Last Day of the American Express Transfer Bonus to British Airways
Today (March 28, 2016) is the last day to receive the 25% transfer bonus between American Express Membership Rewards and British Airways Executive Club (Canadian offer only).
You need to transfer a minimum of 1,000 Membership Rewards points for 1,000 Avios. But this transfer bonus will give you 1,250 Avios for the same transaction.
I have already taken advantage of transferring my points twice during this promotional period. I also took advantage of it once during the one from last year too.
New 75,000 Platinum Sign Up Bonus
This promotion expires just as the 75,000 sign up bonus promotion becomes available. Basically you can earn 75,000 sign up bonus points if you are referred by a friend to sign up for the American Express Platinum Card (personal or business versions).
That being said, they did increase the referral bonus from 15,000 to 25,000 bonus points. If you have been referring friends in the past few days, your referral bonus points should have already been credited to your account by now, so that you can take advantage of the this transfer bonus before it expires.
Redeem for Short Haul Flights
Please note that I would almost never (unless maybe an emergency), redeem my Executive Club Avios on British Airways flights, as they have high taxes and fuel surcharges. Instead, I would rather redeem my Avios with Oneworld alliance members.
Avios can be very valuable. But these are also some ugly spots for redemption. For example, an American Airlines flight flight from Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), you will need 7,500 Avios plus $58 for a one-way economy ticket.
But if you reversed the flight, from JFK back to YUL, it only costs 7,500 Avois plus $7 in fees for a one-way economy ticket. So be careful how you redeem your Avios.
Redeem for Long Haul Flights
There are some sweet spots for long haul flights too. Check this flight out between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) for a one-way Cathay Pacific flight. It will cost you 35,000 Avios plus $50 in fees for a one-way economy ticket.
This means that you only need to transfer 28,000 Membership Rewards and you will already have 35,000 Avios. Pretty sweet deal!
