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The upside to earning a lot of points and miles is that you can take some amazing trips for a fraction of the cash cost. However, the downside is that sometimes you end up with a handful of points spread out across many different programs. Today we'll go over each of the five main transferable points programs and discuss how to consolidate points to book an award ticket with the most popular airline programs.
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Transferable Points Programs
Transferable points are the easiest way to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to award travel. There are six flexible rewards programs, plus an additional program that might surprise you. Let's take a look at each of them.
American Express Membership Rewards
American Express Membership Rewards are a fan-favorite for many reasons. First, they're flexible points that can be transferred to 18 different airline partners and three hotel partners. It's also easy to earn Membership Rewards through a variety of cards. Furthermore, you can boost your rewards through your regular spending by going through the Rakuten shopping portal and cashing out your earnings as Membership Rewards.
Barclaycard
Often overlooked because these transfers are available on just one card and the fact that card isn't available to new applicants, it's worth mentioning transfers from the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®. Transfer ratios vary, but the eight airline transfer partners include several programs that receive points from nearly every rewards currency on this list, as well as unique partners like InterMiles and Japan Airlines.
Bilt Rewards
Bilt Rewards points are earned through a variety of activities, including paying your rent through the Bilt program and Rent Day promotions on the first of each month. While it's possible to earn Bilt points without it, earning opportunities are greatly increased if you have The Bilt Mastercard®. Points transfer to 14 airline and five hotel programs.
Brex Rewards
Limited to businesses that qualify for the Brex Cash and Card, Brex Rewards points can be transferred to seven. Earning opportunities are tied to one card and promotions for cardholders, and the program is further complicated a March 2023 devaluation, where 1:1 transfers changed to 3:2 overnight.
Capital One Rewards
Capital One miles are arguably the simplest points to earn, with a basic earning structure for each card and no complicated bonus categories to keep track of. This makes it easy for people who don't want to think too hard about earning a lot of credit card rewards. There are three personal cards and three business cards that earn Capital One miles. Once you have miles, you can utilize the 16 airline programs and three hotel programs that are Capital One transfer partners.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards are often referred to as the most beginner-friendly points, with many people describing the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) as the best beginner card. Ultimate Rewards are some of the most valuable transferable points that exist. There are numerous valuable uses, including the Chase travel portal and the 11 airline and three hotel Chase transfer partners. Plus, earning points is easy with multiple personal and business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
Citi ThankYou Points may be the least-talked-about transferrable rewards program, but that doesn't mean that you can't get great value from these points. You can transfer points to the 14 airline and five hotel Citi ThankYou transfer partners. It's worth noting the sweet spot of doubling your points by transferring to Choice Hotels at a 1:2 ratio. However, one difficult thing about Citi is that there are just five cards that earn ThankYou Points. However, that doesn't mean there aren't deals to be had.
Marriott Bonvoy
You might be familiar with Marriott Bonvoy as a hotel program, but did you know there are a whopping 40 Marriott Bonvoy airline partners? Points transfer at a 3:1 ratio for most airlines, plus you'll (generally) receive a 5,000-mile bonus when transferring at least 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at one time. Marriott offers co-branded cards with both Chase and Amex, so you have multiple options for stocking up on points.
The Best Programs To Consolidate Transferable Points for an Award Ticket
Each of the programs below allows for points to be collected from at least four of the transferrable points programs listed above. Let's look at your options, starting with those that receive points from the most programs.
Air France–KLM Flying Blue
Flying Blue is the award program for both Air France and KLM, and is one of four award programs that allow you to combine points from all of the major transferable points programs that we mentioned above — Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Marriott — and it also accepts transfers several lesser-known programs. This opens up many options for gathering points needed to book an award flight. Not only is it easy to gather points, but Flying Blue is one of our favorite award programs because you can find some incredible sweet spots, like 15,000-mile economy award tickets and 55,000-mile business-class tickets between the U.S. and Europe. Flying Blue also releases monthly Promo Rewards with flights up to 50% off. And one more reason we love Flying Blue is that it's a great option for families since award tickets for kids ages 2–11 are 25% off.
Emirates Skywards
Dubai-based Emirates Skywards is another award program that allows transfers from all five transferrable points programs. This is excellent since the ultra-luxurious Emirates first class has long been one of the most sought-after award redemptions. Unfortunately, Emirates removed many of its partner booking options a few years ago. This means that having Emirates Skywards miles is important. Luckily, they're easy to accumulate. Another option is booking a business-class ticket and then using your miles to upgrade to first class.
Etihad Guest
Another program from the U.A.E. is Abu Dhabi-based Etihad. The Etihad Guest program had several incredible sweet spots before the award charts were altered in early 2023. Unfortunately, most awards went up in cost, but the silver lining is short American Airlines flights in the U.S. that price as low as 6,000 miles per person in economy.
