Understanding Transfer Partners: A Beginner’s Guide

Welcome to your ultimate guide to maximizing the value of your credit card rewards through transfer partners. If you’re new to the world of points and miles, this guide will demystify the process and show you how to unlock incredible travel experiences. Whether you’re dreaming of a luxury hotel stay, a flight to an exotic destination, or a much-needed getaway, knowing how to strategically transfer your points can make these dreams a reality.

Transfer partners are key to getting the most out of your flexible reward points. They allow you to move your points from your credit card’s rewards program to various airline and hotel loyalty programs, often at favorable rates. This guide will walk you through the basics of both direct and indirect transfers, providing you with clear examples and tips to help you navigate this valuable aspect of your rewards strategy.

We’ll start by explaining what transfer partners are and why they are beneficial. Then, we’ll delve into direct transfers, which are straightforward and easy to use. You’ll learn how to transfer points to specific programs like Hyatt and Southwest, with real-world examples that highlight the savings and value you can achieve.

Next, we’ll explore indirect transfers, which involve an extra step but can unlock even greater value by allowing you to book travel with partners that aren’t direct transfer options from your credit card. This section includes examples of booking flights with airlines like American Airlines and Qantas through indirect partners.

Throughout this guide, you’ll find practical tips and tools to help you plan and book your travel efficiently. We’ll also provide links to comprehensive guides for each major rewards program so you can dive deeper into the specifics as needed. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to use transfer partners to maximize your points and miles. With this knowledge, you can embark on amazing journeys without breaking the bank. Let’s get started!

What Are Transfer Partners?

Transfer partners are airlines and hotel chains that partner with your credit card’s rewards program. This means you can transfer your points from your credit card to these partners’ loyalty programs. For example, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline partners like United and Southwest or hotel partners like Hyatt.

Why Use Transfer Partners?

1. Better Value: Transferring points to airline and hotel partners often provides better value than booking directly through your credit card’s travel portal. This is especially true for premium flights and luxury hotel stays.
2. More Options: By transferring points, you gain access to more airlines and hotels, increasing your options for finding the best deals and availability.
3. Flexibility: Transfer partners sometimes allow you to mix and match points with cash or other loyalty points, giving you more flexibility in planning your travel.

Important Note: Once your points are transferred to a specific partner program, they are there to stay. You’ll then redeem your points directly with that specific partner. Your points can’t be transferred back to the original bank’s rewards program, so you’ll want to ensure availability for your desired hotel or flight before transferring your points.

How to Use Transfer Partners

1. Choose Your Program: Identify which rewards program your credit card supports. Common programs include American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Venture Miles, Citi ThankYou Points, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
2. Research Partners: Each rewards program has different transfer partners. For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards partners with airlines like United and Southwest, and hotels like Hyatt and Marriott. Research the partners to see which aligns with your travel plans.
3. Transfer Points: Log in to your credit card account and navigate to the transfer points section. Select your transfer partner and the number of points you want to transfer. Transfers are usually instant but in some cases can take up to 24-48 hours.
4. Book Your Travel: Once the points are transferred to your chosen loyalty program, use that program’s website or app to book your flight or hotel. Check for award availability and compare options to get the best value. There are a few transfer partners that can take up to a week, so should probably include that (although it’s not common).

Important Note: Not all points are created equal. This means that even if your points transfer at the same rate, those points might not necessarily get you the same result towards free travel. For example, Chase Ultimate Reward points transfer at a 1-to-1 ratio to all of their partner programs, but having 25,000 World of Hyatt points is very different — and significantly more valuable — than 25,000 IHG Reward points. This list will help you determine point and mile values for each airline and hotel program.

Comprehensive Guides for Major Programs

Since each rewards program is different, we’ve compiled a wealth of resources to guide you through the redemption process. Our comprehensive guides and video walkthroughs will help you navigate the specifics of each program with ease.

• Chase Ultimate Rewards: Go to Guide
• American Express Membership Rewards: Go to Guide
• Capital One Venture Miles: Go to Guide
• Citi ThankYou Points: Go to Guide

Tips for Maximizing Transfer Partners

Plan Ahead

Award availability can be limited, especially for popular routes and dates. Planning your travel and transfers well in advance ensures you have the best chance to secure the flights and accommodations you want. Start monitoring availability as soon as you know your travel dates, and be prepared to book quickly when you find a good deal. Many programs open up their award calendar 11 to 12 months in advance, so it’s truly never too early to start looking.

