Amidst all the hubbub the last couple of days in regards to the American Express referral program getting devalued and the AeroplanPlus Gold card bonus being lowered there is good news! Thanks to our reader Ben S. for alerting us about the return of the 25% bonus when you transfer Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios! The bonus which had disappeared for several years marked its first return last summer in June and ran through to the end of September. Now we see it again already! This is great news, albeit not as great as many years ago when the bonus was 50% but still good nonetheless.
This is one of the offers I look forward to especially
since the base transfer rate to British Airways is 1:1. What does this mean?
Well you can redeem for my too often mentioned YYZ-NYC roundtrip flight
for only 7,200 Membership Rewards points as that flight can be had for 9,000 Avios* (or as little as $3,600 in spending on the Amex Gold Rewards Card), there no other card can match that little of spending for that
flight! See other short haul options in our post “How to get select Canada to U.S. award flights faster by utilizing British Airways’ Executive Club”
This holds true as long as you transfer right away and redeem those Avios before February 2nd at which point these North America awards jump to 7,500 Avios one way or 15,000 Avios round trip. That means you need to redeem 12,000 Membership Rewards points to get one of these trips as the 25% bonus will boost that to 15,000 Avios.
See this post: British Airways does away with the 4,500 Avios Short Haul Award in North America
So for as little as $6,000 in spending you can get this short haul trip, the next closest program is Aeroplan’s short haul at 15,000 miles or $7,500 in spending on the Gold Rewards Card.
The good news is that if you travelling abroad British Airways still has the 4,500 Avios Short Haul option in Europe and Asia so you can utilize this redemption for those short hops overseas!
Find out more about the American Express 25% transfer bonus which runs until March 28 here.
Personally I will be transferring some points over but need to work on
numbers and planned travel over the next few months before I figure out
how much I’m going to transfer!
Here are the best two cards for earning Membership Rewards Points:
American Express Gold Rewards Card
• Earn a Welcome Bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards® points – our
HIGHEST Gold Rewards Card offer – just by making $500 in purchases in
the first three months of Cardmembership.
• No Annual Fee for the first year; $150 Annual Fee thereafter*
• That’s enough for a round trip flight to almost anywhere in North America
• Transfer your points to frequent flyer programs, or 1:1 to Aeroplan®* and Avios
• Earn double points on eligible travel and everyday purchases
• Charge any travel to your Card theøaern pay for it with points
• 1 Free Supplementary Gold Rewards Card (a $50 value*) to help you earn points faster
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or
monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full
details and current product information click the Apply now link.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full
each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in
full.
Conditions apply
The Platinum Card from American Express
Earn 50,000 Bonus Membership Rewards® points by spending $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership
• Platinum members are automatically enrolled in the Membership
Rewards First™ Tier and earn 1.25 points for every dollar in purchases
charged to the Card
• The Platinum Card gives you access to exceptional lounge
benefits such as the Canadian Platinum Lounge Benefit, Airport Club
Program and access to the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounges and
oneworld® alliance airlines Business Class lounges.
• You will also have access to elevated status with many Hotel
& Car Rental loyalty programs, $200 Annual Travel Credit for Travel
Bookings through Platinum Card Travel Service, lodging benefits at a
collection of over 700 Fine Hotels & Resorts around the world,
access to special events and unique opportunities and a dedicated
concierge team
• American Express is not responsible for maintaining or
monitoring the accuracy of information on this website. For full details
and current product information click the Apply now link.
• *As a Charge Card, the balance must always be paid in full
each month. 30% annual interest rate applies to balances not paid in
full.
Conditions apply