Ask Randy

Randy Petersen answers reader questions about how to maximize travel-related loyalty programs.

Dear Randy,
My daughter moved to Pierre, S.D., and I would like to transfer my American Express points to an airline that flies there. Northwest Airlines will not accept the points. Do you know of any other airline that will accept the points that I can join to fly to Pierre?

Though Northwest WorldPerks is not currently a participant in the American Express Membership Rewards program, it doesn’t mean you can’t claim a free award on them.
Like others, I’ve often hoped that WorldPerks would rejoin Membership Rewards, given that its two major alliance partners—Delta and Continental—continue to participate in that program. But since you are simply trying to redeem your points for an airline ticket, rather than add to your current mileage balance, you have the following option: You can redeem your Membership Rewards points as miles with either Delta SkyMiles or Continental OnePass, and then simply redeem a free ticket from either of these two programs on partner Northwest Airlines to Pierre, S.D.

That’s one of the major advantages of these partnerships—flexibility to secure additional award choices. Hopefully, you have an account with SkyMiles or OnePass, but if not, it’s easy to enroll on their respective Web sites. Once enrolled, you’re all set to transfer Membership Rewards points into miles, which will lead to a free ticket on Northwest Airlines.

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RANDY PETERSEN is publisher of Inside Flyer magazine and is president of Frequent Flyer Services. Email Randy at editor@executivetravelmag.com.