Guide to Leaders Club
Soak in the Amalfi Coast from the iconic Le Sirenuse hotel. Watch wild elephants roam poolside at the ultra-luxe Royal Malewane safari lodge in South Africa. Peek at views of the Imperial Palace Gardens from your room at the Palace Hotel Tokyo. These are just a few of the experiences that Leaders Club, the loyalty program of Leading Hotels of the World, can unlock. The brand strives to live up to its name, maintaining a collection of some of the best hotels in the world. The newly announced transfer partnership with American Express makes stays at some of its ToP-tier properties a little more accessible than they were previously. On the heels of this news, we thought it'd be a good time to dive into this program. Here's our guide to Leaders Club.
Footprint and Properties
Leading Hotels of the World is a collection of more than 400 independent properties in over 80 countries. The brand is owned by more than 60 member hotels. Its five-star portfolio is overseen by an executive committee. While that footprint is small compared to other major hotel groups, staying in an LHW hotel is meant to be an experience.
Scroll through its listings, and you'll see grand historic hotels, boutique beach resorts, safari lodges, wellness retreats and family-owned estates. More than half of its properties have Michelin Keys as of October 2025. Its hotels are magnets for celebrities and elites. There's the legendary Ritz Paris, a more than 125-year-old, Michelin 3-Key hotel that has attracted famous writers, fashion designers and artists. If trendy hotels are more your thing, look toward properties like Hotel Bardo, a recently reimagined stylish hotel in Savannah, or the Parker Palm Springs, known for eclectic interiors by designer Jonathan Adler.
Elite Status
If you haven't already enrolled in Leaders Club, make sure to do so before your first stay. Anyone can join Leaders Club for free, and its perks can add a lot of value to your stay. Even entry-level members receive useful benefits like complimentary continental breakfast for two, complimentary Wi-Fi and space-available room upgrades at check-in. Beyond general membership, Leaders Club only has one elite tier: Sterling status. It is awarded to travelers who spend at least $5,000 in qualifying Leading Hotels of the World stays during a calendar year. Benefits are similar to general membership, and it also adds a small 5% points-earning bonus on paid stays and five pre-arrival upgrades per year.
Those who hold the American Express Platinum Card® and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express can enjoy complimentary Sterling status by linking their accounts. Amex's terms note that it may take 72 hours from enrollment for status to be confirmed, so it's best to enroll your account well before a stay.
Earning Leaders Club Points
Leaders Club points have super strong value, but there are currently limited methods for earning them. Your best bet is likely to transfer points from one of the program's bank partners. Here are a few ways for growing your stash of Leaders Club points.
Transfer Partners
Possibly the most important part of our Guide to Leaders Club is how to get points in the program. Leaders Club currently has partnerships with Citi and American Express. The Amex partnership is the most recent addition, with Membership Rewards now transferring to Leaders Club at an industry-leading ratio 4:1 ratio. Moving 1,000 Membership Rewards will equate to 250 Leaders Club points. Citi ThankYou Points transfer to Leaders Club at a 5:1 ratio. So, 1,000 ThankYou Points will net you 200 Leaders Club points. This may improve further if you can catch a limited-time transfer bonus. For example: Citi has had several 25% transfer bonuses to Leaders Club, according to ToP's tracking of transfer bonus history.
Transfer bonuses aside, the easiest way to determine how many points you'll need for a stay is to multiply the points required by 4 for Amex transfers and by 5 for Citi transfers. Round up to the nearest 1,000 points to determine the minimum number of points needed. You can also calculate the points you'd need based on the current transfer ratios in the ToP Partner Transfer Tool, which is updated daily to reflect new partnerships and transfer bonuses. While these ratios may not sound like the best use of your points on the surface, Leaders Club points are valuable and can stretch pretty far. More on that below.
