Got a stash of transferable points but find yourself still shy of that dream getaway? Don’t write it off just yet.
Banks like American Express, Chase, and Capital One routinely roll out bonuses when transferring points to a specific airline or hotel partner, meaning you don’t have to transfer as many points as you normally need to book an award flight. Think of these transfer bonuses as a way to get free miles.
Just how good of a transfer bonus you’ll get will vary from bank to bank and program to program, but you can generally expect to see bonuses in the range of 10% to 40% – sometimes even more. They’re typically offered for a limited time, and it can be tough to keep track of them all – especially if you have transferrable points with multiple credit card companies.
Here are all the current transfer bonuses available as of publication, broken down by bank.
Transfer from | Transfer to | Bonus | Expires | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Express | Etihad Guest Miles | 20% | April 4, 2024 | |
Capital One | Etihad Guest | Up to 40% | March 31, 2024 | Read our guide |
Chase | Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 25% | April 30, 2024 | Read our guide |
Citi | Avianca LifeMiles | 25% | April 14, 2024 | |
All bank partners | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 10% | March 31, 2024 | Bonus miles take 8-10 weeks to post (full terms and conditions) |
Wondering why you should transfer your points? Read up on how it can help you book flights for less!
Taking advantage of these transfer bonuses can be critical to getting even more value out of your points. But there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind before rushing to transfer your points.
Here’s the most important one: 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 you want are actually available to book) before transferring your points.
Time and time again, we’ve seen loyalty programs devalue their points by raising award rates with little to no warning. The best way to safeguard against these sudden devaluations is to keep your points safe (and flexible) in your bank account until you’re ready to use them.
Read next: When Does it Make Sense to Speculatively Transfer Your Points?
And keep in mind that you’ll still have to pay taxes and fees on when booking an award ticket. For some airlines, those fees are negligible. But others charge much more when booking award flights with points and miles – especially if you’re flying business or first class with your miles.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the current transfer bonuses and how you might want (or not want) to use them.
See our master list of credit card transfer partners!Â
15% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Avianca LifeMiles
Amex is out this month with a new 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 March 15.Â
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.
Thanks to an inexplicable sweet spot, you can book TAP Air Portugal business class flights from New York City (JFK) to Lisbon (LIS) for just 35,000 miles one way. By taking advantage of this 15% transfer bonus, the price drops to under 31,000 miles for that same one-way award flight.Â
Other Star Alliance business class flights to Europe typically cost 63,000 miles each way, which works out to about 55,000 Amex Membership Rewards points with this transfer bonus.
Check out this story for full details on this transfer bonus!
 30% Bonus on Citi Transfers to Virgin Atlantic
Citi is currently offering a 30% bonus when transferring Citi ThankYou Points to your Virgin Atlantic account. If you’ve been contemplating a transfer, you’ve got nearly a month to capitalize on this bonus – it’s set to expire on March 17! Â
To take advantage of this bonus you’ll first need to have a card that earns transferable ThankYou points like the *Citi Premier*.
There are plenty of great ways to use Virgin points, but here’s an example of how you can use this transfer bonus to save on a trip to Europe next fall. We recently found wide-open availability from many U.S. cities on Delta nonstop flights booked through Virgin Atlantic. With this bonus, you’d only need to transfer 47,000 Citi ThankYou points to book flights that would otherwise cost $1,800 or more!
Looking to stay closer to home? Delta flights under 500 miles in distance are only 7,500 Virgin points one-way. Even if you’re going a little further, it’s only 8,500 points each way for flights between 501 and 1,000 miles. Factoring in the current 30% transfer bonus, you can easily have a quick weekend getaway for fewer than 12,000 Citi points roundtrip.
Read more: Save Big on Short Delta Flights by Booking with Virgin Atlantic Instead!
20% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Etihad Guest Miles
Amex just rolled out a new transfer bonus to Etihad Guest Miles where you can get a 20% boost for moving your Amex Membership Rewards to Etihad. Since points normally transfer at a 1:1 ratio, this 20% bonus means that for every 1,000 points you move over, you’d end up with 1,200 Etihad Guest Miles in return. If you’re planning to make use of this bonus, you’ve got until Thursday, April 4!
Etihad Airways offers one of the most luxurious first class seats in the sky – but flying at the pointy end of the plane doesn’t come cheap no matter if you’re paying with cash … or miles. With the Airbus A380 and its coveted First Class Apartments set to return to New York City (JFK) in April, you could use this bonus to fly to the airline’s hub in Abu Dhabi (AUH) or connect to other parts of the world.
A one-way, first class seat from New York to Abu Dhabi can be had for as little as 160,000 Guest Miles. After factoring in the current 20% transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 134,000 Amex Membership Rewards to make it happen. Not exactly cheap, but certainly cheaper.
The catch? Taxes and fees are a whopping $544 in addition to all those miles. Business class seats on this same route can be had for 120,000 Guest Miles, one-way. With this bonus, you’d only need to transfer over 100,000 Membership Rewards and pay the same $544 in taxes and fees to book a business class ticket. While neither of these first or business class awards would be considered a steal, this transfer bonus certainly makes flying this world-class airline more attainable.
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.
Hi! This is super helpful, thank you! Quick question – do you simply need to transfer the points from the card to the hotel or airline stated above by the deadline/deal expiration, or do you need to actually travel between the transfer bonus announcement and their expiration date? Thank you!
Hi Amy. You just need to transfer them. No requirement to use them by the expiration date for the transfer bonus.
Thanks for sharing! I didn’t realize my Citi card was ineligible for points transfer until I read “To take advantage of this bonus you’ll first need to have a card that earns transferable ThankYou points like the Citi Premier® Card.” So although I am disappointed to not have flexible use of those ThankYou points, now I know to spend instead on my more flexible cards!