Using AMEX Points for Travel

The options for using AMEX points are numerous. I'd like to maximize their

value by depositing to the various flight clubs they partner with. Most are simple

and straightforward but the Avios option is confusing and complicated. 

 The way I understand it is several airlines can be used if you have Avios points. 

Is there an optimal way to load and use Avios points? Mostly interested in international

travel but just the basics of converting to Avios would be a big help. Thanks.

It's a great question, and Avios is quite confusing. So, let's start with a few things that you want to keep in mind when transferring from AMEX MR (Membership Rewards to Avios).

#1, You will want to try to transfer when there is a bonus transfer period. This can be a 25% to 40% bonus for transferring from AMEX MR to Avios. This tends to happen once per year for about a 60 day period (I could look up the historical data). IIRC, it occurred last year starting at some time in August. 

#2, Avios are great for some uses, and not so great for other uses:

Excellent Uses

-AA Award Tickets in the USA and to Hawaii (so domestic award tickets on AA)

-Intra-Europe Award Tickets (both in economy and Club Europe - also remember, when you redeem Club Europe even for a short flight within Europe you still get benefits like lounge access)

-Intra-Asia Awards

-Upgrades (especially from revenue WTP-World Traveler Plus, premium economy to Club-Business Class)

#3, Using Avios for transatlantic will mean you have to pay very high YQ (taxes and fees) for premium cabins. This often makes the redemption far less valuable. 

Some background:

My award travel journey... (this is a great example of effectively using AMEX MR points) which is very constant since 2/3 kids live in the USA and most of my relatives are in the USA. Our #1 go-to from the East Coast (JFK and BOS) have been DeltaOne award tickets ex-USA using FlyingBlue miles. (Low taxes/fees, low mileage and decent availability... also booked one west coast trip back to LHR last year...)  Ex-UK/EU is trickier. For myself (and those in the fam living in London), I buy during luxury sales and also will consider positioning ex-AMS instead of flying nonstop ex-LHR if it's a good enough deal. (I also value my OneWorld Emerald status and need to qualify each year...) Of recent, I have been trending around £1300'ish ex-LHR to the USA roundtrip in Club (biz) with upgrading to F about 40% of the time. I'll sometimes "jump" on a £800'ish ex-AMS USA roundtrip fare if I can work it out since I lived in AMS for 3 years prior to London and it's always fun to visit friends. 

Most Recent Example (all possible using AMEX MR Points transferred) 

Recent award travel booking for my father and stepmother (they live in Northern New Jersey): 

DL JFK-LHR (DeltaOne) 86,500 miles (for two, due to AMEX bonus on transfer to Flying Blue) + $30 in taxes

BA LCY-JFK (BA1 Club) 100,000 miles (for two, Avios) + $1120 in taxes. (We also do transfer AMEX to Avios when there is a bonus, but I tend to bank and earn a decent amount of Avios) 

(This is BA 1, which is the A318 with 32 flat bed seats in a 2-2 arrangement - my parents thought it would be fun to try. Their last trip, we did BA First LHR-JFK with First Wing and CCR.) 

So, what do we have here:

186,500 miles (2 people) + a total of $1150 for two people to fly on the exact flights they wanted nonstop to/from London. Obviously, a little “sharpness” on the ex-JFK.

Or, 92,250 + $575 (roundtrip per person).

But, the end of the day. It was much easier getting BA flights (award tickets) back to JFK or EWR than DL with Flying Blue from JFK to LHR (still not that bad). Options for LON-NYC were like 12 flights over 3 days +/- including also EWR and First or Business Class. Taxes (YQ) are the same for BA First and BA Club (or BA1). Bonus: My dad LOVES the VS arrivals lounge at T3, and I love it when my folks are happy. (Delta uses the Virgin Arrivals Lounge at T3 and the Virgin Clubhouse for departures from LHR T3.) I fear that some FlyingBlue devaluations are on the way.... so, the party might be ending soon. We shall see. 

Conclusion: You sort of have to determine where you want to go, and how to most effectively transfer the points. 

I would be happy to start a series of articles on LVA Travel, about transferring MR points and redeeming Avios and also FlyingBlue. I could start from the beginning and walk people through the steps and best options. We could follow-up here (in the forums) for sure, with questions.

This all might be a "bit much" to absorb, so please do ask questions, I am happy to explain further. 

Really good stuff. The bonus periods look like the optimal way to go. Is there

some kind of alert that can be set so you know when AMEX has bonus periods for

an airline? 

Thank you! Not really, but since it's such a great topic we will be tracking here and will probably also publish an article under "promotions" when the next AMEX MR (Membership Rewards) promotion drops. Also, don't overlook Thank You Points, they also do bonus offers from time to time. We are about to publish an article about a 60k point bonus sign up offer (with $95 annual fee). It's for sure an above average offer. (Personally, any offer above 50k points with a low annual fee gets my attention these days.)

That promotion (is currently) on the top of our credit card picks for July 2019. (They do have a FlyingBlue promotion of 25% bonus on transfer, but it ends very soon.)

LINK to Top Credit Cards From Our Partners, Best Offer of July 2019.

As an aside, I can usually answer most questions about Avios. I happen to curate the only BAEC Gold+ (So British Airways Elite Status and Avios) groups on Facebook. Avios tends to confuse people since they assume that the best uses will be British Airways tickets to/from London, and that is usually not the case. 

Referencing your post on checking balances after New Years. I think I messed up with Amex Plat.

It states the $200 travel credit expires at end of calendar year. Once SWest nixed gift certs I just put it

off - and then forgot. Do you know if it's one per calendar year specifically? In other words, if you had the

card for just one year June2019-May2020 could you double dip and take $200 before Jan 1 and then

again after Jan 1?

Are you asking if you would get the $200 benefit in 2019 and then again in 2020? In that case, this answer is yes. You could take the 2019 benefit anytime through 12/31/19, and then you'd get another one for 2020.

The death of gift cards really hurt me and is one of the reasons that I decided not to renew the Amex Plat in 2020. I'm substituting Citi Prestige, which gets me 80% of what I got with the Platinum card.

Mike