Get Up to 40% More Points with These Current Transfer Bonuses!

Got a stash of transferable points from banks like American Express, Capital One, or Chase? Take advantage of these current transfer bonuses to get even more out of them.

Think of transfer bonuses as a way to get free miles. The big banks routinely roll out bonuses of 10% to as much as 40% – and sometimes even more! – when transferring points to select airline or hotel partners. With a 25% transfer bonus, for example, you'd only need to transfer 40,000 points to get the 50,000 miles you may need to book an award ticket.

Here are all the current transfer bonuses available as of publication, broken down bank by bank.

Wondering why you should transfer your points? Read up on how it can help you book flights for less!

But before you rush to send your points somewhere with a bonus, remember: These transfers are a one-way street. Once you send the points to an airline partner, you cannot get them back to your Capital One, Chase, or other credit card account. That means you'll generally want to have a redemption in mind (and make sure the flights or hotels you want are actually available to book) before transferring your points.

Let's take a closer look at each of the current transfer bonuses and how you may (or may not) want to use them.

15% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Avianca LifeMiles

You can currently get a 15% bonus when moving American Express Membership Rewards to Avianca LifeMiles – giving cardholders a way to save even more on Star Alliance award flights. This transfer bonus runs through Nov. 30. 

Unfortunately, this appears to be a targeted bonus and not everyone will see it. Still, enough members of the Thrifty Traveler team have it available to them that we feel confident most Amex Membership Rewards-earning cardholders will see it in there account. 

If you're unfamiliar, LifeMiles is the quirky yet underrated mileage program of South American carrier Avianca. While customer service can be spotty at best and even its website is hit or miss, you put up with it because few airline programs offer cheaper ways to book flights using miles around the globe – with low cash taxes and fees, too.

Sadly, LifeMiles don't go quite as far as they used to after a couple of nasty devaluations over the last year – the program raised many award rates to Europe, Asia, and beyond by as much as 70%! Thankfully, Avianca rolled back some of these devaluations, and there are still deals to be had – including business class to Europe for as low as just 55,000 miles each way.

So long as you avoid United, you'll now generally pay 69,000 miles one-way for a business class award to Europe with Avianca LifeMiles. That's true whether you're hopping on a short overseas flight from the East Coast … or making a longer journey, like this TAP Air Portugal business class flight from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Lisbon (LIS). 

With a 15% bonus, you'd only need to transfer 60,000 Amex points to make it a reality. 

But LifeMiles is full of oddities … in a good way: There are a handful of routes that price out even cheaper. For example, you can head to Switzerland on this SWISS business class route from New York City (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) for just 55,000 miles. Factor in that transfer bonus, and you need just 48,000 Amex points to book!

Check out this story for full details on this transfer bonus!

30% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Marriott Bonvoy

Amex is currently offering a 30% transfer bonus when moving Membership Rewards® points to Marriott Bonvoy. This transfer bonus runs through Nov. 30, so you've got a couple of weeks remaining to take advantage.

It's easy to see a 30% bonus and get excited. But be warned that not all points are created equal … especially with hotel points like Marriott. Still, if you have a particular hotel in mind and need to top off your account with a few extra points in order to make it a reality, transferring Membership Rewards to Marriott with a 30% bonus is certainly better than the usual 1:1 ratio.

Looking at a one-night stay in downtown Minneapolis, I can book the Minneapolis Marriott City Center for 30,000 Bonvoy points per night. If I didn't already have any Bonvoy points in my account, I'd need to transfer 24,000 Amex points with the current transfer bonus in order to have enough points to book this stay.

That sure beats the nearly $300 per night that Marriott is charging when paying cash. You'll find similar deals at other Marriott hotels around the world, but not all of them will be quite so good. Be sure to do the math to make sure you're coming out ahead. 

20% Bonus on Capital One Transfers to British Airways Avios

Good news for travelers with the *capital one venture card* or the souped-up *venture x*: Capital One is offering cardholders a 20% bonus when moving miles to British Airways Avios.

This transfer bonus is available through Nov. 21, so you've got just a week (or so) to take advantage of it.

With this transfer bonus, you can take one of the cheapest ways to fly business class to Europe and make it even cheaper. By flying Spanish flag carrier, Iberia, you can get from one of several U.S. gateways to Madrid (MAD) for just 40,500 Avios plus $124 in taxes and fees one-way – or less than 34,000 Capital One miles when combined with this transfer bonus.

Why not fly like this rather than back in economy when you can do it using fewer points?

Read our full review of Iberia business class!

The key to booking these awards is focusing on off-peak travel dates, from cities like Boston, Washington D.C., New York City, and Chicago to Madrid. Since Iberia has a generous definition of what's considered off-peak, you can find these ultra-low rates for a good majority of the year. Only late June through mid-September and the winter holidays (plus a few more random dates throughout the calendar) will trigger higher peak pricing.

Flying lie-flat to Europe for less than 34,000 points and $124 in fees is tough, if not impossible, to beat. But there are other options.

Thanks to Qatar Airways' adoption of Avios, the floodgates are open to book Qatar's world-leading Qsuite business class seats using Capital One miles. Factor in this 20% transfer bonus, and you can do it for fewer points.