Earning Points through Stays
Award stays do not earn points, unfortunately. If you are able to book paid stays at LHW's luxury hotels, you can collect some points for your Leaders Club account that way. Earning rates are not as strong as the other major hotel programs, though. Earn 1 point for every $1 USD spent on qualifying room rates booked directly via LHW's Worldwide Reservations and Service Centers and LHW.com. Bookings via a travel agent may also qualify, but Leaders Club notes that it is “your responsibility to ensure that your Leaders Club number is included at the time of booking.” Leaders Club members with Sterling status also earn a 5% points bonus after completing each qualifying stay. On-property spend during your stay also does not earn points. Points may take up to 10 days to post in your account following a stay.
Purchasing Points
You can purchase Leaders Club points in increments of 1,000, up to a maximum of 50,000 points per year. To do so, click on “Manage Points” on LHW.com, which will take you to the Points.com platform. Purchases start at $120 for 1,000 points, or about 12 cents per point. Purchasing points is typically not great value, unless you can catch a lucrative rate during a points sale or only need a small amount of points to ToP off a redemption.
Points Expiration
Leaders Club points do come with an expiration date. They'll disappear after 24 months without qualifying account activity. Thankfully, it's fairly easy to reset the clock with any eligible earning activity or redemption. Still, to be on the safe side, don't transfer without a specific redemption in mind. And once you've begun earning points in the program, keep an eye on your account.
Redeeming Leaders Club Points for Stays
No Guide to Leaders Club is complete without discussing using points for hotel stays. Unlike Hyatt, Leaders Club doesn't publish a traditional award chart. It uses dynamic pricing, with points requirements fluctuating based on current cash rates. As a result, redemptions can vary heavily by property, by season and overall demand. It's common to find values around 8 cents per Leaders Club point. Even the extremely expensive, uber-elite Royal Malewane safari lodge will hold that value, as seen in the example search below. You'd still just have to burn a lot of Amex or Citi points to book this.
Some of LHW's modern boutique hotels have much more approachable pricing. Hotel Bardo in Savannah and The Parker Palm Springs are both possible to book from around a modest 4,000-4,500 Leaders Club points per night. The example redemption below would require 17,000 Amex points—not bad at all! But seasonal demand will heighten prices. Try to book The Parker in April around Coachella, for example, and the points price either more than doubles or isn't available at all.
Many of the hotel collection's most luxe hotels typically charge around or over $1,000 per night, which is where points can really unlock stays that may have been totally out of reach otherwise. Even with transferable currency rates from Amex and Citi at 4:1 and 5:1, respectively, it's still possible to get solid—or even strong—value for your points. Your Leaders Club points are actually worth over 9 cpp in the below example at The Setai, Miami Beach. You'd have to transfer 44,000 Amex points per night, for about 2.2 cpp—which is comparable to some Hyatt redemptions. With the new Amex partnership, you'd want to run the math and make sure you're getting at least 2 cents per point.
A Note About Taxes + Fees
Award travelers may be used to often having taxes and resort fees waived on free night redemptions with some other programs. But Leaders Club reservations may (or may not) require taxes, resort and/or destination fees and/or other mandatory charges. This can vary by hotel and local regulations. Be sure to double check the taxes and fees on an award booking before transferring points to Leader's Club.
Guide to Leaders Club: ToP Thoughts
Leading Hotels of the World has some truly incredible, one-of-a-kind properties. If you access to Citi or Amex points and are interested in luxury hotels, it's likely worth running some searches for your trips. Since Leaders Club award stays are priced dynamically, some expensive stays may still require a large amount of points. A $1,000/night room would still require you to transfer anywhere from 45,000 to 65,000 American Express Membership Rewards per night, depending on the property. Many redemptions can still deliver roughly 1.5-2.5 cents per point, a solid use of Amex points. Simply being a member of the Leaders Club program—or enrolling in Sterling status from a premium Amex card—can add some nice perks on ToP of that. Just be sure to watch for taxes and fees on award nights. Have you booked stays through Leaders Club? Come over to the Facebook group and let us know.
