Membership Rewards launched in 1991, making it one of the oldest transferable-points currencies in the US, and it's still consistently ranked alongside Chase Ultimate Rewards as one of the two strongest programs available. Here's how it actually works today.

The card lineup

- **Platinum** ($895/year, up from $695 as of September 2025) — 5x on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel.
- **Gold** ($325/year) — 4x dining, 4x US supermarkets (up to $25,000/year).
- **Green** ($150/year) — 3x travel, transit, and dining; closed to new applicants as of July 23, 2026, and renamed the Classic Green Card for existing holders on August 20, 2026. Amex hasn't announced a replacement.
- **Schwab Platinum** ($895/year) — same core earning as Platinum, with points cashable to an eligible Schwab account at 1.1 cents each.
- **Morgan Stanley Platinum** ($895/year) — mirrors consumer Platinum, for eligible Morgan Stanley/E*TRADE clients.
- **Business Platinum** ($895/year, also up from $695 in September 2025) — 5x on flights and prepaid hotels via Amex Travel, 1.5x on large purchases of $5,000+.
- **Business Gold** ($375/year) — 4x on your top 2 of 6 spending categories each month, up to $150,000/year combined.
- **Blue Business Plus** (no annual fee) — flat 2x on all purchases up to $50,000/year.
- **Business Green Rewards** ($95/year) — 2x on flights and prepaid hotels via Amex Travel.

Sign-up bonuses

Amex increasingly runs variable "as high as" targeted offers rather than one fixed number — so the bonus you're shown can differ from someone else's for the same card. Current public offers run roughly 175,000 points for Platinum, around 300,000 for Business Platinum, and around 100,000-200,000 for Gold and Business Gold, each tied to a specific minimum spend.

Transfer partners

The network covers 16-17 airlines and 3-4 hotel programs. Airlines include Delta, JetBlue, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Avianca, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Iberia, Qantas, Aer Lingus, and Virgin Atlantic. Hotel partners include Marriott, Hilton, Choice, and Leading Hotels of the World, added July 2026.

Most partners transfer 1:1, but not all: Cathay Pacific was cut from 1:1 to 5:4 on March 1, 2026, Emirates also runs 5:4, and a few others use non-1:1 ratios.

One detail specific to Amex: transferring points to Delta or JetBlue — the only two US airlines on the list — carries a fee of $0.0006 per point, capped at $99, described as a pass-through of a federal excise tax. Foreign airline transfers don't carry this fee. Chase, by contrast, has confirmed it doesn't pass this same tax through on its own domestic transfers to Southwest or United.

What a point is worth

This is one of the wider valuation gaps across sources: The Points Guy and Bankrate both estimate around 2 cents per point through strong transfer redemptions. NerdWallet is notably more conservative, at roughly 1.3-1.6 cents. Forbes Advisor puts Amex Travel flight bookings at 1 cent per point and prepaid hotel/car/cruise bookings lower, around 0.7 cents. Cashing out for a statement credit is the lowest option, around 0.6 cents.

The big fee cards: what changed in 2025

On September 18, 2025, both Platinum and Business Platinum had their fees raised to $895 alongside expanded credits. Platinum added up to $120 for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry, up to $600/year in hotel credits, a $209 CLEAR Plus credit, up to $100 per quarter in dining/Resy credit, and a $300 digital entertainment credit covering services including Paramount+ and YouTube Premium. Business Platinum added the same $600/year hotel credit plus up to $250 for Adobe, up to $1,150 for Dell, a $200 airline incidental credit, and a $219 CLEAR Plus credit; lounge access (Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass, 10 Delta Sky Club visits/year) stayed the same.

Domestic vs. international

There's no direct transfer to United, American, or Southwest. Indirect routing exists — Star Alliance partners like Air Canada, ANA, and Singapore can book United-operated flights, and oneworld partners like British Airways and Cathay Pacific can book American-operated flights — but there's no direct, efficient path to any of the big three domestic carriers. International strength is real: broad Star Alliance and Skyteam coverage plus Cathay Pacific, Singapore, ANA, Qatar, and Emirates give this program some of the deepest international premium-cabin access of any US transferable currency.

Other notable 2025-2026 changes

Amex ended its Hawaiian Airlines partnership on June 30, 2025, after Hawaiian's merger into Alaska's new Atmos Rewards program. Its Etihad Guest partnership is scheduled to end June 30, 2026. Platinum's minimum spend requirement for its sign-up bonus was raised from $8,000 to $12,000 in February 2026.

Still ahead in this series: Capital One and Citi. 

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