Pardon my French, but what in the heck happened to American Express transfer bonuses?
For years, these promos have been one of the easiest ways to squeeze extra value out of Membership Rewards points. Every month or two, like clockwork, Amex would roll out a limited-time boost – usually 15% to 40% – to one of its airline or hotel partners. If you held a card like the *amex gold* or the *amex platinum*, it was about as close as you could get to free points.
But that steady drumbeat has gone quiet.
We’re now nearly four months into 2026, and Amex has yet to offer a single transfer bonus to its lineup of nearly 20 partners. And no, a backend 15% bump to Avianca LifeMiles doesn’t count.
That’s a stark shift from just a year ago, when Amex had already launched five – or even six – transfer bonuses by this point. Even late last year, the few bonuses we did see were increasingly targeted, leaving many cardholders on the sidelines.
So what changed? Is this just a temporary slowdown … or a sign that something bigger is going on with Amex transfer bonuses?
Related reading: Get More Points With the Current List of Transfer Partners
What's Going On
Transfer bonuses aren't a given, but over time, travelers have grown accustomed to them – and they're a big part of what makes Membership Rewards points so valuable.
When it comes to Amex transfer bonuses, there are a few tried-and-true favorites. Hotel partners like Hilton and Marriott usually offer a boost 2 or 3 times per year, improving their otherwise suboptimal transfer ratios (at least for Marriott). Meanwhile, you can readily count on seeing bonuses to airlines like British Airways (and other Avios partners), Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Avianca LifeMiles, and more.
These bonuses can be the difference between a great redemption and a ho-hum one, turning a decent deal into a downright bargain.
In 2024, American Express offered 18 different transfer bonuses (by my count). Last year, that number was down ever so slightly at 17 in total. Average those figures out over the course of the year, and that's well over one transfer bonus per month.
Now, four months into 2026, Amex is the only major issuer that hasn’t offered a single transfer bonus.
To be fair, those totals include a couple of the same wonky bonuses we saw from Avianca earlier this year, where LifeMiles processes the bonus on the backend. But even still, Amex would have to go on a tear in the latter half of this year to even come close to the number of bonuses they've historically offered.
Over that same stretch, Amex's biggest competitors have run three, four, even six different transfer bonuses each. Bilt has announced three Rent Day transfer bonuses, Capital One and Citi have each offered four, and Chase has led the way with six.
Even newcomer Rove has offered two distinct transfer bonuses to a couple of unique partners: Japan Airlines and SAS EuroBonus.
A Temporary Pause or a Shifting Strategy?
It's hard to know exactly how big an issue this really is. Four months without a bonus might not sound like much – but by Amex’s standards, it’s highly unusual.
The fact that (nearly) every other bank with transferable points has continued to offer bonuses to many of the same partners that we see so frequently from Amex tells us the airlines and hotels are still willing to play ball. But obviously, Amex has made a conscious decision not to participate in these kinds of limited-time offers so far this year.
This could be a cost-cutting measure – Amex's airline and hotel partners likely aren't covering the full cost of these bonuses – or maybe it's a sign of weakening relationships with its partners.
To make matters murkier, even the few bonuses we have seen in the past year haven't been smooth sailing.
Late last year, Amex rolled out targeted transfer bonuses to Avianca and Virgin Atlantic. But not everyone was eligible – and in some cases, it wasn’t even clear who was. I didn’t see the 40% Virgin Atlantic bonus in my account, but after hearing others were getting it, I transferred points anyway to test it out.
The points posted instantly … but the bonus never came.
After reaching out to Virgin Atlantic, I was told there was a “technical issue” on Amex’s end and that the bonus points would be added manually – eventually. They did show up, but only after a couple of weeks and some extra legwork.
Even when these bonuses pop up, they’re becoming less predictable – and harder to rely on.
Perhaps what's most concerning is the broader changes we've seen in Amex's partner portfolio. In the past year, we've seen Amex cut ties with Hawaiian Airlines – not too surprising, given Hawaiian and Alaska's merger – and soon, Etihad. At the same time, transfer ratios to Emirates and Cathay Pacific have been reduced, meaning you'll need to transfer more Amex points to book flights with either carrier.
Hopefully, I'm wrong, but these changes (coupled with the lack of transfer bonuses so far in 2026) are starting to look less like a coincidence — and more like a deliberate shift to rein in the value of Membership Rewards. If that’s the case, the real test will be whether these bonuses return at all in the months ahead – or quietly fade into the past.
Bottom Line
Amex transfer bonuses – long a reliable way to boost the value of Membership Rewards points – have all but disappeared in 2026, with no meaningful offers so far this year.
While competitors continue rolling out regular bonuses, Amex’s Houdini act (and a shift toward targeted offers late last year) raises questions about whether this is just a temporary lull or a broader change in strategy.
