Finding and Booking Hotels

My last post focused on how to search for flights to use your points and this post, as the title suggests, focuses on hotels; includes which hotels chains you can book on points, some hidden fees, and some advantages.

I know hotels are not a priority for some and I can appreciate that. For years, we were a short-term rental family too. But now that my kids are a little older and we can all go to bed at the same time; hotels also can have their conveniences.

Finding and Booking Hotels

Let's start off by reviewing transfer partners. Not always, but often times, you will be able to use less points/get more value out of your points, by transferring flexible points from the bank to specific travel partners (hotels and airlines). If you don't know how to transfer points, you'll want to take a look at this post.

Each bank has their own set of partners, some which overlap and some that are interdependent to only one bank (which is just another reason to diversify your points across different banks!).

Chase Hotel Partners

• Hyatt
• IHG
• Marriott
• Wyndham

Capital One Hotel Partners

• Accor (2:1 ratio)*
• Choice Privileges
• Preferred (IPrefer) (1:2 ratio)*
• Wyndham

American Express Hotel Partners

• Choice Privileges
• Hilton (1:2 ratio)*
• Marriott

Of all the hotel partners, Hyatt has been a long time sweet spot. This is because historically Hyatt has had a 3-tier standard award chart - meaning the amount of points it costs to stay at a Hyatt are fixed, The amount of points is not tied to the cash price. Hyatt point cost depends on what Category (Luxury) Level the hotel is (Levels 1-8 or A-F for All Inclusives) and what time of year you're traveling: Off Peak, Standard, or Peak. In February 2026, Hyatt announced changes to it's award chart that expand the 3-tier points costs to 5-tier. You can read more about the award chart changes and Hyatt specific tips and tricks here.

A major downfall for Hyatt is that it has a smaller footprint (less hotels) not only in the US, but internationally.

Unlike Hyatt, most of the other award partners use what's called dynamic point pricing; which means that the point price to book a stay will vary, depending on the cash price. Because of this, most other hotels, when booked on points, cost a significant amount of points more during peak travel times (and in general, compared to Hyatt).

However, there are still opportunities to find some great non-Hyatt stays! Let's go through some hotel booking tips and tricks

Hotel Booking Sweet Spots

Transfer Ratio

If you scroll up to the list of hotel transfer partners, you'll see an asterisk (*) on some. This is because these hotels don't transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

Both, American Express to Hilton and Capital One to Preferred Hotels, transfer at a 1 to 2 ratio; meaning you DOUBLE your points when you move them to from either of these banks to the corresponding hotel.

Amex to Hilton, 1:2 transfer

Book # Number of Nights, Get a Free Night

This is another fav sweet spot to be aware. Unlike Hyatt, other hotel chains will offer a free night if you book 3 or 4 nights on one reservation, under certain criteria.

• Hilton 5th Night Free: If you have Hilton Silver Status Silver (earned by staying 10 nights, 4 stays, or spending $2,500 in a year on a Hilton card) , then you can get 5th night free on award stays!

• One of my favorite ways to utilize 5th night free is by holding the American Express Platinum Card. With this card, you will earn a hefty sign up bonus (here's my post on "Good" sign up offers) AND this card also comes with Hilton Gold Status.

• I used these benefits when I booked Tabacon Resort in Costa Rica. Booking on Hilton, the hotel was 80,000 points per night; so 80,000 * 5 nights, would have cost me 400,000 Hilton points. Because I was transferring Amex points and got the 5th night of my stay free (thanks to my Amex Platinum), then I needed 80,000 * 4 nights, 320,000 Hilton points. Because of the 1:2 transfer ratio, I needed only 160,000 Amex points (to book a 5 night stay that would have cost 400,000 Hilton points!)

• I know the high Amex Platinum Fee scares a lot of people, but this one example of utilizing just one Platinum Card benefit, saved me over $500 (compared to having to pay for the 5th night of our stay); not to mention all of the other "easy" benefits this card now has like, $300/yr Lululemon, $300/yr streaming credit (pays for our Disney/HBO!), and $400/yr Resy credit.

• IHG 4th Night Free If you hold the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG One Rewards Traveler Card, or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Card, then when you book 4 consecutive nights with points at an IHG property, you would pay 0 points for the 4th night. If you want a bit of a longer stay, you could book an 8 night trip and pay 0 points for nights 4 and 8!

