Get Up to 50% More Points With the Current List of Transfer Bonuses!

Got a stash of transferable points from banks like American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and more? Take advantage of these current transfer bonuses to get even more out of them.

October is shaping up to be a big month for transfer bonuses, with nearly a dozen new and expiring transfer bonuses to take advantage of. If you’ve been sitting on a stash of points, now is a great time to stretch them further! 

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 select airline or hotel partners. With a 25% transfer bonus, for example, you’d only need to transfer 40,000 points to get the 50,000 miles you may need to book an award ticket.

Here are all the current transfer bonuses available as of publication, broken down bank by bank.

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 or hotel 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 or hotels 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 may (or may not) want to use them. 

25% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Flying Blue

With low rates and fairly solid availability to book these flights with your miles, Flying Blue miles were among the best ways to book business class to Europe for years. 

Things have changed … but this transfer bonus makes the picture a bit better. 

Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere flying business class to Europe, Flying Blue charges as low as 60,000 each way. Availability has gotten much harder to find, but if you do, you’d need just 48,000 Amex points to book it with this transfer bonus.

But it gets more complicated. Flying Blue’s new, three-tier award chart – with dreadful new “Light” fares at that lowest, 60,000-mile price point – means you don’t get lounge access at this lowest price point. Worst of all, these fares can’t be changed or canceled, period. 

Want a “Standard” fare that gets those perks back? It’ll be at least 75,000 miles each way. 

With this 25% transfer bonus, you could book that old standard fare for 60,000 points. 

You can also book economy awards to Europe using Air France and KLM miles – including one-way trips from several U.S. cities for 25,000 miles or even less if you time it with a monthly Promo Rewards discount. 

Finding flights at these low rates may require some flexibility, as you won’t find them on every single date. Luckily, Air France and KLM allow you to easily scroll through up to a month’s worth of flights to find the best deals. After an increase earlier this year, Flying Blue now typically tacks on about $350 for a one-way business class award to Europe – and about $400 or more for the way back.

As steep as it sounds, that’s a small price to pay for $6,000-plus flights … less so for economy, though.

If you’ve got Rove miles, you can get an even bigger 40% transfer bonus to Flying Blue through the end of the month! 

30% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Hilton

But that’s not all: Amex is out with a 30% bonus when transferring to Hilton Honors, too!

Since Amex points transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, this new bonus means that every 1,000 Amex points you transfer will get you 2,600 Hilton points. If you’ve got a Hilton stay in mind, be sure to use this transfer bonus before it ends on Wednesday, Oct. 14! 

 On the surface, that 1:2.6 transfer ratio might seem like a steal. But keep in mind that it typically takes a whole lot of Hilton points to book a free night. Even with this transfer bonus, it may not be the slam dunk you think it is.

After a slew of recent devaluations that pushed nightly rates as high as 250,000 points for luxury properties, Hilton Honors points don’t go nearly as far as they used to. This transfer bonus from American Express can take the sting out of it … or at least get you the additional points you’ll now need.

If high-end boutique hotels are your jam, Hilton’s partnership with SLH is just the thing. This has been a massive win for travelers with Hilton Honors points, as it opens the door to book some truly impressive properties around the globe, getting you some serious bang for your buck. 

Take the little slice of Caribbean heaven known as the Hermitage Bay Resort in Antigua, for example. After a series of devaluations, this property now goes for a whopping 230,000 Hilton Honors points per night. At first glance, that might not seem like a great deal. But considering that this all-inclusive, adults-only resort in the Caribbean ordinarily costs $3,000 (or more) per night, you can quickly see just how valuable Hilton points can be.  

With this transfer bonus, you’d need to transfer as few as 89,000 Amex points to book a free night.

If you’ve got any level of Hilton status – including the complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold status that comes with the Amex Platinum Card – you get the fifth night free on award bookings. That means you could book a five-night stay at this island paradise … that might normally cost $15,000 or more … for as few as 354,000 Amex points.

Admittedly, that’s a ton of points, but it’s also a pretty solid bang for your buck … err, points. And if you’ve got a free night award from one of the Hilton Honors American Express credit cards, you could even tack that on for an additional night in paradise.

Read our full story on this transfer bonus for even more inspiration!

20% Bonus on Capital One Transfers to British Airways

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 Oct. 31 at 11:59 p.m. ET, 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 40,500 Avios plus $124 in taxes and fees one-way – or less than 34,000 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 less than 34,000 points and $124 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. Once you find the award availability you want, transfer 58,400 Capital One miles to your British Airways account and pay just $235 (or so) in taxes and fees. It doesn’t get much cheaper or easier than that!

But if you want to take it to the 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 the Indian Ocean – you’ll want to turn to Qatar Airways Avios. Tacking on 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!

25% Bonus on Citi Transfers to Avianca 

Citi is currently offering a 25% bonus when moving Citi ThankYou points to Avianca LifeMiles, giving cardholders a way to save even more on Star Alliance award flights. This transfer bonus runs through Oct. 24, so you’ve got a few weeks left to make use of it.

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 website 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.

Sadly, LifeMiles don’t go quite as far as they used to after a handful of nasty devaluations over the past couple of years – the program raised many award rates to Europe, Asia, and beyond by as much as 70%! Thankfully, Avianca rolled back some of these devaluations, and there are still (some) deals to be had – including business class to Europe for as low as 54,000 miles each way.

