How to Use Pay with Points
Use Membership Rewards® points for all or part of your flight, prepaid hotel, prepaid car rental, vacation packages (flight and prepaid hotel), or prepaid cruise booking.
Just follow these easy steps
Search
Step 1
Log in to AmexTravel.com to access Membership Rewards points and begin by searching for a trip as usual.

Apply Points
Step 2
At checkout, select either "Use Only Points" or "Use Points + Card" then apply points to your booking.

Book Trip
Step 3
Once booked, your Card will be charged the full dollar amount. A corresponding credit for the value of points used will be applied to your account in a separate transaction within 48 hours.

See where points can take you
More about American Express Membership Rewards points
When you use Pay with Points, the full dollar amount will be charged to your American Express® Card and a corresponding credit for the value of points used will be applied to your account in a separate transaction within 48 hours.
To use Pay with Points, you must use a Membership Rewards program enrolled Card for payment. Plan It® cannot be combined with Pay with Points.
If you cancel your booking, you will receive a statement credit on your Card account. To have the Membership Rewards points returned to your account, you can contact Membership Rewards at 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276).
Delta Skymiles® cannot be redeemed at AmexTravel.com.
How to earn points
When you use your eligible American Express Card to make purchases, you'll earn Membership Rewards points for every dollar you spend on qualifying purchases.
Why book with American Express Travel?
Use Pay with Points for your next Hotel Stay
Have a question?
You can use the Points Value Calculator to see what Membership Rewards points are worth and how you can use them.
Yes, at checkout, select "Use Points + American Express Card" then apply points to your booking. You still need a minimum of 5,000 points to apply points.
When you use Pay with Points, the full dollar amount will be charged to your American Express Card and a corresponding credit for the value of points used will be applied to your account in a separate transaction within 48 hours.
Yes. If you cancel your booking, you will receive a statement credit on your Card account. To have the Membership Rewards points returned to your account, you can contact Membership Rewards at 1-800-AXP-EARN (297-3276).
Yes, you can use Pay with Points for prepaid car rentals. For reservations that require payment at time of pick-up, payment is handled directly with the vendor.
Yes, you can use Pay with Points for prepaid hotel reservations. For hotel reservations that require payment at time of check-out, payment is handled directly with the property.
There are two ways you can upgrade your flight with points:
- During booking, there is an option to select an upgraded ticket class. You can use points, your Card, or a combination of both at checkout.
- Through the Upgrade with Points program, Membership Rewards program enrolled Card Members can get great deals on upgrades to hundreds of destinations with participating airlines. Terms apply.
You can also upgrade your flight without using Membership Rewards points. You may be eligible to rebook your flights and pay the difference directly with your Card.
Learn More about changing your flight.
Yes, you can transfer Membership Rewards points with three simple steps:
- Link your account
- Select amount to transfer
- Redeem with selected provider
Frequent traveler program airlines determine how many points, miles or other units are required to get rewards in their frequent traveler programs. This applies
to select airlines, and value of points varies by airline, flight, class of ticket (ie: upgrades), and date of travel. Additional domestic or international airline fees may apply.
Note: For point transfers to airlines, we recommend making the reservations first and verifying any blackout dates that may apply.
No, you cannot transfer Frequent Flyer miles to Membership Rewards points, however you can transfer your Membership Rewards points to a Frequent Flyer program.
Yes, you can still earn miles as you typically would, regardless of booking with points or Card.
Yes, you can transfer Membership Rewards points with three simple steps:
- Link your account
- Select amount to transfer
- Redeem with selected provider
Note: Frequent guest program properties determine how many points, or other units are required to get rewards in their frequent guest programs for hotel stays. This applies to select properties, and value of points can vary depending on hotel room type.
It depends on the type of booking you choose on your reservation type. Visit My Trips to determine if your hotel booking type is eligible to earn points.
Yes, you can earn points when booking directly with airline, hotel, and car rental vendors. To learn more about earning points for your specific Card, click here.
You do not need to call to let us know about direct transactions.
Note: Card Members enrolled in the Membership Rewards program earn at least 1 Membership Rewards point for every eligible dollar they spend. Depending on their Card, Card Members may get additional Membership Rewards points for purchases in certain categories.
Yes, you will earn the same point value if you book through AmexTravel.com as you would by booking over the phone with American Express Travel.
Any portion of a charge that you elect to cover through redemption of Membership Rewards points is not eligible to earn points. If you checkout using a combination of points and your Card, you will earn points on the portion paid for with your Card.
Need Assistance? Give us a call. Our travel counselors are here to help.
Call the number on the back of your Card.

