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On the heels of some recently-expired short-term transfer bonuses, Amex has this week launched a new round of targeted transfer bonuses with no set end dates. Recently, these types of transfer bonuses, where Amex targets them to specific accounts and does not publish an end date, have tended to be valid for only a week or two. If one of these piques your interest, it’s worth taking a look and considering it sooner rather than later since you don’t know when it will be gone.
The Deals
- Some are reporting a new round of targeted Amex transfer bonuses as follows:
- Get a 40-50% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to British Airways Avios (1:1.4-1.5) [targeted]
- Get a 50% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy (1:1.5) [targeted]
Key Terms
- Targeted
- Must transfer in increments of 1K
- No end date listed
Quick Thoughts
These offers are targeted, so you may or may not see them in your account. Over the past year or so, Amex has been running these types of targeted offers with no end date now and then. Typically, these offers are very short-term — usually only good for a week or two.
You can certainly get good value out of these offers with the right redemption in mind. British Airways Avios can be useful for short-haul routes on American Airlines or also on shorter oneworld routes in other regions around the world. Keep in mind also that you can transfer Avios from British Airways to Iberia or Aer Lingus, allowing you to potentially take advantage of sweet spots with those programs as well. I’ve previously written about how Iberia can be particularly useful for those of us based in non-major markets who often need to connect (though there are also drawbacks — whereas British Airways will allow you to cancel and redeposit an itinerary booked on American Airlines, Iberia does not allow any changes or cancellations on AA awards). I probably wouldn’t suggest speculatively transferring unless you know you use Avios with frequency, but it certainly is possible to get good value with this.
Marriott may seem to be less of a deal at first blush, though I’d argue that it can also be a good value play in the right instances. For example, a Category 1 Marriott costs 7500 points per night. If you have a targeted 50% transfer bonus, that means just 5,000 Membership Rewards points would get you a Category 1 night. I find plenty of those instances where the night would otherwise cost more than $100, so if you have a need for a Cat 1 Marriott, I’d say this could be a very good use of points. Taking into consideration the 5th night free on award stays, 20K points could get you 5 nights at a Cat 1 Marriott. That’s actually a pretty cheap way to pick up 5 qualifying nights if you are finding yourself a little short of qualifying for status (and have already held your one meeting for the year).
Again, these deals probably aren’t strong enough to transfer speculatively, but either could be worthwhile in the right circumstances. We’ve added these to our list of current point transfer bonuses, though note that the sortable end date there is just a guess.
H/T: Doctor of Credit here and here.
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