American Express had been somewhat stingy when it came to transfer bonuses over the past 12-18 months, but things have picked up recently and three new transfer bonuses were launched today.
Before you get too excited, they are, for all intents and purposes, a single transfer bonus as you can get 30% more Avios when transferring Membership Rewards to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
The Deal
- Get a 30% bonus when transferring American Express Membership Rewards to the following Avios programs:
- British Airways
- Iberia
- Aer Lingus
Key Terms
- Expires September 27, 2026.
Quick Thoughts
I was a little surprised when checking our records of past transfer bonuses as it’s been more than a year since Amex last ran a transfer bonus to these Avios programs, although we have seen transfer bonuses from Chase, Capital One, and Bilt during that time, as well as from Citi to Qatar’s Avios program.
The reason that I said earlier that this new set of transfer bonuses is, in effect, a single transfer bonus is because Avios programs allow you to transfer your points from one to another for free. There can be different pricing between the programs both in terms of the Avios required and the taxes/fees that are payable on award flights, so that gives you flexibility to book with whichever program offers the best value. See this post for more: How to transfer Avios between British Airways, Qatar, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair and Loganair
When booking awards using Avios, you’re given the option to redeem fewer points and pay more in taxes/fees. It’s worth taking a look at your options because it’s usually possible to get good value at the third or fourth tier whereby it makes sense to pay a little more cash in order to redeem fewer Avios; you have to do the math though.
These transfer bonuses are around for almost two full months, so there’s no need to transfer speculatively right now if that’s something you were considering.
Here’s a list of all current and past transfer bonuses to British Airways, Iberia, and/or Aer Lingus from all transferable currencies:
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