Be Flexible

Being flexible with your travel dates and destinations can help you find better award availability and lower points costs. If you can adjust your travel by a few days or consider alternative destinations, you might unlock significant savings. Flexibility often leads to discovering unique travel opportunities you might not have considered otherwise.

Consider One-Way Flights

Look at one-way flights instead of roundtrips to find the best options for both your departure and return tickets. Many people are programmed to look only at roundtrip costs, but one-way flights can offer better flexibility and value. This approach allows you to mix and match different airlines and routes, potentially saving points and providing more travel options. Just be aware that for international flights, booking a roundtrip might save you on hefty taxes and fees — depending on the airline and program.

Use Award Booking Tools

Great tools like PointsYeah.com can save time and dramatically reduce the learning curve. These tools help you compare various redemption options across multiple loyalty programs, find the best deals, and ensure you’re getting maximum value from your points. They can be a great way to explore your options and find the best deals efficiently.

Explore Routes

Use Google Flights or FlightConnections to understand ideal routes and the number of stops from your home airport to your destination. This can be fun for generally exploring where you want to go! By familiarizing yourself with various routes, you can identify which airlines and connections offer the best value and convenience for your trip.

Consider Using Positioning Flights

If you are struggling to find great options from your home airport, use Google Flights or FlightConnections to explore options from hub airports. This gives you even more flexibility. To maximize this strategy, you’d need to book a separate flight to get to that hub airport. This booking can be with any airline and simply sets you up for your next flight. This is called a “positioning flight.”

Positioning flights can be crucial because they allow you to start your journey from an airport with better award availability or lower redemption rates. This strategy can open up more options and help you save points or miles on long-haul flights. However, there is a disclaimer: you must understand that a canceled or delayed positioning flight could lead to you missing your main award flight, which may not be with the same airline. Understand the risks and plan accordingly, giving yourself ample time to make the next flight.

Important Note: There is a learning curve when using transfer partners. If you find it overwhelming, using the rewards program’s travel portal (like the Chase Travel℠ portal) might be best to get a great deal and make your booking easy.

By understanding and utilizing transfer partners, you can unlock incredible travel experiences and make the most of your credit card rewards.

Opening Summary

Understanding and utilizing transfer partners can unlock incredible travel experiences and make the most of your credit card rewards. Now, let’s dive deeper into how you can use these partners effectively. We’ll start with direct transfers, the simplest and most straightforward way to maximize your points. Then, we’ll explore indirect transfers, which, while a bit more complex, can offer even greater value for your rewards. Let’s get started!

Direct Transfers

One of the simplest ways to use your flexible reward points is to transfer your points directly to the program you want to travel with. Think of it like transferring money from your bank account to a friend’s account. For example, if you want to stay at a Hyatt property, you’ll transfer your points to World of Hyatt. If you’re looking to fly with Southwest, you’ll transfer your points to Southwest Rapid Rewards.

Hotel Award Example: Transfer Chase to Hyatt

Let’s assume you’re looking for a three-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in mid-February — a beautiful Hyatt property in Nassau, Bahamas. Since World of Hyatt is a direct partner to Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can transfer your points at a 1-to-1 ratio. This means for every 1,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points transferred, you’ll end up with 1,000 World of Hyatt points.

During a standard night in the World of Hyatt award chart, this property costs 25,000 points per night. For the three-night stay, this means a total of 75,000 World of Hyatt points, thus requiring 75,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. The cash price would be $2,315. And with paid cash stays, you have to pay resort fees and taxes.

Hyatt Website

Alternatively, if you were to book this exact same property through Chase Ultimate Rewards — and using your points through their travel portal — you’d get a 25% boost with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Preferred, but you would still be looking at 185,275 points total for the same dates and room type.

Chase Travel Portal

Best of all, within the World of Hyatt program, Hyatt doesn’t charge any extra fees or taxes when you use points, so you won’t be on the hook for anything extra on top of your points. However, this only holds true when you book directly with Hyatt, not when using flexible award points through another booking platform, such as the Chase travel portal (despite using Chase Ultimate Reward points).

