Get at Least 20% More Points With These Current Transfer Bonuses!

Got a stash of transferable points but find yourself still shy of that dream getaway? Don't write it off just yet.

Banks like American Express, Capital One, and Chase routinely roll out bonuses when transferring points to a specific airline or hotel partner, meaning you don't have to transfer as many points as you normally need to book an award flight. Think of these transfer bonuses as a way to get free miles.

Just how good of a transfer bonus you'll get will vary from bank to bank and program to program, but you can generally expect to see bonuses in the range of 10% to 40% – sometimes even more. They're typically offered for a limited time, and it can be tough to keep track of them all, especially if you have transferrable points with multiple credit card companies.

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

Wondering why you should transfer your points? Read up on how it can help you book flights for less!

Taking advantage of these transfer bonuses can be critical to getting even more value out of your points. But there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind before rushing to transfer your points.

Here's the most important one: 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.

Time and time again, we've seen loyalty programs devalue their points by raising award rates with little to no warning. The best way to safeguard against these sudden devaluations is to keep your points safe (and flexible) in your bank account until you're ready to use them.

Read next: When Does it Make Sense to Speculatively Transfer Your Points?

And keep in mind that you'll still have to pay taxes and fees on when booking an award ticket. For some airlines, those fees are negligible. But others charge much more when booking award flights with points and miles – especially if you're flying business or first class with your miles.

Let's take a closer look at each of the current transfer bonuses and how you might want (or not want) to use them.

See our master list of credit card transfer partners! 

30% Bonus on American Express Transfers to Avios

American Express is offering a 30% bonus when moving points to a trio of Avios-using airlines: British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia. This transfer bonus is available through Sept. 30, so you'll have nearly two full months 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 27,000 American Express Membership Rewards 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 27,000 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 Amex points. Factor in this 30% 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 and about $100 in fees. Find the award availability you want, transfer 54,000 Amex points 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 even though Amex isn't offering this bonus on transfers to Qatar, 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!

20% Bonus on Amex Transfers to Hawaiian Airlines

The islands are calling … and thanks to this 20% transfer bonus on Amex transfers to Hawaiian Airlines, you can get there for even less.

Economy flights routinely go for as low as 20,000 miles each way – or just 17,000 Amex Membership Rewards with this bonus. But why settle for economy when you can fly to Hawaii in a lie-flat seat like this?

Hawaiian airlines new first class seats – dubbed Leihōkū suites – are exclusively available on the airline's shiny new Boeing 787 Dreamliners. You won't yet find them on very many routes but when you can, you won't find a better way to cross the Pacific.

These first class seats go for as few as 40,000 miles one-way – meaning that with this transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer 34,000 Amex Membership Rewards and pay $5.60 in taxes and fees to book a ride in style.

This transfer bonus goes through Aug. 31, so you've got all month to plan a trip.

70% Bonus on Chase Transfers to Marriott Bonvoy

Chase is currently offering a 70% transfer bonus when moving Ultimate Rewards points to the Marriott Bonvoy Rewards program. But this transfer bonus only lasts until Wednesday, Aug. 14!

It's easy to see a 70% bonus and get excited but be warned that not all points are created equal – and this is especially true with hotel points like Marriott's. 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 Ultimate Rewards to Marriott with a 70% bonus is certainly better than the usual 1:1 ratio.

The key to ending up on the right side of this transfer bonus is to always do the math before booking. Since you can redeem points through the Chase Travel℠ portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point with the *chase sapphire preferred* or 1.5 cents per point with the *chase sapphire reserve*, that should be your baseline for determining the value that you're getting with this transfer bonus.

Looking at a one-night stay in downtown Minneapolis, I see that I can book the Minneapolis Marriott City Center for 23,000 Bonvoy points per night. If I didn't already have any Bonvoy points in my account, I'd need to transfer 14,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards with the current transfer bonus in order to have enough points to book this stay.

Since I have the *chase sapphire preferred*, I could also book this hotel through the Chase Travel Portal and get 1.25 cents per point towards the cost of my stay. In this situation, that would end up costing me a little over 19,000 Ultimate Rewards for the one-night stay.

By instead using the current 70% transfer bonus to Marriott, I'm going to be out of pocket fewer points than I would by booking through the travel portal. That makes transferring points to Marriott with this bonus a really good deal.

