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

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We love transferable credit card points and miles here at TPG.

The ability to transfer your rewards to a wide range of airline and hotel loyalty programs provides valuable flexibility to maximize your travel. You're not locked into a single redemption scheme as you plan your trips. If you can't find the seats available in one program, you can choose another program before transferring any credit card points or miles. If a program devalues its currency without notice, you can switch to a different program for your next points or miles transfer.

With dozens of different transfer possibilities, it can be difficult to remember just how many options you have.

Here's a handy guide that breaks down which credit card points and miles can be transferred to which airline and hotel programs, including their respective transfer ratios. We also list our valuation for each transfer partner so you can get the best value to maximize your hard-earned points and miles.

Airline transfer partners

*You can transfer Citi ThankYou rewards at a 1:1 ratio with certain Citi cards — the Citi Prestige® Card, Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see rates and fees) and Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees). Rewards with other Citi cards transfer at a 1:0.7 ratio.

The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

There are a few important notes to highlight regarding these transfer partners:

Many transfers are instantaneous, though you should check out our guides to transfer times for American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo for more details.
American Express will devalue Emirates Skywards point transfers from a 1:1 ratio to 5:4 on Sept. 16, representing a 20% loss of value in the transfer.
Chase will lose Emirates Skywards as a transfer partner Oct. 16.
Avios can be transferred between Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Club, Finnair Plus, Iberia Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts in any direction at a 1:1 ratio.
HawaiianMiles miles transfer to Atmos Rewards at a 1:1 ratio; starting Oct. 1, all remaining Hawaiian miles will automatically transfer to Atmos Rewards.
Programs occasionally offer transfer bonuses, which we highlight in our frequently updated guide to transfer bonuses.

Finally, except for EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and Finnair Plus, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to all airline partners listed above at a rate of 3 Bonvoy points to 1 airline point or mile. You will receive an additional 5,000 airline points or miles for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred, except with the following airline programs: American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles and Delta SkyMiles. Additionally, United MileagePlus awards 10,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred.

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Hotel transfer partners

As with transfers to airline partners, most transfers to hotel partners are instantaneous, though you can read more in our previously mentioned guides to transfer times for Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo.

How to earn transferable points or miles

The best way to earn transferable credit card points or miles is with the right credit card. Here's a look at your best options.

American Express Membership Rewards

These are the most popular cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points:

You can also earn Amex points by signing up for Rakuten and setting your earning preference to Membership Rewards points instead of cash back.

Bilt Rewards

Bilt offers one credit card, the Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees). Cardmembers can earn rewards on rent payments (up to 100,000 Bilt Points in a calendar year), plus 2 points per dollar spent on travel (airfare, hotels, cruises and rental cars) and 3 points per dollar spent on dining.

You need to make at least five transactions each statement period to earn points (see rewards and benefits). Best of all, the Bilt Mastercard has no annual fee (see rates and fees).

Capital One miles

Here are the cards that currently earn transferable Capital One miles:

The information for the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Here are the cards that earn fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

However, if you have one of these cards, you can also combine your rewards from cash-back cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® (see rates and fees) and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees) in a single account, effectively converting those cash-back earnings into fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi ThankYou Rewards has 21 airline and hotel transfer partners, plus one retail partnership with Shop Your Way. If you hold the Citi Prestige, Strata Elite or Strata Premier, you can leverage these partners at their full transfer ratios.

However, as with Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can combine your Citi ThankYou Rewards points in a single account for select products. This unlocks the full transfer ratios. If you transfer from one of these cards without holding a premium Citi card, you'll get a 1:0.7 transfer ratio:

The information for the Citi Custom Cash Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Wells Fargo Rewards

Though Wells Fargo offers multiple credit cards, including several that earn cash rewards, you can currently only earn transferable Wells Fargo Rewards points with the following cards:

Bottom line

Many transfer options are available among the major credit card loyalty programs. Transferable points and miles are generally more valuable than any single airline or hotel point or mile because of the added flexibility of choosing where to send your rewards — and when to do it.

Bookmark this cheat sheet so you know your options when applying for your next transferable points- or miles-earning credit card or deciding on your next redemption.

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

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