5 of the Best Ways to Use Amex Membership Rewards Points

American Express cards are popular, in part, because of the card issuer's rewards program. There are all kinds of ways to use American Express Membership Rewards points. If you have a card that earns Membership Rewards points, they could help you save significantly on your travel costs.

The challenge is deciding how to use your points. You have plenty of options, but not all of them are good. For example, points are worth just $0.006 per point when redeemed as cash back. At such a low rate, 100,000 points would be worth only $600.

Your best option with American Express points is usually transferring them to a travel partner. American Express has over 20 airline and hotel partners where you can transfer points. Airline partners, in particular, are where you can get the most bang for your points. It's easily possible to get $0.02 per point, $0.03 per point, or more this way. That means 100,000 points could be worth $2,000, $3,000, or more. Terms apply.

To help you decide what to do with your points, here are some of the best ways to use them.

1. Transfers to Avianca LifeMiles for Star Alliance bookings

Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia. As such, you can use LifeMiles to book travel from the United States to Colombia, or from Colombia to other destinations in Latin America. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Avianca is also part of the Star Alliance, which means it has 25 airline partners. The LifeMiles program allows you to book award airfare with those airlines. Two of the big ones are United Airlines and Lufthansa.

You could transfer your points to Avianca, and then book United airfare through the LifeMiles program. If you want to fly business class to Germany or somewhere else in Europe, you could book a Lufthansa ticket using LifeMiles.

2. Book award airfare with Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is the largest U.S. carrier partnered with American Express. You can transfer American Express points directly to Delta, and then book airfare using your new Delta miles.

Delta uses dynamic pricing, which means award ticket prices change based on demand. On popular routes, or for business and first class, award tickets may be expensive. However, you can still find some good deals, especially on domestic flights.

3. Book American Airlines or Alaska Airlines flights with British Airways Avios

American Airlines and Alaska Airlines aren't transfer partners of American Express, but there's a workaround. You can transfer American Express points to British Airways. That airline is part of the Oneworld alliance, as are American and Alaska.

If you spot a flight on American or Alaska that you want to book with miles, see if it's available through British Airways. If so, transfer your points there, and use Avios to book it. This works especially well on shorter flights. British Airways bases award ticket prices on the flight distance, so shorter flights can be a steal when you pay with Avios.

4. Go to Europe with the Flying Blue program or Iberia

If you want to go to Europe, there are many ways to make it happen with American Express points. Here are two of the better choices:

• Transfer your points to Flying Blue: This is the joint loyalty program for Air France, KLM, and a few other smaller airlines. You could book a flight to France or the Netherlands this way.
• Transfer your points to Iberia: Since this is Spain's flag carrier, it's perfect for booking flights there.

You can also get around Europe with either of these programs. When I was there over the summer, I booked several short flights using Flying Blue miles.

5. Invest your points through Charles Schwab

This is one of the more unique ways to use any type of credit card points. If you have the American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab, you can redeem points directly into any of your eligible Schwab accounts (terms apply).

You get a value of $0.011 per point, so 100,000 points would be worth $1,100. Terms apply. It's not the kind of massive value some award airfare offers. But it's a fast, easy way to use your points.

Making the most of American Express points

The American Express Membership Rewards program has a learning curve. If you don't mind that, you can get incredible value from your points. In most cases, it makes sense to transfer your points to an airline partner. Make sure to figure out what you want to book before you do so, because all transfers are final.