Use Amex 15% Transfer Bonus to Book a Family Vacation From 6,522 Points Per Ticket
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Want to squeeze an extra family trip this year out of your miles? Here is a way to make it happen, but you have to act by Monday. The American Express Membership Rewards program currently has a 15% bonus for transfers to Avianca's LifeMiles through April 1. You can use LifeMiles to book United-operated flights (as well as those on other Star Alliance airlines). The process to book awards with LifeMiles is simple and can be accomplished online via the LifeMiles site when United has saver award space available.
Now, 15 percent is not a huge bonus and there isn't a massive amount of time left to act, but the discount is enough to allow your family to score domestic award flights for as little as little as 6,522 points each direction if you have a card with Amex Membership Rewards points. (Though you can only transfer in increments of 1,000 points from Amex Membership Rewards so you will have to round up a bit.)
Here are some of the cards that earn Membership Rewards points:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express
- The Blue Business®️ Plus Credit Card from American Express
LifeMiles prices its domestic award chart by zones. Flights within a zone start at as little as 7,500 LifeMiles each direction. As the homemade map below indicates, you can fly from as far as Seattle to New Mexico, Montana to Florida or South Carolina to Maine and stay within the same zone. Jumping on the current Amex Membership Rewards 15% transfer bonus lowers the number of Membership Rewards points you need to transfer to book those awards.
Here are five example itineraries you can book with your family to add one more adventure to the calendar:
- Houston - Billings, Montana for 6,522 Membership Rewards points (normally 7,500 LifeMiles)
- Newark - New Orleans for 8,696 Membership Rewards points (normally 10k LifeMiles)
- Denver – San Diego for 6,522 Membership Rewards points (normally 7,500 LifeMiles)
- Chicago - Portland, Oregon for 8,696 Membership Rewards points (normally 10k LifeMiles)
- Minneapolis - Orlando for 6,522 Membership Rewards points (normally 7,500 LifeMiles)
Note that United saver awards must be available to book these awards -- so check the LifeMiles booking site to confirm availability before making the transfer. Additionally, now that United MileagePlus has shifted a bit away from a traditional 12.5k mile award chart, you should absolutely compare LifeMiles award rates to United’s own award prices as United prices can be as low as 6,000 miles each way. However, at other times, LifeMiles will still want fewer miles than United for the same award flights -- and Membership Rewards points don't transfer directly to United anyway.
At 6,522 transferred Membership Rewards points per ticket for each direction of travel, a family of four could fly round trip from just 52,176 total transferred points (rounded up to 53,000), which is not shabby at all. Of course, some families want to travel farther afield and LifeMiles can also be useful for some longer, fancier trips, too. Business class from the US to Europe would cost just 57,783 transferred points each direction with the 15% transfer bonus (plus taxes and fees).
You can also transfer points to LifeMiles from the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (2:1.5 ratio) or from the Citi ThankYou program and cards such as the Citi Premier® Card (1:1 ratio).
Read on for more information on LifeMiles or for help planning your family's next adventure:
Top offers from our partners
How we chose these cards
TPG featured card
Rewards
| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. and at U.S. supermarkets. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
Build your loyalty to Delta by applying for the carrier's mid-tier card option, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card. The annual fee is quickly recouped by the card's travel perks, such as an application credit to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, annual companion certificate and so much more. Plus you can fast-track to elite status simply through card spend.Pros
- Earn bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and an Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver when you hit specific spending thresholds with your card within a calendar year
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year
- Statement credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee (up to $100)
- First checked bag free
Cons
- Doesn't make sense if you don't fly Delta
- SkyMiles aren't the most valuable airline currency
- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. Plus enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding and settle into your seat sooner.
- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Rewards Rate
| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. and at U.S. supermarkets. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro Offer
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles50,000 Bonus MilesAnnual Fee
$250Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO© Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.670-850Excellent/Good
Why We Chose It
Build your loyalty to Delta by applying for the carrier's mid-tier card option, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card. The annual fee is quickly recouped by the card's travel perks, such as an application credit to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, annual companion certificate and so much more. Plus you can fast-track to elite status simply through card spend.Pros
- Earn bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and an Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver when you hit specific spending thresholds with your card within a calendar year
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year
- Statement credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee (up to $100)
- First checked bag free
Cons
- Doesn't make sense if you don't fly Delta
- SkyMiles aren't the most valuable airline currency
- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. Plus enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding and settle into your seat sooner.
- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees