Save money: 6 ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points for holiday gifts

If money is a little tight this year, you can find it American Express Membership Rewards your points balance is higher than your savings account balance. If you fall into this category, you may be wondering how you can turn some of your Membership Rewards Points into holiday gifts this season.

Typically, we recommend redeeming your points for a trip. Travel is one of the greatest gifts you can give anyone – especially if you can spend the time and gift of traveling together. Also, Redeem your membership rewards points for general travel will yield the most value for your points.

However, not everyone can travel or wants to travel. While redeeming your points for travel typically offers the most value on a cents-per-point basis, the best way to redeem points is one that helps you reach your goals. Right now, your personal goals may not involve flights or hotels.

Does You want to give travel giftsthe latest and greatest toy or gadget, let’s take a closer look at The best way to redeem Amex membership rewards points to receive gifts this holiday season.

Transfer Amex points to travel partners to book travel award tickets

Some Transferable rewards program allows you to share rewards with others. However, Amex is one of the more restrictive programs when it comes to sharing. Specifically, Amex only allows you to transfer Membership Rewards Points to your loyalty account or the loyalty account of your authorized user.

Luckily, most airline and hotel loyalty programs let you book award tickets for others when traveling together. Some loyalty programs even let you Book a trip for someone else when they travel without you. So you can give the gift of travel this holiday season by booking travel award tickets for someone else.

If you’re looking to book award travel this holiday season, you can transfer your points to the following address Member rewards transfer partner:

• Airline loyalty program: Aer Lingus AerClub, Aeromexico Rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, ANA Mileage Club, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Cathay, Delta SkyMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, HawaiianMiles, Iberia Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Loyalty program: Choice Perks, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy

TPG December 2024 valuation latch member reward point value about 2 cents each. So in general you’ll want to aim for at least 2 cents per point when transferring to travel partners. However, Guaranteed prize availability before transfer.

Although most transfers are instant, it can sometimes take up to 48 hours to transfer points. Check out our article about How long does it take to transfer American Express Membership Rewards? to estimate transfer time.

Related: Which American Express credit card is best for you?

Use Amex Pay with Points to book travel

Amex pays with points allows you to redeem membership rewards points for 1 cent each when you book airline tickets through Amex Travel. So a $1,000 flight will cost you 100,000 membership rewards points if you use American Express Platinum® Card or American Express® Gold Card.

However, those who hold the right to be selective Amex business card Get a discount when using Pay with Points for airline tickets as follows:

• American Express Business Platinum® Card: Get 35% back on your points when you use Pay with Points for first and business class flights on any airline, or flights in any class on your chosen airline , up to 1 million points returned per calendar year.
• American Express Centurion business card: Get 50% back on your points when you use Pay with Points for first and business class flights on any airline or flights on select airlines in any class . each Points upgradedBeginning February 1, 2025, Amex will impose a 3 million points annual cashback limit for cardholders.

Information about Centurion business cards has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Best of all, you can book flights for anyone using Pay with Points.

You can also book prepaid hotels, cruises, car rentals and vacations using Pay with Points through Amex Travel. However, you’ll only get 0.7 cents per point, so a $700 prepaid hotel stay would cost 100,000 Membership Rewards points.

You’ll get a slightly better redemption rate of 1 cent per point if you use Pay with Points for a prepaid stay booked through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts Program. However, keep in mind that only select Amex card members can access this premium hotel program.

Related: Your complete guide to maximizing your holiday purchases

Redeem Amex points for gift cards

You can also redeem your membership rewards points for a variety of gift cards. However, redemption rates depend on the type of gift card and available (targeted) offers:

• 1 cent per membership reward point (e.g. $1,000 gift card for 100,000 points) for most gift cards
• 0.85 cents per point on select gift cards, including Best Western, Bonefish Grill, and Macy’s
• 0.7 cents per point on select gift cards, including Best Buy, Four Seasons, Hilton, Marriott, Starbucks and Uber
• 0.50 cents per point on American Express gift cards ($500 gift card for 100,000 points). Note that Amex is currently running a gift card promotion, so each of your points is worth about 0.67 cents.

Other gift card promotions on my Amex Platinum Membership Rewards account include Apple gift cards at 1.06 cents per point; Previously they were 0.85 cents per point. Additionally, Delta Air Lines gift cards are currently available for 0.87 cents/point; They were previously priced at 0.7 cents per point.

You can get a physical or digital gift card for most redemptions. You can get gift cards of various values, but most start at $25 or $50.

Related: Which credit card should you use to buy gift cards?

Use Amex Pay with Points at checkout

Paying with Points isn’t just for travel. You can use Pay with Points at checkout when shopping with a variety of merchants, including Amazon, Best Buy, Dell, Grubhub, Seamless, PayPal, Rite Aid, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Staples.

However, paying with points at these merchants is usually not a good use of your points if you’re looking for the best return. You’ll only receive 0.7 cents per point for the merchants listed above when you redeem your Membership Rewards points. So a $700 purchase would cost 100,000 membership rewards points.

The redemption rate is even worse at 0.50 cents per point if you use Membership Rewards Points for event tickets through Ticketmaster.

Related: Best ways to use Amex Membership Rewards: From business class flights to Europe to Hawaii

Donate Amex points to charity

You can too Donate your points to charity. Specifically, you can donate to more than 1.5 million US charities through just give with Amex Pay with points.

You’ll get 0.7 cents per point when you make a JustGiving conversion. So 100,000 membership rewards points will give $700 to the charity of your choice.

Related: The best credit cards to maximize your charitable donations

Includes recent Amex card charges

If you purchase gifts with your card from merchants who do not participate in Pay with Points, you may consider using Membership Rewards Points to cover your purchase.

While you can redeem Membership Rewards points to cover recent charges on your card, doing so will only yield a redemption rate of 0.6 cents per point. So you need 100,000 points to pay the $600 fee.

Related: Earn more and spend less: How to use your points and miles better in 2025

Bottom line

If cash is tight or you have a lot of points, you may want to use your American Express Membership rewards points for holiday gifts.

Want to give a travel gift? You’ll get the best value from your points by transferring them to travel partners, then booking luxury hotel stays or luxury flights for loved ones. You can also get 1 cent per point when you use Pay with Points to Book flights through Amex Travel.

Even if you don’t want to give travel gifts, you can still get 1 cent per point value by redeeming points for select gift cards.

Understanding the redemption value before you redeem your points for holiday gifts is a good idea. An easy way to compare all your Amex Membership Rewards points options is to use Amex rewards calculator.