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I was so surprised when I put a poll on Instagram and learned around 30,000 of you said you aren’t earning any American Express Membership Rewards®.
With high annual fees on their best cards, they’re not usually the first cards people go for. Here’s why I think those fees are worth it, why I’ll always keep an Amex Membership Rewards card in my wallet, and how valuable they can be.
Here’s a list of my favorites.
If you’re just getting started with points, my Beginner’s Guide is a great place to start.
Why Amex Membership Rewards Work for Families
My favorite American Express card to start with is the Amex Gold Card. Amex has some rules around how welcome bonuses work across different cards. Starting with a strong everyday earner like this often gives families more flexibility long-term since you can work your way up through the tiers.
More Flexibility for Family Travel
The biggest advantage of Amex Membership Rewards isn’t just earning points, it’s having more options when your original travel plans don’t work out.
Flexible Partners
Amex transfers to around 17 airline partners plus several hotel programs. If one route is sold out or overpriced, you can often transfer to another partner instead.
Sweet Spots & Promos
Many Amex partners still offer award charts, off-peak pricing, and monthly promo awards, helping you beat dynamic pricing when your travel dates are flexible.
Easier Family Bookings
More transfer partners mean more places to search when you need two to four award seats together. Some partners, like ANA, even let eligible family members pool miles.
Excellent Customer Service
One reason I continue to recommend Amex is their customer service. Whenever I’ve needed help, their representatives have been quick, knowledgeable, and genuinely helpful.
Some of My Favorite American Express Cards
These are the Membership Rewards® cards my family and I reach for most often. Each one links to a full guide where I break down the perks, my real-life take, and how we’ve used it for family travel. Terms apply.
Getting Started: The Moves That Matter Most
The first thing to know is what NOT to do. Redeeming Amex Membership Rewards for gift cards, statement credits, or cashback gives you around 0.6–1 cent per point, which is the worst possible use of a currency that can routinely deliver 2–4 cents per point when used well. Resist the urge to cash out when your balance looks tempting.
Start with one card and one goal
The Amex Gold is the best starting point for most families because the 4x on groceries and dining maps directly onto how families actually spend money. Pick a real destination with a real timeframe and let that guide your earning.
Turn on Rakuten and set it to Membership Rewards
This is the most underused move at any level. Every online purchase, from school supplies, kids’ clothes, and holiday shopping, adds to your points balance at no extra cost. Some retailers run 5–10x offers. Check out my full breakdown of how to earn Amex points with Rakuten.
Use Amex Offers every single month
Open your Amex app, go to Amex Offers, and scroll through. These are targeted bonus point or credit offers on specific merchants loaded to your card for free. Most people ignore this tab completely. Don’t you be one of them or you will miss out.
Wait for transfer bonuses before you move anything
Amex regularly runs transfer bonuses of 25–40% to select partners, sometimes higher. This means 50,000 Amex points could become 70,000 Flying Blue miles instead of 50,000. If you have a trip planned 3–6 months out, watch for a bonus to your target partner before transferring. A well-timed bonus can save you from needing an entirely second welcome offer.
Learn the Flying Blue promo award calendar
Air France-KLM Flying Blue releases discounted promo awards on the first of every month. There are specific cities at reduced rates, sometimes 25–50% off. For East Coast to Europe flights in economy or business, these promos are often the single best redemption available on Amex points. Set a monthly reminder to check on the 1st.
How to Redeem for Flights
The best ways to use your Amex points are transferring to their partners.
For more on exactly how to do this, read Transfer Bonuses for Family Travel.
Always compare points + taxes/fees before transferring.
⚠️ A note on Virgin Atlantic + Delta One to Europe
This used to be one of the best sweet spots in points travel, and you’ll still see it recommended widely. The points cost is still low — around 50,000 Virgin points one-way — but Virgin added carrier-imposed surcharges of around $1,000 per person on US-to-Europe Delta One awards. For a family of four, that’s potentially $4,000 in fees on top of your points. The math rarely works out.
The better move for mainland Europe in business class: transfer Amex points to Flying Blue and watch for their monthly promo awards. Same alliance, far lower fees, and Air France’s business class product is excellent.
*Estimates vary by date, demand, and routing.
Transfer Timing & Planning
Some transfers are instant, others take hours or a day. That lag matters when award space is scarce, especially if you’re trying to book multiple seats on the same flight. Before you move any points, double-check which partners are instant and which aren’t, and always price out a “Plan B” option. Having a backup partner or a second itinerary in mind means you’re not stuck if the seats disappear while you wait for the transfer to complete.
Related deep dives:
Hotel Redemptions
One of the easiest ways to stretch American Express Membership Rewards® points on the hotel side is by leaning into programs that give you more nights for the same stash of points.
Both Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy® offer a “fifth-night-free” benefit on standard award stays. Redeem points for four consecutive nights and your fifth night costs zero additional points. Just double-check that the room you’re eyeing actually counts as a standard award before you transfer; premium rooms and special packages don’t trigger the free night.
