The 17 Amex Transfer Partners, Ranked

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to 17 airline programs. Three of them deserve most of your points, four share a single currency, and a few will quietly take 20% off the top. Here's the whole roster, tiered.

First, the ground rules. Transfers are one-way and irreversible — once points become airline miles, there's no undo. Most partners convert at 1:1, but ratios range from a generous-looking 1:1.6 down to a punishing 1:0.8. And the ratio is never the whole story: what matters is what the miles buy on the other side.

Tier 1 — Transfer here first

Air Canada Aeroplan (1:1, Star Alliance)

The workhorse. A fixed partner chart prices North America → Europe business class around 60–70k points one-way on Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, TAP, Turkish, United and more — with free stopovers and no fuel surcharges on most partners. Aeroplan also books carriers outside Star Alliance entirely: Emirates, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, and (since February 2026) ITA Airways. If you hold one balance for flexibility, hold this one.

Air France–KLM Flying Blue (1:1, SkyTeam)

Europe business class from roughly 50–60k one-way on Air France or KLM, with monthly Promo Rewards that discount specific routes further. Flying Blue also receives Amex transfer bonuses more often than nearly any other partner — 25–30% promos appear several times a year, which effectively drops a 60k award to 48k points.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (1:1, SkyTeam)

The cross-alliance specialist. Good pricing on Delta One to London, plus two famous backdoors: it books ANA (Star Alliance) at rates that, even after devaluations, often undercut everyone else — and El Al, which belongs to no alliance at all. Caveat: its partner list is narrower than full SkyTeam, so confirm your exact route is bookable before transferring.

Tier 2 — The Avios family

Four Amex partners — British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and Aer Lingus — all run on Avios, and balances move between them at 1:1. Same currency, different prices: the trick is booking each flight through whichever program charges least. Iberia off-peak business to Madrid is a classic sweet spot; Qatar's Qsuite is the aspirational play; BA-operated long-haul carries heavy surcharges, so use BA's program for short partner hops instead. The full breakdown is in our Avios guide.

Tier 3 — Specialists worth knowing

Tier 4 — Read the fine print

Aeromexico (1:1.6) looks like the best deal on the page and usually isn't — the miles are worth far less each, so the bonus ratio rarely beats a clean 1:1 transfer elsewhere.

Delta SkyMiles (1:1) charges an excise-tax offset fee on top — 60¢ per 1,000 points, capped at $99 — and prices awards dynamically, which usually means expensively.

Emirates Skywards (1:0.8) loses a fifth in transit and prices its own awards dynamically. Its quiet superpower: Skywards miles can be spent on easyJet and Jet2 across 600+ European routes — occasionally useful for intra-Europe positioning.

JetBlue (1:0.8 + the excise fee) takes the haircut and the fee. Hard to recommend for anything beyond emptying a small remainder balance.

The full table

Ratios current as of the June 2026 Amex transfer page. Always confirm award space and pricing inside the airline program before transferring — transfers can't be reversed, and program rules change without notice.