How long do American Express Membership Rewards take to transfer?

American Express Membership Rewards points are one of the most useful flexible loyalty currencies out there. Not to mention, they're fairly easy to earn if you have cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the American Express® Gold Card in your wallet.

While this isn't your only redemption option, you'll generally get the most value from your points by transferring them to a travel partner. The program offers 17 airline and three hotel transfer partners, including at least one useful option in each of the major alliances — SkyTeam, Star Alliance and Oneworld. All but three of Amex's partners have a 1:1 transfer ratio.

Transfer times vary by partner, so the TPG team routinely performs tests for each one. Not leaving yourself enough time to transfer points from your Membership Rewards account to your desired program could leave you high and dry. Your experiences may vary, but here's what we found.

Related: American Express Membership Rewards transfer partners: Maximize your points

American Express Membership Rewards transfer times

Note that the times listed above represent our personal experiences and shouldn't be taken as hard-and-fast rules. However, other users have reported a similar timeline when transferring points from Membership Rewards. Your transfers may be faster or slower, but you can use these times as guidelines when planning your trips. Instant transfers are obviously always preferred, and Amex does a good job of making that happen compared with competitors like Citi ThankYou Rewards.

Related: How (and why) you should earn transferable credit card points

Things to consider before transferring Membership Rewards points

The greatest risk when transferring points is that award availability can change while you're waiting for points to show up in your account. Transfers are irreversible, so in the worst-case scenario, you'll be stuck with thousands of points in a program you have little use for beyond your originally intended award ticket or hotel stay. Here are a few tips to help you avoid that situation:

• Make sure the name on your Amex credit card matches the name on your loyalty program account exactly.
• Link all your transfer partner accounts to your Membership Rewards account now to prevent delays when you need to make a quick transfer.
• Put your award reservation on hold before transferring (if possible). Very few programs allow you to do this, but those that do make things much easier.
• Choose flights that have more than one available award seat in case someone else books before your miles show up. Use tools like ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG's parent company, Red Ventures) to find out how many award seats are available on a flight. You can also do a single search for three or four passengers — that way, you can determine precisely how many seats are available.
• Improve your chances of finding award space by choosing less popular routes or those that originate from non-hub airports, as these often have better award availability. One example is a transatlantic flight from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) on American Airlines. For a transpacific flight, check out All Nippon Airways' flights from San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) in California to Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT).

If your original flights have disappeared, don't panic. Remember that award availability changes frequently and can increase dramatically as you approach your departure date. Check regularly, and be ready to act quickly when seats do open up.

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Related: Current credit card transfer bonuses

Can you transfer Membership Rewards points to someone else's account?

Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards, American Express doesn't allow transferring Membership Rewards points to other accounts, even for family members living under the same roof. However, there is a workaround for this: Add them as authorized users.

Although you won't be able to transfer points to another Amex account, you can transfer points to someone else's travel loyalty account by adding them as an authorized user. American Express allows authorized users to be added to all of its Membership Rewards-earning cards. You can add practically anyone as an authorized user on your account — even if you don't share the same address — but you will be responsible for their spending.

The Platinum Card® from American Express charges $195 per year to add authorized users to an account (see rates and fees). In addition to being able to transfer points to their loyalty accounts, authorized users receive all of the card's benefits, such as lounge access and hotel elite status. However, if the benefits don't matter and all you want is the ability to transfer points, you can add Gold Card authorized users to your Platinum account for no fee (see rates and fees).

On the American Express® Gold Card, the first five authorized users are free to add, and additional ones cost $35 each (see rates and fees). The American Express® Green Card charges $40 per year for each authorized user (see rates and fees).

The information for the Amex 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.

Related: The credit cards with the greatest value for authorized users

Is there a fee for transferring Membership Rewards points?

American Express charges an excise fee of 0.06 cents per point (capped at $99) when you transfer points to a U.S. airline. For example, if you transfer 30,000 Membership Rewards points to Delta Air Lines, you'll need to pay an $18 fee. This is in addition to any taxes and fees you may be charged by the airline when redeeming your miles.

To minimize these fees and maximize your Amex points, transfer your points to foreign frequent flyer programs like Avianca LifeMiles or British Airways Executive Club.

How to earn Membership Rewards points

You have a few strong options for earning Membership Rewards points on a variety of common spending categories like groceries, dining and travel. These cards are also offering sizable welcome bonuses that could give your Membership Rewards account a major boost:

• American Express Gold Card: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership. Plus, receive 20% back in statement credits (up to $100 back) on eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide within the first six months of card membership.
• American Express Green Card: Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership.
• American Express Platinum Card: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership.

The information for The Amex 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.

Related: Best American Express credit cards

Bottom line

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer instantly for the vast majority of partners. Even the laggards only take 48 hours at most to transfer, which is significantly better than some other programs. Just keep in mind that the transfer times listed above are based on what we saw and may vary from one person to another.

With the large variety of Membership Rewards transfer partners, it's tough to pick out just a few of the best options. Some sweet spots include transferring 50,000 Membership Rewards points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue to fly to Europe in business class on off-peak dates. Transferring to Choice Privileges for award stays starting at 8,000 points will also get you terrific value. Check out our guide on redeeming Amex points for maximum value for all of the best-value transfers.

For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Green Card, click here.