But the math changes slightly if I had the *chase sapphire reserve* and got 1.5 cents per point for booking through the Chase Travel portal instead. In that case, I'd be able to book this room for under 16,000 Ultimate Rewards per night. Transferring to Marriott is still is a better deal in this case but it's a lot closer and might be a better option in other situations.

Another thing to consider when deciding how to book is your elite status level – or lack thereof. If you book through the Chase Travel Portal you won't receive any elite benefits, earn points, or get elite-night credits for your stay. To some travelers, this won't matter at all, but to others, it could be a total dealbreaker.

20% Bonus on Capital One Transfers to Qantas

Capital One is currently offering a 20% bonus on transfers to Australian flag-carrier Qantas. If you plan to take advantage of this bonus, you've got until Aug. 31 to make a transfer. 

While this isn't the most lucrative transfer bonus on the list, seeing Capital One offer any sort of bonus is cause for excitement. Historically, they've been less generous with these kind of offers than competitors like Chase and American Express.

And if you're thinking Qantas points are only good for flying to and from Australia, think again. As a Oneworld alliance member, you can use Qantas points to fly domestic airlines like American and Alaska in the U.S., as well as other one-off partner airlines like Emirates.

Here's a fun example of what you can do with this bonus. Earlier this summer, Emirates started flying a funky, new fifth-freedom route between Miami (MIA) and Bogota (BOG). This is now the best and most luxurious way to get between the two countries. Since Emirates and Qantas are partners, you could book Emirates vaunted first class on this relatively short four-hour flight for just 64,500 points.

By taking advantage of this transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer 54,000 Capital One Miles to Qantas in order to make it a reality. That's a bargain when you consider this flight comes with full caviar service and some of the best champagne in the sky.

25% Bonus on Citi Transfers to Flying Blue

Citi recently rolled out a new 25% bonus on transfers to Air France/KLM Flying Blue, a great mileage program to get from the U.S. to Europe using fewer points. It runs through Aug. 17, so you've still got some time to make use of this bonus if it fits your travel plans.

Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere flying business class to Europe, Flying Blue now charges just 50,000 miles each way. With this transfer bonus, you’d need as few as 40,000 Citi ThankYou points to make it happen.  

You can also book economy awards to Europe using Air France and KLM miles – including one-way trips from several U.S. cities for less than 20,000 miles. 

Take this one-way flight from Chicago (ORD) to Prague (PRG) for example. Flying Blue is charging just 11,250 miles plus $100 in taxes and fees for this one-way flight on Air France, with a quick connection in Paris (CDG). By taking advantage of the current 25% transfer bonus from Chase, you'd only need to transfer 9,000 Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue in order to make the hop across the pond. That's an absolute steal!

Just be warned: Flying Blue does pass on some hefty cash surcharges on award tickets that make it less appealing when booking economy tickets. While it can easily be worth paying $200 or so for a one-way business class ticket to Europe, that's not always the case with booking economy fares. 

Finding flights at these low rates may require some flexibility, as you won't find them on every single date. 

Read our guide to finding & booking award flights using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles!

20% Bonus on Citi Transfers to Wyndham

The Wyndham Rewards loyalty program doesn't get the same amount of love that hotel programs like Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton do from points and miles enthusiasts. It largely has to do with the hotel chain's lack of aspirational properties when compared to its peers. But that doesn't mean you should sleep on Wyndham altogether. And right now, you can get 20% more value for your Citi points when transferring them to Wyndham.

As usual, it rarely makes sense to speculatively transfer a flexible currency like Citi ThankYou Points to a specific award program just to take advantage of a transfer bonus. However, if you have a particular stay in mind or you routinely stay at Wyndham properties, this transfer bonus is better than the usual 1:1 rate you'll get when moving Citi points over. The bonus is live now and lasts through Aug. 17, so you have just under a month to take advantage of it.

After a quick look at Wyndham properties on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, it looks like you can book this studio condo through Wyndham's partnership with Vacasa vacation rentals for just 15,000 Wyndham points per night. 

A five-night stay at this property would run you 75,000 Wyndham points or just 63,000 Citi ThankYou points with this 20% bonus. For a stay that would otherwise cost nearly $1,200, that's not a bad deal. I have no idea how nice the property is but given how expensive hotels in Hawaii can get, this seems like a pretty good use of Citi points to me.

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.