What are American Express Membership Rewards points worth?

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers. For years, American Express Membership Rewards points have sat at or near the top of our monthly valuations of loyalty currencies. According to TPG’s May 2025 valuations, Membership Rewards points are worth 2 cents each. This is almost the same as …

May 28, 2025 - 15:24

What are American Express Membership Rewards points worth?

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

For years, American Express Membership Rewards points have sat at or near the top of our monthly valuations of loyalty currencies. According to TPG’s May 2025 valuations, Membership Rewards points are worth 2 cents each. This is almost the same as Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Bilt Rewards Points, but noticeably higher than nearly all major airline and hotel points.

However, this doesn’t mean that you’ll get exactly 2 cents per point in value every time you redeem them. Instead, we use this number as a benchmark for a good redemption. The highest-value redemptions should give you more than 2 cents per point, while the lowest-value awards offer less than 1 cent per point.

In short, there are various answers to the question, “How much are Amex points worth?”

Today, we’ll discuss the value of Amex points, how to earn them and some of the best (and worst) redemption options.

How to earn Amex Membership Rewards points

The easiest way to earn Membership Rewards points is by applying for a Membership Rewards points-earning card. Amex has several to choose from, ranging from premium cards with generous benefits (and high annual fees) to no-annual-fee cards that reward daily business spending.

Earning Membership Rewards points from credit cards

To help you choose which is the best Amex card for you, here’s a look at the welcome offer, earning rates, annual fee and benefits for each of the six most valuable Membership Rewards cards:

Card	Welcome offer	Earnings rate	Annual fee	Key perks
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 80,000 points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership.	5 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 per calendar year) and prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases	$695 (see rates and fees)	Airline: Up to $200 in annual airline fee credit (split into monthly up-to-$15 credits plus an up-to-$20 bonus in December) Ride-hailing: Up to $200 in annual Uber Cash (up to $15 monthly and up to a $20 bonus in December; Uber Cash will only be deposited into one Uber account when you add the Amex Platinum as a payment method and redeem with any Amex card) Hotel: Up to $200 in hotel statement credit on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings, which requires a minimum two-night stay, with Amex Travel Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite status Streaming: Up to $240 in digital entertainment statement credit for select providers Airport benefits: Up to $199 in Clear Plus statement credit (subject to automatic renewal) Fee statement credit for Global Entry ($120 every four years) or TSA PreCheck (up to $85 every 4 1/2 years) Lounges: Access to the Global Lounge Collection for eligible cardmembers Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 150,000 points after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of card membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after spending $2,500 on eligible flights booked directly with an airline or through American Express Travel with your Business Platinum Card within the first three months. You can earn one or both of these offers. Offer ends June 30.	5 points per dollar spent on flights and prepaid hotels on Amex Travel 1.5 points per dollar spent on eligible purchases in select business categories, including U.S. cloud service providers, U.S. construction materials and hardware supplies, U.S. electronic goods retailers, U.S. shipping providers, and U.S. software (on up to $2 million in combined purchases each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar) 1.5 points per dollar spent on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (on up to $2 million in combined purchases each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar) 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases	$695 (see rates and fees)	Business: Up to $400 in annual credit for U.S. Dell purchases* Airline: Up to $200 in annual airline fee statement credit for one selected airline Airport benefits: Up to $199 in Clear Plus statement credit (subject to automatic renewal) Fee statement credit for Global Entry ($120 every four years) or TSA PreCheck (up to $85 every 4 1/2 years) Hotel: Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Gold elite status (enrollment required); access is limited to eligible cardmembers Lounges: Access to the Global Lounge Collection Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply *Benefit set to change July 1
American Express® Gold Card	Earn 60,000 points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of card membership.	4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar) 4 points per dollar spent at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point per dollar) 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com 2 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on amextravel.com 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases	$325 (see rates and fees)	Dining: Up to $120 in annual dining statement credit at participating partners (enrollment is required) Up to $100 in annual Resy credit per calendar year (up to $50 biannually) Up to $84 Dunkin’ credit per calendar year (up to $7 monthly) Uber: Up to $120 total in annual Uber Cash (in the U.S.)* *Add your Amex Gold Card to your Uber account and redeem with any Amex card Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply
American Express® Business Gold Card	Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.	4 points per dollar spent on two select categories where you spend the most each month, on up to $150,000 in combined purchases from these two categories each calendar year (then 1 point per dollar) 3 points per dollar spent on flights and prepaid hotels when booked on amextravel.com 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases	$375 (see rates and fees)	25% points back after you book a flight using Pay with Points (up to 250,000 points back per calendar year)
American Express® Green Card	Earn 40,000 points after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months of card membership.	3 points per dollar spent on virtually all travel purchases (including transit) and restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases	$150	Very broad and generous definition of travel purchases, including vacation rentals, tolls and public transportation
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express	Earn 15,000 points after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.	2 points per dollar spent on everyday business purchases with no category restrictions (on up to $50,000 each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent)	$0 (see rates and fees)	None

The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Before you apply, make sure you’re familiar with Amex’s application and welcome bonus rules.

