Most points connoisseurs know that transferable point currencies offer the widest range of options and flexibility to maximize redemption values. But for really maximizing points, transfer bonuses to various airline and hotel partners can help you stretch your points further and access bucket list redemptions.
All of the major transferable currencies offer transfer bonuses periodically. Some of the bonuses are available for all cardholders while a few are targeted to only some cardholders. We’ve compiled the bonuses from the major currencies below.
Amex Membership Rewards
Air France–KLM Flying Blue
There’s currently a 25% bonus on transfers to Air France–KLM Flying Blue from Amex Membership Rewards. The 1:1.25 transfer ratio to the Sky Team carrier is valid until June 15, 2022.
Some of our favorite Amex cards
Annual Fee: $250
Welcome Offer: 60,000 Membership Rewards® points
APR: 19.74% to 26.74% variable APR on eligible charges
Rewards Rate: 1-4X Points
Details: Full Review
Terms and restrictions apply
Annual Fee: $250
APR: The card carries a 19.74% to 26.74% variable APR on eligible charges, depending on your credit worthiness.
Rewards Rate: This card awards 4X Membership Rewards® Points per dollar at U.S. grocery stores, up to $25,000 each calendar year (1X point afterwards), and 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, including eligible takeout and delivery services in the U.S. . Also earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly through airlines or with amextravel.com. Earn 1X points on all other eligible purchases.
Welcome Offer: New cardholders can earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $4,000 on eligible purchases during their first six months of card membership.
Who Should Use This Credit Card? Households that spend a large portion of their budget on food, either at grocery stores or restaurants, will find a lot of value with this credit card.
Why We Like the American Express® Gold Card
The American Express® Gold Card is a foodie’s dream. Not only will you earn outsized rewards at U.S. grocery stores and restaurants worldwide, you’ll also enjoy perks like $120 in dining credits each year with select merchants including Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations.
Yet, benefits like no foreign transaction fees for international purchases and $120 in annual Uber Cash credits make this card ideal for travelers as well. While the hefty annual fee may look daunting, households that are able to take advantage of the $240 worth of annual statement credits will easily offset that recurring cost.
All things considered, the American Express® Gold Card is among the most appealing rewards credit cards currently on the market.
Annual Fee: $695
Welcome Offer: 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points
APR: 19.74% to 26.74% Variable APR on eligible charges
Rewards Rate: 1-5X Points
Details: Full Review
Terms and restrictions apply
Annual Fee: $695
APR: The card charges a variable APR of 19.74% to 26.74% on eligible charges, depending on your credit worthiness.
Rewards Rate: This card awards 5X points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com up to $500,000 a year and prepaid hotels also booked via amextravel.com. You’ll also earn 1X point on all other eligible purchases.
Welcome Offer: New cardholders can earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 with the card during their first six months of card membership.
Who Should Use This Credit Card? People who travel frequently will be able to make the most use of this premium credit cards multiple perks and statement credits.
Why We Like The Platinum Card® from American Express
The Platinum Card® from American Express is a cornucopia of perks and annual credits that reminds one of a fancy coupon book. Each year, cardholders have a variety of credits to look forward to including a $200 hotel credit, $240 digital entertainment credit, $155 Walmart+ credit, $200 airline fee credit, $200 in Uber Cash, and more.
Like other premium credit cards, households that are able to use all of these statement credits and benefits will easily offset the cost of hefty annual fees. But people who have no use for Equinox or Saks Fifth Avenue rebates will most likely find the Platinum Card’s annual fee out of reach.
Still, this credit card is extremely popular among rewards credit card enthusiasts, and it’s easy to see why. Not only does it offer new cardholders a generous welcome offer, but the perks alone could add up to eclipse the annual fee — but only if you already use services like Walmart+ and Uber enough to warrant the expense of a luxury card. Otherwise, you may end up spending $150, just to save $10.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
British Airways Avios
Chase is currently offering two bonuses for Ultimate Rewards customers – both with airlines from the U.K. If you’re transferring points from Chase to British Airways Executive Club, you’ll get 30% more Avios from your transfer.
The 1:1.3 transfer ratio isn’t the best Avios promotion we’ve seen but it’s a great option for anyone looking to book shorthaul flights on American Airlines or book with British Airways’ other global Oneworld partners. Avios can also be transferred to other airlines who use the currency including Qatar Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
There’s currently a 30% bonus on transfers to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Virgin Atlantic might not be a member of an alliance but it offers a list of useful partners. The 1:13 transfer ratio is valid until June 15, 2022.
Marriott Bonvoy
Chase is offering a 50% bonus when you transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy. The 1:1.5 transfer ratio is valid until August 19, 2022.
Some of our favorite Chase cards
Secure application on issuer’s website.
Annual Fee: $95
Bonus: 60,000 Points
APR: Variable Rate
Rewards Rate: 1X-5X Points
Details: Full Review
Terms and restrictions apply
Annual Fee: $95
APR: Variable APR depending on credit worthiness.
Rewards Rate: The card offers 5x points per dollar on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on dining (including eligible takeout and delivery services), as well as 3x points on select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs). This card earns 2x points on all other travel spending and 1x point per dollar everywhere else. Chase broadly defines travel to include not just airfare, hotels and rental cars, but expenses like parking, tolls and public transit too.
