TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
That was simple, wasn't it? (but read on if you want to know why).
No, you should not use American Express Membership Rewards points through Apple Pay, there are better options available and there are better ways to get good value out of what is a valuable currency to hold.
That was simple, wasn’t it? 😁 (but read on if you want to know why).
Wait, I can use Amex points when paying with Apple Pay?
Yes. A few days ago (on 30 June), American Express announced that Membership Rewards points can now be used to pay at checkout via Apple Pay. The feature lets eligible cardholders apply points directly within the Apple Pay checkout experience online or in apps, without the need to open a separate app or the need to complete any additional steps.
You select your eligible Amex Membership Rewards card at checkout, tap “use rewards,” enter how much of the purchase you want to cover with points, and complete the transaction as normal.
Partial redemptions are permitted, so you can cover part of a purchase with points and the remainder with your card.
The value on offer
The redemption rate is 0.7 cents per point. That means 10,000 points gets you $70 in purchasing power.
I haven’t tried this out as knowing my luck, I’ll accidentally buy something useless with points that I value quite highly, but even though Amex doesn’t say as much in its press release or on its Apple Pay webpage, the figures can be seen in the imagery provided.
In the image on the left, 54,437 points are being redeemed to pay a bill of $381.06, and in the image on the right, 14,286 points are being redeemed to pay a bill of $100.
In both cases the value being received out of each Membership Point used is ~0.7 cents.
This is par for the course when it comes to redeeming Amex points when shopping (you’ll find that you’re offered the same rate when you check out at Amazon, Dell, Best Buy, and at a variety of other stores.
This is, however, a very poor return on what is one of the most valuable points currencies in the miles and points world, and it’s a long way from what those same points are capable of.
Better returns
Transfer partners
The most obvious way (to most readers of this site) of getting considerably more value out of each Amex Membership Rewards point is to convert the points to one of the many Membership Rewards travel partners (e.g. Delta, British Airways, Qatar Airways, etc…) and to then use them to book award flight which would otherwise have cost quite a bit of cash.
Generally speaking, these are premium cabin bookings, but writing as someone who frequently redeems Membership Rewards points for British Airways Avios and then uses them for Economy Class awards, I can say that you don’t have to be flying in the pointy end to make your points work for you (I frequently get over 2.0 cents/point in value from my Amex points without too much effort).
Gift cards
There may be times when you would prefer to get more everyday value out of your points than use them for flights or accommodations, and that’s probably when the temptation to use them at Amazon or through Apple Pay will be at its strongest.
Resist, and consider exchanging your points for select gift cards through your Amex online account.
For miles and points fans (i.e. most people who read this site), that’s verging on the unconscionable because the value you’ll get out of exchanging your points for gift cards is still very poor. But it can be better value than you’ll get if you cash out your points through Apple Pay.
The American Express gift cards that you’ll find on the Amex website are the worst value as you’ll only get 0.5 cents/point in value out of your points balance if you redeem points for them, so they are to be avoided at all costs.
Purchasing a lot of the other available gift cards will see you getting 0.7 cents/point in value and that’s no better and no worse than Apple Pay/Amazon. But some gift card purchases offer better returns.
You can, for example, buy Apple gift cards and get 0.85 cents/point in value out of your Membership Rewards Points (over 21% more value than you’ll get if you use your points through Apple Pay).
And you can, if you look hard enough, find gift cards which you can buy and get a whole penny/point in value out of each Amex point (43% more value than you’ll get if you use your points through Apple Pay)
For someone in the miles and points game this is still terrible value, but for someone who has no real interest in redeeming their points for travel*, this is likely to be as good as it gets and, as demonstrated, it’s considerably better than using points to pay through Apple Pay.
*If you have no interest in redeeming your points for travel, you should probably question your credit card choices. A cash back card would almost certainly suit your needs better then a card that earns Membership Rewards points.
Bottom line
As of 30 June 2026, American Express allows cardholders to pay or part-pay for their shopping using Membership Rewards points when they check-out using Apple Pay.
As nice as it would be it this was a new way to get great value out of out Amex points, it isn’t. The value on offer is actually quite bad, so using Membership Rewards points to pay through Apple Pay should be something that you avoid where possible – there are much better way to use your points.
