Credit card transfer partners: Guide to transferring points and miles to airlines and hotels

At Flying Frugal, we truly appreciate the value of transferable credit card points and miles.

This flexibility allows you to shift your rewards to various airline and hotel loyalty programs, enabling you to optimize your travel plans. You’re not confined to one redemption option while planning your journeys. If there are no available seats in one program, you can easily explore alternatives before moving any credit card points or miles. Additionally, if a program unexpectedly devalues its rewards, you can switch to another program for your next transfer.

With numerous transfer options available, keeping track of them all can be a challenge.

To help you out, here’s a detailed guide that outlines which credit card points and miles can be transferred to various airline and hotel programs, complete with their respective transfer ratios. We also provide our valuations for each transfer partner, ensuring you get the most value from your hard-earned points and miles.

Related: What is the value of points and miles? Check out Flying Frugal’s monthly valuations.

Airline Transfer Partners

It’s essential to note a few key points about these transfer partners:

With the exception of EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and Finnair Plus, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to all listed airline partners at a rate of 3 Bonvoy points to 1 airline point or mile. Furthermore, for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 airline points or miles, except for American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, and Delta SkyMiles. United MileagePlus awards an extra 10,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred.

Related: Is it wise to transfer hotel points to airline partners?

Hotel Transfer Partners

Much like airline transfers, most hotel transfers are processed instantly. For more information, you can check our guides on transfer times for Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo.

How to Earn Transferable Points or Miles

The best way to gather transferable credit card points or miles is by choosing the right credit card. Here are some top options:

American Express Membership Rewards

Popular cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points include the following:

You can also accumulate Amex points by signing up for Rakuten and selecting Membership Rewards points as your earning preference instead of cash-back.

Bilt Rewards

Bilt offers one main credit card, the Bilt Mastercard®. Cardmembers can earn points on rent payments (up to 100,000 Bilt Points per calendar year), 2 points for every dollar on travel expenses, and 3 points per dollar spent on dining. To earn points, you need to complete at least five transactions each statement period. The Bilt Mastercard has no annual fee.

Related: Guide to earning Bilt Rewards on rent, dining, and more

Capital One Miles

Here are cards that currently earn transferable Capital One miles:

Information for the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business has been independently collected by The Points Guy and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Here’s the lineup of cards that earn fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

If you have one of these cards, you can also combine rewards from cash-back cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® into one account, allowing you to effectively convert cash-back rewards into fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi ThankYou Rewards boasts 20 airline and hotel transfer partners. Currently, only the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card offers transfers to all these programs. If you’re still holding the now-closed Citi Prestige® Card, you retain full transfer benefits.

Similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can combine your Citi ThankYou Rewards points across select cards, allowing conversion of fixed-value earnings from cards like the Citi Rewards+® and the Citi Double Cash® into transferable ThankYou points.

Information for the Citi Prestige and Citi Rewards+ has been independently collected by The Points Guy and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

Wells Fargo Rewards

Although Wells Fargo has several credit cards, only certain ones currently earn transferable Wells Fargo Rewards points:

Bottom Line

There are many transfer options available among major credit card loyalty programs. Transferable points and miles generally offer greater value than any single airline or hotel point due to the added flexibility in selecting where and when to send your rewards.

Save this guide for quick reference when considering your next transferable points or miles credit card application or deciding on your next redemption.

For details on rates and fees of the Bilt Mastercard, click here.
For rewards and benefits of the Bilt Mastercard, click here.