• Marriot 5th Night Free All Marriott Bonvoy members automatically will receive the benefit of 5th night free, when using points to book five consecutive nights, under one reservation.

Free Breakfast

That's right, some hotels include free breakfast - which can be a huge cost savings!

• Hyatt Place: most Hyatt Place hotels include free breakfasts and several we're stayed at have more than just cereal and prepackaged muffins! (Note: some Hyatt Places are transitioning to needing Hyatt Discovery Status (10 nights) or higher, to qualify for free breakfast)

• Hyatt (with Status): Similar to Marriott, if you have top tier Hyatt status (Globalist) OR if you have "temporary" Globalist status (which is to say, you've been gifted a Guest of Honor), then you are eligible for free breakfast/food/beverage credit for up to 2 adults and 2 children. My Hyatt post mentions how I obtain Guest of Honor (GOH) awards.

• Hilton: With Gold Status or above (easily achieved by opening a Hilton card or American Express Platinum card), you qualify for Daily Food and Beverage Credit or Continental Breakfast (varies by brand and region)

• Marriott (with Status): With Marriott Platinum, Titanium or Ambassador status, guests will received $100 breakfast credit if continental breakfast isn't available; at select Marriott Brand Hotels (JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, Delta Hotels, Autograph Collection, and Renaissance Hotels)

Family-Discount

Have a larger family or traveling internationally where room occupancy limits require you to book more than one hotel room? Select Hyatt properties offer family pricing discounts; when you book one room (on points or cash), you can add a second room at half off the standard room rate; but you must pay in cash! To take advantage of this offer, directly contact the hotel you want to book or World of Hyatt and ask for the "Hyatt Family Plan Rate". Not all Hyatt properties offer this discount.

Premium Card Benefits

In the past year, many of the major bank "premium" credit cards now come with hotel booking benefits in the bank's travel portal. Remember how I said we almost "always" want to transfer points from the bank to hotels to book directly? This is the exception.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve/Reserve Business both come with:
• Qty (2) - $250 "Edit" Credits a year: To utilize this credit, search in the Chase Travel Portal for hotels labeled "Edit" for a 2 night stay or longer. You can only use one credit at a time (they do not stack for $500 off). Using this credit not only will give you a $250 statement credit, but also gives you benefits during your stay like guaranteed late check out, possible room upgrades, breakfast for 2 and $100 resort credit (usually available to use at hotel spa, restaurants, and even parking fees). You can combine use of cash and points.
• Qty (1) - $250 Select Hotel Credit: This was added in 2026 and is a credit for select Chase Hotels booked in the portal. This credit DOES stack with the Edit Credit. If you're booking a 2-night stay or more, if your selected hotel is an Edit hotel and one of the brands that call under this category, you'll receive a total of a $500 statement credit!

• American Express Platinum Card

Summary

This post really was intended to cover tips and tricks of booking hotels with points; rather than the mechanics of "how to book" hotels on points. If you need help with the "how to", please feel free to reach out!

If you're overwhelmed, don't worry - that's natural. Earning points can be easy, but redeeming points and understanding how to redeem to spend as little points as possible, and/or maximize your point value is a skill that comes with time and practice!

If you have points you're ready to use to book, but don't have the time or patience to go down the rabbit hole of possibilities that is award flights, I'm happy to do the work for you! Check out my award booking intake form!

If you want to open any of the cards I refer to, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit. If you're interested in business cards, but want more information, as well as directions how to apply for them; read here!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Finding and Booking Flights with Points

We've talked a lot about how to earn points - basic info and lingo, where to start, best beginner cards, elevated card sign up offers, travel partners (Chase, Amex, and Capital One), how to transfer points from the bank to a partner hotel or airlines as well as my personal rules of thumb for how many points you should expect to spend on a hotel or flight booking. 

However, the time consuming part of using points can often be figuring out how to redeem them. There are many variables (and rabbit holes) to consider, especially compared to using points for hotels. Knowing how to search for award (points) flights, and what a "good" points price is, is a fundamental skill to maximize your points travel.

