Bookmark this page. It’s our master guide to which “transferable points” transfer to which airlines and hotels
I love “transferable currency” credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve / Chase Sapphire Preferred / Chase Freedom Unlimited which earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the American Express Membership Rewards line, as well as the American Express Marriott credit cards.
Recently, Capital One has joined the mix with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Spark Miles for Business and they keep adding new partners, with more than 19 air and hotel transfer partners.
Why do I love transferable point credit cards so much?
Because they all have a huge range of transfer partners and so when I need an award flight, I’m not limited to one program’s abysmal availability. I can transfer from my banks of transferable miles to whatever airline has the best routing and availability for what I need.
Still, knowing where you may be most likely to redeem should affect what credit cards you carry. For instance, there are some real sweet spots in the JAL and Asiana award charts – and only Marriott can transfer to those airlines. ANA has a great deal on roundtrips to Asia – but you’ll need American Express Membership Rewards points to transfer to ANA.
Keep in mind there are ways to be a bit creative even within the transferable currencies. For example, you *could* transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points into Marriott and then transfer to JAL or Asiana – but the transfer ratio from Amex to Marriott is abysmal at 1 Marriott for 1 Amex point (when an Amex point is worth 3X what a Marriott Bonvoy point is. Most of these types of schemes don’t create very good value.
Please always bear in mind that you need to confirm availability on any airline or hotel partner. Transfers are irreversible. If you were to transfer to an airline and there is no availability for the flight you wanted, the points are now stuck in that partner program. It never hurts to call and see if the airline can put an award flight on hold for you as you are transferring points. The ability to do this varies from airline to airline (and sometimes even agent to agent). Many programs transfer instantly online, but many do not.
Let’s look at each of the program’s transfer partners and exchange ratios.
Take special note of the partners in each list that I have put in bold/italics. These represent a partner that is ONLY transferable from that one single program.
American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners and Transfer Times
| American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Approximate Transfer Time * | |
| Aeromexico | 1:1.6 (1,000 Amex = 1,600 Aeromexico) | ~4-7 days |
| Aer Lingus | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| ANA | 1 : 1 (transfers only from Amex and Marriott) | ~2-3 days |
| Avianca | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| Delta | 1:1 (subject to excise tax) | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1:1 (transfers only from Amex and Marriott; subject to excise tax) | Instant |
| Iberia Avios | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 250 : 200 (subject to excise tax) | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qatar Airways Avios | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | ~ 1-2 days |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | Instant |
| Choice Hotels | 1:1 | Instant |
| Hilton | 1:2 (frequent transfer bonuses - look for a better ratio if considering) | Instant |
| Marriott | 1:1 | Instant |
* Note that all stated transfer times are approximate, not guaranteed, and based on a combination of my own experiences and data from around the web. American Express also charges an excise fee as noted in the table for US airline partners of up to $99. For this reason, it’s best to use Amex MR points with non-US programs.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners and Transfer Times
| Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time * | |
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:1 | Instant |
| Iberia Avios | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | ~ 1 - 2 days |
| Southwest Airlines | 1:1 | Instant |
| United MileagePlus | 1:1 | Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 | Instant |
| Hyatt | 1:1 | Instant |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1 | ~ 1-2 days |
| IHG Rewards Club | 1:1 | ~ 24 hours |
* Note that all stated transfer times are approximate, not guaranteed, and based on a combination of my own experiences and data from around the web.
Capital One Miles Transfer Partners and Transfer Times
| Capital One Miles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time | |
| Air Canada (Aeroplan) | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca Lifemiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Aeromexico | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways Avios | 1:1 | TBD |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Nearly instant |
| Choice Hotels | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Finnair | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| TAP Air Portugal | 1:1 | TBD |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | TBD |
| Wyndham Rewards Hotel Program | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA | 2:1.5 | 1-2 days |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) Hotel Program | 2:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Red | 1:1 | TBD |
Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners and Transfer Times
| Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners | Transfer Ratio | Approximate Transfer Time * |
|---|---|---|
| AeroMexico | 1:1 | Generally instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant. |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:! | Instant |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | ~1-3 days |
| Jet Airways InterMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 1:1 | ~1-7 days |
| Qantas | 1:1 | Instant to 1 day |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1:1 | ~2 days |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| Thai Orchid Plus | 1:1 | ~3-7 days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | Instant to 2 days |
| Hotels | ||
| Choice Hotels | 1:2 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:1.5 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:0.8 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | TBD |
| Leaders Club | 5:1 | TBD |
| Preferred Hotels and Resorts "I Prefer" | 1:4 | TBD |
| Accor Live Limitless | 1:0.5 | TBD |
- Note that all stated transfer times are approximate, not guaranteed, and based on a combination of my own experiences and data from around the web. Citi has some of the most interesting partners outside of the US, but transfer times are instant far less often than with Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards and a bit more erratic as well.
Marriott Bonvoy Transfer Partners and Transfer Times
Important Notes:
- These are the base transfer ratios (3:1).
- If you transfer 60,000 points, you will get a 5,000 mile bonus (25,000 miles total)
There are exceptions to the above, though!
- 60,000 points transferred to United MileagePlus at once gets an extra bonus of 10,000 miles or 30,000 total
- American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Delta SkyMiles, and Korean Air SKYPASS do not earn the bonus 5,000 miles, so 60,000 Bonvoy points = 20,000 miles.
- Air New Zealand has a 25 point bonus when you transfer 60,000 points owing to the different points system and ratio
| Marriott Bonvoy | ||
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Expected Transfer Time | |
| Aegean Airlines | 3:1 | 3-9 days |
| Aeroflot Bonus | 3:1 | TBD |
| Aeroplan/Air Canada | 3:1 | 2-5 days |
| Air China | 3:1 | TBD |
| Air France / KLM Flying Blue | 3:! | TBD |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 200:1 | TBD |
| Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 3:1 | 1-3 days |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club | 3:1 | ~4 days |
| American Airlines AAdvantage | 3:1 | Generally 2 days |
| Asia Miles | 3:1 | TBD |
| Asiana Airlines | 3:1 | 3-7 days |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 3:1 | TBD |
| British Airways Executive Club | 3:1 | TBD |
| China Eastern Airlines | 3:1 | TBD |
| China Southern Airlines Sky Pearl Club | 3:1 | TBD |
| Delta Air Lines SkyMiles | 3:1 | 2 days |
| Emirates Skywards | 3:1 | TBD |
| Etihad Airways | 3:1 | TBD |
| Frontier | 3:1 | TBD |
| Hainan Airlines | 3:1 | TBD |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 3:1 | TBD |
| Iberia Plus | 3:1 | TBD |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank | 3:1 | Approx. 1 week |
| JetBlue | 6:1 | TBD |
| Korean Air | 3:1 | TBD |
| LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass | 3:1 | TBD |
| MultiPlus | 3:1 | TBD |
| Qatar Airways | 3:1 | TBD |
| Qantas | 3:1 | TBD |
| Saudia | 3:1 | TBD |
| South African Airways Voyager | 3:1 | TBD |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 3:1 | TBD |
| TAP Portugal | 3:! | TBD |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | 3:1 | TBD |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 3:1 | TBD |
| United Mileage Plus | 3:1.1 | TBD |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 3:1 | 1-3 days |
| Virgin Australia | 3:1 | TBD |
* I’ve omitted transfer times for Marriott at present since I don’t have enough data at this time. For an idea, you can reference this FlyerTalk thread.
If you see something off or had an experience counter to what is in the chart, please let me know.