Ben Smithson // The Points Guy
How (and why) you should earn transferable credit card points
If you’re looking to improve your travel game, there’s one important strategy you can pursue: Focus on earning (and then redeeming) transferable credit card rewards.
Transferable rewards are, simply put, the most valuable type of currency to earn in the world of points and miles. This is entirely due to their versatility. American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo offer rewards credit cards that earn points or miles you can transfer to various airline and hotel partners.
This can be especially valuable when you hope to travel in a premium cabin or want to minimize the number of points or miles you redeem for an award. Instead of being limited to a single airline (and its partners) or one hotel program, you can leverage your rewards to book the best available option for the lowest possible price.
And if you’re looking to optimize your redemptions this year, learning how to transfer your credit card rewards can be one of the most important steps.
The Points Guy explains why you should focus on transferable rewards — and which cards to consider.
Why are transferable points so valuable?
Transferable points or miles offer flexibility when it’s time to use your rewards to book travel. For example, if you have a large stash of American Airlines AAdvantage miles, which are not transferable, you can only redeem your miles on American and its partners.
However, you have many more options if you have a big balance of transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Here are just a few:
- Book travel on any airline through the Chase Travel portal.
- Transfer points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue to book SkyTeam award flights.
- Transfer points to British Airways or Iberia to book American award flights.
- Transfer points to United Airlines MileagePlus or Air Canada Aeroplan to book Star Alliance award flights.
- Transfer points to Virgin Atlantic to book flights operated by Delta Air Lines or many other Flying Club partners.
You could also transfer points to World of Hyatt for luxurious hotel stays, though the transfer ratios vary by Chase card.
You’re in the driver’s seat, as you can hold on to your hard-earned rewards until you find a specific trip you want to book.
When should you transfer points?
From flights and hotel stays to gift cards, merchandise and more, there are seemingly infinite ways to use your points. It can be quite complex. While you shouldn’t consider your loyalty program account balances as long-term investments, you should ensure that you spend your points just as you would hard-earned money: strategically and efficiently. Determining when to transfer points to partners rather than using them for other redemptions becomes critical.
When you want to redeem your transferable points for travel, there are several options. You can purchase flights and hotel stays through the travel site specific to the bank (like the Chase Travel portal or Amex Travel), or you can transfer your points to a loyalty program and book based on that program’s award rates. While your goal is the same — booking travel using your rewards — the costs can vary widely.
It’s worth noting that booking a flight directly with an airline or via a credit card portal means you’d earn miles on that flight. While this typically isn’t true with hotels, Chase has added this option for select properties. Additionally, there’s no guarantee that transferring will give you more value than booking directly.
However, in many situations — especially for premium-cabin flights or luxurious hotel stays — you can really maximize your redemptions this way.
Thankfully, transferring your points or miles is relatively straightforward, and the vast majority of transfers post instantly.
So, what kind of points can you earn to eventually transfer to your favorite airline program? Here are five well-known credit card rewards currencies to help you understand your options.
American Express Membership Rewards
American Express Membership Rewards points are a transferable rewards currency, with a value of 2 cents per point according to TPG’s August 2026 valuations. These points can get you some incredible awards thanks to Amex’s array of transfer partners, including ANA Mileage Club and Delta SkyMiles — both unique to Amex.
It’s also worth noting that American Express offers frequent transfer bonuses for its airline and hotel partners, though these are sometimes targeted. Keep an eye on your account for these offers to pop up, and for the variety of options to use Membership Rewards points.
Of course, before you redeem American Express points, you first need to earn them. Here are the most popular cards that earn Membership Rewards points:
- American Express Platinum Card
- The Business Platinum Card from American Express
- American Express Gold Card
- American Express Business Gold Card
- The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express
Don’t forget to add Amex Offers to your card(s). You can earn thousands of additional bonus points or save money on select purchases.
Finally, you can also use Rakuten to earn bonus points when you buy items online. This online shopping portal partners with thousands of retailers to offer bonus cash back on your purchases. However, you can elect to earn Membership Rewards points instead. You can sign up and earn a one-time bonus of $50 by spending at least $50 at participating merchants in the first 90 days of joining.