This post will take a deep dive into how we actually search for flights to book with points and walk you through the process I generally follow. I warn you in advance, this post is looooong, because I want you to know and understand all of the details so that you can repeat the process by yourself. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via Instagram @justcallmehaha or email: justcallmehaha@gmail.com

Finding and Booking Flights with Points

Before going into detail, the general steps for searching and booking flights with points I follow are:

1. Determine Wants and Needs
2. Look up Routes/Airlines
3. Search for Flights 
4. Verify Award Flights Exist
5. Transfer Points and Book

These may seem obvious, but as with life, there are many different ways to come to the same results. My process varies a little, depending mostly on Item 1.

Step 1. Determine Wants and Needs

The more flexible you are with your wants and needs, the greater the chances of you finding award flights, often at the best price.

To increase flexibility, consider the following:

• Travel dates: do you have to fly in/out on a certain day? Or can you put some wiggle room in your itinerary; adding a day or two to your trip? Or even considering a less popular time of the year to travel?
• Airports: generally it's ideal to fly direct whenever possible; but are you willing to consider flying from your home airport to another airport before a long haul flight to get a better price? (This is called "repositioning"). Are you willing to take a direct flight from your home airport to Europe and then take a quick/cheap flight to your final destination?
• Seat Class: is a business flight your priority? Or getting there as quick and cheap as possible?
• Number of Seats: Award seats can be limited. Are you willing to break up your group and seat some in business and some in economy? Or would you rather fly in pairs on different flights to get better seats or pricing and meet at your destination?
• BOOK ONE WAY flights! I know, this is *not* what you usually hear. There's been recent news how one-way cash flights are more expensive than booking roundtrip; however in the world of points and miles - booking one-way flights increases flexibility and therefore your odds of finding better priced award flights. Points flights generally do not cost more when comparing one way verse round trip. (It often nearly impossible to find great points pricing roundtrip for international flights).

In addition, your Needs will also be dictated by how many points you have and which airlines you can use those points to book with. Take inventory of your points with each bank and each airline.

Keep in mind, all banks have airlines and hotels they partner with, and while there is some overlap (such as Air Canada and Flying Blue), sometimes the only way you can book a specific flight is if you book through an airline alliance. Of course, the easiest way is to have enough points available with a bank to transfer to a given airline to book directly; but often times, you may be able to book flights for less points if you book on an airline's alliance partner. This is why point diversification is SO important! And why my top 3 beginner cards list spans across multiple banks!

For example, Chase is the only bank who transfers to United; but if you don't have enough Chase points to book a United flight; can you find that same flight on other Star Alliance partners, like Air Canada? Then you can transfer Amex or Capital One points to Air Canada to book your United flight.

I'll talk about airline alliances more below.

Step 2. Look up routes/airlines flying

If I know where I want to go, the first place I start to research is Flight Connections. I know lot of other people who use Google flights - which can provide some of the same information: it will tell you what airlines fly where and the cash price for a given date. I prefer Flight Connections and I'll explain here what information I'm looking for and how I find it. I use the free version of this website to learn which routes and which airlines are available to get to my destination.

Flight Connection color codes their routes, so you can easily determine direct flight vs stopover routes. For example, when I simple input "Denver" as my origin, you can see on the left and on the map a variety of places I can fly to.

(if the picture is blurry, you can click on it to load clearly)

Direct Flights: Let's say I wanted to go to Paris, departing from Denver. Once I input Paris as my destination, on the left of the screen, it tells me that Air France is my airline option to fly Denver direct to Paris, from May to Oct.

With this information, I would then move on to Step 3 and search on Air France and Air France's alliance partner airlines websites for a points flight.

In-direct Flights: Let's say I wanted to go to Lisbon, departing from Denver. Once I input Lisbon as my destination, on the left of the screen, it tells me there are no direct flights but gives me a list of cities I can fly through. Even this information is helpful to start your flight searches - you don't want to drive yourself crazy looking for a direct flight when it doesn't exist!

If you select one of the Stopover cities, Flight Connections will then show you airline options to get from your origin to your stopover city and then your stopover city to your destination. In this example, I could fly Denver direct to Munich on United or Lufthansa and then I could fly TAP or Lufthansa to get from Munich to Lisbon.

An alternative to Flight Connections is looking up routes directly on an airport website or looking up an airport code on Wikipedia. 

Step 3. Search for flights 

Depending on what kind of information Flight Connections gives me and what my flexibility is, I will either start my searches directly on the airline I want to fly on and then branch out to the airline's partnership in their alliance that my points transfer to OR I will use a third-party search aggregator.

