Travel Points MathTravel points strategy and award booking

Amex Transfer Partners: Ratios, the U.S. Airline Fee, and Which Bank Costs Less

American Express Membership Rewards transfers to 20 programs. 14 are 1:1; Cathay, Emirates and JetBlue give 800 per 1,000 points, Aeromexico 1,600 and Hilton 2,000. Transfers to Delta and JetBlue add a fee of $0.0006 a point, up to $99. Here is what each partner costs from Amex against Chase, Citi and Capital One, and how to tell when a transfer beats Amex Travel.

Travel Points MathReviewed September 26, 2026 · Updated September 27, 202611 min read

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to 20 programs, 16 airlines and 4 hotels. Fourteen are 1:1. Three give fewer: 1,000 Amex points become 800 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, 800 Emirates Skywards Miles or 800 JetBlue TrueBlue points. Two give more: 1,600 Aeromexico points and 2,000 Hilton Honors points. Leaders Club gives 250. Transfers to Delta and JetBlue, the two U.S. airlines on the list, add an excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 a point, up to $99, which is 0.06 cents on every point you send. That is Amex's own transfer page, read September 26, 2026.

The ratio is only half the answer. The other half is whether Chase, Citi or Capital One reaches the same program for fewer points, and whether the transfer beats simply paying with points through Amex Travel. Both are worked out below.

Which airlines and hotels can Amex points transfer to, and at what ratio?

Amex's page lists each partner as "N points = M partner points". The table reduces that to what 1,000 Amex points become, with Amex's transfer step and its own estimate of posting time. The last column is what 1,000 points become from the other banks that reach the same program, from the transfer partner matrix; a Citi figure in brackets is the rate on its lower-tier cards (Strata, Double Cash, Custom Cash and others).

Program 1,000 Amex points become Step Amex's posting estimate Same program from other banks (per 1,000)
Aer Lingus AerClub (Avios) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000
Aeromexico Rewards 1,600 1,000 48 hours Capital One 1,000
Air Canada Aeroplan 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000; Capital One 1,000
Air France-KLM Flying Blue 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000; Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
ANA Mileage Club 1,000 1,000 4 days none
Avianca LifeMiles 1,000 1,000 72 hours Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
British Airways Club (Avios) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000; Capital One 1,000
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 800 1,000 48 hours Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
Delta SkyMiles (fee applies) 1,000 1,000 48 hours none
Emirates Skywards 800 1,000 48 hours Citi 800 (560); Capital One 750
Iberia Club (Avios) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000
JetBlue TrueBlue (fee applies) 800 250 48 hours Chase 1,000; Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 600
Qantas Frequent Flyer 1,000 500 48 hours Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
Qatar Airways Privilege Club (Avios) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000; Citi 1,000 (700); Capital One 1,000
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000; Citi 1,000 (700)
Choice Privileges (hotel) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Citi 1,500 (1,050); Capital One 1,000
Hilton Honors (hotel) 2,000 1,000 24 hours none
Leaders Club (hotel) 250 1,000 72 hours Citi 200 (140)
Marriott Bonvoy (hotel) 1,000 1,000 48 hours Chase 1,000

Amex's page showed no transfer bonus on September 26, 2026. It caps a single transfer at 999,000 points for most partners, 750,000 for Avianca and Qatar Airways, and 3,000,000 for Hilton. Etihad Guest, United, American, Southwest and Japan Airlines are not on Amex's list. Citi was running a 25% bonus to Avianca and a 30% bonus to Japan Airlines for transfers completed September 20 to October 24, 2026, which makes Citi the cheaper route to Avianca until that date on its full-rate cards.

What does the U.S. airline fee add to a Delta or JetBlue transfer?

Amex charges the fee to the card account every time points go to a U.S. airline program: $0.0006 a point, with a maximum of $99 per transfer. Its transfer page says you may need to use points to pay it. On Amex's current list that means Delta and JetBlue.

  • 60,000 points to Delta: 60,000 × $0.0006 = $36.
  • 25,000 points to JetBlue: $15, for 20,000 TrueBlue points.
  • The $99 cap is reached at 165,000 points, so it only helps on very large transfers.

Treat the fee as part of the price of the award. Per point it is 0.06 cents, so a Delta transfer has to return about 1.06 cents a point before it beats a redemption that returns 1 cent with no fee.

