AMEX 40 Percent Transfer Bonus to British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus

An AMEX 40% Transfer Bonus to British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus Avios is available until November 15, 2018. While British Airways Business Class and British Airways First Class are nothing to write home about, and generally incur high fuel surcharges, there are some other good uses of Avios. See below, and also British Airways Avios Award: 8-11 Cents per Point

The transfer bonus is built into AMEX Membership Rewards, so to see it, simply log into your AMEX Membership Rewards account, click on your balance, then on the “Travel” bar. After scrolling down the next page, you should see “Transfer Points.”

You'll then be able to see the various Membership Rewards airline transfer partners, listed in alphabetical order, including the 40% transfer bonus to Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia:

The minimum transfer amount is 1000 AMEX Membership Rewards points, and transfers to British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus are generally instant. Log out of your account, and log back in to see the transferred points, which should include the 40% bonus.

Best Uses of Avios

Because of the high fuel surcharges and expensive award chart for British Airways First Class and Business Class awards on long haul flights, those are usually poor uses of Avios. Instead, consider using Avios on short haul partner flights, such as JAL from/to or within Japan, Cathay Pacific for intra-Asia flights, Qantas for intra-Australia flights, AA for flights to the Caribbean, Cathay Pacific First Class or Cathay Pacific Business Class between NYC and Vancouver, and Iberia Business Class or Aer Lingus Business Class.

While availability can be scarce, a great use, if you can find it, is Iberia Business Class from Mexico City to Madrid. It's just 42,500 Iberia Avios, or 31,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points, + $140 in taxes, which is a great deal to Europe from the West Coast, if willing to route via Mexico City.