To compare all the major hotel brands READ THIS.
Where You Can Transfer Membership Rewards® Points
American Express partners with four main hotel loyalty programs. The best option depends on your destination, the cash price, and how much value you can get from your points.
Hilton Honors
One Membership Rewards point becomes two Hilton Honors points. Amex frequently offers 20–50% transfer bonuses.
Frequent transfer bonusesMarriott Bonvoy®
Great for topping off an account before a redemption, especially for family stays and luxury resorts.
Best for topping offChoice Privileges
Often overlooked but excellent for select European hotels and some all-inclusive resorts.
Underrated sweet spotsLeading Hotels of the World
A brand-new transfer partner that unlocks independent luxury hotels. Always compare the redemption value before transferring.
New transfer partnerCompare Before You Transfer
Always compare the cash price, portal price, and transfer value before moving your points. Sometimes booking through a travel portal provides better overall value.
My Take
I usually save my Membership Rewards® points for flights and pay cash for hotels unless the transfer clearly provides outsized value.
Advanced Strategy: What Most People Don’t Know
This is where Amex points really separate themselves from other currencies. These aren’t complicated moves, they’re just things most people never think to look for.
Pool points across your household before a big transfer
Amex allows primary cardholders to transfer points to each other. If you and your partner both have Amex cards earning Membership Rewards, consolidate into one account before a transfer. For a Japan trip where you need 75,000–165,000 ANA miles per person depending on season, combining two accounts first can get you there without waiting another year.
Use ANA’s Family Account to pool miles across the whole family
Once you’ve transferred Amex points to ANA Mileage Club, the program lets family members combine their miles for award redemptions. For a family trying to get two adults into ANA business class to Japan, pooling a parent and child’s earned miles into a single redemption can mean the difference between booking this year or waiting another 18 months.
Time ANA transfers around one-way availability
ANA allows one-way award bookings priced at exactly half the round-trip rate. This opens up open-jaw itineraries that weren’t cleanly possible before, like flying into Tokyo, traveling around Japan, then flying home from Osaka. Booking two one-way awards on separate itineraries gives you far more flexibility on dates and routing than a traditional round-trip search.
Use Virgin Atlantic to book ANA first class instead of ANA’s own program
ANA first class from the US to Japan runs 150,000–165,000 ANA miles round trip through ANA’s own program. Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club (an Amex transfer partner) prices the same seats at 55,000–85,000 Virgin points one-way, often with low fees. Availability is limited and unpredictable, so use Seats.aero to monitor and be ready to transfer quickly when seats appear.
Stack every earning layer on large purchases
For a big Airbnb, a vacation rental, or a high-spend month, layer every available multiplier before you pay: Rakuten for extra points on the booking platform, an Amex Offer if one is available for that merchant, and a transfer bonus if one is running when you’re ready to move points. The advanced skill is remembering to check all of them before a large purchase, not after.
Know when Pay With Points is actually worth it
The Amex Business Platinum gives a 35% rebate when you Pay With Points on business or first class tickets through Amex Travel on your selected airline, bringing the effective rate to around 1.54 cents per point. It’s not a primary strategy, but for specific premium cabin redemptions where transfer partner availability is nonexistent or fees are high, it occasionally beats a transfer. Knowing it exists means you’re never completely stuck.
Earn More Amex Points Without Extra Work
- Autopay the standard bills (streaming, cell, utilities) on an Amex-earning card.
- Double-dip online shopping to grow balances while you prep for trips. The quickest way to do this is Rakuten, so make sure you check out Rakuten vs. Capital One shopping portals to learn all the tricks.
- Watch transfer bonuses. A 25%–50% bonus can drop your effective cost dramatically. Amex often offers VERY valuable transfer bonuses.
New to this? Start here: How to transfer points to credit card partners and How to start using points & miles.
Tiny Action Plan (for Busy Parents)
- Set a Google Flights alert for your top route.
- List two Amex partners that serve it.
- Shortlist 2–3 kid-friendly hotels (note which offer free breakfast/5th-night-free).
- Save the quick steps checklist as a PDF on your phone for reference whenever you book.
- Check again next week for Flying Blue promos or other transfer bonuses.
Key Takeaways
If you made it this far, you already know more than most people ever will about using Amex points for family travel. The hard part isn’t learning the system, it’s taking the first step before a promo window closes or a rate increase hits.
So here’s where to start: pick one trip. An actual destination, with an actual timeframe. Then look up which Amex partners serve that route, check whether Flying Blue has a promo running this month, and see if ANA has availability 355 days out. You don’t need to transfer a single point today. You just need to know what you’re working toward.
The families who get to Japan in business class or spend a week at a Park Hyatt on points aren’t doing anything magical. They picked a target, earned with that target in mind, and booked when the sweet spot showed up. That’s the whole system.
Transfer bonuses come and go. Award charts change, sometimes with very little warning. The best time to use your points is before someone else decides they’re worth less.
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