Searching Airline Websites/Apps

For the Direct Flight example above (Denver to Paris), I would search directly on Air France's website for a points flight.

For the Indirect Flight example above, I have a few options. I know that Lufthansa does not have a direct bank transfer partner. So I can't move my Chase, Amex, or Capital One points direct to Lufthansa to book. BUT, I do know that Lufthansa is in Star Alliance, along with United and Air Canada! So I could go to either United or Air Canada's website and search for award bookings for DEN > LIS and/or DEN > MUC, MUC > LIS to see what my options are

Airline Alliances

Now, as I mentioned above, there are also Airline Alliances, which are groupings of airlines that have partnered together to allow you to book one airline's flight through another airline. Why would you want to do this? Because different airlines charge different points prices and have charge differently for taxes and fees! Or maybe you have points in one bank that you want to use but you want to fly an airline who's not a direct transfer point. Lastly, maybe there's a transfer bonus in the alliance of a flight you need to book that you could take advantage

This is an entirely separate post on its own; but it is important to understand and remember when booking flights. Keep in mind - yes, this is overwhelming and a rabbit holes! It's an intermediate skill to understand how to utilize

Keep in mind different banks have different transfer partners and this is a huge reason to use Airline Alliances.

Third-Party Search Aggregators

A third-party aggregator is search tool that scans through multiple airline (or hotel) loyalty programs to report out flight availability bookable with points of miles. 

Popular flight aggregator websites include: Points.Yeah, Point.me, Roame.travel,and Seats.Aero

These sites have free versions with limitations and offer a paid subscription that allows you to filter to meet your needs and set up flight award alerts. I have used Points.Yeah for free award flight alerts. Points.me has a free version if you're an American Express card holder, Amex.Point.me - however it's results are limited to flights that you can book using only Amex points.

I personally prefer Seats. Aero and am willing to pay the $9.99/mo fee for the Pro version when I'm in search of flights. It's also easy to unsubscribe so that when I'm not in need to book point flights, I'm not paying for a service I'm not using.

Here's an example of a Seats.Aero search. From our earlier example this is Denver to Lisbon: 

You'll see the "Program" whom you would book with is American and Alaskan, Now Citi Banks transfer to American, but let's say you've just started in points and you're following my Beginner Card List. So far you only have Chase and Capital One points. We can filter "Transfer Partners" for only those banks. That way, the results you receive are actually bookable with the points you have.

In this case, we get Qantas and Turkish Air as our top results:

You may have never even heard of Qantas (an Australian based airline) and maybe you're thinking, why would I fly a Turkish airline to go from Denver to Lisbon?!

Well, for Qantas, you're not actually going to fly on Qantas. You're going to utilize the Oneworld Alliance, of which Qantas and American Airlines are members of you. You're going to click the "i" information button at the far right in the photo above, and receive the pop-up that you are actually booking an American Airlines flight, but booking through Qantas (who is a transfer partner with Amex, Capital One and Citi Bank. In our example, we have Chase and Capital One points, so we'd look to transfer Capital One points... but first, go to Step 4. Verification)

Note the "Book via" information below:

Pro's for Using Aggregators: Time saver! Instead of search individual airline websites one by one, you can have the website do the work for you. You can filter down results to meet your needs; such as the points systems you have, maximum duration of your flight travel, etc. These websites do the legwork for you, of searching through airlines and airline alliances, to identify the cheapest airline to book a flight with.

Con's for Aggregators: They are not always accurate! The data on their websites may not have refreshed and flights availability may not exist.... which takes us to the next step of Award Flight Searches

Step 4. Verify award flights exist

Before you move ANY points, you should do a "mock" booking to verify that what you want to book exists and that you know the exact points and cash price.

Go to the airline website that you want to book on, do a search for your exact dates, number of people, departure and origin cities, as well as seat class. 

This not only ensures that the flight is still bookable ("phantom flights" are known to appear in aggregator results, where a flight is shown but the availability to book does not actually exist); but this also ensures that you know exactly how many points you need to transfer from the bank to the airline to book.

From the example above with Seats.Aero flight from Denver to Lisbon; you would log into your Qantas account and verify that the flight search results Seats.Aero provided is actually a real bookable flight.

