How to Transfer AmEx Points for My Unwell Dad

LDday1 on 28/12/2023 - 12:12

My dad has been in poor health recently and he's found out that if he passes away then all of his AMEX points will be forfeit. Dad doesn't look like he's going to pass away anytime soon (thankfully!), but he's not going to be traveling and wants to gift me his points.

Dad has approximately 550k AMEX points. What is the best way we can go about transferring his points? I understand you can't directly gift AMEX points to someone, but I think Dad could setup a frequent flyer account for an airline, transfer his AMEX points to his frequent flyer account and then transfer to my frequent flyer account?

I have a Virgin Velocity frequent flyer account. What's the best way to get full value from the points? Transfer from AMEX to Velocity or another of the frequent flyer (Qatar, Avios etc) programs?

Thanks!

Travel Reward Points

Comments

  • Autonomic on 28/12/2023 - 12:36
    +1

    Sorry about your Dad.

    Dad could setup a frequent flyer account for an airline, transfer his AMEX points to his frequent flyer account and then transfer to my frequent flyer account?

    This is the best way. If you're OK to wait, Velocity normally runs a transfer bonus scheme twice a year (normally May/Nov) which will probably get you an extra 15%.

    Avios is also a good redemption option but I'm not that familiar with the program. It looks like you can do a family transfer with them as well.

  • JohnSy on 28/12/2023 - 13:07
    +2

    Velocity has a family sharing feature which automatically transfers all new velocity points earnt in family members account into another main velocity account - assuming he has his own velocity account, you could set this up first with his account sweeping into yours. Then he would just redeem the points into his own velocity account as normal from AMEX- the names would then match when doing the transfer from AMEX. Those points would then be automatically swept into your account the same day.

  • Sprayoz on 28/12/2023 - 13:24
    +3

    Why not just redem them for cash or gc?

  • pangwen on 28/12/2023 - 14:42

    You used to be able to gift 50,000 points to another user (there was a fee if you wanted to transfer points from a standard Ascent account to an Ascent Premium account): https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/au/staticas…

    That form is a bit dated (still refers to the David Jones card), so I'm not sure if it's still valid.

  • trashcan on 28/12/2023 - 16:22

    Just open a Velocity account in his name and transfer the points from Amex. Once the point is credited to his Velocity account, transfer the points to your Velocity account.

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