Amex Membership Rewards: The best way to earn, redeem and switch factors

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With an American Categorical card that earns Amex Membership Rewards factors, cardholders can redeem factors via American Categorical Journey for accommodations (together with trip leases), automotive leases, cruises and flights, or decide to make use of their factors for assertion credit, present playing cards and extra.

Whether or not you are a factors knowledgeable or not, you too can maximize your Amex Membership Rewards factors by transferring them to Amex’s airline and resort companions. With many choices to redeem and maximize your hard-earned factors, your Amex rewards are extraordinarily useful.

This is methods to redeem factors, maximize Amex advantages and discover one of the best Amex playing cards for incomes Membership Rewards factors.

What are Amex Membership Rewards factors?

Membership Rewards factors are the rewards foreign money of American Categorical. When you have an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards factors, you’ll earn them for on a regular basis spending, simply as you’ll earn airline miles with an airline-branded card or resort factors with a hotel-branded card. Plus, relying in your Amex card, you too can earn bonus factors in sure spending classes.

On this planet of factors and miles, American Categorical Membership Rewards factors are thought-about a number of the most beneficial and helpful factors you possibly can earn due to their flexibility. Per TPG’s September 2025 valuations, Amex factors are price 2 cents apiece.

Associated: How (and why) you need to earn transferable bank card factors in 2025

How do I earn Amex Membership Rewards factors?

The simplest solution to earn many Membership Rewards factors is by making use of for a Membership Rewards points-earning American Categorical card.

Incomes Membership Rewards factors from playing cards

This is a take a look at the welcome provide, bonus-category construction, annual charge and advantages for every of the six most beneficial Membership Rewards playing cards that can assist you select one of the best Amex card.

Card	Welcome provide	Incomes charges	Annual charge	Notable perks
The Platinum Card® from American Categorical	Discover out your provide and see in case you are eligible for as excessive as 175,000 factors after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases inside the first six months of account opening. Welcome affords range, and also you might not be eligible for a proposal.	Earn 5 factors per greenback spent on flights booked straight with airways or with American Categorical Journey® (on as much as $500,000 per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback) and pay as you go accommodations booked with American Categorical Journey. Earn 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases.	$895 (see charges and charges)	Obtain as much as a $400 annual assertion credit score ($100 per quarter) whenever you dine at U.S. Resy eating places or make different eligible purchases with Resy. Obtain as much as a $300 annual assertion credit score (as much as $75 per quarter) for eligible purchases at U.S. Lululemon retail shops (excluding shops) and on-line. Obtain as much as $200 in assertion credit every calendar 12 months for incidental charges charged by one airline you choose. Obtain as much as a $600 resort assertion credit score each calendar 12 months (as much as $300 semiannually) on pay as you go Amex Superb Lodges + Resorts or The Resort Assortment bookings with Amex Journey whenever you pay together with your card (Resort Assortment stays require a two-night minimal). Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply. Take a look at a full record of Amex Platinum card advantages.
The Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Categorical	Earn 200,000 factors after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases inside the first three months of card membership.	Earn 5 factors per greenback spent on flights and pay as you go accommodations on Amex Journey. Earn 2 factors per greenback spent on eligible purchases in choose enterprise classes and eligible purchases of $5,000 or extra (on as much as $2 million of those purchases per card account per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback). Earn 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases.	$895 (see charges and charges)	Obtain as much as $150 in assertion credit on U.S. purchases made straight at Dell and an extra up-to-$1,000 assertion credit score after spending $5,000 or extra at Dell per calendar 12 months. Obtain as much as a $250 Adobe assertion credit score after spending $600 or extra on U.S. purchases made straight at Adobe every calendar 12 months. Obtain as much as a $209 Clear Plus assertion credit score every calendar 12 months (topic to computerized renewal). Rise up to $120 in assertion credit each calendar 12 months for purchases made straight with any U.S. wi-fi phone supplier (as much as $10 per 30 days). After spending $250,000 on eligible purchases, unlock a $1,200 Amex Journey on-line flight assertion credit score and $2,400 in One AP assertion credit score. Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply. Take a look at a full record of Amex Enterprise Platinum card advantages.
American Categorical® Gold Card	Discover out your provide and see in case you are eligible for as excessive as 100,000 factors after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases inside the first six months from account opening. Welcome affords range, and also you might not be eligible for a proposal.	Earn 4 factors per greenback spent on purchases at eating places worldwide (on as much as $50,000 in purchases per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback). Earn 4 factors per greenback spent at U.S. supermarkets (on as much as $25,000 per calendar 12 months in purchases, then 1 level per greenback). Earn 3 factors per greenback spent on flights booked straight with airways or on American Categorical Journey. Earn 2 factors per greenback spent on pay as you go accommodations and different eligible purchases booked on amextravel.com. Earn 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases.	$325 (see charges and charges)	Obtain as much as $120 in Uber Money every calendar 12 months, legitimate on Uber rides and Uber Eats orders within the U.S. (cut up into month-to-month $10 credit; add your Amex Gold to your Uber account and pay with any Amex card). Obtain as much as a $120 annual eating assertion credit score every calendar 12 months (as much as $10 per 30 days) to make use of at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Manufacturing unit, Goldbelly, Wine.com and 5 Guys. Obtain as much as a $100 annual Resy credit score every calendar 12 months at U.S. Resy eating places (credit score is damaged down into up-to-$50 assertion credit biannually). Rise up to $84 in annual Dunkin’ credit score every calendar 12 months at U.S. Dunkin’ places (as much as $7 in month-to-month assertion credit). Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply.
American Categorical® Enterprise Gold Card	Earn 100,000 bonus factors after spending $15,000 on purchases within the first three months of card membership.	Earn 4 factors per greenback spent on the highest two eligible classes (from six classes) the place you spend probably the most every billing cycle (on as much as $150,000 in mixed purchases from these two classes every calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback). Earn 3 factors per greenback spent on flights and pay as you go accommodations when booked on Amex Journey. Earn 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases.	$375 (see charges and charges)	Obtain as much as a $240 assertion credit score every calendar 12 months (as much as $20 every month) for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub and workplace provide shops. Earn as much as $155 in assertion credit score yearly (as much as $12.95 per 30 days, plus relevant taxes on one membership charge) for a month-to-month Walmart+ membership (topic to computerized renewal; Plus Ups not eligible). Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply.
American Categorical® Inexperienced Card	Earn 40,000 factors after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership.	Earn 3 factors per greenback spent on eating places worldwide, journey and transit. Earn 1 level per greenback spent on different purchases.	$150	Obtain as much as a $209 Clear Plus assertion credit score every calendar 12 months (topic to computerized renewal). Enrollment is required.
The Blue Enterprise® Plus Credit score Card from American Categorical	Earn 15,000 bonus factors after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases on the cardboard inside your first three months of card membership.	Earn 2 factors per greenback spent (on as much as $50,000 every calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback). Earn 1 level per greenback spent on different purchases.	$0 (see charges and charges)	*Eligibility and profit degree range by card. Phrases, circumstances and limitations apply. Please go to americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for extra particulars. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Firm.

