Over the years, I’ve been a strong advocate of using transferable points currencies to fuel your travel. Flexible points currencies offer a ton of room as you have multiple options to redeem your points, be it directly through a portal or by transferring points to airline and hotel partners. Card issuers sweeten the deal even further at times by offering points transfer bonuses. In this post, I highlighted how I scored 4 cents per point value out of a recent Membership Rewards points redemption. I just booked another trip and the deal only got sweeter.
Another great Membership Rewards points Redemption
American Express Membership Rewards points offer a varied and impressive set of points transfer partners. For an upcoming trip to Asia (once again!), I needed to book a flight from Hong Kong to Mumbai, India in May. Cathay Pacific was the obvious option to go for! Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles Program is a direct 1:1 transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards points.
However, that is about to change soon as Amex will be reducing the transfer ratio from 1:1 to 1:0.8; Starting March 1, 2026, the transfer ratio to Asia Miles will go down from 1:1 to 5:4, which is a devaluation of 20%.
The airline doesn’t publish an official award chart any more, but has a calculator that helps you calculate the miles required for an upcoming trip. However, their pricing is distance based and availability is pretty easy to find on their website. You can also refer to this handy chart created by Australian Frequent Flyer.
For the purpose of this trip, I needed to book 3 tickets in business class. I checked on Cathay’s website and inventory was widely available.
Making the Booking
As per the chart, I saw that I needed 32,000 points per person each way for booking business class on the HKG-BOM route. Cathay Pacific operates two flights daily on the Mumbai- Hong Kong route, one of which is a Boeing 777 and the other an Airbus A350. I transferred over 96,000 Membership Rewards points to Cathay Pacific and the points were deposited instantly into my Cathay Pacific Asia Miles account.
Here’s how the math worked out:
- Price Per ticket: 32,000 Asia Miles + $95
- Total paid for 3 tickets: 96,000 Miles + $285
If you look at the cash price of the ticket, it was $1,601 per person.
Once you subtract the taxes and fees out of the cash price, that would bring the redemption value to a whopping 4.7 cents per point! American Express usually allows you to use their points to cover charges to your statement for a measly 0.6 cents per point.
The Pundit’s Mantra
This redemption once again underscores why I ascribe so much value to transferable points currencies. The last thing I want to do is park all my points with a program or two, only to see them devalue.
Holding points in transferable currencies, on the contrary, helps me hedge against individual loyalty program devaluations. Also, it means that I only transfer points over when I’m making a specific booking and don’t transfer them preemptively, just because the issuer is offering a points transfer bonus.
If you’re looking to book premium cabins on Cathay Pacific by transferring your Amex points, then it would be wise to make the transfer before March 1, 2026.
What are some of your favorite uses of American Express Membership Rewards points? Tell us in the comments section.
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