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Capital One Venture X Business
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
⌛ Limited Time Offer
For a limited time, earn up to 350,000 bonus miles: 150,000 miles once you spend $30,000 in the first 3 months, and an additional 200,000 miles once you spend $200,000 in the first 6 months
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
- With a $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 miles (worth $100) each year at renewal, the credits you receive are actually worth more than the annual fee.
- Free authorized user cards where the authorized user gets full airport lounge access of their own is unheard of.
- No Preset Spending Limit; Earns Capital One Miles
Pros
- The annual fee is more than covered by annual credits
- Comes with access to Capital One lounges and Priority Pass lounge with generous guest policies
- Free authorized users also get the same airport lounge access benefits and Hertz status as the primary card holder
- No Preset Spending Limit
Cons
- The annual fee, while effectively negative $5 after credits, can feel like a lot.
- Aside from bonus points for booking through Capital One travel, there are no bonus categories. Still, all eligible purchases do earn 2X miles per dollar spent which is great.
- Points don't transfer to any domestic airlines, although you can use other partners to book domestic award tickets on domestic airlines.
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Excellent (800-850) *
Value: $0.016
It's worth noting that some Capital One cards earn 2 miles per dollar on everything, making the 1.6 cent per mile value an understatement as you'd be earning a 3.2% yield on every day spend. However, this assumes you will learn how to utilize the Capital One airline and hotel transfer partners, most of which transfer 1:1. The minimum value is 1 cent when used to book travel in their portal or to cover previously paid for travel, however, our calculator assumes you will use Capital One's air and hotel transfer partners when calculating a 1.6 cent per point value. We also have a Guide to Capital One Miles.
transfer fees: Balance transfers are not available on Venture X Business
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
⌛ Limited Time Offer
Limited Time Travel Offer: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel with your Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You can earn one or both of these offers. Offer ends 6/30/25. Terms Apply.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
While not frequent, we have seen transfer bonuses from American Express Membership Rewards to Aeromexico before, although the last two were in 2024 and 2022 (skipping 2023). This transfer bonus ends 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025.
Aeromexico Rewards points are worth *roughly* 0.75 cents each but with a wide range of ways to redeem.
Normally, you get 1.6 Aeromexico points for 1 Membership Rewards points so that bumps to 1,920 Aeromexico for 1,000 Amex under this promotion – almost 2:1.
Aeromexico uses a range of redemption options including standard fixed awards and flexible awards – and you’ll see what’s available by searching and that does not require an account.
You can search here (use Google Translate in your browser if available as it’s in Spanish) to check possible redemptions.
Importantly, note the Aeromexico Rewards cancellation policy which is that, well, you can’t cancel it. You can change it, though.
Award Ticket may not be cancelled or reimbursed. If the Member decides not to use the Award Ticket and does not have a flight date scheduled, their Award Ticket will be open for a future flight on the same route, season and cabin.
The Award Ticket will be open for 1 (one) year after the original issuing date, so the trip must be completed within said validity period. Route or cabin changes are not applicable to new Award Tickets. However, there might be a tax and Premier Point difference between the original Award Ticket and the new one. Said difference must be covered when the new Award Ticket is issued. The issuing of the new Award Ticket is subject to seat availability on the desired flight.
Luckily, Aeromexico miles don’t expire.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
Ending 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025, this transfer bonus is not the same for everyone. Some are being offered a 10% bonus and others are being offered a 20% transfer bonus.
If we look at historical transfer bonuses to Etihad Guest from all transferable points, we see that the average transfer bonus is 20% – 40%, making both iterations of this promotion at the very low end of the range.
My opinion (which was true at 40%, let alone 10%-20%) is that only an expert user of Etihad Guest should even consider it. If booking on Etihad itself (which you might do for access to Etihad First Class space), you will pay between 25% and 75% to cancel a GuestSeat (saver) booking. That is the most punitive of any program I can think of. You can use it to book JetBlue (80k US-Europe in business) but you can also use Qatar for that without the punitive penalties.
You can book short haul partner awards like AA for as little as 6,000 miles, but I don’t think the juice is worth a speculative squeeze. Then again, AA to Europe for 65,000 Etihad isn’t bad with a 40% transfer bonus… You can always check pricing for Etihad Partners if considering it.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Must be booked via Amex Travel to earn 5X; otherwise earn 1X
Must be booked via Amex Travel to earn 5X; otherwise earn 1X
- With an array of both luxury travel perks and small business benefits, this is the ultimate premium card for high-spenders.