Reminder, here's what Seats Aero told us exists: 

And here's what Qantas search results yield; in this case Seats Aero was correct and we have verified the award flight exists. You can move on to Step 5!

Qantas Search Results

Step 5. Transfer Points to Airline and Book Immediately!

As soon you find a flight you want to book; make the move and transfer those points!

In the example above, you'd move your bank points to Qantas and book your American Airlines flight!

Keep in mind, that points generally can only be transferred in the thousands and that once you transfer points, it's irreversible. IE - if you transfer bank points to a hotel or airline, the points are then "stuck" in the airline or hotel's program and CANNOT be moved back to the bank.

While most point transfers are instant, some can take up to a few days. Be aware of this when finding award flights you want to book. You can always google "how long to a points transfer from X-Bank to X-airline take". Some airlines will hold your flight while you wait for points to transfer and others will not. It doesn't hurt to call and ask!

When transferring points from the Bank to an airline or hotel partner, the name on the bank credit card must identically match the name on the airline or hotel account (and should also match the name on one's passport!). Because of this, you can't take your Amex points and transfer them to your Player's 2 Air Canada account. 

Good to Know Tips

Here are a few more notes to consider when searching and using points to book flights.

Points Pricing Rules of Thumb: While you certainly will find flights priced higher than this, you can also find flights priced low than this amount of points also. Typically lower points costs can mean higher taxes and fees.

• Domestic flight, economy one way: 12,500 - 25,000 points

• International flight to Europe, economy, one way: 35,000-48,000 points* + taxes/fees**

• International flight to Europe, business class, one way: 65,000-80,000 points* + taxes/fees**

• International flight to Mexico, round-trip: 40,000-50,000 points + taxes/fees

*Note: being Denver-based, I use United as my basis of thought; however, you can often find much lower options if you're willing to do a positioning flight to fly out of another large hub airport. A positioning flight is a flight you take to for the sole purpose of getting to another airport to start your primary trip

**International Taxes/Fees vary depending on the airport. For Europe, London Heathrow (LHR), is known to have the highest taxes/fees; often 2-3X's the cost of EU airports

Virgin Air and Flying Blue (Air France/KLM), often are cost less points for flights, but can have higher taxes and fees.

You CAN book a flight for someone else. If someone in your household has points or miles, they can book a flight for you, even if they aren't on the reservation. So in the above Transfer Points section, I say you can't take your Amex points and transfer them to your Player 2's loyalty account... but you can book a flight with your points for someone else if you need to.

Summary
As promised, this is ALOT of information, that hopefully is all valuable and will help you learn how to turn your points into nearly free travel!

If you're overwhelmed, don't worry - that's natural. Earning points can be easy, but redeeming points and understanding how to redeem to spend as little points as possible, and/or maximize your point value is a skill that comes with time and practice!

If you have points you're ready to use to book, but don't have the time or patience to go down the rabbit hole of possibilities that is award flights, I'm happy to do the work for you! Check out my award booking intake form!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Comparing Shopping Portals

I've shared before that in addition to earning credit card sign up bonuses, two other conscious methods I use to earn more points are:

1. Maximizing category spend (this post talks about my favorite everyday cards and maximizing category spend; which using the "right" card to earn more points on purchases like groceries, dining out, and all other purchases) 

2. Utilizing online shopping portals, like Rakuten

Now, generally speaking, the points earned from these methods are nowhere close to a sign up bonus; but at the same time - any and all extra points add up!

What's a Shopping Portal? 

As a refresher, an online shopping portal is a website or platform that acts as a gateway to online retailers, offering bonus rewards like cash back, airline miles or points, for purchases made through the shopping portal. 

How to Use Shopping Portals
Instead of going directly to a retailer's website, you visit the shopping portal first, search and click on a link to your retailer of choice, and then make your purchase from the retailers website. The portal tracks your purchase (but not your personal information like shipping address and/or credit card number), then credits your account with the bonus rewards offered.

There are dozens of options for shopping portals; from banks like Chase and Capital One, airlines like Southwest and American, and third party like Rakuten. In order to "remember" to use shopping portals, I've downloaded browser extensions, so that when I visit almost any shopping website, I get multiple pop-ups offering to activate a shopping portal.