The knowledge for the American Categorical Inexperienced Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.

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Different methods to earn Membership Rewards factors

After getting one (or extra) of the above playing cards, there are further choices for incomes Amex factors. The primary is leveraging Rakuten, considered one of TPG’s favourite on-line procuring portals. By Rakuten, you possibly can decide to earn money again or Membership Rewards factors.

If you do not have an account, you possibly can enroll and revel in a normal one-time bonus of $30 whenever you spend a minimum of $30 inside 90 days of changing into a member.

Nevertheless, when you be part of Rakuten via a referral hyperlink by Sept. 30 after which spend a minimum of $50 at eligible retailers inside 90 days of changing into a member, each you and your referrer will obtain a one-time bonus of $50.

You may as well earn Amex Membership Rewards factors via referral bonuses. You may obtain a set variety of factors when somebody makes use of your referral hyperlink and is accepted. Understand that rewards earned via referral bonuses are taxable.

Amex Membership Rewards switch companions

Since you possibly can switch Membership Rewards factors to 17 airline and three resort switch companions, you possibly can seek for award journey on nearly each main route and metropolis worldwide.

Emirates first class — ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY

Thus, incomes Membership Rewards factors is often extra profitable than solely incomes miles or factors in considered one of these airline or resort loyalty packages. Keep in mind, you aren’t locked into one switch companion — you possibly can ship some factors to 1 program after which some to a different.

Under, we have listed all these companions, the switch ratios and the switch occasions found in our testing.

If you have not completed so, hyperlink your switch companion accounts to your Membership Rewards account. It will forestall delays sooner or later when you must make a fast switch.

The very best methods to redeem Amex Membership Rewards factors

To get most worth on your factors, you’ll want to switch them to companions.