- Generous protections when using the card to make purchases that provide genuine peace of mind.
- Amex Membership Rewards® points are extremely valuable, especially for their ability to be transferred to hotel and airline partners.
Pros
- Robust 5x Membership Rewards® on flights and prepaid hotels at Amex Travel
- Access to over 1,400 worldwide airport lounges as part of the American Express Global Lounge Collection including Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass Select membership, and more.
- More than $1,500 in statement credits that can help your small business and travel- Unlock over $1,000 in annual statement credits on a curation of business purchases, including select purchases made with Dell Technologies, Indeed, Adobe, and U.S. wireless service providers. (Terms apply.)
Cons
- High annual fee of $695
- While there are variety of generous statement credits, they are mostly specific to certain merchants: Dell, Adobe, Indeed, etc.
- Airline fee credit does not cover airfare, only incidentals like checked baggage fees or other incidentals.
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.017
Instant Transfers as well as solid transfer partners. The value would go up if they had any hotel partners with a fair exchange rate. ANA (an exception to instant transfers), Virgin, Air Canada and Avianca are top airline partners for maximizing your points. They can also transfer to Delta if you wish and while the rates aren't ideal, they can transfer to Marriott and Hilton as well. ANA provides almost unbeatable value for booking a Round the World flight all in Business Class. The stated value also assumes you will take advantage of transfer partners rather than book via their booking portal, where they are only worth between 1 and 1.5 cents. We've also created a Guide to American Express Membership Rewards.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
⌛ Limited Time Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Best offer this year!
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
Get 1,800 IHG Rewards Points for every 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points when you transfer by 11:59PM ET on April 30, 2025
We see transfer bonuses from Chase to IHG ranging from 60% to 80% approximately twice a year.
Do some sample searches before considering this bonus as we value an IHG point around 0.4 cents and a Chase point around 1.75 cents making the math here hard to justify. it’s a bit better if you have an IHG Premier or IHG Business Premier credit card which gives the 4th night free on awards.
So even though this is the high end the bonus range, I’d be hard pressed to recommend this transfer unless you know exactly what you are booking and the value exceeds what else you can get with your Ultimate Rewards® points.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 2X points.
Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 2X points.
Earn this multiplier when you purchase via Chase Travel℠. If you purchase any other way, you will earn 2X points.
- Earns valuable and highly flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- Extensive travel protections -- including lost luggage insurance and a collision damage waiver on rental cars up to $60,000 (Primary except in NY where it is secondary)
- 3X points on dining means you can rack up points quickly!
Pros
- You can offset the annual fee by more than half with the $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel℠
- Earns valuable and highly flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- Extensive travel protections -- including lost luggage insurance and a damage waiver on rental cars.
Cons
- A low earning rate of 1x point per dollar on other purchases keeps it from being an ideal everyday spending card.
- High credit scores required for account opening.
- Lack of travel benefits like a Global Entry application fee credit.
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.01-$0.0175
The Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, and Ink Preferred all have the ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners. We use an average value that you can expect to get by utilizing your points for these transfer partners. If you do not have at least one of these cards, Ultimate Rewards are worth exactly 1 cent per point. Also keep in mind that when you redeem your points, you can elect to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal where the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred have a point value of 1.25 cents per point and the Sapphire Reserve has points worth 1.5 cents each. You can move points freely between your Ultimate Rewards cards, i.e. from a Chase Freedom Unlimited to a Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can also read our Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
transfer fees: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
American Express® Business Gold Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
🎁 Bonus offer
Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Terms apply.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
While not frequent, we have seen transfer bonuses from American Express Membership Rewards to Aeromexico before, although the last two were in 2024 and 2022 (skipping 2023). This transfer bonus ends 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025.
Aeromexico Rewards points are worth *roughly* 0.75 cents each but with a wide range of ways to redeem.
Normally, you get 1.6 Aeromexico points for 1 Membership Rewards points so that bumps to 1,920 Aeromexico for 1,000 Amex under this promotion – almost 2:1.
Aeromexico uses a range of redemption options including standard fixed awards and flexible awards – and you’ll see what’s available by searching and that does not require an account.
You can search here (use Google Translate in your browser if available as it’s in Spanish) to check possible redemptions.
