How to Book United Flights With Amex Points?

According to a devastating variety, United Airlines allows you to earn and redeem points only in Milegae. Thus, you cannot convert or transfer your American Express Membership Reward's Amex points into your United Airlines miles to use them to your advantage. Does that mean you can't take advantage of your Amex points while traveling with United Airlines, which operates many international flights compared to any airline worldwide? Though United Airlines doesn't allow you to directly use the Amex points, using some tricks and tips, you can do it. So, are you excited to learn how to use Amex points to book your United flights? If yes, read the complete article below and find out the most interesting ways, along with some of the worst ways, to book your United flight with Amex points.  

Prime Strategical Ways To Use Your Amex Points On United Airlines

United Airlines has joined Star Alliance membership and thus become a member of Star Alliance, where dozens of flights worldwide already have a partnership agreement. Therefore, even United Airlines itself hasn't become a transfer partner of American Airlines and thus doesn't accept its Amex points; however, several partners of United's Star Alliance become transfer partners of American Airlines and thus accept its Amex points. Hence, you can transfer your Amex points to United's Star Alliance partner airlines to use the points to book United Flights at a cheaper rate.

You can look at the following detailed partnered airlines to which you can transfer your Amex points and then either book your domestic flights with these airlines or book your United flights for international destinations.  

Avianca Airlines

Colombia's flag bearer, Avianca, offers great deals with its LifeMiles loyalty program, thus becoming a good option for booking United flights. However, the flights booked with Avianca award prices can be surprising and difficult to predict. You may have to pay a huge amount of miles for a specific flight, or you can even find a flight for a unicorn fare.

Air Canada 

Air Canada's loyalty program, Aeroplan, offers many admirable deals, including less costly stopover flights and inexpensive lap-infant awards. However, its award prices system is still complex, and you will be charged based on the region you fly to and the distance of your flight. Therefore, to identify the points to be charged, you must first identify your origin and end destinations' "travel zones" and then look for the Aeroplan award chart based on the distance.  

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines award chart is easy to comprehend, and its miles are quite helpful if you want to book a cheap United Airlines flight. It has just set the mark of your origin and end destination to decide its prices with award flights, irrespective of its Star Alliance partner airlines. 

ANA

The largest airline in Japan, All Nippon Airways (ANA), offers astoundingly low fares for many of its routes and offers award-priced bookings. However, with some of its partner airlines, ANA provides an extremely shocking fee for award flights, where the charges can be several hundred dollars or even more than $ 1,000 for first and business-class tickets. United Airlines is an exception where you may get some of the high-tax flights, but on the other hand, it will help you save huge miles.  

Worst Methodology To Use Your Amex Points

Till now, you have learned some of the ways through which you can make the best use of your earned Amex points and the way to use it with United Airlines. However, you should also be aware of some of the worst ways you can use the Amex points, thinking it is a great way to use it but ultimately leads to losing the value of your points at very low rates, which can be seen as follows:  

• Book your flight using Amex Travel- Amex Travel is a travel-booking portal of American Express. You can use Amex Membership Rewards, cash, or a bit of both while booking your flights, hotel accommodations, rental cars, or more. However, you will receive only 1 percent of Amex points if you try to redeem your points by booking flights through Amex Travel, which is even less while redeeming these points for cash. 
• Transfer your Amex points into Marriott—Marriott Bonvoy is a transfer partner with American Express. It allows you to transfer your Amex points to Marriott in a 1:1 ratio. Though Marriott allows you to trade its points with different airline miles of 35 types, it is not considered a good option unless you are short of only a few thousand miles to reach your dream flight.    
• Redeem your Amex points into cash—You can even convert your Amex points into money, where each point is worth 0.6 cents. This is one of the substandard returns one can get against its points. Instead of converting it into cash, you should purchase a United ticket in exchange for your points.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can my Amex points be used for United Airlines?

Even though you can't use it directly, there are many indirect ways to use your Amex points in exchange for or at a lower cost than a United Airlines flight ticket.  

Q. To which different airlines can I transfer my Amex points?

As per American Express agreements with various airlines, you can convert your Amex points to 18 airline currencies, including British Airways, Qantas, Delta, Flying Blue, Cathay Pacific, and Emirates. 

Q. Do United Airlines allow me to book my flight using a mix of cash and Amex points?

Yes, you can pay partially with cash and partially with Amex points when you book with United Airlines. 

Q. Which Amex credit cards can I use to earn Membership Rewards points?

Many American Express cards, including the American Express Green Card, American Express Gold Card, American Express Platinum Card, Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card, and many more, will help you earn Membership Rewards points. 

Q. How many Amex Membership Rewards points should I earn to get the best deals? 

No specific number of points can be considered worth it, as it highly depends on how you redeem it, and the return would also vary accordingly.