How I’m Spending 1 Million Amex Points for a Round-the-World Trip

I had a good 2024, and although I traveled a lot less than usual, I managed to earn thousands of points and miles. Between targeted elevated welcome bonus offers, maximized personal and business spending, and card referrals, I earned nearly 1 million Amex Membership Rewards points in 2024.

While earning points can be a major task, redeeming them is much more fun. Thanks to that herculean effort, I have more than enough points to travel the world in style. Here’s how I plan to redeem nearly 1 million Amex Membership Rewards points in 2025 for dream trips.

What Are 1 Million Amex Membership Rewards Points Worth?

We value American Express Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents each, the highest of any transferable points currency. When redeemed for flights or hotels, the 1 million Amex Membership Rewards points I earned are worth at least $22,000.

There are numerous ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, including using them for gift cards or statement credits, shopping with points, and booking travel through AmexTravel.com. You can get more (or less) value from Membership Rewards points depending on how you redeem them.

Generally, the best way to spend Amex Membership Rewards points is by transferring them to travel partners. Fortunately, Amex has a long list of hotel and airline partners.

Redeeming 1 Million Points for Flights and Hotels

In recent years, I’ve redeemed nearly all my points and miles on long-haul international premium cabin flights and luxurious hotels, which typically feature high cash prices. I plan to do the same for my travels in 2025.

Here’s how I’m spending my balance of 1 million Amex Membership Rewards points on luxury travel.

Round-The-World (RTW) Award for 2 People

With 1 million American Express Membership Rewards points, I can experience something I have wanted to do since I began my points and miles journey nearly 10 years ago: fly around the world in first class with my wife.

Several airline loyalty programs allow for round-the-world award tickets. One of these programs, ANA Mileage Club, is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards.

ANA, a member of Star Alliance, has a specific award chart for round-the-world itineraries on partner airlines. Award pricing depends on the total distance flown and class of service. Of course, we will try to fly in first class, giving us a true once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, since not every airline on every route offers a first class product, we’ll still enjoy ourselves in business class instead.

When redeeming ANA miles, you can make up to 8 stopovers on an around-the-world trip while flying with some of the best airlines in the world. Here is an example of a round-the-world award ticket that I created per ANA’s itinerary rules:

• Chicago (ORD) to Frankfurt (FRA) in Lufthansa first class
• Frankfurt to Addis Ababa (ADD) in Ethiopian Airlines business class
• Addis Ababa (ADD) to Nairobi (NBO) in Ethiopian Airlines business class
• Nairobi (NBO) to Cairo (CAI) in EgyptAir business class
• Cairo (CAI) to Istanbul (IST) in Turkish Airlines business class
• Istanbul (IST) to New Delhi (DEL) in Air India first class
• New Delhi (DEL) to Bangkok (BKK) in Thai Airways business class
• Bangkok (BKK) to Auckland (AKL) in Thai Airways first class
• Auckland (AKL) to Hong Kong (HKG) in Air New Zealand business class
• Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) in EVA Air business class
• Taipei (TPE) to Tokyo (HND) in EVA Air business class
• Tokyo (HND) to Chicago (ORD) in ANA first class

This itinerary covers just under 36,000 miles of actual flight distance. According to ANA’s RTW award chart, I can book this itinerary for 340,000 Mileage Club miles plus taxes and fees per person.

While a combined 680,000 ANA Mileage Club miles and thousands of dollars in taxes and fees for 2 travelers may seem steep, that’s just a fraction of what it would cost if paying cash.

Luxury Hilton Hotels Around the World

After booking a round-the-world ticket for 2 people, I’ll still have more than 300,000 Amex Membership Rewards points left to use. I can transfer the remaining points to a major hotel chain program to experience some of the best hotels around the world.

The Hilton Honors loyalty program is another excellent (and underrated) Amex transfer partner. With Hilton’s massive hotel footprint, many award redemptions are possible, including some of the most luxurious hotels worldwide.

Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to Hilton Honors at a 1:2 ratio, so you get 2 Hilton Honors points for every Amex Membership Rewards point you move over to the program. You could transfer 300,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton and receive 600,000 Hilton points.

It gets better with frequent transfer bonuses to Hilton Honors. For example, through March 14, 2025, there is a 25% transfer bonus to Hilton Honors, effectively raising the transfer ratio to 1:2.5.

While a 25% transfer bonus is fantastic, I plan to wait for an even better 40% transfer bonus, which typically comes around once a year. Maximizing the 40% bonus would net me an incredible 840,000 Hilton Honors points. This is more than enough points to stay at some fantastic hotels during my trip, like the Conrad Tokyo or the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok.

Best of all, I plan to maximize Hilton’s fifth-night free perk, which grants elite status holders a fifth night free on consecutive award nights.

Final Thoughts

While accruing points can be fun, redeeming them for amazing redemptions is always more enjoyable. The best way to maximize your American Express Membership Rewards points is to transfer them to airline and hotel partner programs, so I’ll do exactly that to squeeze the most value possible.

My plans to transfer points to programs such as ANA Mileage Club and Hilton Honors will allow me to fly premium cabins on the best airlines and stay at the most luxurious hotels in the world, saving me tens of thousands of dollars along the way.