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 | Avianca LifeMiles | 15% | Nov. 30, 2024 | Full details |
| Amex | Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 10-15% | Nov. 30, 2024 | |
| Amex | Marriott Bonvoy | 35% | Dec. 31, 2024 | |
| Capital One | British Airways | 20% | Dec. 1, 2024 | Full details |
| Chase | Virgin Atlantic | 40% | Nov. 30, 2024 | 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.
15% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Avianca LifeMiles
Amex is out with a new, 15% boost when moving Membership Rewards points to Avianca LifeMiles. This bonus runs through the end of the month, Nov. 30.
If you're unfamiliar, LifeMiles is the quirky yet underrated mileage program of South American carrier Avianca. While customer service can be spotty at best and even its IT is hit or miss, you put up with it because few airline programs offer cheaper ways to book flights using miles around the globe – with low cash taxes and fees, too.
This is still true even after the airline devalued awards to Europe and Asia earlier this summer. In fact, some awards actually got even cheaper.
While almost every other business class flight across the pond now runs you 70,000 miles each way, you can currently book United Polaris business class from Newark (EWR) to London-Heathrow (LHR) for just 45,000 miles. At 22,500 miles each way, economy is drastically cheaper on that same route, too.
By taking advantage of this 15% transfer bonus, the price drops to just 40,000 miles for that same one way award!
Other Star Alliance business class flights to Europe that typically cost 70,000 miles each way, works out to just 61,000 Amex points with this transfer bonus.
10% to 15% Transfer Bonus to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles is a criminally underrated mileage program, whether you want to fly to Hong Kong (HKG) or book a British Airways lie-flat seat to London for fewer taxes and fees. American Express is out with a targeted transfer bonus for cardholders to give you more miles.
Many *amex gold* and *amex platinum* cardholders are currently seeing a 10% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific. Some lucky cardholders are getting a 15% transfer bonus … and others are seeing nothing at all. Again, this bonus is targeted.
If you're targeted for this bonus in your Amex account, act fast: It only runs through Nov. 30, 2024.
20% Bonus on Capital One Transfers to Avios
Good news for travelers with the *capital one venture card* or the souped-up *venture x*: Capital One is offering cardholders a 20% bonus when moving miles to British Airways Avios.
This transfer bonus is available through Dec. 1, so you've got all month to take advantage of it.
With this transfer bonus, you can take one of the cheapest ways to fly business class to Europe and make it even cheaper. By flying Spanish flag carrier, Iberia, you can get from one of several U.S. gateways to Madrid (MAD) for just 34,000 Avios plus $130 in taxes and fees one-way – or less than 28,400 Capital One miles when combined with this transfer bonus.
Why not fly like this rather than back in economy when you can do it using fewer points?
Read our full review of Iberia business class!
The key to booking these awards is focusing on off-peak travel dates, from cities like Boston, Washington D.C., New York City, and Chicago to Madrid. Since Iberia has a generous definition of what's considered off-peak, you can find these ultra-low rates for a good majority of the year. Only late June through mid-September and the winter holidays (plus a few more random dates throughout the calendar) will trigger higher peak pricing.
Flying lie-flat to Europe for 28,400 points and $130 in fees is tough, if not impossible, to beat. But there are other options.
Thanks to Qatar Airways' adoption of Avios, the floodgates are open to book Qatar's world-leading Qsuite business class seats using Capital One miles. Factor in this 20% transfer bonus, and you can do it for fewer points.
Here's the easiest route: You could book a simple nonstop from many cities in the U.S. over to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 British Airways Avios. Sadly, both Qatar and British Airways recently raised taxes and fees on these business class redemptions. What was once a $100-or-so charge has increased to roughly $235. That's a small price to pay to fly the world's best business class, if you ask us.
Once you find the award availability you want, transfer 58,400 Capital One miles to your BA account, and book it. Done. It doesn't get much cheaper or easier than that.
But if you want to take it next level and connect elsewhere – Dubai (DXB) or Muscat (MCT) in the Middle East, Cairo (CAI), or maybe even the Maldives (MLE) or Seychelles (SEZ) in Indian Ocean – you'll want to turn to Qatar Airways Avios. Tacking on another another leg to one of these other destinations will only raise the cost to 75,000 or 85,000 Avios … and a few bucks more in taxes and fees.
And even though Capital One only partners with British Airways, you can easily combine your Avios balances between British Airways and Qatar.
Get even more ideas for how to use this bonus by reading our guide!
40% Bonus from Chase to Virgin Atlantic
This could just be the best transfer bonus on this entire list – maybe ever.
We're accustomed to seeing bonuses of 25% or 30% when moving points from Chase, Amex, or Capital One over to Virgin Atlantic. But Chase upped the ante with a record-setting 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic.This bonus is available through the end of the month, expiring Nov. 30.
And the timing is impeccable. Not only will your Chase points go even further, but Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is arguably better than ever, too.
After introducing dynamic award pricing last week, 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 Chase 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 Chase 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 Chase 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 Chase points
- Ditto for ANA first class, which will now run you at least 72,500 points each way … but just 52,000 Chase points with a 40% bonus
Read our full guide to maximizing this massive 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.