Iberia Plus
Avios are the points currency for four different award programs: Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club. You can collect Avios in any of the four programs, and then transfer to any of the other programs at a 1:1 ratio. That's on top of the other transfer partners, allowing you to amass Iberia Avios from multiple sources. Our favorite redemptions with Iberia include business class and premium economy to/from Spain for as low as 34,000 miles in business or 31,750 Avios in premium economy. You'll need to fly on off-peak dates to get these fantastic prices, but Iberia publishes a calendar of those dates here.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Singapore Airlines is part of the Star Alliance network, meaning multiple airline partners exist for booking Singapore Airlines flights. However, KrisFlyer miles provide two advantages. First, Singapore provides extra seats for redemptions in its own program. Second, you can't book Singapore's famous first-class suites from partner programs, so you'll need a stash of KrisFlyer miles. Thankfully, you can transfer points from all five major points programs. Multiple sweet spots make KrisFlyer miles very valuable. Options like roundtrip flights from the U.S. to Hawaii for just 39,000 miles or East Coast to Europe in business class for 81,000 miles each way. Additionally, Singapore Airlines has a few well-known fifth-freedom routes, and we've found a ton of award space for business-class flights on these routes.
Aeromexico Rewards
While the program has multiple transfer partners, the Aeromexico Rewards sweet spots deserve pause before you start moving your rewards into this program. Once the cheapest award tickets run out, the remaining seats are priced dynamically. However, you can find value with flights from the U.S. to Mexico for 18,000 in economy and 36,000 in business. Mexico to southern South America for 50,000 or 100,000, respectively, also can present value. But the fact only Amex points transfer 1:1.6 (to account for Aeromexico using kilometers for distance) means not all points should be moved to this program.
Air Canada Aeroplan
One of the most popular ways to use Air Canada Aeroplan points is to book a partner flight. Air Canada is part of Star Alliance, but you can book much more than just those airlines; in fact, you can book 47 airlines with Aeroplan pointsWhat makes this a great option is that Air Canada doesn't pass along many of the surcharges that other carriers do, so you won't be stuck with a high cash copay on your award ticket. Additionally, Air Canada lets you pool points with up to seven other people, meaning you can easily build a hefty stash.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has reduced its global footprint over the past few years; however, its award program retains its worldwide reach thanks to its Oneworld alliance partners. Cathay Pacific prices award flights based on distance, which means there are some great sweet spots to be had, even though some of our favorites were lost with a change to award charts in October 2023. Those of us who live on the West Coast, or are willing to take a positioning flight to get there, can fly on a partner airline to Tokyo for 27,000 miles in economy. However, 84,000 miles in business on this route isn't anything special. Around-the-world bookings also can present fantastic value when using your Asia Miles.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Like Flying Blue and Singapore, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a transfer partner for all major programs. There are a few Virgin Atlantic sweet spots to be found, namely with partner airlines like Delta, Aeromexico, and Hawaiian Airlines, as well as a much-heralded option for booking ANA business- and first-class flights. Virgin Atlantic is still using award charts, which means that shorter-distance flights can go for very low prices. It's worth noting that surcharges can be quite high when booking an award ticket through Virgin Atlantic, so consider that when planning a trip.
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca may not be an airline that you have flown; however, if you're familiar with the points and miles world, you may have heard of the numerous sweet spots available with LifeMiles. Examples include flying from the U.S. to Europe in business class for as low as 60,000 LifeMiles and transcontinental U.S. business class for just 25,000 LifeMiles. Even better, just like Air Canada, Avianca also does not pass along surcharges, so award tickets are that much more valuable.
British Airways Executive Club
British Airways is another program using Avios as a rewards currency. British Airways has multiple airline partners, making it easy to find flights to just about anywhere in the world. What makes British Airways award flights even more valuable is their distance-based pricing. This means that short-haul partner flights — up to 3,000 miles — can be as low as 13,000 Avios in economy. If it's an even shorter flight — 650 miles or less — it can be just 6,000 Avios each way. Crazy! And the ability to load up on Avios through numerous partners makes these awards even more accessible.
Aer Lingus AerClub
The final Avios program on our list, Aer Lingus Avios are useful when taking advantage of the East Coast to Europe sweet spot in which off-peak award tickets cost just 13,000 Avios each way in economy. This applies to Aer Lingus flights only, and, if we're being honest, the other Avios programs are more useful on nearly every route beyond this.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
While many airlines have ditched award charts in favor of dynamic pricing, Turkish Airlines, thankfully, has not. This has left space for some great sweet spots in Miles & Smiles. These come mostly from Star Alliance partner redemptions, meaning you'll book through Turkish but fly on one of its many partners. Most notably, Turkish prices award flights within the U.S. at just 10,000 miles one-way, no matter your starting and ending destinations. This means that you could fly from the East Coast all the way to Hawaii for just 10,000 miles each way on United Airlines, assuming you can find availability on these popular routes. And you'll pay just 12,500 miles per person in business class each way.
Bottom Line
As you can see, there are many ways to consolidate points and miles to book an award ticket. Not only can you combine points from some or all of the transferable points programs, but many airlines participate in alliances or partnerships with each other. This means that you can find a program that works best for you and the points you have available. Additionally, some programs allow you to pool points and miles with your friends and family, providing additional options for adding your miles together for an upcoming flight.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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