(Photo by Ryan Patterson for The Points Guy)
One of the most popular requests we saw was for a better redemption rate for paid travel through Amex Travel.
The Amex Platinum’s biggest competitor the Chase Sapphire Reserve® lets cardmembers redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal at 1.5 cents per point. This means that a $100 flight or hotel stay costs just 6,667 points, which is a pretty solid deal if there’s no award space available.
On the other hand, Amex cardholders can only redeem Membership Rewards points through Amex Travel at a set rate of 1 cent apiece. This is half TPG’s valuation of Membership Rewards points, so we typically don’t recommend using your points to book paid travel through the portal.