better to just pay for it and preserve your points for a better flight.

FAQs

This point system thing is a bit complex, and I’m sure you have a few questions. Below are some of the FAQs submitted by others:

Conclusion on Transferring Amex Points to AA

I hope this information wasn’t too confusing. Using your American Express points indirectly to purchase American Express flights isn’t as hard as it may seem. Again, all you have to do is transfer your points to an airline partner.

Once your points are there, you can use them to buy a flight on American Airlines via a Oneworld airline partner.

Some of those partners include British Airways and Qantas. But you can also go through another airline partner like Etihad. Etihad is connected to both American Airlines and American Express.

Essentially, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Once you’ve tried the indirect method, you’ll see that it’s quite simple.

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