When is Amex the cheapest bank for a program?

Reading the last column of the table against the second, from each bank's own printed rates:

  • Amex is the only route to Delta, ANA and Hilton among these four banks. There is nothing to compare; the question is only whether the award beats cash or Amex Travel (next section). Bilt Rewards, a rewards program rather than a bank, also sends Hilton points, at 1:1 against Amex's 1:2, so Amex still gives twice as many Hilton points per point sent.
  • Amex gives more than any other bank to Aeromexico (1,600 against Capital One's 1,000) and Leaders Club (250 against Citi's 200).
  • Amex gives less to Cathay Pacific (800 against 1,000 from Capital One or a full-rate Citi card), to JetBlue (800 against 1,000 from Chase) and to Choice (1,000 against 1,500 from a full-rate Citi card, or 1,050 from Citi's other cards). To JetBlue it still beats Capital One's 600, but the fee narrows the gap.
  • Emirates is a tie at the top among the banks: 800 from Amex or a full-rate Citi card, 750 from Capital One, 560 from a lower-tier Citi card. Bilt Rewards gives 1,000 (1:1 on its own partner page, read 2026-09-27).
  • Everywhere else the rate is the same 1:1 (Citi's lower-tier cards aside, at 700), and the choice turns on what each bank's point is worth to you. If you would otherwise use Amex points as a statement credit at 0.6 cents, they cost you less to give up than Chase or Citi points you could spend at 1 cent in their travel portals.

The which-points-to-transfer calculator runs this comparison for one award with your own balances, your Citi card tier and your value for each bank's point, and splits the transfer across banks when no single balance covers it.

Should you transfer or pay with points through Amex Travel?

Amex publishes two fixed values for its points: 1 cent each on flights booked through Amex Travel, and 0.6 cents as a statement credit against card charges. A transfer is worth doing only when the award returns more per point than the fixed option you would actually use:

cents per point = (cash price − award taxes − Amex fee) ÷ Amex points sent × 100

Worked example, hypothetical numbers. A Delta award costs 60,000 SkyMiles plus $5.60 in taxes.

Cash price of the same flight Fee Cents per point from the transfer Better choice
$780 $36 (780 − 5.60 − 36) ÷ 60,000 × 100 = 1.23 Transfer: beats Amex Travel's 1 cent
$600 $36 (600 − 5.60 − 36) ÷ 60,000 × 100 = 0.93 Amex Travel: the same 60,000 points pay the whole $600 fare

At $600 the transfer loses twice. Amex Travel would cover the fare with the same 60,000 points, and it would not charge the $36 fee.

Hotels work the same way. Amex's fixed rate for prepaid hotels through Amex Travel is 0.7 cents a point. A hypothetical 80,000-point Hilton night costs 40,000 Amex points at 1:2. At 0.7 cents, those points would buy a $280 room through Amex Travel. If the same room costs more than $280 in cash, the Hilton transfer returns more; if it costs less, book through Amex Travel.

What to check before moving Amex points

  1. Find the award first in the partner program's own search, at the price you will pay. Our point.me guide covers searching before you commit.
  2. Match the account holder. Amex's terms say the partner account must be in your name or in the name of an Additional Card Member on your account, and that Additional Card must have been issued at least 90 days before you link that person's program account.
  3. Size the transfer to the step. Most partners move in 1,000s; Qantas in 500s and JetBlue in 250s. Send the award price minus any miles already in the program, rounded up to the step.
  4. Price the fee for Delta or JetBlue into the award before comparing it with cash.
  5. Allow for posting time. Amex estimates 48 hours for most partners and 4 days for ANA, and says some programs post later. An award can disappear in that time.
  6. Accept that it is final. Amex's terms say a transfer cannot be reversed; the points then follow the partner's rules.

When this does not apply

  • Your card may see fewer partners. The list above is Amex's public U.S. Membership Rewards page. Some Membership Rewards products, such as rewards earned on an Amex checking account, may show fewer partners; your logged-in transfer screen is the final word for your card.
  • Legacy Cards. Amex's terms say that if the only card linked to your Membership Rewards account is a Legacy Card, transfers to partners are not available to you.
  • Amex cards issued outside the U.S. run separate Membership Rewards programs with different partners and ratios.
  • Transfer bonuses change the arithmetic while they run. When Amex shows one, use the transfer bonus calculator, which takes the ratio and the bonus together.
  • Ratios change. This table was read on September 26, 2026 and should be re-read by December 26, 2026 or whenever Amex announces a change.

