The Ultimate Guide to American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards is one of the go-to programs for the savvy points collector. The program has the most airline and hotel points transfer partners of Australia’s major credit card rewards programs, coupled with high day-to-day earning rates and sign-up offers.

It’s a powerful combination that lets you rack up points faster and use them on a broader range of airline partners across different alliances.

Benefits of American Express Membership Rewards

Here are a few quick reasons:

• American Express offers a range of cards from entry-level to Platinum tier, so there’s a card to suit a wide range of applicants with different annual fees, perks and points-earning capabilities.
• Points don’t expire as long as your Membership Rewards account with American Express is active.
• Most importantly, Membership Rewards points are flexible. You can transfer those points to different airline or hotel partners as needed.
• Aside from points, American Express cards are often eligible for great statement offers that could save you money on goods or services you might have bought anyway.

Where can I transfer Membership Rewards points to?

There are a wide variety of direct transfer partners from Membership Rewards. These include Velocity Frequent Flyer, KrisFlyer, Asia Miles and Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Certain premium cards also have access to Qantas Frequent Flyer as a transfer partner (usually, Qantas only participates with direct-earn cards).

For most transfer partners, two Membership Rewards points will convert to one frequent flyer point (or mile). However, some programs are now 3:1, including Emirates Skywards and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. American Express has a list of most transfer partners and their current conversion rates.

Don’t forget you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points onwards to a range of other international frequent flyer programs. This increases the versatility of the Membership Rewards scheme.

What American Express cards earn Membership Rewards points?

There is a broad range of American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards Points. We’ll cover the three most common personal cards below.

The American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card

The Platinum Edge Credit Card is an entry-level Platinum card offering great value.

You’ll receive a $200 travel credit each year which you can use on any eligible bookings. This travel credit easily outweighs the annual fee. Free domestic and international travel insurance is also included.

The Platinum Edge offers bumped-up earn rates at ‘major supermarkets’ and petrol stations of three Membership Rewards Points per $1. This also includes purchasing other retailers’ gift cards from those major supermarkets — learn more in this guide.

For overseas purchases, including online purchases in foreign currency, the card earns a steady two Membership Rewards Points per dollar.

On all other purchases, including with government bodies such as the ATO, the card earns one Membership Rewards Point per dollar.

The American Express Explorer Credit Card

The mid-range Explorer Credit Card offers a $400 annual travel credit with American Express Travel and two lounge visits to the American Express Lounge in Sydney or Melbourne, for a $395 annual fee.

It earns a high two Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on most purchases, which equates to one frequent flyer point when transferred to most airline programs. Government and ATO spending earn half that rate.

The American Express Platinum Card

The Platinum Card is American Express’ premier card product. It offers a high-cost, high-return strategy in the world of accruing points.

The annual fee is $1,450 a year, but many premium inclusions can offset this. These include a decent sign-up bonus and travel credit, plus unlimited lounge access through various programs and more.

The Platinum Card will likely suit those who want a large Membership Rewards sign-up bonus, big spenders and/or those who are after the extensive list of ancillary benefits. It earns 2.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent, except for government and ATO spend which is one point per dollar.

How do Membership Rewards compare with ‘direct earn’ cards?

How do cards that earn directly into Qantas Frequent Flyer or Velocity Frequent Flyer compare to those that earn Membership Reward points?

Direct-earn cards are convenient if you’re happy to maximise one program. We consider flexible points programs like Membership Rewards to offer great flexibility and value. Read more in our introduction to flexible points programs.

It means you’re not locked into any one frequent flyer program. For example, you will usually get better value on oneworld airline flights when using Asia Miles rather than Qantas Points.

There may also be transfer bonuses that give you more points whenever you convert your Membership Rewards balance to a partner program. These bonuses increase the value of your points accordingly.

What are the other features of American Express Cards?

Bonus sign-up points

If you haven’t held almost any American Express card in the past 18 months, you might be eligible for a new card sign-up bonus! These vary depending on promotions, so check out our latest sign-up deals.

Acceptance of American Express by retailers

American Express is not accepted by all merchants in Australia, much like the US and UK. Of those that do, some are fee-free, and others charge an additional fee for payment with an American Express Card (or any card in general).

As such, any savvy point hacker would likely have an American Express Card and a Mastercard or Visa on hand when Amex is not accepted/preferred. However, most major stores will accept Amex without issues.

Amex Offers

All Amex-issued cards, regardless of rewards program, come with ‘Amex Offers‘, which are immediate statement credits for hitting a spending target with a specific retailer.

Examples include a $30 credit for spending $150 at Myer, or $50 credit back after spending $350 with Qantas. These promotions refresh frequently, so check our deals page for new listings.

The American Express Referral Program

You may find that the best signup bonuses are not public. American Express regularly tweaks their sign-up bonuses for Membership Rewards cards, and sometimes, the best bonuses are if you let another cardholder refer you.

If you’re in a position to refer someone else to a new card, you both might be able to benefit. As a referrer, you could earn a chunk of bonus points if your referee applies and is approved for a new American Express card.

Summing up: is American Express Membership Rewards for you?

Stowing your points away in Membership Rewards gives redemption flexibility, allowing you to transfer to programs later once you have a firm plan for your points.

It can be helpful to have flexibility when playing the points game. Given that Membership Rewards partners with Velocity, Privilege Club and Asia Miles, this covers all the major alliances and domestic/Trans-Tasman options you might want outside of Qantas.

The solid range of cards covers low and high spenders alike, with decent card inclusions and points earning rates, especially in the entry-level American Express Platinum Edge Card.