Listed below are only a few of our favourite redemptions:

Fly to Hawaii on factors and miles: Switch your Membership Rewards factors to Delta SkyMiles, and you will pay as little as 13,500 SkyMiles for a one-way flight from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) to Daniel Ok. Inouye Worldwide Airport (HNL).
Save on business-class award flights: Singapore Airways operates two of the world’s longest flights, one from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) and one other from SIN to New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK). You will not need to spend 18 hours in an uncomfortable seat, so switch your Membership Rewards factors to the Singapore KrisFlyer program to fly enterprise class. Each routes value 111,500 KrisFlyer miles plus taxes and charges one-way, a small worth for consolation on such an extended flight.
Switch your Amex Membership Rewards factors to Iberia Membership: On off-peak dates, you possibly can fly from JFK and Boston Logan Worldwide Airport (BOS) to Spain’s Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) for simply 16,000 Iberia Membership Avios in economic system, 29,500 Avios in premium economic system and 40,500 Avios in enterprise class every approach.
Switch your Amex Membership Rewards factors to Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue program: Ebook business-class flights from North America to Europe beginning at simply 60,000 Flying Blue miles every approach.
Ebook home JetBlue award flights: Transferring your Membership Rewards factors to Etihad Visitor generally is a good choice. JetBlue flights 500 miles or shorter inside North America value simply 6,000 Etihad Visitor miles.

Simply do not forget that transfers are irreversible, so you need to solely switch your Amex factors as soon as you’ve got confirmed the award house for the flight or resort you need.

For extra data on maximizing your Amex factors for journey, try our information to candy spots and extra with Membership Rewards factors.

Moreover, you too can use your factors to guide just about any journey via the Amex Journey platform. You often obtain a price of 1 cent per Amex level. That is an OK worth, however not a spectacular solution to redeem your factors. It is nonetheless higher than the redemptions we’re about to get into, nevertheless.

Poor-value methods to redeem Membership Rewards factors

Sadly, a number of choices for redeeming your factors signify less-than-stellar worth and may usually be averted if you wish to maximize your hard-earned Amex Membership Rewards.

Uber airport pick-up — ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

A few of these choices embrace:

Utilizing factors for expenses: This is sort of a cash-back choice overlaying eligible expenses in your billing assertion. You may view the record of eligible expenses in your present on-line assertion. With this feature, you will solely obtain 0.6 cents per level.
Utilizing Pay with Factors at checkout: After linking your Membership Rewards account with on-line retailers like Amazon, Finest Purchase and Grubhub, you possibly can pay on your purchases at a barely higher (however nonetheless poor) worth of 0.7 cents per level. Though this feature can typically be helpful for promotions, it’s possible you’ll need to flip this off to forestall unintended use of your factors.
Redeeming for taxi rides in New York Metropolis: You may redeem factors for sure New York Metropolis taxi fares at a price of 1 cent per level.
Redeeming for present playing cards: Relying on the service provider, these redemptions provide a price between 0.5 cents and 1 cent per level.

Incessantly requested questions

Listed below are some solutions to incessantly requested questions we have seen about Amex Membership Rewards.

How do I switch Amex Membership Rewards factors to airways?

To switch Membership Rewards factors, comply with these steps:

Log in to your Amex account.
Go to the rewards part.
Go to the switch part below rewards.
Make sure the loyalty program you need to switch your factors to is linked.
Choose the companion you need to switch to and provoke the switch.

It is essential to notice that when you make a switch, you will be unable to reverse it.

Are there charges or taxes after I use Amex Membership Rewards factors?

Whereas there are not any charges to make use of Amex Membership Rewards factors, there’s a tax known as the excise tax offset charge, which prices $0.0006 per level with a most of $99. This charge solely applies when transferring factors to considered one of Amex’s U.S.-based airline companions, like Delta SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue.

When you have a number of Membership Rewards points-earning playing cards, the factors will all be pooled in your Amex account. Nevertheless, Amex does not let you switch factors between accounts, even when it is between members of the family. Amex additionally does not let you switch your factors to a companion program in another person’s title, apart from a certified person in your Membership Rewards account who has been on the account for a minimum of 90 days.

Do Membership Rewards factors expire?

Membership Rewards factors don’t expire, supplied you retain a minimum of one card open that earns them. In case you cancel your whole Amex Membership Rewards playing cards, you have to redeem or switch your factors earlier than closing the final card. In any other case, you’ll forfeit the factors.

Backside line

Because of Amex’s beneficiant card affords, Membership Rewards factors are straightforward to earn and redeem. They’re additionally straightforward to make use of with quite a lot of switch companions.

Whether or not you select to splurge on a European getaway or use your factors to go to household in one other state, having Membership Rewards factors at your disposal will help you lower your expenses.

For charges and charges of the Amex Platinum Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Amex Gold Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Amex Enterprise Gold Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Amex Enterprise Platinum Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Blue Enterprise Plus Card, click on right here.