How Transfer Bonus Save $4,500 on Business Travel

It’s an expensive party.

Earlier this month, some TPG staff planned to travel to New York City for some important strategic meetings. Dates are not flexible due to previous travel commitments, but we don’t think it’s hard to find affordable accommodation.

Boy, we were wrong. We’re talking about a price of $700+ Every night For basic point properties.

But thankfully, we have a job.

This is how we transfer bonuses American Express Business Platinum Card® Enter a hotel room worth nearly $4,500.

Dilemma

The story begins with three TPG employees trying to schedule in-person meetings between two-day holidays, work trips and other previously planned events. When it all was said, this left a very specific window of time in the second half of September.

Unfortunately, hotel prices are astronomy, with ordinary properties in Manhattan hovering in the range of 700-$800 per night. This is well beyond our normal budget, so we have two very unattractive options: the cost of eating a room or delaying the trip altogether.

The gods then smiled at us with impeccable timing transfers of bonuses.

25% bonus for Hilton Honors

On September 2, AMEX offered a 25% bonus from membership awards to Hilton Honors (note that these offers may be targeted and some accounts may not qualify). Usually you can transfer AMEX points to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, so with a 25% bonus, this means that each Amex point becomes a 2.5 Hilton point.

(Note: This bonus does last until September 23, so you have a day to jump on it – but check out our latest quote transfer bonus guide.)

Currently, we are valued at 2 cents in September 2025 valuation, while Hilton points are only 0.5 cents. Hilton has also just implemented some very frustrating price increases on many of its properties, so even with transfer bonuses, converting your AMEX points to Hilton points is far from a guaranteed way to get the best value.

Thankfully, we found a perfect scene.

Book a room – Save thousands

We started with two staff members who needed a room for two nights. Many Hilton hotels charge 150,000 points (or more) per night, but we were able to find a Hampton Inn for 80,000 points. Two rooms two nights mean 320,000 Hilton points – or 128,000 Amex points with a bonus of 25%.

1 of 2

Hilton

Cash rates for these reservations? $1,657.20.

I transferred the points to my Hilton account (they posted it immediately) and booked two reservations over the phone, adding each employee as a second guest so they could check in.

A few days later we needed to make a room for another staffer, this time only one night. The above Hampton Inn is no longer available, but we did find a nearby Hilton Hotel with only 85,000 Hilton Points, or 34,000 points with transfer bonuses.

The paid rate here is higher: $1,098.81.

Again, I transferred these points to my account and repeated the redemption.

All in all, these three bookings will give us a return of $4,413.21 – but instead, we used 405,000 Hilton points or 162,000 Amex points.

This means we get the following redemption value:

• Hilton points: Nearly 1.1 cents per point
• AMEX points: More than 2.7 cents per point

Both of these are far beyond our valuation of these currencies.

Related: How (and why) calculate reward value

New Amex Commercial Platinum Benefits – Welcome Offer

It is worth noting that we already have Business Platinum Card For years, on TPG, if you’ve been following it and waiting for the right time to apply, the perfect window is likely to arrive.

This is because Amex has just begun a comprehensive overhaul of the card and offers a range of new statement points and updated benefits for small business owners.

But perhaps most importantly, Amex also launched the best welcome bonus for 200,000 member reward points after you spent $20,000 in the first three months of your card membership. The card does now have an annual fee of $895 (see Rates and Fees), but you can easily pay for that fee by using the various privileges on the card (and then some).

Plus, you will unleash the ability to leverage small businesses to transfer bonuses in the future, just like we did on TPG.

Bottom line

Due to the high hotel prices, we recently faced the potential of an expensive meeting in New York. Thankfully, we have a great hiding place on our Amex Membership Rewards Points Business Platinum CardWe took advantage of limited-time transfer bonuses to save nearly $4,500.

No, this is not a fancy business-grade redemption, and certainly not a charming resort. Instead, this is a great example of how to take advantage of the right bonus to take advantage of the right business card can save your company real savings, which is another proof of the value of a transferable point.

For rates and fees for Amex business platinum, click here.