How to Transfer Credit Card Points to Partners (Without Making Expensive Mistakes)

When I first started diving into travel rewards, the whole concept of "transfer partners" felt like some secret code I wasn't cool enough to understand. I'd read about people transferring Chase points to Hyatt or Capital One miles to Turkish Airlines, and I'd think, "Wait, what? My points can just... move?"

Turns out, yes. And honestly, learning how to transfer points is the single most important skill that separates people who get 1 cent per point from people who get 5+ cents per point. Understanding how the major programs work together is key.

But here's the thing: transferring points is also where people make some of the biggest mistakes. We're talking about the kind of mistakes that can cost you tens of thousands of points (ask me how I know - yikes).

So, let me walk you through exactly what you need to know before you hit that transfer button, how to use our invaluable transfer partner cheat sheets, and some of my favorite ways to use transfers for incredible family travel.

Want my complete Transfer Partner Cheat Sheets for all 5 major credit card rewards programs?

Enter your email in the box above and I'll send you our Transfer Partner Cheat Sheets. These show every airline and hotel partner, transfer ratios, and transfer times for American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Points, and BILT Rewards.

In other words, they're gold.

What Are Transfer Partners (And Why Should You Care)?

Okay, let's start with the basics. When you earn points on certain credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, or American Express® Gold Card, you're earning what we call "transferable points." These points don't belong to any specific airline or hotel, they belong to the credit card issuer.

The magic happens because these credit card companies have partnerships with airline partners and hotel transfer partners that let you transfer your credit card points at specific ratios. So your 50,000 Chase points can become 50,000 Hyatt points. Or your 60,000 Membership Rewards points can become 60,000 Air France-KLM miles.

Why does this matter? Because transferable credit card points are almost always worth MORE when you transfer them to airline partners or hotel transfer partners than when you use other redemption options like booking directly through the credit card issuer's travel portal, or worse, redeeming for gift cards or statement credit. Transferring is how you can get maximum value from your points.

Here's a real example from my own travel: My husband and I will be going on a safari and trekking Mount Kilimanjaro, and we wanted to fly business class from the States to Tanzania. If I'd booked our flights with cash, it would have cost over $15,000 dollars for both of us. If I booked through the Amex travel portal, it would have cost about 500,000 points per person. Instead, I transferred some of our Amex Membership Rewards points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue and booked the same award ticket for just 115,000 miles and $522 per person. That's a difference of 385,000 points per person, which is literally multiple free trips, and thousands of dollars saved.

That's the power of understanding how to transfer credit card reward points to the best partners.

The Golden Rules: What You MUST Know Before Transferring

Before you get excited and start transferring points everywhere, there are some absolutely critical rules you need to understand. I learned some of these the hard way, so please learn from my mistakes.

Rule #1: Transfers Are One-Way Streets

This is the big one. Once you transfer points from your credit card to an airline frequent flyer program or hotel loyalty program, you cannot get them back to flexible points. Ever. Not if you change your mind, not if you made a mistake, not if the award space disappears.

Rule #2: Always Check Award Availability FIRST

Never, ever, ever transfer points until you've confirmed that the exact flight or hotel you want is actually available to book with points. This means:

1. Search for your desired dates and route on the airline's website
2. Make sure award space exists
3. Screenshot the availability if possible
4. THEN transfer your points
5. Book immediately once points arrive

Some people even recommend calling the airline to place a hold on the award space before transferring, which is smart if you're worried about it disappearing.

Rule #3: Know Your Transfer Times & Have Your Loyalty Accounts Set Up Ahead of Time

Most transfers are instant or take just a few hours, but some can take 2-3 days. If you're trying to book a flight that might sell out, you need to know how long your transfer will take. Sometimes, if your loyalty account is new, they will make you wait a few days before your first transfer. So set up any accounts that you want right now.

For example:

• Chase to Hyatt transfers: Instant
• Amex to Delta transfers: Instant (but charges a $0.60 fee per 1,000 points)
• Chase to Singapore Airlines: Usually instant, but can take up to 48 hours
• Citi to Qatar Airlines: Usually instant but can take up to 2 days

This is where our Transfer Partner Cheat Sheets come in handy (more on that in a second).

Rule #4: Your Names Must Match

The name on your credit card account usually needs to match the name on your airline or hotel loyalty account. If your credit card says "Katherine Smith" but your Delta account says "Katie Smith," the transfer could be rejected.

This is especially important for couples and family members. You cannot transfer from your credit card to your spouse's airline account unless they're an authorized user on the card (and even then, there are sometimes waiting periods and restrictions).

Rule #5: Watch Out for Transfer Fees

Most transfers are free, but American Express charges a fee when you transfer to U.S. airlines like Delta and JetBlue. It's $0.60 per 1,000 points (max $99), which isn't a dealbreaker, but you should know about it. Some credit cards offer statement credit benefits that can help offset these fees. Amex is one of my favorites, but this particular aspect is SO WILDLY annoying, and I hate that they charge a fee for U.S. airlines.

Rule #6: Understand Transfer Ratios

Most transfer partners work at a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1,000 credit card points becomes 1,000 airline miles or hotel points. But not always.

For example:

• Amex to Hilton: 1:2 (so 50,000 Amex points becomes 100,000 Hilton points)
• Capital One to Emirates: 2:1.5 (so 20,000 Capital One miles becomes 15,000 Emirates miles)
• Citi to Choice Hotels: 1:2 for premium cards (so 10,000 Citi points becomes 20,000 Choice points)

You need to know the ratio before you transfer, or you might end up with way fewer points than you expected.

Best flexible points?!