Importantly, note the Aeromexico Rewards cancellation policy which is that, well, you can’t cancel it. You can change it, though.
Award Ticket may not be cancelled or reimbursed. If the Member decides not to use the Award Ticket and does not have a flight date scheduled, their Award Ticket will be open for a future flight on the same route, season and cabin.
The Award Ticket will be open for 1 (one) year after the original issuing date, so the trip must be completed within said validity period. Route or cabin changes are not applicable to new Award Tickets. However, there might be a tax and Premier Point difference between the original Award Ticket and the new one. Said difference must be covered when the new Award Ticket is issued. The issuing of the new Award Ticket is subject to seat availability on the desired flight.
Luckily, Aeromexico miles don’t expire.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
Ending 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025, this transfer bonus is not the same for everyone. Some are being offered a 10% bonus and others are being offered a 20% transfer bonus.
If we look at historical transfer bonuses to Etihad Guest from all transferable points, we see that the average transfer bonus is 20% – 40%, making both iterations of this promotion at the very low end of the range.
My opinion (which was true at 40%, let alone 10%-20%) is that only an expert user of Etihad Guest should even consider it. If booking on Etihad itself (which you might do for access to Etihad First Class space), you will pay between 25% and 75% to cancel a GuestSeat (saver) booking. That is the most punitive of any program I can think of. You can use it to book JetBlue (80k US-Europe in business) but you can also use Qatar for that without the punitive penalties.
You can book short haul partner awards like AA for as little as 6,000 miles, but I don’t think the juice is worth a speculative squeeze. Then again, AA to Europe for 65,000 Etihad isn’t bad with a 40% transfer bonus… You can always check pricing for Etihad Partners if considering it.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
Earn 4X Membership Rewards Points on the 2 categories that you spend the most on each month, up to a combined maximum of $150,000
3X Membership Rewards Points on Flights and Prepaid Hotels Booked at AmexTravel.com; Otherwise 1X
Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card; 1X otherwise
- Amazing Membership Rewards points earning rate for 6 popular business spending categories
- No Preset Spending Limit means your spending limit is flexible. Unlike a traditional card with a set limit, the amount you can spend adapts based on factors such as your purchase, payment, and credit history.
- Card membership includes the very well regarded American Express customer service
Pros
- You can't beat the 4X points on 2 out of the following 6 categories each month: U.S. advertising and media, U.S. gas stations, U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, U.S. restaurants, U.S. wireless telephone service providers, and U.S. Transit
- Although the annual fee seems high, if you max out the 4X on $150,000 in purchases, that earns you 600,000 Membership Rewards points which Your Best Credit Cards values at around $10,000
- Card membership includes the very well regarded American Express customer service
Cons
- The high annual fee, despite being worth it for high spenders
- If you spend well over $150,000 a year in these categories, you may max it out and remaining spend earns at just 1X.
- Car rental CDW coverage is secondary to your own auto insurance
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.017
Instant Transfers as well as solid transfer partners. The value would go up if they had any hotel partners with a fair exchange rate. ANA (an exception to instant transfers), Virgin, Air Canada and Avianca are top airline partners for maximizing your points. They can also transfer to Delta if you wish and while the rates aren't ideal, they can transfer to Marriott and Hilton as well. ANA provides almost unbeatable value for booking a Round the World flight all in Business Class. The stated value also assumes you will take advantage of transfer partners rather than book via their booking portal, where they are only worth between 1 and 1.5 cents. We've also created a Guide to American Express Membership Rewards.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
🎁 Bonus offer
Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
Get 1,800 IHG Rewards Points for every 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points when you transfer by 11:59PM ET on April 30, 2025
We see transfer bonuses from Chase to IHG ranging from 60% to 80% approximately twice a year.
Do some sample searches before considering this bonus as we value an IHG point around 0.4 cents and a Chase point around 1.75 cents making the math here hard to justify. it’s a bit better if you have an IHG Premier or IHG Business Premier credit card which gives the 4th night free on awards.
