If you travel on a routine basis, you might find more value in the 1:1
point transfer option if you book travel with:
Not exact matches
This means your
points can be redeemed for one cent each as cash back, but
if you also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire card, you also have the
option to
transfer your
points to airline and hotel partners.
Points lose their cost significantly
if you redeem them for other
options as well as when you
transfer them to airline partners.
Or...
if you have a bunch of
points spread out among different travel programs with different
transfer options, preferred programs,
points multipliers, etc..
If paying with
points will result in a higher $ /
point ratio, than other ThankYou
point redemption
options offer, you are making the optimal financial decision by
transferring the
points over.
While statement credits and merchandise are
options, the best use of
points is for travel, particularly
if you
transfer your
points to one of American Express» several airline and hotel partners.
Or,
if you carry the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, you can
transfer your
points to that card and increase their value with its redemption
options for travel.
You'll know your card is eligible
if the
option to
transfer points is listed on your account page under «Use Points» when you log in to your ac
points is listed on your account page under «Use
Points» when you log in to your ac
Points» when you log in to your account.
While SPG
point transfers are the best
option if you have loads of SPG
points, since you receive a 5000 mile bonus when
transferring increments of 20,000 SPG
points, you can
transfer other hotel
points to AA miles, which may be worthwhile
if you have a ton of these
points or just need to slightly top up your AAdvantage account to redeem for an award.
If you are Canadian, your only
option will be to
transfer SPG
points.
Check American Airlines» reward partners,
transfer options —
If you're trying to build American Airlines miles, or fly where that airline goes, you have more
options than you may think... (See Airline
points transfer parnters)
Additionally,
if you don't like Chase's flight
options, you can
transfer your
points to one of their many airline partners at a 1:1
transfer ratio.
One of the greatest virtues of the Ultimate Rewards program is its variety of redemption
options: You can redeem your
points for cash back, gift cards or merchandise, you can purchase travel from any service or website and redeem your
points for statement credits or —
if you own a premium rewards card — you can redeem
points for travel through the Ultimate Rewards travel site for a 25 to 50 percent bonus or
transfer points to one of Chase's 13 travel partners.
If you are not ready to commit to a hotel chain, there are other
options as well, including cards that earn flat - rate rewards that you can redeem for travel expenses or credits, or that allow you to
transfer points to a hotel loyalty program.
When you can and can't
transfer points —
If you have
points across various loyalty programs, there are few
options to
transfer... (See
Transferring points)
If you're
transferring Ultimate Rewards
points to IHG, this is not a great redemption
option at all.
You have the
option of
transferring your AMEX
points over to Plenti, but the value will typically be lower
if you go this route.
While statement credits and merchandise are
options, the best use of
points is for travel, particularly
if you
transfer your
points to one of American Express» several airline and hotel partners.
Most redemption
options — including cash back and travel redemptions through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal — are worth 1 cent, but the value can exceed 2 cents per
point if you take advantage of
transfer options.
If you start accumulating a large number of Marriott points, a transfer may be more valuable if you don't have any other options, but be sure to do your own calculatio
If you start accumulating a large number of Marriott
points, a
transfer may be more valuable
if you don't have any other options, but be sure to do your own calculatio
if you don't have any other
options, but be sure to do your own calculation.
JAL also offers a Family Club
option to pool
points between up to eight accounts, but the same pooling
option is available with SPG
if you were already planning to
transfer the
points from there.
If you own a premium Ultimate Rewards card — including the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred — then you have the
option to
transfer points to 13 outside loyalty programs — including nine airline partners and four hotel partners — at a 1:1 rate.
How to protect your
points: Since this
option would apparently result in a loss of value even
if points were
transferred between two annual fee cards, you may not want to consolidate all
points in one card
if you don't plan on holding it long - term.
Check other redemption
options here,
if you don't plan to
transfer points to travel partners.
I flew Iberia's business class and had a good experience, so
if you enjoy redeeming your
points for international flights, pay attention to these new
transfer options.
If you want to earn the most
points possible and don't want to
transfer them to a travel partner, the PenFed Pathfinder Rewards can be a good
option because you'll never pay an annual fee.
Before
transferring your
points to miles, be sure to take a look at the
options available at the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, even
if the flights are with a different carrier.
If you're looking for a solid travel rewards card, the Amex EveryDay is probably the better
option because you can
transfer your
points to 16 different frequent flyer programs.
While statement credits and merchandise are
options, the best use of
points is toward travel, particularly
if you
transfer your
points to one of American Express» multiple airline and hotel partners.
If you don't have the airline or hotel's co-branded credit card but you do have a transferrable
points card, another
option available to you is to
transfer points to the airline or hotel program in question.
Or,
if you carry the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, you can
transfer your
points to that card and increase their value with its redemption
options for travel.
If you desire international premium cabin airline tickets, then
transferring points to All Nippon Airways or Singapore Airlines is a great
option.
There's another
option for
transferring 140K
points, but because the ratio is the same as
if you
transfer 70K, I saw no reason to repeat a row in what is already a large table.
However,
if you are non-committal and prefer to have
options, a card that allows you to
transfer points to a host of partners, including airlines, hotels and car rental companies, may be a better choice.
If you want to fly to Europe, then a great
option is to
transfer points to Flying Blue and use their discounted promo awards.
SPG
transfer to all of the OneWorld partners so that would be the best way to start banking
points if you're looking for maximum
options.
Long story short:
if I had to settle on just one credit card to earn miles /
points, I would definitely go with one of those that earn
points that give you the
option of
transferring those
points into a variety of air and hotel rewards programs.
While several Chase cards earn Ultimate Rewards
points, such as the Ink Cash and Freedom, the
option to
transfer those
points into their Air and Hotel rewards program partners is only available
if you have one of the «premium» Ultimate Rewards cards, such as the Business Preferred.
I have the regular, no - annual fee Freedom, but also carry the Ink business that allows me the
option of
transferring my Freedom - earned
points into their travel partners
if I prefer.
But,
if you have only the Ink Cash card,
transferring points won't be an
option you'll only be able to use those UR
points as cash at 1:1 ratio.
Amtrak offers a couple of hotel partners (Hilton, Choice) for
points transfers, but
transferring your
points is only an
option if you spend at least $ 20,000 on your Amtrak card within a calendar year.
But,
if you're looking for a business class
option to Hawaii,
transferring SPG to Asiana is a great way to maximize your
points.
However,
if United doesn't work for your situation, there are many other
transfer options with a value of about 1.4 cents per
point.
If you prefer a particular airline or hotel brand, you also have the
option of
transferring your
points directly to their loyalty program.
However,
if these programs don't work for your situation, there are many other
transfer options with a value of about 1.4 cents per
point.
And,
if you
transfer the
points to an airline partner, you can do even better by carefully searching for airfare
options with higher values.
Airfare redemptions are generally the most valuable
option, especially
if you take advantage of American Express»
transfer option — you can get more than 2 cents of value per
point with certain partners:
Not only can you
transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to many of those partners, but you can also earn a 5,000 - mile bonus when you
transfer 20,000
points at a time to airline partners, making this card a great
option if you need to top up various frequent - flyer accounts.
If the above departure cities are not convenient, a 2nd good
option is to
transfer your Chase UR
points to United.
However,
if you prefer to use your rewards
points on domestic travel, Chase Sapphire Preferred ® is the better
option, because Citi ThankYou ® Premier's
points transfer program includes fewer airlines and most are international.