How To Maximize 200,000 AMEX Points As A Business Owner in 2023

Points are one of the most treasured perks of having an American Express card. If you’re new to elite rewards, or if you’ve just been too busy building your business to take advantage of them, this primer will give you some actionable ideas on how to use your AMEX points.

As a business owner, you know how important planning is, and while life doesn’t always follow the script, making a purposeful plan for redeeming your reward points is a great idea. Whether you have a cache of welcome points, or you’ve earned them through strategic use of your card, use some of these ideas to help take maximum advantage of them.

Use Your Points For Travel

Without a doubt, travel is one of the most popular ways to use credit card rewards in general, and American Express points in particular. American Express is leading the way in making rewards meaningful and useful to their cardholders, and they have an extensive network of travel partners.

You can use your points for travel two different ways:

• Directly through the American Express Membership Rewards website
• Transfer your points directly to the airline or hotel partner you wish to use your points on

Unless you find an amazing travel deal for a destination you’re keen to visit on the AMEX rewards website, you’re going to do better by transferring your points. Transferring your points will allow you to look for deals that will make your points go even further.

Making The Most Of Your Points

They’re your points, and you should use them as you see fit. As a business owner, you might use them to offset the costs of travel for your business. On the other hand, why shouldn’t you use them to splurge on an exciting vacation or romantic getaway? You get to choose.

You’ll get more out of your points by doing your research well in advance and then making a plan for how to use them. Whether you end up spending your rewards on business or pleasure, a sound plan will make them go further.

So, what can you expect your 200,000 points to get you in terms of airfare for travel?

Quite a lot.

For travel to Europe you can expect trips to cost between 60,000 and 150,000 points. Trips to Asia can run between 50,000 and 120,000 points on average, and domestic flights in the US often go for 10,000 to 25,000 points, although some destinations might be as little as 5,000 to 7,500.

If you’re doing the math, this works out to one or two trips to Europe or Asia, or 10 to 12 domestic flights.

One complicating factor that can make planning your trip in advance difficult is that many airline partners have abandoned fixed redemption charts in favor of dynamic pricing. In the past, you could easily know how far your miles would go in terms of airfare, but those days are quickly ending.

This means it’s a good idea to periodically check in on the value of your points with AMEX’s travel partners. And, if you can add some off-season flexibility into your plans, so much the better.

Whether you’re a long range planner or tend to be more spur-of-the-moment, consider a tried-and-true strategy for getting the most out of your points.

Look For Non-stop Fares And Don’t Forget About Economy Seats

You’re likely to have to pay, in the form of extra points, to stopover. This extra cost can make it less efficient to embark on a multi-stop trip. Depending on the purpose of your travel, try to make plans for point-to-point, single destination trips if you want to squeeze every penny out of your points.

While it’s a time-honored tradition to use points to pay for more expensive flights like business class or first-class, you might consider flying economy on one of the legs of your trip. Even when you pay with points, business and first class tickets are more expensive, so if maximizing your travel opportunities is most important to you, keep economy seats in mind for one or both of your legs.

How To Transfer Your Points For Travel

To transfer your points for use, you’ll start at the American Express Membership Rewards website. From your Member portal, simply look for the “Earn and Redeem” tab. This will open navigation to the transfer partners you can choose from.

Speaking of transfer partners, you have a lot of variety available, which will go a long way toward helping you maximize your reward points. Among the noteworthy travel partners in the AMEX rewards family are:

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Delta SkyMiles
• Etihad Guest
• Qantas Frequent Flier
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

In addition to these airline partners, you also have the choice of three hotel rewards partners, including Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy.

American Express has worked out very favorable terms for their members; most of their reward partners allow for 1:1 redemption value, so you don’t lose out by transferring your points. However, a few of their partners don’t transfer at this level. You will want to pay close attention to the transfer rate as you plan your travels. Of course, even with 1:1 transfers, you’ll want to compare the cost for your tickets in points to the actual cash cost. For some flights, it might not be worth using points. Save them for something more memorable.

Also keep surcharges in mind, such as for first class travel and fuel fees. Many travel partners don’t assess fuel surcharges for AMEX points users, but some do. Once again, it pays to do your research in advance to optimize the redemption of your points.

Enjoy Your Rewards, And Plan For The Future

As you put your reward points to work for you, don’t neglect to include your AMEX rewards program in your long term planning. You’ll likely continue to travel for your business, or take more vacations in the future, so strategically use your American Express card for your purchases. A business card can be an excellent way to pay for ongoing expenses and provide liquidity for your growing company. You might as well use a financial tool that rewards you for using it. By planning major purchases in advance, and using both business and personal cards as appropriate, you can keep racking up those reward points and treat yourself or family to more regular trips to exotic destinations.