So even though this is the high end the bonus range, I’d be hard pressed to recommend this transfer unless you know exactly what you are booking and the value exceeds what else you can get with your Ultimate Rewards® points.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
- Earns fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- 3X points per dollar on travel and online advertising on social media sites up to $150,000 a year can mean huge points earnings. Limit is per account anniversary year
- Primary Car Rental CDW, trip delay and cancellation insurance, and cell phone protection
Pros
- 3X points per dollar for combined purchases travel, advertising on social media sites, phone services and more - up to $150,000 per account anniversary year can mean huge points earnings
- Earns fully transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- Travel protections, primary car rental CDW, and cell phone protections
Cons
- $95 annual fee
- The 3X bonus categories have a cap of $150,000 on combined purchases, then the earn rate drops to 1X. It also earns 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases.
- No 0% intro APR offers
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.01-$0.0175
The Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, and Ink Preferred all have the ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners. We use an average value that you can expect to get by utilizing your points for these transfer partners. If you do not have at least one of these cards, Ultimate Rewards are worth exactly 1 cent per point. Also keep in mind that when you redeem your points, you can elect to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal where the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Preferred have a point value of 1.25 cents per point and the Sapphire Reserve has points worth 1.5 cents each. You can move points freely between your Ultimate Rewards cards, i.e. from a Chase Freedom Unlimited to a Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can also read our Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
transfer fees: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
United℠ Business Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
👑 Best Ever Offer
Earn 125,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles, after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
- Earn up to 2x United miles on select bonus categories and PQPs to help you qualify for the next level of Premier elite status
- Free first checked bag benefit, worth $40 or up to $160 per round trip (Terms apply) for every round-trip United Airlines flight you take
- Elevate your United flights with two annual United Club certificates, 25% savings on inflight purchases, and priority boarding for you and your companions on the same booking
Pros
- United travel perks, such as your first checked bag free, priority boarding privileges, two annual United Club passes and more
- Earn up to 4,000 Premier® qualifying points (PQP) towards elite status
- Great travel and purchase protections that can help your business save when things don't go as planned
Cons
- The annual fee is $150
- Only provides two United Club passes per year
- Subpar earning rate, as you can only earn up to 2x bonus miles on eligible categories
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.012
They have a similar network to AA in terms of reach via the Star Alliance and also (unlike Delta) allow for booking First Class international awards in the Star Alliance network, but they charge noticeably more for Partner Awards and the rates keep (stealthily) rising. United partner Lufthansa tends to have good availability to Europe making it somewhat easier to use to Europe than American, which relies heavily on British Airways and BA charges incredibly steep surcharges on those awards.
transfer fees: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
🎁 Bonus offer
Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms apply.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
While not frequent, we have seen transfer bonuses from American Express Membership Rewards to Aeromexico before, although the last two were in 2024 and 2022 (skipping 2023). This transfer bonus ends 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025.
Aeromexico Rewards points are worth *roughly* 0.75 cents each but with a wide range of ways to redeem.
Normally, you get 1.6 Aeromexico points for 1 Membership Rewards points so that bumps to 1,920 Aeromexico for 1,000 Amex under this promotion – almost 2:1.
Aeromexico uses a range of redemption options including standard fixed awards and flexible awards – and you’ll see what’s available by searching and that does not require an account.
You can search here (use Google Translate in your browser if available as it’s in Spanish) to check possible redemptions.
Importantly, note the Aeromexico Rewards cancellation policy which is that, well, you can’t cancel it. You can change it, though.
Award Ticket may not be cancelled or reimbursed. If the Member decides not to use the Award Ticket and does not have a flight date scheduled, their Award Ticket will be open for a future flight on the same route, season and cabin.
The Award Ticket will be open for 1 (one) year after the original issuing date, so the trip must be completed within said validity period. Route or cabin changes are not applicable to new Award Tickets. However, there might be a tax and Premier Point difference between the original Award Ticket and the new one. Said difference must be covered when the new Award Ticket is issued. The issuing of the new Award Ticket is subject to seat availability on the desired flight.
Luckily, Aeromexico miles don’t expire.
Offer expires on Apr 30, 2025
Ending 11:59 p.m. MT on 4/30/2025, this transfer bonus is not the same for everyone. Some are being offered a 10% bonus and others are being offered a 20% transfer bonus.
If we look at historical transfer bonuses to Etihad Guest from all transferable points, we see that the average transfer bonus is 20% – 40%, making both iterations of this promotion at the very low end of the range.
