transfering amex to AA

[lmere12]

Was looking at joining AAdantage to transfer my 200k points from my Amex was disapointed to see 1000:330 via Starwood... bummed! is there a better ratio transfer to get my points to AA ?

 

[lmere12]

I also have about 600k in my QFF, 85k in Kris. And hope to travel to the US and or Europe again on points in business. I understand amex earn is 1.5:1. I'm guessing if I do the maths and take into account that the AA points req'd to travel are quite abit lower then perhaps it all works out ??

 

[drron]

Transferring from SPG to AA you will get 5000 miles bonus for each 20000 you transfer-you must transfer in lots of 20000 and a practical max of 80000 per day.You can transfer 99000 but wont get any bonus for the last 19000.

 

[NM]

Note that when transferring from Starwood to AA you get a bonus 5000 miles for each 20,000 miles transferred. There is a limit to the amount you can sent in one transaction to get the bonus. I normally send in chunks of 60,000 Starwood points for 75,000 AA miles.

From time to time AA have bonus promotions that make the transfer rate more attractive. For example, earlier this year (May, June?) they offered a 30% bonus for transfers from any Hotel Loyalty Programs. So that naturally included Starwood. So you got the 30% on top of the 25% that Starwood provide, resulting in that 60,000 Starwood points becoming 97,500 AA miles.

So 182,000 Amex points became 60,060 SPG points, which became 97,500 AA miles.

A few years back Amex offered a transfer rate of 1000:660 to SPG for a limited time. Some believe this was a mistake, but whatever it was it a great rate. This is unlikely to be seen again.

I keep my points in other programs and wait for promotion rates. But if you need them now, the rate is as described.

 

[lmere12]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will sit on them for the moment in case a promo becomes avail. Not sure if AA will be advantageous for me. I will continue my trolling through the forum. I have really enjoyed to see how much knowledge people have out there.

What I understand of the advantages of AA is - better points rate for redemption and more availability of seats and SC points. Is this correct ??? thanks all.

 

[NM]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will sit on them for the moment in case a promo becomes avail. Not sure if AA will be advantageous for me. I will continue my trolling through the forum. I have really enjoyed to see how much knowledge people have out there.

What I understand of the advantages of AA is - better points rate for redemption and more availability of seats and SC points. Is this correct ??? thanks all.

In many cases, award redemptions are better value with AA miles than QF FF points. However this is not always the case. Typically, its the long-haul premium cabin redemptions that are best value with AA miles compared with QF FF points.

Then there is the fact that Qantas charges FF members fuel fines for award redemptions, while AA does not. So QF FF redemptions cost more $$$ in "taxes" or "extras" than an AA award redemption for the same route.

But you need to compare the earn rate as well as the burn rate. No points cost 50% of the miles/points for an award if the miles/points earn rate is 40% of the other's rate. In my case, many of my AA miles comes from flying and they earn at a rate at least as good as Qantas and in some cases earn at a higher rate than Qantas (such as when flying Cathay Pacific flights, plus the status bonus is higher for me with AA). So the lower rate of points earning from credit cards is not an issue for me in my overall earn/burn rate comparison.