Today's the last day for the 40% AMEX Transfer Bonus to British Airways. When I wrote about the transfer opportunity a couple months ago I gave a couple decent award redemption examples but largely panned it, at least for my award redemption purposes. But just over the last few days a couple Award Booking clients have had occasion to use it for short trips that would otherwise have been rather expensive, so I'll detail these. But first, a recap of the offer:
- Earn 40% more Avios when transferring Membership Rewards points to British Airways 250 AMEX Membership0 Rewards will transfer to 350 British Airways Avios
- Additional Avios will be awarded at the time of the transfer
- Transfer until 9/17/17, 11:59pm MT
- Must transfer in increments of 250 Membership Rewards points
- Points transfers are final, and Avios may not be transferred back to Membership Rewards points
Client Example 1: Japan Domestic Flight, 7.8 Cents per Point Redemption Value
Short nonstop flight that would otherwise be expensive paid tickets are a sweet spot for Avios redemptions, and this is especially true for domestic Japanese flights on JAL, a oneworld partner. My clients had a last minute need for a flight from Osaka to Sapporo that would otherwise have cost $420 per person, in economy.
Fortunately, award seats were available at 7500 Avios per person, which with the 40% AMEX transfer bonus is 5400 Membership Rewards points per person. Since there are no taxes on these JAL domestic flight awards, that's a redemption value of 7.8 cents per point. The downside? Typically the British Airways site doesn't permit you to finish the transaction online (probably because there are no taxes) so you end up calling British Airways to complete the transaction. Still, a good redemption value for those who need these tickets.
Client Example 2: Iberia Regional Business Class Flight, 11.5 Cents per Point Redemption Value
Another example of a short nonstop flight that would otherwise be a very expensive paid fare is a Nice to Madrid nonstop in Iberia Regional Business Class, operated by Air Nostrum. This is the only nonstop between those two airports, so as you'd expect, there's a huge premium: the fares are often ~$865 or so per person in business class for this ~2 hour flight. Economy of course is much cheaper, at ~$200, but even though the seats are the same, the clients wanted to be up front, and there is better service for business class even on this short regional flight.
The Avios redemption was in any case only available in business class for their day and preferred flight time, and was 10,000 Avios per person, or 7250 AMEX Membership Rewards points with the transfer bonus. That gives a 11.5 cents per point redemption value, taking into account nominal taxes on the awards.
Have you found good uses for the 40% AMEX transfer bonus to British Airways Avios?
Recommended Posts
AMEX Points Now Transfer 1:1 to British Airways Avios
Earn 55K AMEX Points for 6 AMEX EveryDay Card Card Referrals
Need Award Booking Help? Our fee is as low as $75 per ticket if you book your hotel through us.
If you enjoyed this, join 200,000+ readers: please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book 5-star hotels with Virtuoso Perks and Four Seasons Preferred Partner Benefits!