My opinion (which was true at 40%, let alone 10%-20%) is that only an expert user of Etihad Guest should even consider it. If booking on Etihad itself (which you might do for access to Etihad First Class space), you will pay between 25% and 75% to cancel a GuestSeat (saver) booking. That is the most punitive of any program I can think of. You can use it to book JetBlue (80k US-Europe in business) but you can also use Qatar for that without the punitive penalties.
You can book short haul partner awards like AA for as little as 6,000 miles, but I don’t think the juice is worth a speculative squeeze. Then again, AA to Europe for 65,000 Etihad isn’t bad with a 40% transfer bonus… You can always check pricing for Etihad Partners if considering it.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Earn 5x Membership Rewards points on airfare (booked directly with the airline or via AmexTravel.com and on prepaid hotels when booked via AmexTravel.com), up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
Only when booked via AmexTravel.com; Otherwise, hotels will earn 1X points per dollar spent
- With over $1,800 in available statement credits, this is a premium travel rewards card with benefits galore. (Terms apply.) Note: Aside from the listed bonus categories, earn 1X on all other eligible purchases.
- The Platinum Card® hasn't shed its travel roots, but it’s expanded beyond to become a lifestyle card with perks like Uber, Saks Fifth Avenue, Equinox, and more. (Enrollment required)
- Amex Membership Rewards® points are extremely flexible, with the option to redeem for travel directly through Amex Travel or transfer to a wide range of airline and hotel partners.
Pros
- A wide array of travel and lifestyle credits and exclusive access that can enhance your life.
- There is no better card for the breadth and variety of airport lounge access worldwide. Plus, the Centurion Lounge network is the largest amongst credit card issuers.
- One of the best cards to earn points on airfare: 5 points per dollar on airfare purchased directly with airlines or through the Amex Travel portal (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year).
Cons
- High annual fee that will require a bit of work to fully maximize.
- Besides airfare and select hotels, it's not the best card to use for other purchases as it only earns 1X on categories outside of flights booked directly with the airlines (5X) or through the Amex Travel portal (5X on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year) and 5X points for prepaid hotels booked with Amex Travel.
- Car rental insurance is only secondary, not primary as it is with premium cards from Chase and Capital One.
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.017
Instant Transfers as well as solid transfer partners. The value would go up if they had any hotel partners with a fair exchange rate. ANA (an exception to instant transfers), Virgin, Air Canada and Avianca are top airline partners for maximizing your points. They can also transfer to Delta if you wish and while the rates aren't ideal, they can transfer to Marriott and Hilton as well. ANA provides almost unbeatable value for booking a Round the World flight all in Business Class. The stated value also assumes you will take advantage of transfer partners rather than book via their booking portal, where they are only worth between 1 and 1.5 cents. We've also created a Guide to American Express Membership Rewards.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
Citi Strata Premier® Credit Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
🎁 Bonus offer
For a limited time, earn 75,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $750 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
Offer expires on May 17, 2025
NOTES: Virgin Flying Club has moved to a dynamic pricing for awards. In some cases we are seeing extreme value like 29,000 point Business Class awards from the US to London. In other cases, the prices have risen dramatically. Run some searches before transferring.
It’s also worth Virgin Atlantic transfer bonuses are fairly frequent between various programs. See historical transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic here. This is the 9th transfer bonus in the last year from a bank program to Virgin Atlantic. As you can see, it’s nearly always 30% with unicorns for 40%.
If we isolate to just Citi ThankYou to Virgin Atlantic Transfer Bonuses, it’s always 30%.
Best Uses of Virgin Flying Club points:
Two great uses are domestically on Delta within the US or US-Mexico/Canada and for economy flights to/from Europe that are as few as 12,000 miles each way on partners such as KLM or Delta.
If you could actually find a Delta One award FROM Europe to the US, it would be just 50,000 points. Availability is a unicorn. Unfortunately, awards TO Europe on Delta now cost more and have $1,000 + surcharges). Virgin Atlantic can also book Air France and KLM flights as well as other SkyTeam alliance airlines.
