Work out what your Amex Membership Rewards points are worth depending on how you use them - statement credit, the Amex travel portal, or a transfer to an airline or hotel partner.
Cashing Membership Rewards out against your statement returns notably less per point than almost any other option, and it is the redemption Amex makes easiest to find. Using the portal is better. Transferring to a partner is usually better still. The gap between the worst and best use of the same balance is large enough that the choice of redemption route matters far more than how many points you managed to earn.
Membership Rewards reaches one of the widest partner networks of any currency, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Singapore KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, plus Hilton and Marriott. Most airline partners run at 1:1, though hotel ratios differ and are generally less rewarding. Because that list spans all three major alliances, an Amex balance can usually reach almost any long-haul route if you are willing to search across programs.
Amex promotes transfer bonuses more aggressively than most issuers, cycling through partners through the year. That is worth knowing in both directions: it improves your rate when one lands on a partner you wanted, and it should stop you transferring speculatively, because waiting a few weeks often produces a better ratio. Our transfer bonus tracker lists what is live and when it ends.
US Membership Rewards accounts pay a small per-point excise tax offset fee on transfers to US-based airline partners, capped per transaction. It is minor on a small transfer and worth including on a large one, and it is the kind of thing that quietly erodes an already marginal redemption. Find and price the award first with Award Travel Finder, then transfer exactly what it needs, because nothing comes back once it has left.