When airline transfer bonuses are worth it, and when they're not

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If you've been earning transferable points through programs like Amex, Capital One, Chase and Citi, you’ve probably heard about airline transfer bonuses by now. Here's a basic primer on how they work and how to make the most of them.

Occasionally, the best flexible rewards programs offer a bonus percentage of points or miles when you transfer rewards to specific loyalty programs. For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards has previously offered a 20% transfer bonus from Chase to the Air France (Flying Blue) program.

Airline transfer bonuses like this one work exactly how they sound: You transfer points to the program as you normally would, but you get 20% more (or another percentage) points in the new program.

In this example (and with the 1:1 transfer ratio between these two programs), 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points would turn into 12,000 miles with Air France (Flying Blue).

It’s important to note that these transfer bonus offers change all the time — and they’re often much better than this one.

In fact, I've seen airline transfer bonuses as high as 30% to 50% with airlines like Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Japan Airlines.

There are also occasional transfer bonuses available for hotel loyalty programs like Hilton Honors, although they tend to be less valuable.

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While getting more miles for transferring points is definitely a good deal, you should only move forward with a transfer if you have a purpose. After all, point transfers to airlines and hotels are always one-way only. This means you cannot change course and get your points back after the fact.

With that in mind, airline transfer bonuses make sense when:

You’re ready to make a redemption now. Many loyalty programs use dynamic pricing that makes the cost of awards change all the time, so you should only transfer miles if you’re ready to book a flight right away. If you don't have a purpose for the miles — or if you wait to make a booking — the redemption may no longer be available or could cost considerably more miles.

You factored in points transfer timelines. While many point transfers are instant, some can take up to 48 hours or longer (e.g., Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer). That's long enough for your intended award to disappear. Make sure you know how long your points will take to transfer to the new program, and that you're ready to book your award immediately once they do.

You already compared awards with other loyalty programs. Point transfer bonuses may not always be the best deal. You could find a sweet spot award to your destination with another airline for fewer miles overall, but you'll never know unless you compare options ahead.

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Like it or not, airline transfer bonuses are only lucrative if you have a plan to use the miles as soon as they become available. Due to factors like dynamic pricing and ongoing rewards devaluations, waiting to use your points and miles is almost never a good idea.

Not only that, but speculative transfers also rarely work out. You won't be able to change your mind after a transfer is complete, so think long and hard before transferring your rewards.

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