Maximize Your Points with Transfer Bonus Alerts

Let’s just get it out of the way – it’s odd that this bonus is starting on the 16th of March and ending on the 12th of April. Luckily, since you are subscribed to Transfer Bonus Alerts, you can get notified 7 and/or 2 days before that odd expiration date!

Next, this bonus is being offered directly by Citi, so you can see it in the usual place in your ThankYou account (I always prefer that to the ones sponsored by the airline directly where the bonus may or may not be instant).

It’s 25%, so it’s not too shabby, although Citi made the same offer back last October (you can see all historical bonuses to Avianca Lifemiles from all issuers here). Many recent transfer bonuses from other credit card currencies have been just 15%.

Bilt’s Rent Day for April 1, 2025 includes a Avios transfer bonus between 50% and 100% based on tier.

Here are the details by Bilt status level:

• Blue: 50% transfer bonus

• Silver: 60% transfer bonus

• Gold: 75% transfer bonus

• Platinum: 100% transfer bonus

The transfer bonus also applies to transfers directly to Iberia Avios and Aer Lingus Avios. For this one day transfer bonus, I’m consolidating all of my thoughts under this one article – mainly because you can transfer points between any Avios program, including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways, and Finnair.

Sweet spots vary by program.

• Iberia Avios is best known for off-peak business class flights from the East Coast to Madrid for just 34,000 Avios (That’s just 17,000 Bilt Points if have Bilt Platinum status)
• Link your BA account to Qatar and use on Qatar to book JetBlue Mint transatlantic for just 78,000 Avios. Of course you can also book Qatar’s Q-Suites business class using Qatar Avios.
• Don’t mind using the phone? If you were to find JFK to LAX or SFO available as a Saver award in First Class on American Airlines, Finnair could book that for you for 40,000 Avios. Qatar can book transcontinental business class for 43,000 Avios (70k in F).
• Qatar Avios are great for short haul flights on AA/Alaska/JAL/Qantas. British Airways Avios can work for flights outside of the US but stick to Qatar for American/Alaska.
• BA does have a very favorable lap infant policy – 10% of the miles paid for the adult fare. Beware their draconian surcharges on long haul awards.
• Be aware that you cannot cancel flights booked with Iberia for partner airlines – so stick to the Iberia sweet spot mentioned above.
• Aer Lingus? There ARE some sweet spots in the Aer Lingus program such as awards from the East Coast to Ireland for just 13,000 off peak in economy and 50,000 points in business. Not East Coast? Off peak economy is just 16,250 Avios or 62,500 in Business.

Personally, I value a Chase point at well more than even 1.2 British Airways Avios, but if you have plenty of Chase points and a planned redemption it’s something to consider. Also consider, however, that Chase offered a 30% bonus in October of 2024 and Capital One offered a 20% bonus in November of 2024.

This is almost never a good transfer unless you are topping off for an award you are ready to book. Keep in mind that we value a Chase Ultimate Rewards point at roughly 3X the value of a Marriott Bonvoy point.

However, there are always exceptions and you might find a 5 night stay (5th night free) where the transfer makes sense, so do the math – but you likely do not want to transfer speculatively unless you are a Bonvoy pro and believe you will exceed value you can get via other Ultimate Rewards partners.

This matches an existing 20% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou to Qatar Avios.

Remember that Qatar Avios has become competitive and inline with other Avois partners. It’s always worth checking whether one or another Avois partner (i.e. British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, or Aer Lingus) has a better redemption price since you can freely move between them. You can even connect your British Airways account directly inside Qatar’s website for easy and instant transfer.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Qatar has devalued their own program twice in recent months, first significantly raising the pricing for AA and Alaska awards, then by adding significant new surcharges on long haul premium awards by almost 200%. I wouldn’t transfer speculatively for just 20% myself, but an Avios pro user with lots of Amex points might.

Amex states the transfer can take up to 48 hours.

On the same day as transfer bonuses to BA and Aer Lingus, keep in mind that all Avios can be moved between programs – including Qatar and Finnair.

Iberia’s chart is similar to BA’s however, note that I recommend only using for travel on Iberia. That is not only because fees will be lowest (you can fly from the East Coast of the US to Madrid in Business Class off peak for 34,000 Avios) but because award travel on partner airlines booked with Iberia Avios is non-refundable!!

Most people would do better utilizing transfer bonuses to British Airways or Iberia which are also available for the same time frame, as the specific utility for Aer Lingus Avios is limited.

However, there ARE some sweet spots in the Aer Lingus program such as awards from the East Coast to Ireland for just 13,000 off peak in economy and 50,000 points in business.

Not East Coast? Off peak economy is just 16,250 Avios or 62,500 in Business.

From now until March 31st, Etihad Guest is running their own transfer bonus.

Of all eligible partners, the only US participating bank is Capital One. You will get between 20% and 40% bonused depending on how much you transfer. You won’t find the promo on Capital One’s website.

Complete a points transfer between 03 March 2025 (00.00am UTC+4) and 31 March 2025 (23.59pm UTC+4) and receive up to 40% of bonus miles.

• Etihad Guest members who transfer 0 to 9,999 miles, will receive 20% Bonus miles on each transaction.
• Etihad Guest members who transfer above 10,000 to 49,999 miles, will receive 30% Bonus miles on each transaction.
• Etihad Guest members who transfer from 50,000 and above miles, will receive 40% Bonus miles on each transaction. 

Now, should you transfer? My opinion 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 and you can view. the promotion page here.

Amex is running a very short transfer bonus for Member Week to Marriott Bonvoy. Unfortunately, it’s not a very compelling offer, despite the short timeframe.

For one, an Amex point is worth around 2.5X a Marriott Bonvoy point. So you are getting 25% more while you’d need a 150% bonus to breakeven on point value.

For another, we have seen various transfer bonuses from Chase and American Express to Marriott Bonvoy many times before, racing from 20%-50%, so this is not even at the high end of the range. So this bonus isn’t going to be compelling for most.

As always, there can be exceptions and you might find a 5 night stay (5th night free) where the transfer makes sense, so do the math – but you likely do not want to transfer speculatively unless you are a Bonvoy pro and believe you will exceed value you can get via other, higher value, partners.

This transfer bonus is being run on the Qatar side, so you will not see the bonus offer on the Citi ThankYou website. 

This bonus offer is valid for Point Transfers completed between 02/16/25 12:01 AM ET and 03/15/25 11:59 PM ET

Terms and Conditions for Citi Strata Premier™, Citi Prestige®, AT&T Access More Cardholders in the US:

• For the Avios Points promotional offer, you will receive 1.2 Avios for every 1 ThankYou Point transferred during the promotional period listed above. The normal conversion rate is 1 Avios for every 1 ThankYou Point transferred. For example, if you transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points, you will receive a total of 1,200 Avios.