AMEX Membership Rewards points can now be transferred to Accor Live Limitless

Earlier this year, American Express and Accor Hotels announced a new global partnership, offering points transfers and an elite status match.

Points transfers have just gone live in Singapore, with cardholders now able to convert Membership Rewards points into Accor Live Limitless (ALL) points at a 2.5:1 ratio, which is actually pretty lucrative.

The elite status match will follow in due course, offering ALL Gold status to holders of The Platinum Card (we can’t call it the AMEX Platinum Charge anymore!).

Live: Membership Rewards to ALL points transfers

American Express cardholders can now transfer Membership Rewards points to ALL points at a 2.5:1 ratio.

AMEX MR Points	ALL Points
1,000	400

• Transfers are in blocks of 1,000 MR points
• Transfers are normally immediate, but may take up to 48 hours
• No conversion fee
• No annual conversion limit
• Conversion rate is the same across all Membership Rewards-earning cards

To make a transfer, you’ll first need to link your ALL membership to Membership Rewards, which can be done here. Once that’s done, you can proceed to make transfers.

American Express says that transfers should be instant, but may take up to 48 hours. I just did a test transfer and have yet to see the points in my account. I suspect the first transfer may take longer, and subsequent transfers should be instant. 

Is it worth it?

ALL points are valued at:

• 1,000 points = €20, when used to offset room rates, or dining, spa treatments and other incidentals charged to a room during a stay
• 1,000 points = €10, when redeeming points for dining or spa treatments outside of a stay

You should always choose the first option, so the conversion ratio values 1 MR point at 1.15¢.

If you have The Platinum Card, 1 MR point is also worth 0.5 miles with all of American Express’ airline partners (except Emirates Skywards, which in any case is still unavailable), so this is equivalent to cashing out miles at 2.3¢ each.

If you have the AMEX Platinum Credit Card or AMEX Platinum Reserve, 1 MR point is worth 0.45 miles, so this is equivalent to cashing out miles at 2.53¢ each.

That’s surprisingly decent value, and I’d actually consider cashing out a good number of MR points at this rate. It’s certainly much better than Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy conversions in any case, given how both programmes have hiked award prices in recent years.

What else can you do with Membership Rewards points?

With the addition of ALL, MR points can now be transferred to eight airline and three hotel partners.

Programme	The Platinum Card Centurion (AMEX : Partner)	Platinum CC Platinum Reserve (AMEX : Partner)
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
Temporarily unavailable	600 : 250	650 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	1,000 : 1,000	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,250	1,000 : 1,250
	1,000 : 400	1,000 : 400

Accor status match is coming

The Platinum Card will soon offer an instant status match to Accor Gold, bypassing the usual 30-night requirement.

Before you get too excited, Accor Gold is basically mid-tier status. The main benefits are:

• A 48% bonus on points accrual
• Room upgrade, subject to availability
• Early check-in or late check-out, subject to availability
• Welcome drink coupons

Compared to a Silver member, you have some vague chance of a room upgrade, early check-in or late check-out, but all of these are subject to availability, and you’ll be behind Platinum and Diamond members in the pecking order. 

What’s interesting is that reports from the UK say that only principal cardholders are eligible for this benefit. This is unlike American Express’ other hotel status fast tracks, which are equally available to principal and supplementary cardholders. We’ll have to see whether that’s the case in Singapore as well.

For reference, here are the other hotel and car rental status benefits that come with The Platinum Card. 

If you’re lucky enough to have an AMEX Centurion Card, you’ll receive the far more valuable Accor Platinum status, which offers complimentary breakfast at Asia Pacific hotels and lounge access.

Conclusion

American Express Membership Rewards points can now be transferred to Accor Live Limitless, and the ratio is surprisingly good. At 2.5:1, each MR point is worth about 1.15¢ when used to offset hotel stays, the equivalent of cashing out miles at 2.3¢ each. That beats the Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy options by some distance, and is well above what I’d normally value a mile at.

Of course, ALL points are only worth this much if you actually stay at Accor properties, so you should only transfer if you have a booking already in mind, rather than speculatively.

We should be hearing more news about the Accor Gold status match soon, so stay tuned.