For example, when I visit Gap, this is what happens; four pop-ups appear, all from different shopping portals, based on the web browser extensions I have downloaded for these specific shopping portals.

Payment Method

Keep in mind, when using a portal, you don't have to use a specific credit card to earn the points or cash back. Utilizing the shopping portal is earning ADDITIONAL points and/or cash back, in addition to any benefits earned from the specific card you're using to make a purchase.

For example, I can shop through Chase portal, but pay with an American Express card. I would then earn portal points from Chase AND purchase points on my American Express.

Comparing Shopping Portals

Now, generally speaking you can only use ONE shopping portal benefit for any given purchase. Naturally, you likely will want to use which ever portal is offering the highest value (unless you are trying to build points up for a specific bank or airline). Usually my goal is to get the most Chase points I can. While Chase has a "shop through Chase" portal (that I've been using for over 10 years!!), it still does not have a web browser extension, which means there's no pop-up for Chase. You simply have to remember.

This is where one of my favorite tools comes in: Cashback Monitor. This is a free website, that you can search any store and it automatically reviews all of the points and/or cash back shopping portals for the specific store. It does all of the comparison for you, so that you simply look at the options and pick which you want to use.

From our example above, searching Cashback Monitor for Gap, yields the results of:

Generally I prioritize Chase points, Bilt points, or American Express. You can earn Bilt points or American Express depending on how you set up your Rakuten account. In this case, both Chase and Rakuten are offering 2 points per dollar spent. I would then go to either Chase Shopping Portal or Rakuten to make my Gap purchase and earn 2 points per dollar.

Sometimes, there is a clear "winner", ie one shopping portal that offers a higher point yield than others; which makes it more obvious who to shop through for a given purchase. For example, lets say I was using Instacart to buy groceries (which we do for Costco purchases). Southwest is offering 1 point per dollar spent, Chase Freedom offers 2 points per dollar; but Rakuten offers 3 points per dollar, so I'm going to shop through Rakuten to make my purchase.

Keep in Mind

Shopping portal rates are fluid! They can change. What you see today may not be the same as a rate tomorrow. Sometimes there are promotions if you spend X-amount in a given time period, you can earn bonus points (I see this frequently with United and Southwest).

Or, Rakuten is known to have higher cash back/points earn for certain weeks or holidays. For example, over Presidents Day weekend, several websites that are usually 1-2 points per dollar where as high as 10-15 points!

Summary

Shopping portals add another step to online shopping; but at the same time, offer a convenient way to earn more points (or cashback) without spending more!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Transfer Bonus Calculator (+Current Bonuses)

What is a Transfer Bonus?
Essentially - it's free points or miles!

Transfer bonuses are a limited time promotion where bank/partner programs will offer extra points to transfer your flexible bank points to a specific hotel or loyalty program. Banks frequently (sometimes monthly, sometimes sporadically) announce transfer bonuses, which means if you transfer points from the bank to the partner with the bonus, you’ll get more points for free with that partner, just for transferring! 

In order to take advantage of these bonuses, you need to transfer your flexible bank points to the travel partner with the bonus. Not familiar with how to transfer points or which hotels/airlines partner with which banks? You can learn how to transfer points here, Chase Transfer Partners here, American Express transfer partners here and Capital One's here. 

Keep in mind... once you transfer points, you cannot transfer them back to your bank. They are then "stuck" in whichever airline/hotel partner you transferred to. Transfers from banks to airline or hotel partners are irreversible.

It is NOT recommended to transfer points from a bank to a travel partner, just because there's a bonus. It's generally best to keep your points flexible until you're ready to book travel, at which point you then transfer out of the bank.

Current Transfer Bonuses

(As of 3/5/2026; these are subject to change/additional bonuses added)

American Express 

• No Transfer Bonuses at this time

Capital One

• Preferred Hotels: this hotel group joined Capital One as a transfer partner back in Sept 2025 and currently has 30% bonus through 9:59PM ET, March 31, 2026. The standard transfer is 1:2 ratio; with this bonus it jumps up to 1 Capital One mile transfer to I prefer equals 2.6 I prefer points

Chase

• Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia: 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET, March 31st, 20226

• Don't want or need to fly any of these airlines? Keep in mind Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same OneWorld Alliance as Alaska, American, or Qatar Airways.

