Complete guide to airline and hotel transfer partners for the major credit card programs
We love transferable credit card points here at TPG.
The ability to transfer your rewards to a wide range of airline and hotel loyalty programs at a moment's notice provides valuable flexibility to maximize your travel. You're not locked into a single redemption scheme as you plan your trips. If you can't find the seats available in one program, you can choose another program before transferring any credit card points. If a program devalues without notice, you can simply switch to a different program for your next points transfer.
With dozens of different transfer options, it can be difficult to remember just how many options you have.
Here's a handy guide that breaks down which credit card points can be transferred to which airline and hotel programs — including their respective transfer ratios. We also list our valuation of each transfer partner, so you can get the best value.
Related: How (and why) you should earn transferable points in 2023
Airline transfer partners
There are a few important notes to highlight regarding these transfer partners:
- Many transfers are instantaneous, though you should check out our guides to transfer times for Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase and Citi for more details.
- Avios can be transferred between British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts in any direction at a 1:1 ratio.
- Transfers from Capital One to Virgin Atlantic can happen using either Flying Club or Virgin Red.
- Programs occasionally offer transfer bonuses — which we highlight in our frequently-updated guide to these bonuses.
Finally, except for EVA Air Infinity MileageLands and Finnair Plus, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to all airline partners listed above at a rate of 3 Bonvoy points to 1 airline mile. You will receive an additional 5,000 airline miles for every 60,000 Bonvoy points transferred (except United, which awards 10,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points transferred).
Related: When does it make sense to transfer Marriott points to airlines?
Hotel transfer partners
| Loyalty program | TPG valuation | American Express Membership Rewards | Bilt Rewards | Capital One miles | Chase Ultimate Rewards | Citi ThankYou Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALL Accor Live Limitless | 2.0 cents | 2:1 | 2:1 | |||
| Choice Privileges | 0.6 cents | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:2 | ||
| Hilton Honors | 0.6 cents | 1:2 | ||||
| IHG One Rewards | 0.5 cents | 1:1 | 1:1 | |||
| Marriott Bonvoy | 0.84 cents | 1:1 | 1:1 | |||
| World of Hyatt | 1.7 cents | 1:1 | 1:1 | |||
| Wyndham Rewards | 1.1 cents | 1:1 | 1:1 | |||
| Total hotel transfer partners | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Like airline partners, most hotel transfers are instantaneous, though you can read full details in our guides to transfer times for Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase and Citi.
How to earn transferable points
The best way to earn transferable credit card points is with the right credit card. Some programs allow you to earn points through shopping portals, but you need a credit card to qualify. Here's a look at your best options:
American Express Membership Rewards
Here are the most popular cards that earn American Express Membership Rewards points:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Gold Card
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
- American Express® Green Card
You can also earn Amex points by signing up for Rakuten and setting your earning preference to Membership Rewards points instead of cash back.
The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Read more: How to earn bonus cash back or Amex points on your online shopping purchases with Rakuten
Bilt Rewards
Bilt offers one credit card, the Bilt Mastercard® (see rates and fees). Cardmembers enjoy 1 point per dollar on rent (on up to $100,000) without the transaction fee, 2 points per dollar on travel (airfare, hotels, cruises and rental cars) and 3 points per dollar on dining. You need to make at least five transactions each month to earn points. Best of all, the Bilt Mastercard has no annual fee.
TPG founder Brian Kelly is a Bilt advisor and investor.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Here are the cards that earn fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points:
However, if you have one of these cards, you can also combine your rewards from cash-back cards like the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited into a single account — effectively converting those cash-back earnings into fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points.
Capital One miles
Here are the cards that currently earn transferable Capital One miles:
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees)
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees)
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card (see rates and fees)
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business (see rates and fees)
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business
The information Capital One Spark Miles Select has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
Citi ThankYou Rewards has 17 airline and hotel transfer partners. Currently, only a single card is available that offers transfers to all of these programs: Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees). Note that if you're still holding on to the Citi Prestige® Card — which is no longer open to new applicants — you also have the full transfer benefits.
However, like Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can combine your Citi ThankYou Rewards points into a single account for select products, allowing you to effectively convert your fixed-value earnings from cards like the Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees) or Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) into fully transferable ThankYou points.
The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
A dizzying number of transfer options are available among the five major credit card loyalty programs. Transferable points are generally more valuable than any single airline or hotel point because of the added flexibility of choosing where to send your points — and when to do it.
Bookmark this cheat sheet so you know your options when applying for your next transferable-points-earning credit card or deciding on your next redemption.
See Bilt Mastercard rates and fees here.
See Bilt Mastercard rewards and benefits here.