Last month, I shared this post from Frequent Miler. Based on a reader question, the author share which program he would pick to transfer his flexible points if he had to use them or lose them due to account closure. Unlike hotel and airline programs where you can keep your miles if you cancel your credit card, most flexible points from banks disappear when you cancel your card.
The post got me thinking about what I would do, and I’m curious what Leana would do as well. So, here’s our take.
Capital One Miles
Capital One miles transfer to:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada – Aeroplan®
- Cathay Pacific – Asia Miles
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Choice Privileges®2
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Flying Blue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Red
- Wyndham Rewards
- EVA Air – Infinity MileageLands
- ALL – Accor Live Limitless
Nancy’s First Choice Transfer Partner: British Airways. I use British Airways Avios to book award seats on American Airlines nonstop flights. Since I live near an AA hub, I’ve booked plenty of award flights using British Airways Avios.
Nancy’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Air France Flying Blue. My family has used Flying Blue miles to get to Europe in business class seats twice. I also used Flying Blue miles to book business class award flights to Asia later this year.
Leana’s First Choice Transfer Partner: A bit of a twist. Redeeming points towards travel purchases at 1 cent apiece. In fact, I’m doing it right now, as I’m thinking about canceling my Venture X card at the end of the year.
Leana’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Wyndham Rewards with the idea of immediately redeeming them towards Vacasa rentals.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United Airlines MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Nancy’s First Choice Transfer Partner: World of Hyatt. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Hyatt hotels. Compared to other hotel brands, Hyatt points have much more value per point. You can book a free night for as low as 5000 points per night.
Nancy’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: British Airways for the reasons I list above in the Capital One section.
Leana’s First Choice Transfer Partner: World of Hyatt, for sure. It’s a “unicorn” currency you can only get through Chase or Bilt programs, and I don’t have any points in the latter. I like to redeem points on SLH properties and suites at Hyatt resorts. Note that SLH will likely sever ties with Hyatt soon, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith partnership should make up for it.
Leana’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Probably United, though I would really have to think about that one. There is still value to be had, especially when it comes to multi-connection complex economy redemptions to Europe. But all the recent devaluations have really dampened my enthusiasm for this currency.
American Express Membership Rewards
American Express transfer partners:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Aeromexico Club Premier (1:1.6)
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- ANA Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Airways Guest Program
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue True Blue (1:0.8)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors (1:2)
- Marriott Bonvoy
Nancy’s First Choice Transfer Partner: ANA mileage Club. I would pick this program right now because I’m planning a trip to Japan. ANA has the best award prices, and American Express Membership Rewards points are the only flexible points that transfer to ANA.
Nancy’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: British Airways for the reasons I list above in the Capital One section.
Leana’s First Choice Transfer Partner: Delta SkyMiles. Since my SIL lives in Detroit, these miles can come in handy for family visits (naturally, for economy redemptions). Amex is the only program that partners with Delta, and I generally prefer to speculatively invest in American-based miles.
Leana’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: British Airways. Even though this program is not what it used to be, the miles can still be useful for AA flights (if you get lucky).
Citi ThankYou
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- ALL Accor Live Limitless (2:1)
- Choice Privileges (1:2)
- Wyndham Rewards
Nancy’s First Choice Transfer Partner: Air France Flying Blue for flights to Europe and Asia as I mentioned above.
Nancy’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Etihad Guest. I’ve never done this before, but I could use Etihad Guest miles to book AA award flights over the phone.
Leana’s First Choice Transfer Partner: Choice program (no pun intended). IMO, it’s highly underrated in our hobby, and Citi is the only program with 1:2 transfer ratio.
Leana’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Air France/KLM Flying Blue. Since my SIL recently moved to Michigan, redeeming Air France miles on Delta could come in handy. This program also has reasonable redemption rates on economy flights to Europe.
Bilt Rewards
Bilt transfer partners include:
- American Airlines AAdvantage
- Avianca Lifemiles
- United MileagePlus®
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue®
- Virgin Red®
- Emirates Skywards®
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Iberia Plus
- Air Canada Aeroplan®
- Marriott Bonvoy™
- World of Hyatt®
- IHG® One Rewards
Nancy’s First Choice Transfer Partner: American Airlines. Bilt is the only card with flexible points that transfers to AA. Living in DFW, AA miles are valuable to me. I can never have enough.
Nancy’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Hyatt. Because I love Hyatt!
Leana’s First Choice Transfer Partner: American AAdvantage, since it’s the only way to acquire these miles aside from AA co-branded credit cards.
Leana’s Runner-up Transfer Partner: Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt.
Bottom Line
In reality, we don’t transfer our flexible miles/points until we see specific award availability and we are ready to book. But, we each have our favorite transfer programs based on our location and travel preferences. Do you agree with our choices?
How do we travel so much? We earn miles and points from credit cards. See Beginner’s Guide: 7 Steps to Free Travel with Miles and Points and check out current credit card offers here.
@2808 Heavy
I hear you! Since you spend so many nights on the road, you might as well find properties that make you feel comfortable.
Personally, I like Hyatt Place and Hyatt House for overnight stays near airports. They are usually nothing special, but adequate enough. Breakfast has gone downhill in the last few years, though. Maybe we’ve been lucky, but I’m yet to encounter a Hyatt Place that I would rate as a “dump.” Or maybe I just have low standards, haha!
But as you’ve correctly pointed out, Hyatt is an excellent program for leisure travel. We mostly accumulate Hyatt points via transfers from Chase, and those multiplier categories on Freedom cards do help to get decent value, especially when redeeming them in suites. That said, if I were a road warrior, I would focus on Marriott. Sure, elite recognition is not as good as Hyatt, but you have a much bigger footprint to make up for it.
I agree with most of your picks here with the exception of Hyatt.
I think Hyatt is great for leisure travel but as a road warrior who spends 100+ nights a year in hotels for work, I feel comfortable saying that most Hyatt Places, Hyatt Houses, and a good amount of Hyatt Regency’s are dumps. Old, dingy, rundown, dumps.
I have free range for my work travel as I’m reimbursed and because I feel in love with the leisure side of Hyatt hotels (Grand/Park Hyatt) I tried to transition my work stays to the lower tier Hyatt properties as a way to earn points to then use for my leisure travel.
After a few of months and a about 20 different Hyatt Place, House, and Regency’s combined, I gave up. I went back to Marriott and Courtyard properties as even the worst Courtyard is leaps above Hyatt’s lower tier properties.
I still earn WOH points, just at a much slower pace as it’s through credit card spend on my Bilt/CSR rather than racking them up I really wanted to via work travel.
Marc, speculatively transferring isn’t a good idea in general. Especially to a program with hard expiration rules. But I can see the appeal of ANA to someone like Nancy, since they are planning to go to Japan. Those award rates are tough to beat, and you can even avoid fuel surcharges if you redeem on United.
Somehow ANA is chosen … yes they can be good value but the miles will expire