As you can see from this example, using Hyatt as a Chase transfer partner and transferring 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt would get you $2,315 in value for 75,000 Chase points. That’s 3 cents per point!

Even better, you saved a whopping 110,000 Chase points by transferring to Hyatt instead of booking through the Chase portal, which is based on the cash rate. You could literally stay 4 more days (25,000 per night = 100,000 points) and have 10,000 Chase points left over! The same exact points got you a full week vs. 3 nights.

Flight Award Example: Transfer Chase to Southwest

There are many direct transfer opportunities when it comes to flights as well, and one of the most notable is for those looking to fly Southwest. This partnership between Chase and Southwest allows you to fly to any destination serviced by Southwest Airlines, which even includes many of the Hawaiian Islands, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

Booking an award flight on Southwest is as easy as it gets. With no blackout dates or capacity controls when it comes to using your points, as long as a seat is available for sale, you can book the flight with your points. Southwest also offers a fixed redemption where the number of points required for a free flight is mostly tied to the cost of the flight. You can typically redeem your points for 1.4 cents apiece on a “Wanna Get Away” fare.

Like all other Chase Ultimate Reward transfer ratios, Chase points transfer to Southwest at 1-to-1, which means 50,000 Chase points equals 50,000 Southwest points.

Once your points are transferred over to Southwest, you can then search for any route desired. You can then easily toggle between a cash or points fare and will notice that the number of points required will go up or down based on the fare price.

When it comes to booking a Southwest award flight, there are no tricks or loopholes. The process is incredibly straightforward and user-friendly. Best of all, if you need to cancel your flight, the points will immediately go back into your account (and the taxes and fees back to your credit card). The only caveat is that you must cancel at least 10 minutes prior to scheduled takeoff.

Indirect Transfers

Indirect transfers involve transferring your points to a partner award program and then using those points to book with one of that program’s partners. It’s like transferring money to a friend who then uses their account to pay for something on your behalf. This primarily works with airlines, but there are a few hotel cases as well.

This method is not as straightforward as direct transfers but can often provide the highest value for your points. It also allows you to book flights on airlines that aren’t direct transfer partners with your rewards program.

Quick Examples:

• Book American Airlines and Alaska Airlines using British Airways Avios points from American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• Book United Airlines using Turkish Airlines from Citi ThankYou Rewards and Capital One Rewards.
• Book United Airlines using Avianca LifeMiles from American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Rewards.
• Book Qantas using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles from American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Rewards.

Domestic Flight Indirect Transfer

For example, let’s say you have Chase Ultimate Reward points and you’re looking to fly on American Airlines. Even though American Airlines isn’t a direct transfer partner, you still have great options — that doesn’t include booking directly through Chase’s travel portal at a fixed rate.

You can transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points, Capital One miles, or American Express Membership Reward points to British Airways Avios at a 1-to-1 ratio from all three programs. Since American Airlines and British Airways are part of the same airline alliance, called OneWorld Alliance, you can book an American Airlines flight through the British Airways site. So, even though you’re transferring your points to an international airline, you can end up flying domestically throughout the United States — or anywhere else American flies.

British Airways also has a distance-based award chart, which means you’ll pay less for short-haul flights — a great option when flying domestically throughout the United States. Book a flight that’s 650 miles or shorter and you’ll redeem just 7,500 Avios points. Since points transfer at a 1-to-1 ratio, this means you’re looking at just 7,500 points — whether it’s Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, or American Express Membership Rewards. If you have points with multiple flexible reward programs, check for any transfer bonus opportunities to use fewer points.

For example, if you’re looking to fly from Charlotte to Ft. Lauderdale next June on American Airlines, you can book through British Airways for just 7,500 points.

British Airways’ Website

This same flight would cost you 22,512 Ultimate Reward points if you were to book directly through the Chase travel portal — a significant saving for using an indirect transfer partner.

Chase Travel Portal

And just for comparison, if you booked directly through American Airlines, this same flight would cost 11,500 American Airlines miles.

American Airlines’ Website

International Flight Indirect Transfer

There are many opportunities for indirect transfer examples when it comes to international flights. For instance, let’s say you want to fly to Australia and prefer to sit in the front of the plane.

One of the best ways to get to Australia on points and miles is through the Asia Miles program by Cathay Pacific. With this Capital One partner, you can transfer your miles at a 1-to-1 ratio and then book a flight on partner Qantas Airlines.

