A Few Airline Accounts You Should Sign Up For ASAP

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Maybe you've got one, two, or even three frequent flyer accounts set up with major U.S. airlines like American, Delta, United, or even Southwest. But if you're earning credit card points from banks like Amex, Chase, and Capital One (and you should be), there are plenty more airline accounts you may want to sign up for – and soon.

The beauty of those credit card points is that you can transfer them, turning points into miles with a dozen or more different airlines. While the list of transfer partners may seem intimidatingly long, there are only a handful you really need to worry about: The ones that can help you book the cheapest award deals, get to Europe for less, or fly business class for the price of economy, for example.

But even if you're dead certain you'll never need miles like Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, or another other airline program – let alone fly those carriers – it pays to plan ahead to prevent future issues. Brand-new airline accounts tend to have the most trouble when transferring points – even when they're supposed to transfer instantly.

So don't get left waiting for your points to transfer when you see a great deal you can book with miles. Take a good look at your credit card's transfer partners and get your accounts set up right now. Here's where to get started, broken down by the major banks.

American Express Membership Rewards

Have Amex points from cards like *amex gold* or *amex platinum*? You can transfer them to one of Amex's stable of airline transfer partners to book flights – often for far fewer points than booking through the Amex travel portal.

With 17 airline transfer partners at your disposal, Amex boasts the most partners of any of the other major banks. But some are more valuable than others – and those are the ones worth signing up for accounts with right now, even if you don't have any travel plans at the moment.

Read our guide to Amex transfer partners!

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is the frequent flyer program for the United Kingdom-based airline Virgin Atlantic. But you can use Virgin points to fly all over the world on partner airlines like Delta, ITA Airways to and from Italy, Air France and KLM, or even Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA).

It's also the first program on this list because brand-new Virgin Atlantic accounts often experience a lag when transferring points. Here's why: It can take 24 to 72 hours for Virgin to verify your account, which is required before you can book a flight with Virgin points.

Do yourself a favor and create a Flying Club account now so you don't need to worry about it when you go to book one of these sweet spots. Virgin Atlantic is a transfer partner of not just Amex but all of the major banks – Capital One, Chase, and Citi. So by signing up for a Flying Club account now, you'll be set no matter which credit card points you earn.

If you're just opening a new account, you'll also be asked to activate and link a Virgin Red account. Flying Club is Virgin Atlantic's frequent flyer program while Virgin Red is Virgin's wider rewards program, which includes other Virgin companies such as Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages, and more. It's important to open and link both accounts ahead of time so you are ready to book when a deal comes your way.

Already have a Flying Club account but don't have Virgin Red? If you're hoping to transfer Capital One Venture Miles or even Bilt Rewards to Virgin, you'll need a Virgin Red account, too.

Just head to the Virgin Red homepage and choose the option “Join Virgin Red.” After a quick email verification and some personal details, finalize your enrollment. Immediately, you should be prompted to link your Virgin Red account with your airline account, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan is the loyalty program of Canada's flag carrier Air Canada … but it's also one of the best airline loyalty programs, period. With straightforward award pricing and an easy-to-use site, it's often the best way to book flights on nearly 50 airlines, from Star Alliance carriers like United, Lufthansa, and Turkish to other awesome partners like Emirates and Etihad.

But we've noticed a trend lately of brand-new Air Canada accounts experiencing a lag when transferring points … even when those points transfers have been instantaneous in the past. Air Canada is not just a transfer partner of Amex but also Capital One, Chase, and even Bilt Rewards. So by signing up for an Aeroplan account now, you'll be set no matter which credit card points you earn in the future.

Once you've signed up for Air Canada's loyalty program, your Aeroplan number is easy to find. This is what you'll need to complete a points transfer, whether it's from Amex or another bank.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Air France and KLM are basically the same airline, so go figure they share a frequent flyer program called Flying Blue.

And you can go far by using Flying Blue miles, including seats in Air France business class or KLM business class. It was already one of our favorite ways to book business class to Europe, period … then it got even cheaper! But these miles can also be some of the best ways to book flights on partner airlines like Delta, whether you're flying within the continental U.S., over to London, or down to Mexico.

