Amex India Transfer Partners: The Full List, and Two Rates That Just Changed

Two of Amex India's transfer rates moved, and Amex has not announced either one. Hilton Honors went from 900 points per 1,000 Membership Rewards points to 1,500. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club went from 400 points per 800 to 640. Everything else on the page sits exactly where it was.

I checked the live transfer page on 18 August 2026 and compared it against what these rates have been. Below is what changed, what the full list looks like right now, and the one redemption where the Virgin change makes a visible difference.

One caveat before the tables. Transfer ratios change without notice, which is the whole point of this post, so a blog page is a snapshot. The Magnify app keeps the current ratios for every Indian card in one place, and it flags active transfer bonuses when they run. If you are about to move points, check there first.

What changed

Both moves are in your favour, which is not how the last twelve months of Indian credit card news has usually gone.

Is this permanent, or a bonus nobody labelled?

I cannot tell you for certain, and I would rather say that than guess.

Two things make me cautious. The uplifts are exactly 66.7% and exactly 60%, which are the kind of round promotional numbers a transfer bonus produces rather than the kind a permanent award chart lands on. And Amex India displays a bonused rate inline on this same page while a promotion runs, so a live bonus and a new standing rate look identical from the outside.

What I can tell you is what the page shows today. If you were planning either of these transfers anyway, the case for doing it now rather than next month is straightforward. If you were not planning one, an improved ratio on its own is not a reason to move points, because points sitting in Membership Rewards keep every option open and points sitting in Hilton or Virgin are committed.

The full Amex India transfer list, 18 August 2026

Worth noticing what this list says about the shape of the programme. Four of the seven airline partners sit at a flat 2:1, which has been the Amex India standard for years and is meaningfully worse than the 1:1 that Amex US members get. Virgin Atlantic is now the best airline rate on the page by a distance. If you want to compare this against what other Indian banks offer, our guide to Axis Bank's Group A and Group B partners covers the closest equivalent.

What the Virgin change actually buys you

A ratio on its own does not mean much. Here is what it does to a booking we have already written up in full.

Kenya Airways flies Mumbai to Nairobi daily, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is the way to book it from India. Those award prices have not changed. What changed is how many Amex points you need to get the Virgin points.

Mumbai to Nairobi in business class went from 80,000 Amex points to 50,000. That is the same seat, the same award price, and 30,000 fewer points out of your account. The full booking walkthrough, including how the award space tends to open up, is in our Kenya Airways redemption guide.

On the Hilton side I am not going to hand you an equivalent table, because Hilton award nights are priced dynamically and range enormously by property. The honest way to judge a 67% better ratio into Hilton is to look up the specific hotel you want, on the specific dates you want, and work backwards. Hilton points are individually low value, so a better ratio into them is still a better ratio into a currency that takes a lot of points to do anything.

I walked through all three of this week's Amex updates on video, including the transfer page itself with the numbers marked up:

Partners that are gone

Three names that used to sit on this page are no longer options, and they come up often enough to be worth stating plainly.

The Emirates one stings if you remember what it could do. I used that route myself for a thirteen hour Emirates fifth freedom flight, written up in this post, and that booking is not repeatable today.

Two smaller things, while you are in the account

Neither is a transfer rate, but both landed the same week and both are worth two minutes.

Ask about the annual fee. I raised the Platinum Travel fee with Amex chat, pointing at the recent milestone changes, and they agreed to reverse the fee charged in July. Their wording was "as a one-time exception", so it is a case-by-case goodwill call rather than a policy, and nobody is getting it automatically. It costs one chat to ask.

Check for a spend offer, and enrol before you spend. Amex accounts are showing ₹1,000 back on ₹50,000 of spend, or ₹2,500 on ₹1,00,000, as Amazon, MakeMyTrip, Swiggy or Uber vouchers. Enrolment closes 22 August 2026, and spending without enrolling first earns you nothing. Take it if the spend was happening anyway.

If you do not have an Amex

Everything above assumes you hold a card that earns Membership Rewards points, and Amex India's premium cards are invitation-led and expensive. You do not need one to collect airline miles.

Mag Miles on the Magnify app transfer to Air India Maharaja Club, Vietnam Airlines LotusSmiles and Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles, and you earn them buying gift cards for things you already spend on. No premium card, no invitation, and UPI works.

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