How to Find Hidden Discounts When Booking Flights Through Amex Travel

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It might surprise you to learn that American Express cardholders can find discounted airfare when booking flights through the Amex Travel portal—sometimes even with airlines that don’t have direct partnerships with Amex Membership Rewards. While transferring points to airline partners often gives the best value, there are situations where booking through Amex Travel (and even paying with points) makes sense—and can save you money.

Since I have plenty of American Express Membership Rewards, I wanted to see the process for booking flights with points. Of course, transferring points to partner airlines, as I did to book flights with Hawaiian Airlines, is the best way to maximize the value of your points. But that’s not always possible, and sometimes it makes sense to book a flight and pay with points through a travel portal, which is how I booked flights to Iceland with Citi ThankYou points.

Searching for Flights with Membership Rewards

I logged into my AMEX account and went to the Membership Rewards section. From there, I selected “Flights” and entered my itinerary. When I first discovered this method, I was checking prices for a trip to Las Vegas, but you can replicate this process for just about any city pair.

For reference, here was the standard price for the flight on the airline’s website when I was originally searching:

Finding Insider Fares

When I searched the same route while logged into my AMEX account, the price was the same, but it showed a lower Membership Rewards price if I chose to pay entirely with points.

Membership Rewards points are typically worth 1 cent each when booking flights through AmexTravel.com. But this flight cost about 5% fewer points than expected. That’s because it was listed as an “Insider Fare.”

Insider Fares are available to all eligible American Express cardholders who use Membership Rewards to pay for the entire cost of a flight. These fares are only visible if you have enough points in your account to cover the total cost. Pretty cool, huh? Still not always the best value, but if you’re going to pay with points anyway, it’s nice that AMEX offers a small discount.

Platinum-Exclusive Recommended Flights

I also noticed a different type of offer labeled as a “Recommended Flight” for Platinum Card Members. These special fares are available only to eligible U.S. Consumer and Business Platinum Card and Centurion members (Delta SkyMiles Platinum cardholders are excluded) and apply to select routes on participating airlines. While the discount only applies to the base fare, it’s automatically reflected in your search if you’re logged in with an eligible card. Here’s an example where the cash price was $197—about $18 less than the standard price.

This one had a discounted cash price—$197 instead of $215—even without paying with points. You could still redeem Membership Rewards for it, of course:

So my options were: pay $197 with my Platinum Card and earn 5X points, or use 19,562 Membership Rewards to book it with points.

Are These Discounts Worth It?

While neither of these discounts will knock your socks off—this was only a $215 one-way ticket—keep in mind that the savings might be more significant on international routes or premium cabin tickets. If you’re already planning to book through Amex Travel, whether with points or cash, it’s worth checking if these hidden deals pop up.

Even after collecting points and miles for almost two decades, I’m still learning new things about how to use them. And sometimes, a few extra minutes of comparison shopping can save you both money and points.

Final Thought

If you’re holding onto a stash of Membership Rewards points and thinking about redeeming them for flights, don’t overlook what’s right in front of you on the Amex Travel portal. Insider Fares and cardmember-exclusive discounts may not always be obvious, but they’re there, and they might be the key to a better deal.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary