Not all points and miles are created equally. This is great news because travelers have many redemption options. Transferrable points are issued by banks for spending on their credit cards and can be transferred to airlines and hotel partners for discounted (or free) travel. Such travel brings increased value, which is the whole reason why the points and miles “game” exists.
Furthermore, this post analyzes the four major transferrable points issuers and their transfer partners. Comparing each issuer lets travelers determine which issuer’s “ecosystem” and credit cards are best for their travel needs. Thereafter, they can then create a strategy to earn more points more efficiently and travel for less.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
The Bank of Morgan has the fewest number of partners. But the name of the game is quality over quantity at Chase. Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points transfer to the following partners at a 1:1 ratio:
Hotels
- IHG
- Marriott
- World of Hyatt
Airlines
- Aer Lingus
- Air Canada (starting in late 2021)
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- KLM Flying Blue / Air France
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Analysis
Chase UR points are so valuable because they nicely cover all three of the main types of travel: hotels, domestic flights, and international flights.
Plus, Chase is the only issuer that has partnerships with three of the major hotel chains. This is why hotel dwellers love Chase so much. But World of Hyatt is the only valuable option because Marriott and IHG’s points are worth less than 1 cent per point (CPP). You will be losing money and value if you transfer UR points to either of those partners.
Furthermore, all of Chase’s airline partners are major domestic and international airlines. Southwest, Jet Blue, and United are great domestic partners. They are well known and popular with many travelers. Plus, you can go almost anywhere around the world with the international airlines.
However, the disadvantage with Chase is that they rarely have transfer bonuses. Less than five have been offered since 2019; and none were offered before that.
American Express Membership Rewards Points
American Express has the most transfer partners, which makes their charge and credit cards very versatile. Membership Rewards (MR) points transfer to the following partners at a 1:1 ratio unless otherwise noted:
Hotels
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton (1 MR = 2 Hilton Honors Points)
- Marriott
Airlines
- Aer Lingus
- Aeromexico (5 MR = 8 Premier Points)
- Air Canada
- Air Italia Millemiglia
- Asia Miles / Cathay Pacific
- Avianca Lifemiles
- British Airways
- Delta Airlines
- Emirates
- Etihad Guest
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Iberia
- JetBlue (5 MR = 4 TrueBlue Points)
- KLM Flying Blue / Air France
- Nippon Airways
- Qantas
- Singapore Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Analysis
American Express’ partners show that MR points are excellent for both domestic and international airfare.
Delta, Hawaiian, and Jet Blue highlight American Express’ domestic airline partners. These three airlines are familiar to many Americans and have been around for a long time. However, Delta’s SkyMiles are a poor redemption for MR points. This is because many of them are needed to redeem for a flight and Delta does not post rewards charts. Hawaiian and Jet Blue are the better redemptions for domestic flights.
One disadvantage with American Express and their domestic partners is that Amex passes on a 6% excise tax onto cardholders. This tax is levied on transferrable point issuers from the US Government. However, Amex is the only credit card issuer that passes it onto consumers.
Furthermore, Amex has the most international airline partners of the four issuers, which gives cardholders plenty of redemption options. Cardholders must also consider factors such as flight time, class, and fuel surcharges to decide which airline to transfer their points to.
Unfortunately, American Express only has three hotel partners. And none of those partners’ points are worth more than 1 CPP. Surprisingly, Hilton’s points have the best value at 1 CPP, assuming a 0.5 CPP valuation for Hilton Honors points. It would nice if Amex and Hilton would permanently increase the transfer ratio from 1:2 to 1:3 (1.5 CPP). This would give cardholders more incentive to transfer MR points to Hilton. Plus, Amex could better compete with Chase, which has Hyatt as their most valuable hotel transfer partner.
Citi Thank You Points
Citi Thank You (TY) points are another useful currency for international flights. While Citi does not have as many partners as Amex, TY points could be useful for the right redemptions. TY points transfer to the following partners at a 1:1 ratio (unless otherwise noted):
- Aeromexico
- Asia Miles / Cathay Pacific
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Emirates
- Etihad Guest
- Eva Air
- KLM Flying Blue / Air France
- Jet Airways
- JetBlue (5 TY = 4 True Blue Points if you do not have a premium Citi card, otherwise 1:1)
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Singapore Airlines
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Analysis
Citi’s specialty is international airlines. They have no hotel partners and just one domestic airline partner in Jet Blue. Unfortunately, transferring TY points to Jet Blue is not very valuable. They are the only partner that does not have a 1:1 transfer ratio. Citi is likely doing this on purpose as a sneaky way of passing the US Government’s excise tax onto consumers without telling them.
Furthermore, the other partners all transfer at a 1:1 ratio and some of them also have transfer bonuses. This is nice for Citi because it helps them compete with Amex and provide more value to their cardholders.
Capital One Miles
Capital One is the most recent issuer to enter the transferrable points “game”. But even after a few years and several tweaks to their program, they still have a long way to go in every facet.
One of the biggest problems with Capital One miles is that they have a 4:3 transfer ratio with partner miles. In other words, four Capital One miles transfers into three partner miles, a rate of 1.5 CPP. The exceptions are Emirates and Singapore, which have an even worse 2:1 ratio (or just 1 CPP).
Capital One has one hotel partner: Accor Live Limitless (2 Miles = 1 Point)
They also have the following airline partners:
- Aeromexico
- Air Canada
- Air Italia Millemiglia
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates (2 Miles = 1 Emirates Mile)
- Etihad Guest
- Eva Air
- Finnair Plus
- Hainan Fortune Wings Club
- Jet Blue (2 Miles = 1 True Blue Point)
- KLM Flying Blue / Air France
- Qantas
- Qatar
- Singapore Airlines (2 Miles = 1 Kris Flyer Miles)
Analysis
Capital One is another issuer that specializes in international airlines. They did not have any domestic airlines until they partnered with Jet Blue in 2019.
Unfortunately, Capital One’s transfer ratios devalues their own miles, giving consumers less value and less incentive for transferring. Capital One must introduce 1:1 transfer partner ratios if they want to compete with Chase, American Express, and Citi. Hopefully, Capital One will change their program for the better.
Overlap
There are a plethora of airlines that appear more than once on partners’ lists. In other words, those airlines have partnerships with more than one transferrable points card issuer. An airline having an exclusive partnership with an issuer is rare. One example of such a partnership is Delta and American Express, who have been partners for decades.
Conversely, there are four airlines that are currently partners with all four transferrable points credit card issuers. They are Emirates, Jet Blue, KLM Flying Blue / Air France, and Singapore Airlines.
Furthermore, most airlines are partners with two transferrable points issuers. This is great for fans of those airlines because they can earn multiple types of transferrable points and transfer them to the common airline. One example is British Airways, which is partners with Chase and American Express.
However, there are some airlines are not partners with any transferrable points card issuer. American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are two notable examples. Both airlines have their own series of co-branded cards, which are the only ways to earn their points.
There is only one hotel chain that is partners with multiple transferrable points issuers. That’s Marriott, which is partners with Chase and American Express.
Final Draw
This post analyzed the transferrable points and partners as well as provided a partner analysis for each issuer. Looking at everything in one post is a great way to compare issuers and partners, thereby letting cardholders create a strategy for transferrable points. Cardholders and travelers should base their strategy on which airlines and/or hotels they want to transfer your points to.