Sign-Up Bonus: New applicants can earn 60,000 bonus points after using their card to spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. That’s $750 when redeeming points to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Who Should Use This Credit Card? People who are beginning with travel rewards cards.
Why We Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred actually works like having over a dozen different rewards credit cards. That’s because this credit card allows you to transfer your rewards points into miles with 11 airlines and points with three hotel programs.
Although the Chase Sapphire Preferred might not be ideal for the most frequent travelers and highest spenders, it’s part of a family of Chase cards that has a built-in upgrade path. So when it comes time to take your travel rewards game to the next level, you won’t have to start from scratch with an entirely different credit card and rewards program.
The card has a $95 annual fee, but the $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit effectively reduces that fee to $45. Plus, the credit card allows you to continue earning points through bonus categories and a 10% anniversary points boost. But when it comes time to redeem your rewards for travel, this card really shines. You can take advantage of some really strong transfer partners such as United, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Hyatt. Similarly, you can just book any reservation you want through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel center.
Secure application on issuer’s website.
Annual Fee: $95
Bonus: 100,000 Points
APR: Variable APR
Rewards Rate: 1-3X Points
Details: Full Review
Terms and restrictions apply
Annual Fee: $95
APR: Variable APR depending on credit worthiness.
Rewards Rate: You can earn 3x points on your first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines on each account’s anniversary year. Plus, 1x point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Sign-Up Bonus: Here’s your chance to earn a whopping 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on your card within three months of account opening. This bonus can be redeemed for $1,250 worth of travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Who Should Use This Credit Card? People who own internet-based businesses and spend heavily on advertising are the ones who can really earn the most rewards from this card.
Why We Like the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card
If you’re a business owner who travels a lot for work or pleasure, this card is an ideal choice. It offers a whopping 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 in the first three months — with the card’s 25% bonus on travel booked through Chase, that’s worth $1,250. But you could potentially get more through one of the bank’s transfer partners. The rewards you earn from the Ink Business Preferred Card can be transferred to 10 different airline partners including United, Southwest, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore and British Airways, as well as hotel partners Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott.
Unlike the other two Ink Business cards, you can use this card to transfer your rewards directly to airline miles and hotel points. Travelers may also like this card’s cell phone protection policy that will cover up to $600 per claim.
Capital One
Capital One is not currently offering any transfer bonuses to their customers. We’ll update this article when a new bonus is announced.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
Qatar Airways
Citi is not currently offering any transfer bonuses to ThankYou Rewards customers but there is a Qatar Airways promotion that Citi customers can take advantage of. Qatar Airways is offering up to 40% bonus Avios for points transferred into Privilege Club. The promotion is valid until June 30, 2022.
The promotion is being offered by Qatar Airways, not Citi, so you won’t see it on Citi’s site when you’re transferring points but they’ll show up in your Qatar Airways account. The bonus is tiered, if you transfer 20,000 Citi ThankYou points or less, you’ll get a 20% bonus. If you convert more than 20,000 ThankYou points into Qatar Airways Avios, you’ll get a 40% bonus. Obviously, this promotion is much more lucrative if you transfer more than 20,000 points.
Similarly to British Airways Avios, Qatar Airways Avios can be transferred to accounts with other airlines who use the currency including British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
Some of our favorite Citi cards
Secure application on issuer’s website.
Annual Fee: $95
Bonus: 80,000 ThankYou Points
APR: Variable APR Between 19.74% – 27.74%
Rewards Rate: 1X-3X ThankYou Points
Details: Full Review
Terms and restrictions apply
Annual Fee: $95
APR: This card features a 19.74% – 27.74% variable APR based on creditworthiness.
Rewards Rate: The card offers 3x ThankYou Points per $1 spent at supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, air travel and hotels. Beyond that, the card awards 1x ThankYou Points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Sign-Up Bonus: New account holders can earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after making $4,000 worth of purchases during the first three months of account opening.
Who Should Use This Credit Card? People who want to maximize rewards in multiple spending categories and welcome transferring points to airline partners.
Why We Like the Citi Premier® Card
The Citi Premier Card, from our partner Citi, is worth considering if you’re looking for accelerated travel rewards, but don’t want to pay a huge annual fee. It earns 3X points per dollar on air travel, hotels and spending at gas stations. You’ll also earn 3X points per dollar at supermarkets and restaurants and 1X point on everything else.
It’s easy to quickly rack up lots of points on this card. While you can redeem ThankYou points for gift cards, you’ll get more value when you redeem points for flights and hotels, and potentially even better value when you transfer points to travel partners.
Citi has dramatically improved the ThankYou Rewards program in recent years as well as the cards that earn those points, especially the Citi Premier Card. To compete with American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi has onboarded new airline partners like Avianca LifeMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue.
Marriott Bonvoy
Marriott Bonvoy is not currently offering any transfer bonuses. We’ll update this article when a new bonus is announced.
Bottom line
Transfer bonuses are another way for travelers to maximize the value of points and miles to access the most lucrative redemptions. Transferable currencies are usually the most useful for travelers. Of course, it’s important to remember that transfers are, in almost all cases, irreversible so only make transfers when you’re sure you’ll be able to use them.
While these bonuses can definitely help access even more lucrative redemptions, transferring speculatively can be risky if you end up not having a use for the miles. Generally, that means having a specific redemption to immediately book in mind before transferring the points. But if you do have a use in mind, bookmark this page for a list of current transfer bonuses to take advantage of in planning your trip!