You'll first need to create a free account on the Flying Blue website. Then, you'll use your Flying Blue number to log in and search for award flights through either Air France or KLM.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue is a transfer partner of all four of the major banks – Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi – so by signing up for a Flying Blue account now, you'll be set no matter which credit card points you earn.

ANA

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club might just the most underrated airline program in the world.

That's due in large part to the combination of low rates and easy-to-earn miles. You could fly to Japan in business class for the same amount of miles most airlines charge for economy. Or even fly business class to Europe for dirt cheap as well: Just 88,000 miles roundtrip.

But the availability to actually book something like the incredible lie-flat business class seat to Tokyo you see above with points and miles is rare – and you have to book quickly before another traveler snags it. That's why it's critical to sign up for a free ANA Mileage Club account right now so you don't run into any issues when it's crunch time.

Thrifty Tip: Unlike other airlines on this list, transfers to ANA from Amex always take 24 to 48 hours to process. So while we generally warn travelers against it, it might make sense to proactively transfer points to ANA so you have them on hand already when you go to book – depending on your travel plans and how many Amex points you've got, of course.

British Airways

Thanks to their partnership in the Oneworld airline alliance, you can use British Airways Avios to book flights on partner airlines like Aer Lingus, Iberia, Qatar, and even American or Alaska. In fact, BA offers one of the cheapest ways to book flights to Hawaii using points and miles.

Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Qatar (and soon, Finnair) also use Avios as their points and miles currently – and uniquely, you can combine Avios between those airlines. That opens up an avenue to transfer points from Amex, Chase, Capital One, or even Citi to book flights through any of these airlines.

All roads go through British Airways, though. So no matter which credit card points you earn, you'll want to sign up for a free British Airways Executive Club account.

When creating accounts, make sure your name and address match exactly to avoid any issues when transferring Avios between the different airlines. This includes middle names or middle initials and email addresses.

Iberia

Spanish flag carrier Iberia is a great program to keep in mind as it offers one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe in business class using miles.

For as low as just 34,000 Avios each way, you can book Iberia business class to and from Madrid (MAD) – or roundtrip in economy for the same rate. That's less than most airlines charge for a one-way ride in economy, making this one of the best deals in the world of points and miles. You can also book these flights directly through British Airways at the same rates.

Just like British Airways, Iberia benefits from the fact that you can transfer Avios between airlines like BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Qatar Airways – plus Finnair soon.

But critically, you can only transfer to or from Iberia if your Iberia Plus account is at least 90 days old. That's why we recommend opening an Iberia frequent flyer account right away so you're ready to book when a deal pops up.

Capital One Venture Miles

If you earn Capital One Venture Miles with the *venture x* or the *capital one venture card*, you can turn them into miles with 15 different airline partners.

But that doesn't mean you need to go sign up for 15 different airline loyalty programs, though. A few stand out as some of the most valuable programs you'll want to make accounts with right now. That way, you're ready whenever you find an award flight or get a Thrifty Traveler Premium deal you want to book ASAP.

Read our guide to Capital One transfer partners!

Virgin Red

While other banks have Virgin Atlantic as one of their airline transfer partners, Capital One technically partners with Virgin Red: the overarching loyalty program for the airline as well as other Virgin brands like Virgin Hotels, Virgin Voyages, and more. So if you want to transfer your Capital One miles to Virgin Atlantic to book flights with Delta, ITA Airways, or ANA, having a Virgin Atlantic Flying Club account isn't enough – you'll need a Virgin Red account, too.

To get started, you'll want to set up a free Virgin Atlantic account first if you don't already have one.

After that, just head to the Virgin Red homepage and choose the option “Join Virgin Red.” After a quick email verification and some personal details, finalize your enrollment. Immediately, you should be prompted to link your Virgin Red account with your airline account, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

If you plan to transfer your Venture Miles to Virgin to book flights, pick “Link Flying Club account” and you should see the option to log in to your Virgin Atlantic airline account. Tap in those details and once that's done, your Virgin Red and Virgin Atlantic accounts should be linked!

From there, you're ready to transfer Capital One Venture miles to Virgin … kind of. Rather than transferring miles straight into your Virgin Atlantic account, you'll be transferring to Virgin Red – and that means you need your Virgin Red ID.

