67% Bonus (40% Rebate) on American Express Membership Rewards Transfers to Delta
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
WOW! 50% plus MQMs was pretty good, but those offers have been limited to first time transferees, so the rest of us were stuck with measly 40% bonuses.
Today Amex/Delta announced an interesting 40% rebate (registration required). For every 50,000 Amex points you transfer to Delta, you get 20,000 back.
So in essence 100,000 Delta miles = 60,000 Amex points (100,000 - 40,000 in rebates), the trick is that you need to have the increment of 50k in Amex points and pay the excise fee ($60 per 100k transferred, though currently not being charged due to US government budget meltdown). So you get 40,000 extra Skymiles for transferring 60,000 Amex points (after rebate) - basically a 67% bonus when all is said and done.
Under the 40% promotion, you were looking at 100,000 Delta miles = 72,000 Amex points.
In the end, this is a better deal, though I would still rank the 50% bonus and 25,000 MQMs as a better deal (if you are eligible for it). The rebate certificates won't be sent until 6-8 weeks after the transfer (though it says registration, I think that's wrong), so you should still weigh this transfer option versus the 50% British Airways bonus that expires August 1, 2011. I wrote a comparison piece on BA vs. Delta here.
If you don't have any American Express Membership Rewards points, the Platinum Card currently has a 25,000 point bonus ($450 annual fee, but lots of benefits as I listed here) (See Rates & Fees), and it may be possible to bump that to 100,000 per the comments on this post. If you've been an Amex customer in the past, you should be allowed to advance yourself up to 60,000 points as a Platinum cardholder, free of charge (you just need to earn them back within the next year). Check out this post on maximizing Delta awards - it may take a little effort, but amazing Delta awards can be had at reasonable prices - especially when you factor in these transfer bonuses/rebates!
Promo details:
TRANSFER MEMBERSHIP REWARDS POINTS TO MILES AND GET UP TO 40% POINTS BACK.
Congratulations, you have successfully registered. For every 50,000
Membership Rewards® points you transfer through September 30, 2011, you'll
be rewarded with a certificate for 20,000 Membership Rewards points–that's
a 40% bonus back to you.
Bonuses earned with this promotion will be fulfilled in the form of an electronic bonus certificate and will be sent to qualified members by email 6-8 weeks after registration. Be sure you update your profile at delta.com/profile so we have your correct email address on file.
[card card-name='The Platinum Card® from American Express' card-id='22504813' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card, please click here.