Is the American Express Tripflex ‘pay with points’ option a good deal?
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Whenever I visit the statement page for my Platinum charge card on the American Express website, I am met with a message encouraging me to use their TripFlex feature to ‘pay with points’.
I thought it was worth taking a quick look at the various ways of redeeming Membership Rewards points for cash or ‘near cash’ and then showing you why this is generally a bad deal.
American Express Membership Rewards offers a number of ways in which you can redeem your points for cash or something that is nearly as good as cash. These include retailer gift cards as well as the option to book travel using your points or to redeem your points for a statement credit.
In general, these are all a bad deal.
I try to target 1p of value per Membership Rewards point. Transferring 1:1 into Avios or other airline miles can achieve this, as can hotel redemptions. This article from September shows how Club Carlson redemptions via an Amex Membership Rewards transfer can be great value.
By comparison, this is what you get for redeeming for cash or near-cash:
Redeeming points for statement credit = 0.4p per point
Redeeming for Boots gift cards = 0.5p per point
Redeeming for Marks & Spencer gift cards = 0.525p per point (special offer based on redeeming for £100-worth)
Redeeming for East Coast Trains gift cards (valid for all train operators) = 0.6p per point (special offer)
The TripFlex offer is slightly different. As I noted above, if you redeem your points for general statement credit you will only receive 0.4p per point. However, if you redeem your points against specific items of travel expenditure, you will receive 0.45p per point.
TripFlex is a 10% better deal than redeeming your points for a general statement credit. It is still a pretty poor deal overall and best avoided if you can.
None of these are great, frankly. You are better off trying to get ‘outsized’ value via the Membership Rewards travel partners.
Ironically, for booking hotels, you will get over 0.55p per point by transferring to Avios and using the Avios hotel booking service. That gets you almost 25% more value than booking via the Amex service and getting 0.45p per point.
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review
For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card
1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review
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