The Master List of Credit Card Transfer Partners

A stash of airline miles is great, but points that you can transfer to a dozen or more different airlines? Or even hotel chains? Even better. Enter the world of credit card transfer partners.

With five great transferrable currencies, more than 50 partner airlines and different transfer ratios between them, even we struggle to keep track. So here’s our master list of all the transfer partners for Chase, American Express, Citi, Capital One, and even Marriott Bonvoy points, too.

Leveraging these transfer partners can require more work, but it’s by far the best way to squeeze even more value out of your points – especially if you’re aiming to fly business or first class.

Before we dive in, we need to cover a few ground rules. The cardinal rule of transferring points is that it’s a one-way street. Once you’ve sent them out the door, you can’t get them back. That makes it critical to scope out award availability and ensure the seat you want is available before initiating a transfer. Until your plans are set, you’re much better off saving those points in your credit card account.

Chase Transfer Partners

Chase is a titan in the travel rewards industry, and that’s due in large part to some excellent transfer partners.

With 10 airline and three hotel partners, Ultimate Rewards are a must for any frequent or aspiring traveler. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is easily the best place to begin for travelers just getting started with points and miles, while the Chase Sapphire Reserve® packs a huge punch with premium travel benefits on top of the same great array of transfer partners.

No matter which card you’ve got, you have the same Chase transfer partners at your disposal.

Read up on Chase transfer partners, including how to transfer your points and which options here are best!

How to Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

You’re in luck, as two of the best Chase credit cards are out with some of the biggest bonuses we’ve ever seen.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card allows you to earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months.

Read up on the best ways to use Chase points, including utilizing some of these transfer partners!

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is currently offering 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in three months.

With one of the Sapphire Cards in your wallet, you can earn even more Ultimate Rewards points by pairing them with the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards. These two Chase credit cards have no annual fee, and while they typically earn cashback, you can transfer that cashback to points on your Sapphire card to earn those points even faster.

Read more on why you should pair a Preferred Card with a Chase Freedom Card!

American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners

American Express has 19 airline transfer partners and three hotel partners for a total of 22 transfer partners – more than you’ll find from any other credit company.

While that flexibility and easy earning opportunities make Membership Rewards points a must for any frequent traveler, there are a few downsides to keep in mind – and one tremendous perk.

First, American Express charges a very small fee (.06 cents per point) on transfers to domestic airlines. So if you transfer 100,000 points to Delta or JetBlue, you’ll get charged $60. These fees are capped at $99.

And note that unlike Chase, there are several partners to whom your Amex points don’t transfer on a 1:1 basis. For example, transferring 1,000 points to JetBlue would get you 800 TrueBlue points. It’s even worse on other carriers like Israel’s El Al, with a dismal 50:1 transfer ratio.

But it gets better. American Express frequently offers transfer bonuses, giving you 20% to 50% or more miles when you transfer to a specific airline, like as much as a 40% bonus on transfers to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. While we’ve seen Chase fire up these transfer bonuses lately, American Express seems to do them far more frequently.

Here’s the full list:

Read our full guide to Amex transfer partners, how they work, and how to get the most out of them!

How to Earn Membership Rewards Points

Now you just need some American Express points. You’re in luck. American Express has a handful of credit cards to earn Membership Rewards points.

We love the Platinum Card® from American Express. It starts with a 100,000 point welcome bonus after spending $6,000 in six months, but be sure to check and see if you qualify for a 150,000-point bonus via CardMatch. But you can earn even more, thanks to a 10x bonus on up to $25,000 in combined spending at restaurants and when you shop small in the U.S. for the first six months. Add it up, and that’s 350,000 points total.

There’s also the American Express® Gold Card, which is currently offering a 60,000-point welcome bonus after spending $4,000 in the first six months. But you may be able to qualify for a whopping 75,000-point welcome bonus using CardMatch, which is unbeatable. With its 4x on dining and at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 in spending each year), it’s one of the best all-around credit cards, period. Terms apply.

Citi ThankYou Point Transfer Partners

Citi is a mixed bag. On the one hand, there aren’t as many lucrative transfer partners as other travel programs on this list – though there are some gems, like Turkish Airlines. Further, they do not have any hotel transfer partners.

Citi has a handful of cards which make it far easier to pool points with friends and family members to book a ticket. While Chase requires members to share a billing address to pool points, you can transfer Citi points to any Citi ThankYou account holder: A family member, friend or complete stranger. Just beware that those points transferred between accounts expire within 90 days.

How to Earn Citi ThankYou Points

Citi ThankYou points can be earned from the Citi Premier® Card and their top-tier Citi Prestige credit card. The ThankYou Premier card is currently offering 80,000 Citi ThankYou points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership. 

Capital One Transfer Partners

Capital One is the latest bank to join the world of transferable points – and they’ve steadily added more partners.

You can now transfer points from great credit cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to 16 airline partners and three hotel chains. For years, these transfers weren’t as lucrative as other banks.

Capital One recently improved by adding a handful of 1:1 transfer options. But with many, Venture Miles transfer on a 2:1.5 basis or worse, which isn’t quite as good. That’s why we generally think your best bet for using Venture Miles is using the ultra-flexible Purchase Eraser function. Still, there’s some extra value here with these transfer partners.

Here’s the list of the options:

Read our guide on how to transfer Capital One miles!

How to Earn Capital One Miles

Capital One is out with a whopping 60,000-mile bonus on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. But you can earn even more.

Marriott Bonvoy Transfer Partners

Marriott Bonvoy isn’t a credit card company, but boy are these points valuable and versatile. With more than 40 airline transfer partners, Marriott Bonvoy points are arguably the most flexible in the points and miles world. And that only increases their value.

A 3:1 transfer ratio to most airlines makes this one of the few, if not the only, hotel point currencies that make sense to transfer. Marriott goes farther by adding a 5,000-mile bonus for every transfer of 60,000 Marriott points (20,000 airline miles). That means a transfer of 60,000 Bonvoy points nets you 25,000 airline miles.

Plus, you’ll find almost every major airline in the world on this list. 

The only downside to transferring Marriott points is that the process often takes longer than credit card points. You should expect it to take anywhere between 1 day to 2 weeks, so plan accordingly if you’re booking an award.

Read the master guide to transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to airlines

Bottom Line

Mastering the ins and outs of credit card transfer partners, and piling up the right points to do so, is a key in the world of miles and points. But keeping track of all the different options at your disposal can feel like a full-time job.

Bookmark this page and reference it any time you need a refresher on the different options you’ve got to use your credit card points (or hotel points)!