December 4, 2024
Transfer Bonuses and Sales on Points & Miles December 2024
Pam
Many readers want to know more about airline transfer bonuses because these can really help your miles go further. A transfer bonus is when you transfer points from a flexible currency like Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards®, Capital One Venture Miles, or Citi ThankYou® Points to a travel partner, and you receive a bonus (usually 10-50% more) with the airline or hotel program that you transfer to.
I once transferred American Express Membership Rewards® to Virgin Atlantic and got a business class seat to Edinburgh, Scotland, from Newark for only 58K points. I also often buy IHG points. Believe me, taking advantage of these bonuses is HUGE!
Readers often ask us to provide information about when sales on points and miles occur. We will try to update this monthly so you have this information available as you plan your travel.
Transfer Bonuses
Citi ThankYou® Points
None
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
20% transfer bonus to AirFrance/KLM through January 15, 2025.
20% transfer bonus to Air Canada through January 15, 2025.
70% transfer bonus to IHG through January 15, 2025.
Capital One Venture Miles
None
American Express Membership Rewards®
25% transfer bonus to JetBlue through December 31, 2024.
35% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy through December 31, 2024.
40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through December 31, 2024.
A flight to Paris could be cheaper with a transfer bonus!
Points/Miles Purchases
We don’t normally recommend purchasing points and miles, but it can be worth doing when you need just a few more so you can book a specific award ticket or room. These are sold through a third party, so they won’t be coded as travel and earn any bonus points you’d normally expect for travel purchases. Your best bet is to buy them with a Capital One card that earns two points per dollar spent.
Here is when it might make sense to buy points or miles:
- You don’t have points or miles yet, and it’s cheaper to buy them with a bonus than to pay cash for your flight or hotel room
- You want to top off your account for award travel
Current Offers
- Buy AA miles with up to a 35% bonus (targeted offer)
- Buy IHG Points with up to a 100% bonus through December 13, 2024.
- Buy JetBlue TrueBlue Points with up to a 130% bonus through December 31, 2024.
- Buy Hilton points with a 100% bonus through December 31, 2024.
- Buy Avianca LifeMiles with up to a 160% bonus through December 31, 2024.
Related Posts
- Is it Worth Buying Points and Miles?
- The Best Limited-Time Credit Card Bonuses
- Flying Blue Promo Rewards
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Thanks, Koralea! So glad you are finding it helpful!
Through July 31, you can earn a 70% transfer bonus when you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG. (I value these too high for use with Hyatt so I would wait for a bonus on IHG points purchases before doing this).
Regarding this mention above… are you saying that you value UR points too much to redeem them on a Hyatt stay? Thus, you are waiting for a bonus from IHG when using the points that way you get bonus from Chase when transferring and bonus from IHG when using? Sorry… just need a clarification.
Well, I did a horrible job explaining that – LOL! I value transferring them to Hyatt so much that I wouldn’t transfer to IHG even with a bonus transfer. I would prefer to purchase IHG points when they have a 100% bonus if I needed a few extra IHG points for a redemption.
I recently transferred points from Capital One to KLM on June 27th, just a few days prior to the transfer bonus that started on 7/1. So bummed I missed the bonus! Have you heard of credit cards ever honoring a promotion in a situation like this?
Nope, I think you are out of luck.
Hi, I just found you guys a few days ago. I’m excited to learn about the credit card points/rewards system. I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred in January and have accumulated 97,000 points. It’s been overwhelming reading all your information. I hope I can learn and take advantage of all the rewards. I have a question. My husband has a side LLC business not too much action goes into it. He’s never considered a business CC. But, what I’m reading, seems that is the way to go for points. But, how can a CC be used if there’s not much transactions required for his business. If he were to get one and accrue points, can they be used for personal travel? I’m just not sure I understand. Hope you can help me understand. Thank you!
Hi Pam,
So to do the math on the virgin bonus from Chase. I need 50,700 pts to book flights from LHR to MIA. Will I transfer 35,490 and get the additional 15k from the bonus? Thanks for the help.
Oh, no – you want me to do math? I think you are correct. Disclaimer: I’ve done it wrong in the past and had to add a few more!😜
I’m new to travel hacking. I absolutely love your podcasts, I have learned so much. This first trip is a bit of a rush due to my college kids schedules. I just booked a hotel through the chase travel portal for a Marriott property in Hawaii because I didn’t have enough points for the Hyatt and it was the best option I could find for our dates of travel. I didn’t have time to get the Marriott card or AMX card and all my points were with Chase. I just read about the 40% transfer bonus when you transfer from Chase to Marriott. If I cancel my reservation through the Chase portal will I get my points back so I can transfer to Marriott and get the transfer bonus? And do I need a Marriott card to do the transfer or can I just sign up to be a Marriott member? My trip is only 4 months away so I feel like I’m running out of time.
Most hotel rates on the Ultimate Rewards travel portal are non-refundable – that is one of the reasons we prefer to do transfers vs. booking in the portal. You need to check that out first. The Chase portal is a third-party site and reservations are subject to the change and cancellation policies of the travel partners you booked with. Call 866-331-0773 for assistance regarding changes or cancellations to your bookings to see what your options are.
My main goal is to get my family of 4 to Korea and it sounds like the easiest way to be able to get four business class seats, all on points, is to go through Skypass and book Korean Air. I have Chase and AmEx points and am so bummed that they only take Marriott transfer points at a 3:1 ratio. The offer for 70% transfer bonus for Chase rewards to Marriott sounds tempting. Do you think it would be a good idea to transfer any Chase points I have to Marriott and then transfer those points to Korean Air?
If that is your goal, do it. You do you. Never transfer until you find the seats though. Transfers are one way and if you then can’t find four business class seats (which I would think would be difficult) you have points stuck in Korean Air.
I’m new to the transfer game. I just transferred Chase points to Marriott for an Oct trip last week!! It seems like I should definitely consider cancelling and rebooking? Is it worth calling Chase? Is their such as a “points adjustment” period?! Haha. Thanks!
Sadly, no. Transfers are one way!🥲
Hi. Do you recommend taking advantage of a great transfer bonus, like the current 40% AMEX to Virgin, even if you don’t have a specific trip in mind? Thanks for any help.
Most of the time we say no. However if you KNOW you will use it, I’d do it. I fly VA often to London so for me it made sense.