What are Amex Membership Rewards points worth?

There are many ways to redeem your American Express Membership Rewards points. However, they can offer a wide range of values. Some redemptions provide a fixed value for your points, while others have the potential to far exceed our May 2025 valuation of 2 cents apiece.

Air France business class. ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY

Why does TPG value Amex Membership Rewards points at 2 cents apiece?

Here at TPG, we use a data-driven methodology to determine our valuation for transferable credit card points. The factors that go into methodology include:

The base value for cash-equivalent rewards (e.g., statement credits, cash back, Amazon redemptions)
The base value for travel redemptions
The quantity (and quality) of airline and hotel partners

The value of Amex points when transferring to travel partners

You’ll usually find the most valuable redemptions when transferring your Amex points to one of Amex’s transfer partners. Amex partners with 21 airline and hotel loyalty programs. Here are the transfer ratios and times.

Program	Ratio	Transfer time
Aer Lingus AerClub	1:1	Instant
Aeromexico Rewards	1:1.6	24 hours
Air Canada Aeroplan	1:1	Instant
Air France-KLM Flying Blue	1:1	Instant
All Nippon Airways Mileage Club	1:1	48 hours
Avianca LifeMiles	1:1	Instant
British Airways Club	1:1	Instant
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	1:1	48 hours
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles	1:1	Instant
Emirates Skywards	4:3	Instant
Etihad Airways Guest	1:1	Instant
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (ending June 30)	1:1	Instant
Club Iberia Plus	1:1	48 hours
JetBlue TrueBlue	1.25:1	Instant
Qantas Frequent Flyer	1:1	Instant
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1:1	Less than 24 hours
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	1:1	Instant
Choice Privileges	1:1	Instant
Hilton Honors	1:2	Instant
Marriott Bonvoy	1:1	Instant

With so many transfer partners available, Membership Rewards points offer incredible flexibility.

Good redemption options for Amex Membership Rewards points

With Amex points, there are many ways to redeem them, with some being much better than others.

Best-value redemptions

Many Membership Rewards redemptions could provide more than 2 cents per point in value. Our handy points versus cash calculator can help you gauge the value you get from a redemption.

Transfer your points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and you’ll pay just 13,500 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way flight from California, Oregon or Washington to Hawaii with Alaska Airlines. Those based elsewhere in the country can book nonstop or connecting flights on United Airlines. You’ll pay 19,500 miles for a one-way economy ticket or 39,000 for business class. This includes United’s long-haul nonstop flights from Newark, Chicago and Washington, D.C., to Honolulu.
Singapore Airlines operates two of the world’s longest flights: from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). You won’t want to spend 18 hours in an uncomfortable seat, so use your Membership Rewards points to fly in business class. Both routes cost 111,500 KrisFlyer miles plus taxes and fees one-way.
Transfer your Amex points to Club Iberia Plus. You can fly from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and JFK to Madrid for just 17,000 Avios in economy, 25,500 in premium economy and 34,000 in business class each way.
Transfer your Amex points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue to enjoy its fantastic monthly Promo Rewards offers. With this ongoing promotion, one-way business-class flights to Europe are regularly available for under 40,000 Membership Rewards points.
Transfer your Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program and book round-trip business-class flights to Japan on ANA for just 105,000 Membership Rewards points from the West Coast and 120,000 points from the East Coast.

It’s also important to note that many of these partners offer transfer bonuses throughout the year, sometimes offering up to 40% bonus points or miles when you transfer. These limited-time promotions can help you stretch your Membership Rewards points even further.

Redeeming Amex points when booking flights through American Express Travel

While we focus a lot on the value of transferable points here at TPG, you can only maximize them if your preferred airline or hotel has award space available. If you need to travel on fixed dates — especially on a premium route like New York to Los Angeles — this might pose a problem. If you’ve exhausted all other options, you can get an acceptable value by redeeming points through the Amex Travel portal.

With this option, your Amex points are worth 1 cent each. This can be great with a cheap fare, but it isn’t always the best option.