While there’s no set award chart, you can typically fly from Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Vancouver to Sydney at a reasonable number of miles. For a one-way flight, you’ll typically redeem 47,500 miles in economy class, 60,000 miles in premium economy, and 90,000 miles in business class.

The number of miles required for an award flight depends on the airline flown and the distance. However, fuel surcharges can be high, so you’ll want to take this into consideration when redeeming your miles.

These are just two examples of many additional flight opportunities when redeeming your flexible reward points and miles. While this requires a decent amount of knowledge to learn about transfer partners, a tool like PointsYeah.com is great way around the learning curve. They have a free version with flexible date searching and a cool Explore feature. If you haven’t yet, definitely check it out.

Guide to Transferring Points and Sweet Spot Rewards

Even though we’ve detailed the high-level concept of transferring points, we want to go into more detail about each specific program. This includes Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Rewards.

Here you’ll get more information on the transfer partners as well as some sweet spot examples on how to use your points or miles within each partner. These sweet spots are incredibly important as they’ll allow you to use fewer points and miles to travel around the world, giving you some of the best value.

And remember, some partners are transfer partners to multiple flexible reward programs, so even if it’s listed in one program below, you can still use the same concept if you have points in another flexible rewards program — if it’s a partner for both.

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express has its own rewards program called Membership Rewards, which includes 20 different transfer partners — 17 airlines and 3 hotels. You can review all of the transfer partners, transfer ratios, and transfer times here.

While you can find all of our sweet spot reward examples on how to use your American Express Membership Reward points with transfer partners here, we’ve listed some of our favorites below.

🇪🇸 Fly to Madrid on Iberia Airlines.

Iberia offers a distance-based award chart, which means the number of miles to redeem for a free flight depends on the number of miles you’re flying. However, if you have a layover, you’ll need to count the miles flown separately for each city pair.

Iberia’s award chart also offers off-peak and peak pricing, so the miles required depend on the time of year. It’s also one of the most favorable options when it comes to flying to Europe — specifically Spain.

Let’s say you want to fly from New York (JFK) or Boston (BOS) to Madrid, you can do so for just 34,000 miles roundtrip during off-peak dates. And since American Express Membership Reward points transfer directly to Iberia at a 1-to-1 ratio, this means you’ll only have to transfer 34,000 Membership Reward points for this international flight opportunity.

Or, if you want to fly in comfort, it’ll cost you 68,000 miles — or 68,000 Amex Membership Reward points — in business class, again during off-peak dates. This is a great opportunity to fly to Europe cheaply. This sweet spot also works for flights from Los Angeles or San Francisco, although the pricing will be slightly more expensive.

You’ll find the redemption to be much more favorable than many other reward programs. And the icing on the cake is that taxes and fees on these award flights are extremely reasonable.

Note: Even if you don’t have American Express Membership Reward points, Chase Ultimate Rewards is a transfer partner to Iberia Airlines as well.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase has its own rewards program called Chase Ultimate Rewards, which includes 14 different transfer partners — 11 airlines and 3 hotels. You can review all of the transfer partners, transfer ratios, and transfer times here.

While you can find all of our sweet spot reward examples on how to use your Chase Ultimate Reward points with transfer partners here, we’ve listed some of our favorites below.

🌺 Fly to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Air.

Although you can’t transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points directly to American Airlines or Alaska Airlines, both partner with transfer partner British Airways. This means you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points to British Airways and then redeem on either American Airlines or Alaska Air.

And due to British Airways distance-based award chart, you can many times snag a flight to Hawaii — from the west coast — with not having to redeem too many points.

With the British Airways award chart, flights under 3,000 miles cost just 13,000 Avios (the name of British Airways points) one way. Based on this distance, you can fly from many West Coast cities, such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Diego, for just 26,000 Avios points roundtrip — thus costing 26,000 Chase points. The only caveat is it must be a non-stop flight. With flights requiring a layover, British Airways adds up each segment to see the total number of miles, and many times, this can put you over the 3,000-mile threshold, thus costing more points.

Note: Even if you don’t have Chase Ultimate Reward points, American Express Membership Rewards and Capital One Rewards are both transfer partners to British Airways as well.

🇯🇵 Fly to Tokyo on ANA. 