FAQ

Does Amex transfer to Delta at 1:1?

Yes. Amex's page lists 1,000 points as 1,000 SkyMiles, in steps of 1,000, with an estimate of 48 hours to post. Delta is a U.S. airline, so the $0.0006-a-point fee applies: $36 on 60,000 points. Delta's own checks are in the Amex-to-Delta guide.

Which Amex transfers carry a fee?

Transfers to U.S. airline programs. On Amex's current list those are Delta SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue. The fee is $0.0006 a point, up to $99 a transfer.

Can I transfer Amex points to my spouse's airline account?

Only if your spouse is an Additional Card Member on your account and that card was issued at least 90 days before you link their program account. Otherwise the partner account must be in your own name.

Does Amex transfer to United, American or Southwest?

No. None of the three is on Amex's list. United and Southwest are on Chase's list, and American is on Citi's; see the transfer partner matrix.

How long do Amex transfers take?

Amex estimates 24 hours for Hilton, 48 hours for most partners, 72 hours for Avianca and Leaders Club and 4 days for ANA. Its transfer page says the points leave your balance at once, and that some programs are slower to post them.

What we checked, and when

What we checked Source Checked
The 20 partners, each ratio, transfer step, per-transfer maximum and posting estimate; no bonus shown American Express Membership Rewards transfer page (issuer's own page) 2026-09-26
The excise tax offset fee: $0.0006 a point, maximum $99, on transfers to U.S. airline programs Amex transfer page and Membership Rewards Terms, last updated September 2026 (issuer's own pages) 2026-09-26
Partner account in your name or an Additional Card Member's, with the card issued 90 days before linking; transfers cannot be reversed Membership Rewards Terms, last updated September 2026 2026-09-26
Fixed values: 1 cent on flights through Amex Travel, 0.7 cents on other Amex Travel bookings, 0.6 cents as a statement credit Amex, How Much Are Membership Rewards Points Worth? (issuer's own page, dated April 30, 2026) 2026-09-15
Chase, Citi and Capital One ratios and the Citi bonus window Each bank's own partner page, via the transfer partner matrix 2026-09-25 and 2026-09-26

The worked examples on this page are our own and use hypothetical fares, award prices and taxes.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-09-26; Bilt's Hilton and Emirates pages read 2026-09-27. Recheck Amex's transfer page before any real transfer.

Sources

  1. American Express, Membership Rewards transfer partners (all 20 partners, ratios, steps, posting estimates, excise tax offset fee), read 2026-09-26
  2. American Express, Membership Rewards Terms and Conditions (Last Updated: September 2026), transfer eligibility, finality and fee, read 2026-09-26
  3. Bilt Rewards, Hilton Honors partner page (1,000 Bilt Points = 1,000 Hilton Honors points), read 2026-09-27
  4. Bilt Rewards, Emirates partner page (1,000 Bilt Points = 1,000 Skywards miles), read 2026-09-27
  5. American Express, How Much Are Membership Rewards Points Worth? (Credit Intel, page dated 2026-04-30; statement credit 0.6 cents, flights through Amex Travel 1 cent, other Amex Travel 0.7 cents), checked 2026-09-15
  6. Chase, Citi and Capital One partner pages as read for the transfer partner matrix (dates on that page)

· Reviewed

Scope: Travel points strategy and award booking. We update this guide as the underlying search behaviour changes.

Transfer partner decision walkthroughs

Can You Transfer Amex Points to Delta? Check This First

Yes, eligible American Express Membership Rewards points can be converted to Delta SkyMiles through the Membership Rewards transfer flow; Delta also describes this on its Convert Partner Points to Miles page. Do not confuse that with Delta Transfer Miles, which is for moving miles between SkyMiles accounts. Before transferring, verify Delta award space, the logged-in Amex partner page, any displayed ratio or fee, and whether you are ready to book, because moved points can be hard or impossible to unwind.

Reviewed September 14, 202611 min read