However, if you have any of the following Amex business cards, you can receive a bonus when using Pay with Points for eligible flights:

The Centurion Card from American Express: 50% bonus
The Business Platinum Card from American Express: 35% bonus (up to 1 million points per calendar year)

The information for the Centurion Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

These bonuses are valid on first- or business-class flights with any airline and economy flights with the airline you picked for your annual $200 airline incidental fee statement credit. You need to have the full number of points required for a booking in your account, and the bonus will post to your account within six to 10 weeks.

Utilizing one of these bonuses can increase your redemption value from 1 cent per point to 1.54 with the Business Platinum and 2 cents with the business Centurion card. As a bonus, you’ll earn both redeemable miles and elite-qualifying miles on tickets booked this way, as the airlines treat them the same as cash bookings.

Low-value redemptions for Amex Membership Rewards points

Not all redemptions are created equal — in fact, some redemptions listed below will give you under 1 cent per point in value. We recommend skipping these and saving your points.

Redeeming points for gift cards

Amex partners with various retailers to offer physical and electronic gift cards in various denominations, or you can also redeem points for American Express gift cards. If you go this route, each Amex point will typically be worth 1 cent apiece (so a $50 gift card costs 5,000 points). However, some merchants offer less than this in value, while others run promotions to give you slightly more value. This is better than redeeming for a statement credit (which we’ll detail below), but it’s still low compared to redeeming points for travel.

Redeeming points for Amazon purchases and statement credits

If long-haul flights represent one of the best possible values for Amex points, then redeeming them at Amazon and for statement credits are among the worst. When you add your Membership Rewards points-earning card as a payment method on Amazon, you can use your Amex points for purchases, but you’ll only get 0.7 cents per point in value.

Meanwhile, you can use Membership Rewards points to cover eligible purchases made with your Amex card at a rate of just 0.6 cents per point.

Woman sitting outside holding two credit cards — RGSTUDIO/GETTY IMAGES

These redemptions offer poor value and should only be considered a last resort. Remember, Amex points don’t expire as long as you keep at least one Membership Rewards card open, so there’s no reason to rush into a low-value redemption.

If you want to earn cash-back rewards to go shopping or help pay the bills, check out TPG’s list of top cash-back credit cards.

Redeeming points to book hotels through Amex Travel

You should generally avoid redeeming Membership Rewards points for hotel stays through Amex Travel. With most hotels, you can redeem your points at a rate of 0.7 cents each through Amex Travel. And since these are third-party bookings, you won’t usually earn hotel points or elite night credits for your stay.

firepit on Aurora Rooftop Bar terrace. Andaz Vienna — WALTER LUTTENBERGER/ANDAZ VIENNA

The one exception is Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, a luxury hotel program that’s only available to Platinum and Centurion cardmembers. If you pay with points to book one of these properties, you’ll get 1 cent of value per point and receive elitelike benefits for your stay, including complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout, and usually a dining or spa credit. Plus, these stays usually earn hotel points and elite night credits.

Frequently asked questions

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about Amex points.

How much are 10,000 Amex points worth?

According to TPG’s May 2025 valuations, 10,000 Amex points are worth $200. You may be able to get a higher value if you leverage transfer partners like Air Canada Aeroplan or Hilton Honors. However, you may get less than 2 cents per point if you redeem for statement credits and gift cards.

Are Amex points worth more than Chase points?

According to TPG’s May 2025 valuations, Chase points are worth slightly more than Amex points. Chase points are worth 2.05 cents per point, compared to Amex points, which are worth 2 cents per point.

Do Amex points expire?

Amex points don’t expire as long as you have a Membership Rewards points-earning card and your account is in good standing.

Are Amex Membership Rewards worth it?

Amex Membership Rewards points are worth it because they give you extreme flexibility. You can redeem points for less-than-ideal things like cash back, gift cards or travel booked through Amex Travel. However, you also can get immense value with Amex’s 21 transfer partners. The choice is yours.

How do I get the most value from Amex points?

Transfer your points to one of Amex’s 21 hotel and airline partners to get the maximum value from them.

Bottom line

Amex Membership Rewards points have long been considered some of the most valuable points on the market. They sit near the top of TPG’s May 2025 valuations, thanks to many high-value airline transfer partners that allow members to book premium-cabin awards at low rates.

The value you get from your Amex points can vary significantly, starting at just 0.6 cents for statement credits but rising much higher for select transfer partners. Of course, that requires extensive flexibility and the willingness to learn the ins and outs of loyalty programs, so many cardmembers may prefer simpler reward options.

Ultimately, TPG’s May 2025 valuations peg Amex points at 2 cents apiece, but be sure to consider the best redemption option for your specific situation.

For rates and fees of the Amex Business Gold card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card, click here.