TERMS & CONDITIONS
Membership Rewards® Pay with Points
To use Pay with Points, you must charge your eligible purchase through American Express Travel to a Membership Rewards® program-enrolled American Express® Card. Eligible purchases through American Express Travel exclude non-prepaid car rentals and non-prepaid hotels. Points will be debited from your Membership Rewards account, and credit for corresponding dollar amount will be issued to the American Express Card account used. If points redeemed do not cover entire amount, the balance of purchase price will remain on the American Express Card account. Minimum redemption 5,000 points.
See membershiprewards.com/terms for the Membership Rewards program terms and conditions.
If a charge for a purchase is included in a Pay Over Time balance on your Linked Account the statement credit associated with that charge may not be applied to that Pay Over Time balance. Instead the statement credit may be applied to your Pay in Full balance. If you believe this has occurred, please contact us by calling the number on the back of your Card.
Upgrade with Points
When you use Upgrade with Points to request an airline ticket upgrade, three things will happen: (i) If the airline upgrades your ticket(s), your Card Account will be charged for the upgrade; (ii) American Express will deduct the Membership Rewards points you offered for the upgrade from your program account; and (iii) American Express will apply an accompanying credit to your Card Account for those points. If the airline upgrades your ticket(s) and the number of points available in your Membership Rewards program account is less than the number of points you originally offered, American Express will deduct only the number of points available and you will receive an accompanying credit only for that number of points. The credit to your Card Account may appear during a different billing cycle than the charge for upgrade. You are still responsible for paying the amount due on your Card statement by the due date. Any applicable taxes and fees in connection with an airline ticket upgrade will be charged to your Card Account and cannot be covered with points. The value of the points you offer is determined at the time your upgrade offer is accepted by the airline and may change after your upgrade offer has been submitted if you subsequently upgrade or downgrade your Card Account. Once accepted by the airline, your upgrade offer is nonrefundable, non-changeable, and points cannot be returned to your Membership Rewards program account. Each airline determines whether to accept upgrade offers and which upgrade offers it will accept based on factors it determines in its discretion, including the amount of an offer. While it is possible for airlines to accept an upgrade offer at any time after offer submission, most upgrades are processed between 5 and 1 days before departure, and some are processed as close as 1 hour before departure. If your flight reservation includes tickets for more than one passenger, the tickets for all passengers on the reservation will be upgraded if your upgrade offer is accepted by the airline. If you would like to upgrade only certain passengers, you must contact the airline to split your reservation prior to requesting an upgrade. If your Card offers additional points for flights purchased directly from an airline, you will not receive additional points for your upgrade purchase. Participating airlines’ Terms & Conditions apply. Participating airlines are subject to change at any time without notice. Participating airline products and services are subject to change. American Express reserves the right to cancel any upgrade offers or discontinue the Upgrade with Points program at any time. If you use a Pay Over Time feature for a purchase using Upgrade with Points, the statement credit you receive may not be applied to that feature. Instead, it might be applied to your Pay in Full balance. If you think this has happened, please call us using the number on the back of your Card.
Membership Rewards® Program
Terms and Conditions for the Membership Rewards® program apply. Visit membershiprewards.com/terms for more information. Participating partners and available rewards are subject to change without notice.
The value of Membership Rewards points varies according to how you choose to use them. To learn more, go to www.membershiprewards.com/pointsinfo.
Seller of Travel
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. is acting solely as a sales agent for travel suppliers and is not responsible for the actions or inactions of such suppliers. Certain suppliers pay us commission and other incentives for reaching sales targets or other goals and may provide incentives to our travel consultants. For more information visit www.americanexpress.com/travelterms.
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