Transferable currencies are a fantastic way leverage your points effectively and use them to book your trips. Firstly, they help you keep multiple options open, given the number of transfer partners on offer. Secondly, they help you hedge against a possible devaluation in a particular miles or points currency. At the moment, we’re seeing new points transfer bonuses. You can earn up to 50% bonus points. Let’s have a look at them and find out whether you should currently transfer points.
Up to 50% bonus points
Over the weekend, I saw some new bonus points offers show up in my account. As someone who uses his Chase and Amex points frequently to book trips. However, I’m considering using at least one of these bonuses for future trips.
| Flexible Points Currency | Transfer Bonus | Standard Transfer Ratio | Transfer Bonus | Transfer Ratio during promo | Offer End Date |
| Amex Membership Rewards | Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | 15% | 1:1.15 | Friday, February 28, 2025 |
| Amex Membership Rewards | Hilton Honors | 1:2 | 25% | 1:2.5 | Friday, March 14, 2025 |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | 30% | 1:1.3 | Monday, February 17, 2025 |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1 | 50% | 1:1.5 | Monday, March 31, 2025 |
| Citi ThankYou Points | Qatar Airways | 1:1 | 20% | 1:1.2 | Saturday, March 15, 2025 |
Now, should you go for it?
Here’s what I’d recommend. If you have a trip coming up in the next 6 months, then it makes sense, as most people often book trips 2-3 months in advance. If you’re looking to do so, then it makes sense to transfer in advance. Let’s say you’ve decided to transfer. Before you actually move your points, you need to verify a couple of things:
- If you’re looking to book an award flight, make sure that there’s enough award space in the time frame that you’re looking for. You can also use award booking search sites to look up if there’s enough inventory.
- If you’re looking to book a hotel stay, then you can not only transfer but also book the hotel. Most properties give you a nice cancellation window, anywhere between up to 48 hours – 15 days before booking, depending on property. In the past, whenever I’ve seen points transfer bonuses to hotel chains, I’ve transferred and booked hotels well in advance, after having a look at the cancellation policy.
The Pundit’s Mantra
At the moment, I’m tempted to transfer the some points to Hilton and Marriott, given that the bonus points offers are pretty lucrative. However, they still pale in comparison to some of the offers we saw last year when Amex ran a 40% transfer bonus to Hilton and Chase ran a 70% transfer bonus to Marriott.
As I said at the outset, I’d not recommend transferring points if you don’t have a trip planned later this year. Points currencies can devalue at very little or short notice and you could be left holding the bag if you transfer speculatively, without any specific booking in mind.
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American Express is currently running limited time welcome bonus offer. You can earn up to 110,000 miles from a single credit card welcome bonus.
