One of the best things about rewards programs like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points is that they have the ability to be converted into other types of points, depending on the program. Most programs convert to airline and hotel points at a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1,000 American Express points could become 1,000 Delta SkyMiles, for example.
Currently, American Express has increased their transfer ratio on Membership Rewards points transferred to jetBlue’s TrueBlue program. Usually the conversion is 250 Membership Rewards points become 200 TrueBlue points, but from now until November 30th, the ratio is 1:1, meaning you’ll get 1 TrueBlue point for every Membership Rewards point you convert.
Also remember that when you convert Membership Rewards points to domestic airline partners (Delta, jetBlue, and Hawaiian), American Express will charge you an excise tax offset fee:
Every time you transfer points into a U.S. airline frequent flyer program, your Linked Card account will be charged an excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 per point (with maximum fee of $99). We charge this fee to offset the federal excise tax we must pay when you transfer points. We may offer you the option to use points to pay this fee.
For example, transferring 10,000 points in this scenario will cost you $6.00 in fees or and additional 1,200 Membership Rewards points.
In my own experience, Membership Rewards points are worth more than TrueBlue points, so I wouldn’t jump in and transfer your entire AMEX balance to jetBlue, UNLESS you are short a few thousand points for an award redemption.
Will you be taking advantage of this limited time promotion? Let us know!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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