We’ve put together a quick list of the top cards for earning transferable points across all major rewards programs, so you can narrow down your choice.

See our recs here!

How to Use the Transfer Partner Cheat Sheets

Okay, so you've got the rules down. Now let's talk about how to actually use these transfer partner cheat sheets I created.

I built these because I was tired of googling "Chase transfer partners" every single time I wanted to book a trip. I wanted one simple reference that showed me:

• Which airline partners and hotel partners I can transfer to from each credit card issuer
• What the transfer ratio is
• How long the transfer *could take
• Which airline alliance each partner belongs to (this matters for knowing which flights you can book)

Here's how to use them:

1. Start with the credit card rewards program you have points in. If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, look at the Chase sheet. If you have American Express Membership Rewards points, look at the Amex sheet. Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Points, and BILT Rewards each have their own sheets, too.
2. Scan the airline partners or hotel partners. Are you trying to book a United flight? Check if United is a partner. Want to stay at a Hyatt? See if Hyatt is listed.
3. Check the transfer ratio. Make sure you know if it's 1:1 or something different.
4. Note the transfer time. Is it instant? Or do you need to wait a day or two?
5. Look at the alliance column. This tells you which airline family the partner belongs to. For example, if you transfer to Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance), you can book United, Lufthansa, and other Star Alliance flights. If you need help understanding alliances, check out our guide to airline alliances here.

The cheat sheets are organized by program (AmEx, BILT, Capital One, Citi, and Chase), then divided into airlines and hotels for easy scanning.

Some of My Favorite Transfer Partner Sweet Spots for Families

Now for the fun part. Here are some of my absolute favorite ways to use transfer partners that consistently offer the best value.

World of Hyatt (Transfer from Chase or BILT): My favorite hotel transfer partner across all hotel loyalty programs and hotel chains. Category 4 hotels cost 15,000 points/night—often the best deal at $300-500 cash prices. I've booked connecting rooms for our family, plus you get the 5th night free. Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards or BILT Rewards at 1:1, instantly.

Delta Airlines (Transfer from American Express): Since we live in Utah and SLC is a Delta hub, we fly Delta a lot! While Delta isn't known for having cheap flights, you can find really solid deals, and having an American Express Membership Rewards that we can transfer into our preferred airline at anytime makes booking those award flights easy. If you DON'T live at a Delta hub, it helps to figure out which airline operates the most out of your airport and earn points that can transfer.

Air France-KLM Flying Blue (Transfer from All Major Programs): This is what I used for our Tanzania trip at 115,000 miles per person in business class (vs. 500,000 through the portal). Monthly "Promo Rewards" drop economy to Europe to 18,750 miles, business to 45,000. Watch for transfer bonuses to boost bonus points.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (Transfer from All Major Programs): Economy to Europe as low as 15,000 miles to London, ~20,000 to Paris on partner airline flights—consistently the best deal for transatlantic economy. Joined SkyTeam in 2023. Transfer from Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, or BILT at 1:1.

American Airlines AAdvantage (Transfer from Citi ONLY): The ONLY transferable program partnering with American Airlines. Great for Alaska Airlines: West Coast to Hawaii for about 22,500 economy, 40,000 first. Flights between Alaskan cities: 7,500-12,500 each way. Need Citi Strata Premier, Elite, or Prestige (Citi Double Cash can't transfer). Transfers instantly at 1:1.

Other Notable Sweet Spots: Singapore KrisFlyer for United flights (domestic starts around 10,000 miles economy), Qatar Privilege Club for American Airlines domestic (6,000 economy, 12,500 business), both offering great redemption rates. I also really love catching a transfer bonus to either Hilton or Marriott for luxe stays in places like Bora Bora or the Urubamba Valley.

Understanding Airline Alliances

Airlines form partnerships called "alliances" where they agree to let their loyalty program members book flights on each other's planes. The three major alliances are:

• Star Alliance (United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore, ANA)
• Oneworld (American, British Airways, Alaska, Qatar, Cathay Pacific)
• SkyTeam (Delta, Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic)

This matters because when you transfer points to an airline, you can usually book flights on ANY airline in that alliance. Understanding this opens up SO many more options for using your points. Read our complete guide to airline alliances here.

Ready to Start Transferring Smarter?

Listen, I know this is a lot of information. Understanding how to transfer credit card reward points to partners felt overwhelming to me at first too. But once you understand the basics and have good reference materials (like the cheat sheets), it becomes second nature.

The key things to remember:

1. Always check award availability before transferring
2. Transfers are one-way streets (no backsies!)
3. Know your transfer times and ratios
4. Start with the sweet spots I mentioned above
5. Watch for transfer bonuses that can boost your credit card rewards

Need More Help? Let's Work Together

If you're feeling stuck on how to use your points for a specific trip, I offer personalized one-on-one consultations where we'll create a custom strategy for your travel goals. In a 45-minute Booking Strategy session, we'll map out exactly which points to transfer and how to book your dream trip. It's like having a points expert in your corner.

→ Book your consultation here

Want to Master This On Your Own?

If you prefer to learn at your own pace, my course Points & Miles Made Easy walks you through everything you need to know about earning and using points for family travel. You'll learn the exact system I use to book our family trips, including:

• Which credit cards to get (and in what order)
• How to meet minimum spends without overspending
• When to transfer vs. when to book through portals
• My favorite sweet spots for families
• How to find award availability

→ Get instant access here:

Now go book that dream trip your family deserves. You've got this!

extra resources

01. START HERE

02. POINTS & MILES CALCULATOR

04. 4 CARDS I'LL KEEP

05. GUIDE TO TRANSFERING CHASE POINTS