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 a specific airline or hotel partner. So with a 25% transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer 40,000 points to get the 50,000 miles you need to book an award flight.
Here are all the current transfer bonuses available as of publication, broken down by bank.
| Transfer from | Transfer to | Bonus | Expires | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex | Virgin Atlantic | 40% | Dec. 31, 2024 | Full details |
| Amex | Marriott Bonvoy | 35% | Dec. 31, 2024 | |
| Chase | Air Canada Aeroplan | 20% | Jan. 15, 2025 | Full details |
| Chase | Air France/KLM | 20% | Jan. 15, 2025 | |
| Chase | IHG | 70% | Jan. 15, 2025 | Full details |
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 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 might want (or not want) to use them.
40% Bonus from Amex to Virgin Atlantic
When one door closes, another opens: Just days after a record-setting transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin ended, American Express is stepping in to pick up the slack with an equally impressive bonus.
American Express just rolled out a huge 40% bonus when transferring Amex points to your Virgin account. This bonus is widely available so long as you've got a card that earns Membership Rewards like *amex platinum* or *amex gold* – your co-branded Delta SkyMiles credit cards from American Express won’t do the trick, unfortunately.
This transfer bonus runs through the end of the month, expiring on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
And the timing is impeccable. Not only will your Amex points go even further, but Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is arguably better than ever, too.
After introducing dynamic award pricing last month, the airline ushered in some of the best deals to cross the pond we've ever seen:
- Economy flights to London-Heathrow (LHR) start as low as 6,000 miles and just $75
- You can book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class for as low as just 29,000 miles and $254 – half the mileage and a quarter of the taxes and fees the airline previously charged
With a 40% bonus, this business class ticket to London would cost you just 21,000 Amex points. That's an absurdly, unbelievably good deal.
The savings spread to Virgin's bevy of excellent airline partners. 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 Amex points after this bonus
- The airline now tacks on surcharges north of $1,000 when booking Delta One over to Europe … but not on the way home: You can book for under $300 in taxes and fees and 47,500 Virgin points – 34,000 Amex points with the 40% 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 Amex points
- Ditto for ANA first class, which will now run you at least 72,500 points each way … but just 52,000 Amex points with a 40% bonus
Read our full guide to maximizing this massive transfer bonus!
20% Bonus on Chase Transfers to Flying Blue
Chase recently rolled out a new 20% bonus on transfers to Air France/KLM Flying Blue, a great mileage program to get from the U.S. to Europe using fewer points. It runs through Jan. 15, so you've still got some time to make use of this bonus if it fits your travel plans.
Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere flying business class to Europe, Flying Blue now charges just 50,000 miles each way. With this transfer bonus, you’d need as few as 42,000 Ultimate Rewards points to make it happen.
You can also book economy awards to Europe using Air France and KLM miles – including one-way trips from several North American cities for less than 20,000 miles.
Take this one-way flight from Montreal (YUL) to Prague (PRG) for example. Flying Blue is charging just 15,000 miles plus $144 in taxes and fees for this one-way flight on Air France, with a quick connection in Paris (CDG). By taking advantage of the current 25% transfer bonus from Chase, you'd only need to transfer 13,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to Flying Blue in order to make the hop across the pond. That's an absolute steal!
Just be warned: Flying Blue does pass on some hefty cash surcharges on award tickets that make it less appealing when booking economy tickets. While it can easily be worth paying $200 or so for a one-way business class ticket to Europe, that's not always the case with booking economy fares.
Finding flights at these low rates may require some flexibility, as you won't find them on every single date. Luckily, Air France and KLM allow you to easily scroll through up to a month's worth of flights to find the best deals.
20% Bonus on Chase Transfers to Aeroplan
Chase recently rolled out a 20% bonus when transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to your Air Canada Aeroplan account. This bonus is widely available so long as you've got a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points like the *chase sapphire preferred* or *chase sapphire reserve*. It's available through Jan. 15, 2025.
Aeroplan is one of the best mileage programs on the planet – and not just to fly Air Canada. You can use it to book cheap United award tickets for domestic flights, business class flights to Europe from 60,000 miles each way or to Asia as low as 55,000 miles one-way.
Factor in that 20% transfer bonus and you can score a business class flight to Europe for as few as just 50,000 Chase points.
Read our guide to booking award flights through Air Canada Aeroplan!
If Hawaii has been on your radar, you're in luck. Due to Aeroplan's distance-based pricing model, you'll want to start from the West Coast where flights are shorter. Your best bet is looking for flights from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) flying United Airlines.
You can book a one-way flight for just 12,500 miles in economy – roughly half of what United itself would normally charge. Factor in this transfer bonus, and you can book roundtrip flights to Hawaii using just 21,000 Chase points.
Got an *aeroplan card* in your wallet, too? It gets even better: So long as you transfer at least 50,000 Chase points, Aeroplan will tack on an extra 10% bonus for Aeroplan cardholders (a maximum of 25,000 bonus points each year). That means a 50,000-point transfer would net you a total of 65,000 Aeroplan points!
Check out this story for full details on this transfer bonus!
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.
Please advise when they are any good transfer bonus from Chase!
Hi we’ve accumulated a lot of Capital One Venture points over the years. Are they transferable or should I have the Venture X or Amex or other cards instead? Ty!
They are also transferrable – identical, in fact, to the Venture X. Capital One just isn’t quite as generous with transfer bonuses as other banks, which is why you don’t see them in this story. Here’s our guide on Capital One transfer partners.
Flying Blue charges as LITTLE as 50k for biz to Europe. Redemptions increase significantly from that amount.
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!
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.