One of the best award redemptions in the points and miles world is to book a flight to Tokyo on airline ANA through the Virgin Atlantic program. And as luck might have it, Chase points transfer to Virgin Atlantic at a 1-to-1 ratio, making this redemption incredibly easy.

For this particular itinerary, you can fly from the west coast of the U.S. in economy for 60,000 miles, business class for 90,000 miles or first class for 110,000 miles — roundtrip. This is a steal for such a long flight and is significantly less than every other program out there, especially if you’re looking to sit in the front of the plane.

And, if you’re flying from another U.S. city not on the west coast, the cost is just a few more miles for the flight. For example, a flight in first class will only cost you 120,000, which is still an amazing deal. If you’re looking to redeem your miles for a trip to Asia, this is a great option.

Check out our article on Chase Ultimate Rewards Sweet Spots for a comprehensive list of what is possible.

Note: Even if you don’t have Chase Ultimate Reward points, American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards are both transfer partners to Virgin Atlantic as well.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi has their own rewards program called Citi ThankYou Rewards. There are 17 different transfer partners — 14 airlines and 3 hotels. You can review all of the transfer partners, transfer ratios and transfer times here.

While you can find all of our sweep spot reward examples on how to use your Citi ThankYou points with transfer partners here, we’ve listed out some of our favorites below.

🌺  Fly to Hawaii using Turkish Airlines miles

Even though Turkish Airlines doesn’t fly between the U.S. and Hawaii, they are a great program when it comes to redeeming your miles on partner United Airlines — since they are both part of the Star Alliance partnership.

Within the Turkish Airlines award chart, flights between the mainland and the islands cost just 10,000 Turkish Airlines miles one-way. Or, if you prefer a more luxurious seat, you can fly roundtrip in business class for just 30,000 miles one-way.

This means you can ultimately transfer your Citi ThankYou Rewards to Turkish Airlines at a 1-to-1 ratio and then redeem those miles for any flight from the U.S to Hawaii on partner United Airlines.

Check out our article on Citi ThankYou Points Sweet Spots for a comprehensive list of what is possible.

Note: Even if you don’t have Citi ThankYou Reward points, Capital One Rewards is a transfer partner to Turkish Airlines as well.

Capital One Miles

In Summary

Understanding the nuances of transfer partners, both direct and indirect, can greatly enhance the value you get from your credit card rewards. By strategically transferring your points, you can unlock amazing travel experiences, from luxury hotel stays to dream flights, often at a fraction of the cost. Remember, the key to maximizing your rewards is to be informed and flexible.

While the process may seem complex at first, the payoff is worth it. Start with direct transfers to get comfortable with the basics, then explore indirect transfers to access even more opportunities and exceptional value. Use the tools and resources we’ve recommended to streamline your planning and booking process, ensuring you make the most out of every point and mile.

For ongoing tips, detailed guides, and the latest updates, be sure to visit our Travel Freely Redemption Headquarters regularly. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or just beginning your journey into the world of points and miles, we’re here to help you navigate and optimize your rewards for unforgettable travel experiences.

Happy travels, and may your adventures be as rewarding as your points!

Overall Tips for Maximizing Your Rewards

• Plan Ahead: Start planning your trips well in advance to secure the best award availability.
• Be Flexible: Flexibility with travel dates and destinations can help you find better deals and lower points costs.
• Research Transfer Partners: Understand the transfer partners available through your rewards program to find the best options for your travel goals.
• Monitor Promotions: Keep an eye out for transfer bonuses and other promotions to get extra value from your points.
• Use Award Booking Tools: Leverage tools like PointsYeah.com to explore your options and find the best deals.
• Consider One-Way Flights: Look at one-way flights instead of roundtrips to find the best options for both your departure and return tickets.
• Explore Routes: Use Google Flights or FlightConnections to discover ideal routes and flight options from your home airport.
• Check Availability Before Transferring: Ensure there’s award availability for your desired flights or hotels before transferring your points, as transfers are irreversible.
• Understand Point Values: Recognize that not all points are created equal; transferring to the right partner can significantly increase the value of your points.
• Use Travel Portals for Simplicity: If the learning curve feels steep, consider using your rewards program’s travel portal to book your trips easily.

By following these tips and making informed decisions, you can unlock the full potential of your credit card rewards and enjoy incredible travel experiences.