Yesterday American Express announced that cardholders with cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points would be able to use these points as cash for BestBuy.com purchases. This is the similar to the partnerships American Express have with Uber & McDonald’s to allow cardholders to use their points as cash.
Unfortunately the exchange rate is extremely poor when using American Express membership rewards points at Best Buy, each point is worth 0.7¢. At bare minimum you should be looking to get 1¢ in value from Membership Rewards points (which is the rate they are worth with the Uber/McDonald’s partnership), but most people will get far better value when transferring to one of the American Express travel partners.
| American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Airline Partners (1:1 Unless Otherwise Noted) | |||
| Delta SkyMiles | AeroMexico Club Premier (1:1) | Air Canada Aeroplan | KLM/AirFrane Flying Blue |
| Alitalia MilleMiglia Club | ANA | Asia Miles | British Airways Avios |
| Emirates | EL AL Israel Airlines (50:1) | Frontier | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Iberia Plus | jetBlue (1.25:1) | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Qantas |
| Virgin atlantic flying club | Etihad | Aer Lingus | Avianca Lifemiles |
| Hotel Partners (1:1 unless otherwise noted) | |||
| Choice Privileges | Hilton Hhonors (1:2) | Marriott (1:1) |
If you want to use your Membership Rewards points at BestBuy.com, here is what you need to do:
- Open “Your Cart” and proceed through the checkout process
- Enter an eligible American Express Card at online checkout and check your Membership Rewards points balance and the equivalent dollar value
- Designate how many points to use towards your purchase (Card Members can use points for all or part of their order)
- Complete the checkout process by confirming and placing the order
Hat tip to Million Mile Secrets
