This is a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios with a 40% bonus. You can transfer your points here.
So is this a good promotion? A 40% bonus is a great offer especially when transferring to a very desirable and valuable point currency. This is the highest offer we’ve seen in the past few years, so I do not foresee it coming around again too soon. With that being said, a few days ago British Airways changed the way you can redeem your points. While I haven’t posted on it yet, you can read very detailed posts at both View from the Wing and One Mile at a Time to see the full changes. For me personally, I am not affected since I typically redeem my British Airways Avios points for award reservations on partner American Airlines throughout North America. There is absolutely no change for redeeming points on those flights. The major change is for those that like to use their points for upgrades and fly to Europe with a layover (the 2nd segment from London to somewhere else in Europe will be charged as its own separate award). For the majority of the people, there are minimal changes.
Will I be transferring my points? I’ve been sitting on a bunch of American Express Membership Rewards points for awhile now and it seems as those Avios points have more value to me than Membership Reward points. So yes, I will probably transfer about half of my points over.
Should you transfer your points? It really depends on how you like to redeem. Many people get a great value with their British Airways Avios points and sometimes it is a program that is overlooked since it is non a US-based loyalty program. If you are new to the British Airways program, check out this series to see if the program works for you.
- Overview of the British Airways Avio Program
- Earning and Redeeming a British Airways Companion Ticket
- Canceling Flights Booked with Avios
- Creating a Household Account with British Airways
- Top 10 Redemption Opportunities for British Airways Avios Points
If you are looking to increase your British Airways point balance you can also look into the current British Airways credit card offer. The current offer is 50,000 points after spending $2,000 in the first three months, plus the first year annual fee waived. Related blog post; Application link
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I called AMEX two days ago and it took less than 60 seconds to have them front my pending award points, in an effort to maximize my Avios bonus.
Is there a way to convince Amex to give me my Business Gold bonus points before my second statement closes?
I completed the necessary spend for the 50K bonus in the first billing period for the Business Gold card. Amex won’t award any of the points until after my second statement period. Is there any way to talk them into giving me the points so I can get in on the Avios 40% bonus?
@Tim – You can try, but most likely not. Let me know though if you have any success. I suggest calling and sending them a secure message through your account.