The other, well known, “best use” is to book 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 also book these ANA awards as one way for half the points. Search on United and then call Virgin to book.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
- Earn triple points from five distinct spending categories from air travel and hotels to restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations
- Take advantage of World Elite Mastercard perks, like Lyft and DoorDash perks and extended warranty protection
- Citi ThankYou® points are extremely flexible, with the ability to utilize an array of more than 15 airline and two hotel transfer partners to get the most bang for your buck on travel
Pros
- The $95 annual fee can be completely offset by the $100 hotel credit
- Redeem Citi ThankYou® points for a variety of travel, including the ability to transfer points to more than 15 airline and hotel programs
- Trip Protection benefits
Cons
- Citi ThankYou® points can only be transferred to airline programs (no hotels) and of them, the partners are more obscure international airlines
- Weaker on travel perks, with no airport lounge access or TSA PreCheck/Global Entry reimbursement
- No domestic airline transfer partners
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Good (670-739) *
Value: $0.01-$0.016
If you have a Citi Strata Premier® card or a legacy Citi Prestige card, you can transfer your points to Citi's full range of airline and hotel partners. Other ThankYou points-earning cards can be pooled with your Premier or Prestige to unlock airline and hotel program transfers. We calculate that you can get an average of 1.6 cents per point when redeeming this way. If you have any other Citi ThankYou point cards and do not have a Strata Premier or Prestige, then your ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each.
transfer fees: Balance transfer fee applies with this offer; 5% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
Capital One Venture X Credit Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
🎁 Bonus offer
Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
Only applies to bookings made via the Capital One Portal; Earn 2X otherwise.
- With a $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 miles (worth $100) each year at renewal, the credits you receive are actually worth more than the annual fee.
- Free authorized user cards where the authorized user gets full airport lounge access of their own is unheard of.
- Capital One Miles are extremely flexible, with the option to redeem for travel at a value of one cent per point, or transfer to a wide range of excellent air and hotel partners.
Pros
- The annual fee is more than covered by annual credits
- Comes with access to Capital One lounges and Priority Pass lounges with generous guest policies
- Free authorized users also get the same airport lounge access benefits and Hertz status as the primary card holder
Cons
- The annual fee, while effectively negative $5 after credits, can feel like a lot.
- Aside from bonus points for booking through Capital One travel, there are no bonus categories. Still, all eligible purchases do earn 2X miles per dollar spent which is great.
- Points don't transfer to any domestic airlines, although you can use other partners to book domestic award tickets on domestic airlines.
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Excellent (800-850) *
Value: $0.016
It's worth noting that some Capital One cards earn 2 miles per dollar on everything, making the 1.6 cent per mile value an understatement as you'd be earning a 3.2% yield on every day spend. However, this assumes you will learn how to utilize the Capital One airline and hotel transfer partners, most of which transfer 1:1. The minimum value is 1 cent when used to book travel in their portal or to cover previously paid for travel, however, our calculator assumes you will use Capital One's air and hotel transfer partners when calculating a 1.6 cent per point value. We also have a Guide to Capital One Miles.
transfer fees: Balance Transfer Fee applies to balances transferred at a promotional rate
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
United Club℠ Card
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
☝ Increased Offer
Earn 95,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles, after spending $5,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account.
Bonus points for spend in the following bonus categories:
On United only; otherwise earn 2 miles per dollar
Earn 5 miles per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when you prepay directly through Renowned Hotels and Resorts using your United Club℠ Card.
- United Club membership for less than the cost of buying United Club membership, covering the annual fee and then some!
- An absolute ton of benefits, from Premier Access treatment to top tier Avis elite status and IHG Platinum status, and Primary CDW.
- Great shopping protections, including Return Protection on top of Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection.
Pros
- Get United Club membership for less than the cost of buying United Club membership, covering the annual fee cost and then some!
- A ton of shopping protections, from Return Protection to Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection.
- Tons of additional benefits, from Premier Access treatment to top tier Avis elite status and IHG Platinum status, and Primary CDW.
- Earn up to 28,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $15 you spend on purchases), up to and including the Premier 1K® level
Cons
- High annual fee
- Airport lounge access is limited to United Clubs and does not include any other lounges unless you qualify for All Access membership
- Miles earned are limited to use in the United MileagePlus program
Transaction Fee: 0%
Score: Excellent (800-850) *
Value: $0.012
They have a similar network to AA in terms of reach via the Star Alliance and also (unlike Delta) allow for booking First Class international awards in the Star Alliance network, but they charge noticeably more for Partner Awards and the rates keep (stealthily) rising. United partner Lufthansa tends to have good availability to Europe making it somewhat easier to use to Europe than American, which relies heavily on British Airways and BA charges incredibly steep surcharges on those awards.
transfer fees: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
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