Disclaimer: Please be aware that offers for credit cards referenced in this post may have changed since the time of publication and may no longer be available.
A while back, American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards were a pilot program when redeeming points towards paid flights. The amount of miles for tickets were capped at certain values, so you were redeeming 100,000 Membership Rewards points for Vancouver – Hong Kong, for example. The points you spend would be the same regardless of whether the flight cost $1300, $1500, or $1800.
Today, American Express has relaunched a permanent version of this program, with something I find really neat – they’ve got a business class award chart as well!
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards
This program is available with most cards earning Membership Rewards. If you don’t have any of these cards yet, there are four I highly recommend. The promotions American Express have been running are one of the best in the Canadian market, available right now:
- American Express Business Platinum Card: Get up to 75,000 Membership Rewards Points!
- American Express Business Gold Card: Get up to 40,000 Membership Rewards Points!
- American Express Platinum Card: Get up to 60,000 Membership Reward Points!
- American Express Gold Rewards Card: Get up to 25,000 Membership Rewards Points!
Normally, if you don’t transfer your credit card points to a traditional airline/hotel program, they’d be worth a set value towards travel. This would occur through the rewards program travel agency, or through your own travel purchases, depending on the card program. These kind of redemptions give you around 1 cent in value – very low when compared to transferring your points to an airline. I value Aeroplan at a minimum of 1.6 cents, so you lose out on a potential 60% increase in the value of your points.
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards Details
There are two award charts: one for economy, and one for business. From what I’ve read, here’s how the program works. To redeem using this method, you must book your travel through AMEX Travel Services or at americanexpress.ca/travel. You points balance must be higher than amount required under the chart to see this redemption option.
The points required covers the base fare only. This can be up to the maximum ticket price indicated on the chart, excluding taxes, fees, and other surcharges.
You don’t receive the difference if the base fare is lower than the maximum ticket price. The difference also cannot be used towards taxes and fees. You must pay for this with your American Express. Once you book, you will receive an automatic credit for the base fare (up to the maximum) within 5-10 business days.
That being said, here are the award charts. Only business and economy are available.
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards Chart – Economy
The business class chart:
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards Chart – Business
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards: My Thoughts
Confused? Me too. Let me provide an example that I’ve adapted from the release they sent out.
Amex cardmember C. Frost wants to redeem for a round-trip in economy between Vancouver and Calgary. On the dates he wants, the flights cost $368 in total. The base fare is $287, with airport taxes and fees being $81. If he books the fare with this award, he pays 15,000 miles and $81.
His card is charged $368. He then receives a $287 statement credit once the redemption is complete. If the base fare was $307, with taxes being $81 (for a total cost of $388), he would be paying 15,000 miles and $88. His card would be charged $388, and would receive a credit of $300 after the transaction posts.
In the above example, the value of his points redemptions would be 1.9 – 2.0 cents. That’s incredible, especially for economy class. If you redeem for tickets at the maximum price, the value you get from economy and business class redemptions are between 1.5 and 2.0 cents. With the Platinum and Business Platinum card, you earn 1.25 cents on all purchases, translating to a 2.5% rebate on all spending, one of the highest returns I’ve seen with any credit card in Canada.
Including business class redemptions changes the game. Many fare sales for Europe bring a business class roundtrip to under $3,000. Since I live on the west coast, I hate connecting in Toronto, New York, or Chicago to Europe because this makes the transatlantic redeye exceedingly short.
For a redemption like this, only 140,000 AMEX points are required. In comparison to Aeroplan, which costs 110,000 miles and depends on award availability, this is a great deal. Moreover, since these are paid tickets, you also earn redeemable miles, and in certain scenarios, can stack them with promotions where you get upwards of 20,000 miles back.
American Express Fixed Points Travel Rewards
There’ll be an in depth analysis on the value of these rewards coming up soon. Unfortunately, all I’ve gotten is an error when using the online engine so far, so it’ll have to wait.
Are you excited by this new redemption option?
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At first, I WAS excited. As I am looking to bring six people to France from Halifax, I thought I’d be saving big. But wait : the 825$ per person flight would cost me 60k AND 600$…… (1) yikes (2) NO one-way ops ? (3) doesn’t look like I’m anywhere close to the same value I get by simply applying my MR pts to offset a big chunk of the total
are these tickets regular revenue tickets?
if so, there is no restricted availability right and one could earn the miles for the flight itself.?
Yes they are, as I mentioned in my post.
You mention using one of the platinum cards for payment (earn 1.25 cents on all purchases, translating to a 2.5% rebate). Shouldn’t you suggest the gold, which more people are likely to have, to get double the points as it is an airfare purchase?
The Gold card only earns 1x on everyday purchases, so the rebate on everyday spend is not as high.
Isn’t Gold 2x on travel?
It is.
Cheers. Would it not be better to use your Gold card for the purchase instead of the Platinum. Earn 2x (Travel related purchase) instead of 1.25x
It would be for travel, although I’d assume most of your other purchases would be non-travel at 1x. Overall I would prefer the Platinum/Business Platinum or even the Cobalt Card instead of the Gold.
They should bring this to the US! I think this would be a big boost to the MR program.
if i understand well, in the above example, with Amex Gold you would also get
736 MR from the purchase and Miles from the flight. so value is more than calculated
So what if your flight costs less than the maximum base ticket price? Will you still get charged the same amount of points? For example. The max for long haul Can/US flights is 700 on the chart, or 40k points. So if you find a return ticket for 500$ will you still get charged 40k, and it would just cover the whole cost of your flight?
No, it’d only cover the base fare up to $400.
Correct.
The best strategy to maximize your value is to find a flight with the base fare as close to or right on the Max base fare.
In your example above the Max value you’ll get is 1.75cpp unless you want to pay above and beyond the base ticket price.