American Express Membership Rewards: 50% Transfer Bonus To Avios (250:300)

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • You can currently receive a 50% transfer bonus when you transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Avios. Normally you can transfer 250 MR points and receive 200 Avios, during this promotion you’ll receive 300 Avios instead.

avios

The Fine Print

  • Redeem for this exclusive offer from 12:00 a.m. CT on August 10, 2016 to 11:59 p.m. CT on October 10, 2016, to receive 50% additional Avios. Additional Avios will be awarded at the time of transfer.

Our Verdict

On October 1st of last year American Express reduced the transfer ratio to British Airways Avios from 1:1 to 250:200, so a 50% transfer bonus isn’t quite as good as it used to be (basically works out to be a 20% bonus on the old ratio). That being said, these are the transfer bonuses American Express has previously offered for Avios:

  • December 15th, 2014 – January 31st, 2015: 40%
  • October 15th – December 31st, 2013: 20%
  • April 22nd, 2013 – June 7th, 2013: 35%
  • December 3, 2012 – January 14, 2013: 30%
  • August 28th, 2012 – September 27th, 2012: 40%
  • March 15, 2012 – May 31, 2012: 50%
  • March 1, 2012 – March 31, 2012: 50%
  • November 28, 2011 – January 31, 2012: 30%
  • June 1, 2011 – July 31, 2011: 50%
  • February 2, 2011 – March 31, 2011: 40%
  • November 2, 2010 – December 31, 2010: 30%
  • April 1 – June 30, 2010: 20% (only for Platinum & Centurion cardholders)

You can view a full list of all the transfer bonuses they have offered across all programs by going here. If you have a need for Avios, I imagine this is as good as it’ll get for the foreseeable future so in that case I’d recommend transferring your points. If you have frozen American Express points, apparently filing a CFPB complaint has been working to unfreeze those points. American Express are also currently offering a 50% transfer bonus on Plenti points as well.

Hat tip to Mercedes_Fan on /r/churning

 

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12 Comments
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Raul
Raul (@guest_283125)
August 11, 2016 14:30

Nice, gonna transfer my avios from my platinum amex then close it to get my AF refunded

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_282871)
August 10, 2016 15:25

Am I the only one who doesnt see the 50% calculation? maybe Im just stupid… oh well…

Jonathan
Jonathan (@guest_282891)
August 10, 2016 16:49

It’s a little confusing because the usual transfer ratio is not 1:1. Normally, 250 MR would get you 200 Avios. Under this promotion, 250 MR gets you 300 Avios, which is 50% more Avios.

lee
lee (@guest_283030)
August 11, 2016 04:37

250*0.8*1.5=300 is probably a better math example since 200MR don’t get you 300BA

Kent C
Kent C (@guest_282772)
August 10, 2016 11:21

This is great. Wasn’t even sure they were going to do any more promos considering the devaluation. Been a long time. If you were holding onto Amex points now may be the time to transfer some if you use Avios. We burn through them.

Mark O
Mark O (@guest_282856)
August 10, 2016 14:52

I find them less valuable since the 4500 went away. What are you usually using them for?

katye
katye (@guest_282921)
August 10, 2016 19:10

4500 went away for flights within US. If you take short flights within Europe and Asia they still have 4500 mile each way. I also use Avios for my annual trip to Hawaii from west coast (12.5k one way).

kk
kk (@guest_282939)
August 10, 2016 20:11

When you mean from west coast, which ariport do you mean?

I ‘ve tried looking for availability from LAX, SFO to HNL, OGG but don’t seem to find anything until July 2017.

katye
katye (@guest_283006)
August 11, 2016 01:13
  kk

Usually I fly out of SJC, but there are also flights from OAK and SFO, and probably LA too. For Alaska flights, you can’t search availability from BA website directly. You have to search it on AA for Alaska flight, and they are bookable with Avios if you call BA.

katye
katye (@guest_283007)
August 11, 2016 01:15
  kk
Raul
Raul (@guest_283126)
August 11, 2016 14:32
  kk

I usually fly LAX to OGG in April. Found plenty of availability