Unlike frequent flyer accounts that are typically a series of nine-plus numbers, Virgin Red IDs are a series of four short words strung together. Odd, we know. To find yours, head to your Virgin Red account and click the “Personal Details” tab. You'll find your Virgin Red ID all the way at the bottom.

Copy that ID and head back to your Capital One account. That's what you'll need to enter (twice) under “Membership #” to transfer Venture Miles correctly. Again, there's a bit of a misnomer here.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Miles & Smiles is a real hidden gem among Capital One's transfer partners – and transferring Venture Miles is one of the few easy ways to earn them.

You won't find a cheaper way to get to Hawaii, as the program charges just 15,000 miles roundtrip to fly United out to the islands and back – or 25,000 to do it in business class. It's also got one of the cheapest options to get to Europe in Turkish Airlines business class, with flights that cost just 45,000 miles each way.

Like all other airline loyalty programs, creating a Turkish Miles & Smiles account is free. But it's not as simple as other airlines. You'll want to follow these directions carefully.

Start by downloading the Turkish Airlines mobile app to sign up for a new account, which you can then use to log in on your desktop or laptop after you’ve registered. This is a much smoother process than registering on Turkish's website.

Here's what to do:

Download the Turkish Airlines mobile app.
Register for a new account on your phone. (☰→ Sign in → scroll to bottom → Sign up)
- You’ll need to choose a city from a dropdown menu. If your city isn’t listed, just choose the closest city. It won’t matter in the end since you enter a zip code.
- Your password for Turkish is more like a PIN: It can only contain numbers and must be 6-digits (Cannot contain date of birth, cannot have three consecutive digits, and the same number cannot be repeated more than twice).
Find your membership number in the app or in your confirmation email.
Head back to the Turkish Airlines homepage and log in to your new account using your membership number without the “TK” at the beginning.
You can then go to your account settings and choose to have your mobile number and email as log-in options so you don’t have to memorize your membership number.

After all that, you should be able to log in from any web browser using your credentials. Now, on with booking the flights.

British Airways

Aer Lingus, Iberia, and Qatar (and soon, Finnair) also use Avios as mileage currency. Uniquely, you can also combine Avios between airlines. That opens up an avenue to transfer points from Amex, Chase, Capital One, or even Citi to book flights through any of these airlines.

All roads go through British Airways, though. So no matter which credit card points you earn, you'll want to sign up for a free British Airways Executive Club account.

Once you turn your Venture Miles into British Airways Avios, you'll be able to transfer them to other airlines in the Avios family that are not transfer partners with Capital One like Aer Lingus, Iberia, or Qatar. So it may be worth signing up for the loyalty programs of every airline that uses Avios at the same time and linking those accounts, if necessary.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Aeroplan is the loyalty program of Canada's flag carrier Air Canada … but it's also one of the best airline loyalty programs, period.

With straightforward award pricing and an easy-to-use site, it's often the best way to book flights on nearly 50 airlines, from Star Alliance carriers like United, Lufthansa, and Turkish to other awesome partners like Emirates and Etihad.

But we've noticed a trend lately of brand-new Air Canada accounts experiencing a lag when transferring points, even when those points transfers should be instant. Air Canada is not only a transfer partner of Amex, but also Capital One, Chase, and even Bilt Rewards, so by signing up for an Aeroplan account now, you'll be set no matter which credit card points you earn.

Once you've signed up for Air Canada's loyalty program, your Aeroplan number is easy to find. This is what you'll need to complete a points transfer whether it's from Amex or another bank.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Air France and KLM share a frequent flyer program called Flying Blue. And you can go far by using Flying Blue miles, including seats in Air France business class or KLM business class. It was already one of our favorite ways to book business class … then it got even cheaper! But these miles can also be some of the best ways to book flights on partner airlines like Delta, whether you're flying within the continental U.S., over to London, or down to Mexico.

You'll first need to create a free account on the Flying Blue website. Then, you'll use your Flying Blue number to log in and search for award flights through either Air France or KLM.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

The points you earn from cards like the *chase sapphire preferred* or *chase sapphire reserve* are simply more valuable and versatile than almost any other points you can earn.

Chase's portfolio of transfer partners includes 11 airlines: Three major U.S. carriers (United, Southwest, and JetBlue) as well as some excellent foreign airline programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and others.

Read our guide to Chase transfer partners!