What’s Going On With Amex’s Hit-or-Miss Transfer Bonuses?

Transfer bonuses are one of the best – and most reliable – ways to squeeze extra value out of your transferable points … and no bank offers these bonuses more frequently than American Express.

Every month or two, Amex rolls out a 20%, 30%, or even bigger bonus when moving points to select airline and hotel partners. For travelers who know how to use them, these bonuses can be the difference between a good redemption and a great one – turning a nearly “free” flight or hotel stay into an outright steal.

But recently, there’s growing evidence that not everyone is being treated equally.

Over the past several months, some American Express cardholders (myself included) have found themselves quietly shut out from transfer bonuses that appear to be widely available. The most glaring example is Amex’s current 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – one of the richest bonuses the bank has ever offered. While many cardholders see the promotion in their accounts, others don’t see it at all.

Targeted transfer bonuses are nothing new, but this is much bigger. And that growing disconnect raises an uncomfortable question: Is American Express quietly changing how – and to whom – it offers transfer bonuses?

Related reading: Get More Points With the Current List of Transfer Bonuses
 

Transfer Bonuses … That Not Everyone Can See

For the second time in the last year, American Express is currently offering a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, one of the largest and most compelling transfer bonuses we’ve ever seen. Virgin points can unlock phenomenal value on everything from its own business class flights to London to ANA first class flights to Japan, making this bonus especially lucrative.

The catch? Not every Amex cardholder can see it.

Despite being widely available, some cardholders (including yours truly) don’t see the bonus when logged into their American Express accounts. You can clearly see it spelled out in the screenshot from my account that 1,000 Amex points equate to 1,000 Virgin points, not the 1,400 promised to everyone else. 

A recent Reddit thread suggests this might not be a one-off glitch – plenty of others are reportedly not seeing it either. One brave user who wasn’t targeted for the bonus reported successfully getting Virgin Red, the parent program of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, to manually credit the missing bonus after contacting them directly. 

To see what would happen, I transferred Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic. As expected, the points posted, but the 40% bonus never arrived. After reaching out to Virgin myself, they responded by saying there was a “technical issue” on Amex’s end that kept some members from getting the bonus and that the points would be manually awarded in the next couple of weeks … yes, weeks.

Before I saw that someone else was able to get the bonus credited manually, I had assumed I just wasn’t targeted. Waiting a couple of weeks is better than not receiving a bonus at all, but it’s an incredibly long timeline for anyone trying to book an award flight, as availability can dry up at a moment’s notice.

We reached out to American Express to see whether there’s some known issue … or whether certain cardholders aren’t seeing this transfer bonus by design. As of publication, the bank hasn’t responded.

Not seeing a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin stinks, but if it is, in fact, a minor “technical issue,” it’s not the end of the world. But what if it’s more widespread than just this bonus alone? This is the second month in a row that I’ve been excluded from a transfer bonus that otherwise appeared to be broadly available. Last month, Amex offered a 15% bonus to Avianca LifeMiles, another popular airline partner. I didn’t see that bonus either.

To be clear, targeted transfer bonuses aren’t unheard of. American Express has occasionally limited certain offers to specific cardholders in the past. What’s different now is the scale – and the silence. Curiously, I did receive a less valuable 30% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy last month, suggesting that Amex isn’t cutting me off entirely – just selectively.

That inconsistency raises uncomfortable questions.

Is Amex Applying Its “Perfect Offer” Playbook to Transfer Bonuses?

We already know American Express aggressively personalizes its welcome offers. In the past, the bank has openly admitted to tailoring signup bonuses based on what it thinks will persuade an individual cardholder to apply – whether that’s 60,000 points, 100,000 points, or a number even bigger. And the company is also notorious for putting some cardholders in so-called “Amex pop-up jail,” meaning they may not be eligible for another welcome bonus, period.

If Amex has the technology and appetite to fine-tune welcome offers, it’s not a stretch to imagine that the same logic could be applied to transfer bonuses, too.

I’ve already transferred nearly 500,000 Membership Rewards points to travel partners this year. From Amex’s perspective, maybe I don’t need much incentive to move points off their books?

But that theory doesn’t fully hold up. Other Thrifty Traveler team members – some of whom have redeemed even more points than I have – still see these bonuses without issue. Heavy usage alone doesn’t explain who’s getting left out.

Why This Matters for Membership Rewards as a Whole

If American Express really is moving toward more aggressive and opaque targeting with transfer bonuses, it risks undermining one of the biggest strengths of the Membership Rewards® program.

Regular transfer bonuses are a major value-add. They’re a big reason why Membership Rewards points are often considered more valuable than many other transferable currencies … and why many cardholders choose to put their everyday spending on Amex cards in the first place. When some of the most engaged users are excluded without warning or explanation, that value proposition starts to erode.

If cardholders can’t trust that they’ll have access to the same redemption opportunities – or even know when they’re eligible – it creates hesitation. And hesitation leads to fewer swipes.

For now, it’s unclear whether this is truly technical glitch, a poorly communicated experiment, or a deliberate shift in strategy. But until American Express provides clarity, one thing is certain: Transfer bonuses don’t feel as dependable as they used to – and that’s a problem for a program built on trust and long-term loyalty.

Bottom Line

American Express transfer bonuses have long been a cornerstone of the Membership Rewards program, but recent evidence suggests they may be becoming increasingly targeted or inconsistently applied. When widely advertised bonuses don’t appear for all cardholders, it creates confusion and erodes trust in the program’s value.

Whether this is a “technical issue” (as Virgin puts it), a quiet shift toward hyper-targeted incentives, or something in between, the lack of transparency is the real problem. When cardholders don’t know if they’re eligible for a widely advertised bonus – or only find out after transferring points – it undermines confidence in the program as a whole.

Until Amex provides clarity, cardholders should assume transfer bonuses aren’t guaranteed and only move points when the bonus is clearly visible in their account.