Our “Famous Card Explorer”

Redeem for flights starting at 6,000 points. We like using points for domestic Delta flights (when there is availability!) as well as for SkyTeam flights and, of course, ANA First and Business Class flights. Virgin’s own flight rewards are dynamically priced but with high surcharges. I’d been seeing a lot of Upper Class seats from 29,000 points but I’m not seeing much now so do some homework on what you are hoping to book before transferring.

ANA First and Business class awards:

• First Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 145,000 points Round Trip
• First Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 170,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 105,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 120,000 points Round Trip

(Note that you can book one way for half the price of the points price listed. Also you must call to book these. Find availability on United’s site first. If you see it there, Virgin can usually, but not always, book the same for much less. Also, there have been reports that award availability between the US mainland and Japan isn’t bookable through Flying Club within 14 days of departure.)

There have been six transfer bonuses from Chase to IHG One Rewards in 2025 early 2026. One was 100%, two were 80%, and three were 70%.

We value IHG Rewards points at 0.4 cents and Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.75 cents, so this is far from a slam dunk and we’d advise to only transfer if you’ve already found a great redemption. Even at 100%, you are only getting, on average, 0.8 cents for each Ultimate Rewards point!

You may be looking to “top up” an existing IHG Rewards balance for a reward stay and this would be an opportune time.

But as a general rule, we find that one Chase Ultimate Rewards point is at least 4 times more valuable than  IHG Rewards points, so, again, do your homework before transferring and make sure you have a deal lined up – ideally using the 4th night free benefit from a co-branded credit card.

Transfers take less than a day (most likely less than a few hours, but not instant), although note that IHG is adding the bonus on their side so there could be a delay.

Redeem for flights starting at 6,000 points. We like using points for domestic Delta flights (when there is availability!) as well as for SkyTeam flights and, of course, ANA First and Business Class flights. Virgin’s own flight rewards are dynamically priced but with high surcharges. I’d been seeing a lot of Upper Class seats from 29,000 points but I’m not seeing much now so do some homework on what you are hoping to book before transferring.

ANA First and Business class awards:

• First Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 145,000 points Round Trip
• First Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 170,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 105,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 120,000 points Round Trip

(Note that you can book one way for half the price of the points price listed. Also you must call to book these. Find availability on United’s site first. If you see it there, Virgin can usually, but not always, book the same for much less. Also, there have been reports that award availability between the US mainland and Japan isn’t bookable through Flying Club within 14 days of departure.)

Redeem for flights starting at 6,000 points. We like using points for domestic Delta flights (when there is availability!) as well as for SkyTeam flights and, of course, ANA First and Business Class flights. Virgin’s own flight rewards are dynamically priced but with high surcharges. I’d been seeing a lot of Upper Class seats from 29,000 points but I’m not seeing much now so do some homework on what you are hoping to book before transferring.

ANA First and Business class awards:

• First Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 145,000 points Round Trip
• First Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 170,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from West Coast: 105,000 points Round Trip
• Business Class to/from Japan from East Coast: 120,000 points Round Trip

(Note that you can book one way for half the price of the points price listed. Also you must call to book these. Find availability on United’s site first. If you see it there, Virgin can usually, but not always, book the same for much less. Also, there have been reports that award availability between the US mainland and Japan isn’t bookable through Flying Club within 14 days of departure.)

Typically, the main use of EVA Air miles are to book business class awards on EVA. These are not released to partners, most of the time, although it’s been flagged by Tim @ Roame.travel that they have recently been making some available to partners 7 days before the flight. Still, if you want to advance plan, you need EVA miles.

It can take up to 36 hours for the transfer to go through, so you can’t find space and then transfer, but there is really good award space for its own members so as long as you have some flexibility, you should be able to find a flight.

They do offer Star Alliance Round the World awards and with ANA no longer offering their really generous RTW award, this could be a nice option. These are 180,000 miles for economy, 325,000 miles for business class, and 480,000 miles in first class, although good luck finding 1st award space for that many segments!

While you can book other Star Alliance awards with EVA (like US to Europe in Business Class for 65,000 miles), the prices aren’t compelling enough to use EVA for them, especially without instant transfers. Surcharges are applied.

There have been six transfer bonuses from Chase to IHG One Rewards in 2025 early 2026. One was 100%, two were 80%, and three were 70%.

We value IHG Rewards points at 0.4 cents and Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.75 cents, so this is far from a slam dunk and we’d advise to only transfer if you’ve already found a great redemption. Even at 100%, you are only getting, on average, 0.8 cents for each Ultimate Rewards point!

You may be looking to “top up” an existing IHG Rewards balance for a reward stay and this would be an opportune time.

But as a general rule, we find that one Chase Ultimate Rewards point is at least 4 times more valuable than  IHG Rewards points, so, again, do your homework before transferring and make sure you have a deal lined up – ideally using the 4th night free benefit from a co-branded credit card.

Transfers take less than a day (most likely less than a few hours, but not instant), although note that IHG is adding the bonus on their side so there could be a delay.

There have been six transfer bonuses from Chase to IHG One Rewards in 2025 early 2026. One was 100%, two were 80%, and three were 70%.

We value IHG Rewards points at 0.4 cents and Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.75 cents, so this is far from a slam dunk and we’d advise to only transfer if you’ve already found a great redemption. Even at 100%, you are only getting, on average, 0.8 cents for each Ultimate Rewards point!

You may be looking to “top up” an existing IHG Rewards balance for a reward stay and this would be an opportune time.

But as a general rule, we find that one Chase Ultimate Rewards point is at least 4 times more valuable than  IHG Rewards points, so, again, do your homework before transferring and make sure you have a deal lined up – ideally using the 4th night free benefit from a co-branded credit card.

Transfers take less than a day (most likely less than a few hours, but not instant), although note that IHG is adding the bonus on their side so there could be a delay.