After the latest price hike, you’ll now pay somewhere between 63,000 and 93,000 miles one-way for a business class award to Europe with Avianca LifeMiles. In typical LifeMiles fashion, there’s very little rhyme or reason for what exactly a given flight will cost, aside from the airline it’s on.

Take this LOT Polish business class flight from New York City (JFK) to Warsaw (WAW), for example. It’s pricing out at a reasonable 69,000 miles each way – just 56,000 Citi points with this transfer bonus. 

But LifeMiles is full of oddities … in a good way: There are a handful of routes that price out even cheaper. For example, you can head to Switzerland on this SWISS business class route from New York City (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) for just 54,010 miles. Factor in that transfer bonus, and you need just 44,000 Citi points to book!

Read more: Our Complete Guide to Citi ThankYou Points and Partners

50% Bonus on Rove Transfers to Japan Airlines

Rove probably isn’t a household name … at least not yet. The startup pitches itself as the first “universal airline mile” – a somewhat dubious claim – letting travelers earn rewards without opening a travel credit card, then redeem those miles for flights, hotels, or transfer them to a growing list of airline and hotel partners.

That list of transfer partners and bonuses like this is a big reason why it’s time to pay attention: Through the end of the month, you can get a 50% transfer bonus from Rove Japan Airlines Mileage Bank! 

Don’t have Rove miles? Citi is offering a smaller 30% transfer bonus to JAL through Oct. 24! 

These days, everyone wants to go to Japan … and for good reason. It’s clean, safe, modern (yet steeped in culture), and don’t even get me started on the food.

Flying Japan Airlines from one of the carrier’s nine North American gateways to Tokyo Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT) – or even Osaka (KIX) – is a great way to cross the Pacific, no matter if you’re flying in economy or business class. Thanks to JAL’s reasonable award chart, a one-way ticket to Japan will cost as few as 27,000 miles in economy, 40,000 miles in premium economy, or 55,000 miles in business class. 

Take this flight from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) for example. You can book a Japan Airlines business class seat on the nearly 13-hour flight to Japan for just 55,000 miles – just 36,700 Rove miles with the current transfer bonus – and $353 in taxes and fees.

Unlike most programs, Rove lets you fine-tune your transfers (beyond the 2,000-mile minimum), so you don’t have to worry about stranding a few hundred miles when you go to redeem. 

Or how about roundtrip business class flights to Europe for just 85,000 miles? With the current 50% transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 56,700 Rove miles to JAL to book these flights with American Airlines! That’s a steal …

Like many airline mileage programs, JAL uses a distance-based award chart for partner award redemptions: The longer your flight, the more miles it will cost. But unlike virtually every other airline, it doesn’t tally each segment separately: It adds the distances together to determine the final price. 

The possibilities are practically endless with this roundtrip sweet spot – in part, because Japan Airlines has a wonky worldwide network of partner airlines. Of course, there are fellow Oneworld carriers such as American, Alaska, and British Airways. But you can also book Air France, Emirates, JetBlue, and others using JAL miles. 

Read more: JAL Mileage Bank is a Goldmine for Roundtrip Partner Awards

Up to 35% More Avios on Citi Transfers to Qatar

Right now, you can transfer Citi points to Qatar Airways Privilege Club through Oct. 31 and receive up to a 35% bonus. Just know, you won’t see this bonus when you log into your Citi account: It’s processed after the fact on Qatar’s end and depends on how many points you transfer. Here’s how it breaks down:

Rove is running a nearly identical transfer bonus to Qatar, but you’ll see that one when logged into your Rove account! 

For example, if you send over 50,000 ThankYou points from your Citi account, Qatar’s Privilege Club will separately kick in 12,500 more Avios. But if you transfer 100,000 ThankYou points, you’ll get an extra 35,000 Avios, thanks to the increased bonus.

No matter how many points you transfer, getting to 15% to 35% more is a suite sweet deal. Why is that?

Because Qatar Avios have quickly become the best way to book the airline’s outstanding Qsuites business class seats. By utilizing this transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 56,000 Citi ThankYou points to Qatar to book a one-way ticket from the U.S. all the way to Doha. And trust us: It’s worth every single point. 

Since you can combine Avios across all the different types of accounts that earn and use them, this bonus can also be useful for those looking to book awards with British Airways or even help you snag cheap Iberia business class seats to Europe. 

70% Bonus on Chase Transfers to Marriott

Chase is currently offering a 70% transfer bonus when moving Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy. This transfer bonus runs through Oct. 15, so you’ve got just a week and change left to take advantage.

It’s easy to see a 70% bonus and get excited. But be warned that not all points are created equal … especially with hotel points like Marriott. Still, if you have a particular hotel in mind and need to top off your account with a few extra points in order to make it a reality, transferring Membership Rewards to Marriott with a 70% bonus is certainly better than the usual 1:1 ratio.

Looking at a one-night stay in downtown Minneapolis, you can book the Minneapolis Marriott City Center for 30,000 Bonvoy points per night. If you didn’t already have any Bonvoy points in your account, you’d need to transfer 18,000 Chase points with the current transfer bonus in order to have enough points to book this stay.

That sure beats the nearly $300-per-night rate Marriott charges when paying cash. You’ll find similar deals at other Marriott hotels around the world, but not all of them will be quite so good. Be sure to do the math to make sure you’re coming out ahead.

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 is rarely a good option.