Bilt
Bilt allows cardholders to earn Bilt Points when paying for their rent or mortgage. This is helpful because renting can amount to thousands of dollars spent per year. The program offers an impressive list of transfer partners, including Atmos Rewards and World of Hyatt.
Currently, Bilt offers three credit cards: the Bilt Blue Card, the Bilt Obsidian Card and the Bilt Palladium Card.
Each Bilt card earns rewards at different rates, but all three have the same options for earning on your housing payments:
- You can choose to earn 4% Bilt Cash on all non-housing purchases and then redeem (at a rate of $30 in Bilt Cash to 1,000 points) on your housing payments
- Or, you can forgo earning Bilt Cash and earn up to 1.25 points per dollar spent on housing with a tiered reward option
Up to $100 of Bilt Cash earned rolls over to the next year.
Consistent with the other major programs that have transferable currencies, Bilt occasionally offers transfer bonuses, often during its monthly Rent Day promotion.
Capital One miles
Capital One has become a strong player in the world of transferable points and miles. While its cards were once primarily associated with straightforward, fixed-value rewards, the issuer has expanded its offerings by introducing a broad network of transfer partners, dramatically increasing the value potential for cardholders.
Among the products is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which combines premium travel benefits with the ability to transfer miles to 15-plus airline and hotel partners. Cardholders also enjoy access to Capital One Lounges and a unique dining concept called The Landing, adding further appeal to the portfolio.
The Capital One Venture X Business card builds on this momentum by catering to small-business owners, pairing a welcome bonus with valuable ongoing rewards and travel perks.
Popular Capital One transfer partners include Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca Lifemiles and British Airways Club. There are also occasional transfer bonuses.
Here are the cards that currently earn transferable Capital One miles:
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business (no longer available to new applicants)
- Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business (no longer available to new applicants)
- Capital One Venture Business
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture X Business
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card
If you’re sitting on Capital One miles, transferring them to airline partners can unlock some great awards.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase doesn’t have as many transfer partners as American Express, but Ultimate Rewards points are still quite valuable.
You can transfer these points to 14 airline and hotel partners, most at a 1:1 ratio. These include Air Canada Aeroplan, United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card cardholders and other select Chase cards will transfer to Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio. This change will take effect on Oct. 1, 2026; however, new cardholders who apply on or after June 15, 2026, will see the new ratio effective immediately.
Here are the cards that earn fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business
- Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
You can also maximize earning rewards on other personal and business cards and convert cash back to points using one of the four cards above.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
Citi also has a transferable currency with its ThankYou Rewards program. While most of Citi’s transfer partners are international carriers, the issuer has now added American Airlines AAdvantage to its program, which creates even more value.
Either way, leveraging alliances and partnerships can help you get tremendous value from your points. For example, you can use a program like Avianca Lifemiles to fly on United or a program like Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to fly on Delta.
Transfer ratios between Citi ThankYou and its partners vary by card. Citi has offered transfer bonuses to a handful of its partners in the past, including Avianca and Virgin Atlantic.
You’ll receive higher ratios — as well as the ability to transfer to AA — with the following cards:
- Citi Strata Elite Card
- Citi Strata Premier Card
- Citi Prestige Card (no longer available to new applicants)
That said, like with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can combine your Citi ThankYou Rewards points in a single account for select products, allowing you to effectively convert your fixed-value earnings from cards like the Citi Strata Card or Citi Double Cash Card into fully transferable ThankYou points.
Wells Fargo Rewards
Wells Fargo Rewards is a newer entrant in the realm of transferable credit card currencies, with a modest list of partners.
With only two cards that earn transferable points, the program is small but offers significant potential — and likely has more room to grow. Those cards are:
- Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card
- Wells Fargo Autograph Card
Bottom line
Earning and redeeming points takes effort, but transferring them to airline and hotel partners is the key to unlocking maximum value. It stretches your rewards far beyond fixed-rate options and provides flexibility — especially for last-minute or premium bookings.
Editor’s note: This content is accurate as of the posting date. Offers are subject to change.
This story was produced by The Points Guy and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