Here's the easiest route: You could book a simple nonstop from many cities in the U.S. over to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 British Airways Avios. Sadly, both Qatar and British Airways recently raised taxes and fees on these business class redemptions. What was once a $100-or-so charge has increased to roughly $235. That's a small price to pay to fly the world's best business class, if you ask us. 

Once you find the award availability you want, transfer 58,400 Capital One miles to your British Airways account, and book it. Done. It doesn't get much cheaper or easier than that.

But if you want to take it next level and connect elsewhere – Dubai (DXB) or Muscat (MCT) in the Middle East, Cairo (CAI), or maybe even the Maldives (MLE) or Seychelles (SEZ) in Indian Ocean – you'll want to turn to Qatar Airways Avios. Tacking on another another leg to one of these other destinations will only raise the cost to 75,000 or 85,000 Avios … and a few bucks more in taxes and fees. 

And even though Capital One only partners with British Airways, you can easily combine your Avios balances between British Airways and Qatar.

Get even more ideas for how to use this bonus by reading our guide!

40% Bonus from Chase to Virgin Atlantic

Got a big stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards points? Here's an easy way to get even more out of them. But you'll have to hurry if you want the best deal! 

Chase just rolled out a 40% transfer bonus when sending Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic. But you've got to move quickly if you want to take full advantage of it: This offer ends Thursday, Nov. 20! 

Then, starting on Friday, Nov. 21, there will be a 30% transfer transfer bonus through Friday, Dec. 5!

Virgin's transition to dynamic award pricing resulted in some outstanding deals, flying Virgin Atlantic itself … for a fraction of the miles. Unfortunately, this deal recently took a big hit, too: Virgin now tacks on close to $600 in taxes and fees on a one-way business class ticket to London-Heathrow (LHR).  

Still, flying business class to London from East Coast cities like Boston (BOS), New York City (JFK), Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), or Atlanta (ATL) for as low as 29,000 points could be worth stomaching the higher fees.

Factor in this transfer bonus, and you could book a lie-flat ride to London for as few as 21,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points each way. 

The savings spread to Virgin's bevy of excellent airline partners, too. A few other standouts include:

• While Virgin nuked many previous sweet spots to save on Delta flights, short flights are still worthwhile for as low as 7,500 points each way – or 6,000 Chase points after this bonus
• Even after raising award rates earlier this year, booking ANA business class to Tokyo starts from 52,500 points each way, transferring just 38,000 Chase points
• Ditto for ANA first class, which will now run you at least 72,500 points each way … but just 52,000 Chase points with a 40% bonus

Read our full guide to maximizing this massive transfer bonus!

20% Bonus from Rove Miles to Finnair Plus

Never heard of Rove? You're not alone. This fast-growing rewards platform debuted earlier this year, allowing you to earn transferrable points when booking flights and hotels through its travel portal or shopping online.

Unlike traditional bank-backed programs, Rove isn’t tied to a credit card. It's an innovative program that offers a unique way to earn valuable points, which can be transferred to a dozen different airlines, such as Air France/KLM Flying Blue or Cathay Pacific, as well as one hotel chain, Accor.

If you're already familiar with Rove and have a stash of miles built up, you can stretch them even further with the current 20% transfer bonus to Finnair Plus. Best of all, this bonus runs through the end of the year so you have plenty of time to take advantage of it.

Even if you don't have time to build up a big stash of Rove miles, you can still use this bonus to stretch what few miles you have further – and then top off your account by transferring additional points to Avios from any of the other big banks. 

So what can you do with Finnair Avios? In two words: A lot. Finnair's adoption of Avios last year not only opens the door to freely transfer Avios to other airlines like British Airways, Qatar, and Iberia, it also makes booking Finnair's plush business class seats more affordable. 

Finnair charges just 62,500 Avios each way to fly lie-flat between the U.S. and Helsinki (HEL). Although you'll be hit a decent chunk of taxes – the same as you'd pay when booking with miles from other airlines like British Airways – this is still one of the best ways to book these seats, period. With the current transfer bonus, you'd only need 53,000 Rove miles to hitch a lie-flat ride across the Atlantic! 

You can even add a connection to another destination in northern Europe like anywhere else in Finland, Stockholm (ARN), Oslo (OSL), or Copenhagen (CPH) for the same rate. Same goes for many cities in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and even Poland. 

The only trouble? Actually booking these seats is a chore for North American travelers. 

International airlines have been throttling business class award space for U.S.-based travelers lately, and Finnair might be one of the worst offenders. You can only book one seat in Finnair business class from the States … unless you set your location to “Finland” or another European country on Finnair's website.

This loophole is the only way to book for two passengers on the same flight using Avios. Use it while you can!

New to Rove? Get 500 bonus miles just for signing up with our referral link! 

Bottom Line

Transfer bonuses can be a great way to get more value from your points and help you realize your dream vacation even sooner. These bonuses are constantly coming and going, so it's important to stay up-to-date on the current promotions before moving your points to ensure you're not leaving any free points on the table.

But it's always best to keep your points flexible until you're ready to book. Due to constant loyalty program devaluations, transferring points without an immediate plan to use them will rarely be a good option.