Stop Paying Amex Transfer Fees

You worked hard for those points. Maybe you just unlocked the massive 100,000-point welcome offer on the Amex Gold Card, or you’ve been grinding everyday spend on groceries for months. The last thing you want to do is light that value on fire.

But if you transfer Membership Rewards points to the wrong airline, that’s exactly what happens. American Express is the only major transferable currency that passes a specific federal tax cost directly to you. It’s called the Excise Tax Offset Fee or also called Amex Transfer Fees, and it silently eats away at your redemption value.

Most beginners click “Accept” without doing the math. They lose money, and worse, they often pay the fee using points—a “convenience” that is mathematically disastrous. Today, we are going to break down exactly how this fee works, the “Partner Shield” strategy to avoid it entirely, and when you should actually pay it.

What Is the Amex Excise Tax Offset Fee?

The Federal Excise Tax is a government levy on the purchase of frequent flyer miles. When a bank buys miles from a US airline to put in your account, the government charges a tax. Chase, Citi, and Capital One choose to eat this cost. American Express, however, passes it on to you.

The fee is calculated at $0.0006 per point.

That sounds microscopic until you start moving enough points for a big redemption. Here is the actual damage on common transfer amounts:

The fee is capped at $99. This means if you transfer 500,000 points, you still only pay $99. However, for the vast majority of travelers transferring 50k–100k points for a standard award ticket, you are paying the full rate.

The “Pay with Points” Trap

When you trigger this fee, Amex will helpfuly offer to let you pay it with points instead of cash. Do not do this.

Amex values your points at 0.5 cents each for this transaction. This is a horrific valuation. We value Membership Rewards points at 2.0 cents or higher when used for travel.

Let’s run the math on a 100,000-point transfer:

• Cash Cost: $60.
• Points Cost: 12,000 points.
• Opportunity Cost: Those 12,000 points are worth ~$240 if transferred to a good partner (like Aeroplan or British Airways).
• The Result: By “saving” $60 in cash, you are destroying $240 in points value. You are effectively losing $180.

If you absolutely must transfer to Delta or JetBlue, pull out your credit card and pay the cash. It’s painful, but paying with points is financial suicide for your rewards balance. For more on maximizing your points, read our guide on how to maximize Amex Membership Rewards points.

The “Partner Shield” Strategy: How to Pay $0

The fee only applies to US-based airline programs: Delta SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue. It does not apply to international partners.

The workaround is simple: Use international partners to book flights on those same US airlines. Not only do you avoid the tax, but you often get much better redemption rates because international award charts are frequently more stable than the dynamic pricing used by Delta and JetBlue.

1. Instead of Delta SkyMiles… Use Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue

Delta SkyMiles is the most common reason people get hit with this fee. Delta often charges exorbitant rates (e.g., 40,000+ miles) for domestic flights. However, you can book Delta flights using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.

The Math:

• Flight: New York (JFK) to Atlanta (ATL) on Delta.
• Booking via Delta: 25,000 SkyMiles + $30 Amex Fee = Cost: High.
• Booking via Virgin Atlantic: 11,000 – 15,000 Virgin Points + $0 Amex Fee = Cost: Low.

Virgin Atlantic charges a flat distance-based rate for Delta flights (excluding Europe). You save points and you save the $30 fee. You can also use Air France/KLM Flying Blue, which sometimes sees Delta availability that Virgin doesn’t.

2. Instead of United… Use Air Canada Aeroplan

Technically, you can’t transfer Amex points to United directly, so you wouldn’t pay the fee anyway. But this illustrates the power of the “Partner Shield.” By transferring to Air Canada Aeroplan or Avianca LifeMiles (both international), you can book United domestic flights tax-free.

We detail exactly how this works in our guide to Star Alliance partners.

3. Instead of JetBlue… Just Pay Cash

JetBlue’s loyalty program is revenue-based, meaning the points have a fixed value roughly tied to the cash price of the ticket (usually 1.1 to 1.3 cents per point).

If you transfer Amex points to JetBlue, you pay the excise tax fee, which eats into that already thin margin. Unless you are topping off an account for a specific award, transferring Amex to JetBlue is rarely a winning math equation. You are better off booking through the Amex Travel portal using the Business Platinum 35% rebate if you have it, or simply saving your points for high-value international business class.

When Should You Pay the Fee?

We are efficiency obsessives, but we aren’t robots. Sometimes, paying the cash fee is the right move. Here is the checklist to decide:

1. Is there “Saver” availability? Partner airlines (like Virgin) can only see “Saver” level award space on Delta. If Delta is the only airline flying your route and they haven’t released Saver space, you have to book via Delta SkyMiles directly. In this case, swallow the fee.
2. Are you topping off? If you have 48,000 SkyMiles and need 50,000 for a ticket, transferring 2,000 points (and paying a $1.20 fee) is perfectly logical to use up your orphaned miles.
3. Is the cash fare insane? If a last-minute flight costs $800 but is available for 30,000 Delta miles + $18 fee, pay the fee. The math works in your favor (approx 2.6 cents per point value).

Just remember: Never pay the fee with points. Always charge it to your card.

Conclusion

The Amex Excise Tax Offset fee is an annoyance, but it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. It’s a “lazy tax” for people who transfer directly to Delta or JetBlue without looking for alternatives.

If you recently picked up the Amex Gold Card, your 100,000 points are worth at least $2,000 in travel. Don’t let a $60 fee scare you into a bad redemption, and definitely don’t let Amex trick you into paying that fee with points.