Transfer Bonuses and How To Use Them

1. American Express has a transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to all of its airline partners, something unheard of until this point. You’ve probably heard this reported elsewhere already, so let’s add to the conversation with a few particular sweet spots:

• 40% bonus to Avios with Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia
  • Use Iberia for great award space from the US to Europe and avoid fuel surcharges with BA with the same flight access. Look for Madrid trips for extra value.
• 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic, Hilton, Marriott
  • Use Virgin Atlantic for really low redemption round-trip tickets in Business or First to Japan and Eastern Asia
• 25% bonus to AirFrance/KLM FlyingBlue, Aeromexico, Hawaiian
  • Use FlyingBlue in conjunction with rotating promo award specials for flights to Europe
• 20% bonus to Air Canada’s Aeroplan or Qantas
  • Use Aeroplan for short haul economy flights in the US
  • Use Aeroplan for business or first class flights from the Central or Eastern US to Europe
• 15% bonus to LifeMiles
  • Use LifeMiles for loose definitions of what a region is
  • Use LifeMiles for economy bookings from the Central or Eastern US to Europe

2. United has a 30% bonus when transferring from hotel points to United MileagePlus miles. You have to register here first though.

• Transfer Marriott Bonvoy points. With the transfer bonus, you’re looking at approximately 1.85 Bonvoy points to 1 MileagePlus mile. I’d say that’s about the best general use case of Bonvoy points I’ve seen in a long time. (This is a terrible idea with most other programs, especially Hyatt.)

Happy Thursday!