• Plus all of these airlines use Avios and you can combine Avios amongst other Avios airlines, including Vueling and Finnair. Learn more here how I’ve used this transfer bonus AND Avios transferring to save on a flight. 

• Wyndham Hotels: Chase's newest Transfer Partner now has a 30% Transfer Bonus

How Many Points to Transfer

To figure out how many points you NEED to transfer, you take the amount of points needs to book your flight/hotel and divide that number by the transfer bonus (in numerical form, the percent plus 1). So say you want to book a 50,000 point flight and there's a 20% transfer bonus. You would calculate 50,000 / (1.2) to figure out how many points you need to actually transfer. In this case, it calculates out to 41,667 points.

Most programs require you transfer points in 1,000 point increments, which means for our example, with a 20% transfer bonus, you'd transfer 42,000 points to book your 50,000 point travel.

Transfer Bonus Calculator

Instead of having to figure out the math; I've created a calculator that does the work for you!

JustcallmeHaHa's Transfer Bonus Calculator

Number of Points Required Transfer Bonus (%) Transfer Ratio 1:1 1:2 1:.75 1:.5 1:.6 1:1.6 1:.8

Number of Points Required: this is how many points you need to book your travel; the points price shown on the airline or hotel’s website where you will book

Transfer Ratio: most commonly this is 1:1. Meaning if you transfer 1,000 bank points to a travel partner, you'll get 1,000 points in the airline or hotel loyalty program.

However, some banks and travel partners don't have a 1:1 ratio. You can find the specific bank to transfer partner ratio when you are in the bank's Transfer to Partners/Transfer Rewards page. For example, for Capital One to Accor hotels, it shows 1,000 Capital One miles is equal to 500 Accor points. So for the Transfer Ration menu in the calculator you would select the "1:.5" option to align.

Summary

Have you taken advantage of transfer bonuses before? While I don't wait for a transfer bonus (when I have something I want to book, I book it!), but it sure is nice when a transfer bonus aligns with something that I need to book.

Save this page to use this calculator whenever you have a transfer bonus you want to utilize. I hope it helps you save some brain cells and some points!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Chase Transfer Partners

With all of the attention Hyatt got this week, announcing changes to their award pricing, a new transfer partner has been added to Chase somewhat under the radar. 

While I don't think this is all that exciting, I wanted to be sure to update my list of Chase Transfer Partner Hotels and Airlines. Remember - airline and hotel partners vary across banks, with some overlap (Air Canada and Flying Blue), but often not (such as Hyatt, United, and Southwest). You can find American Express transfer partners here and Capital One's here. 

Chase Transfer Partner Hotels and Airlines

Why do you want to transfer your points verse book travel in the bank travel portal?

Typically, bank travel portals all you to book travel trading in 1 point for 1 cent. Granted, Chase does now offer Points Boost, where depending on the cards you hold and travel you want to book, you may get up to 1.65 cents per point of value.

However, generally speaking, when you transfer your points to partner hotels and airlines, you can book travel directly through those programs for LESS points. Using less points to book travel, means that you can travel more! Currently all of Chases transfer partners are a 1:1 ratio

This post walks you step by step how to transfer Chase points to a travel partner. Keep in mind, you need a "premium" (aka annual fee) Chase card to have the ability to transfer. My number one recommendation is the Sapphire Preferred, due to it's benefits and low annual fee; but these cards also provide the ability to transfer points to partners: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ink Business Preferred, or Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business  If you don't have one of these cards, then your points are "stuck" in Chase and you only way to redeem is through the Travel Portal.

But, if you open one of these cards, you can then combine your points amongst accounts and transfer existing points out to partners too!

Hotels

Chase has four hotel partners that you can do direct points transfers to:

Chase Hotel Partners

Airlines

Chase has 10 airline partners that you can do direct points transfers to. (Emirates partnership ended in 2025)

Chase Airline Partners

Don't see your favorite airline above as a direct transfer partner? Keep in mind that airlines unite together and have formed alliances that allow you to cross book among alliance airlines. Therefore, if an airline you want to fly isn't listed above as a direct travel partner; through alliances, you may still be able to fly a specific airline, as long as you transfer to their alliance partner and see the flight in the alliance airline's search.

This post discusses airline alliances in more detail.

For example, you can't directly transfer points to Lufthansa, but Lufthansa is in Star Alliance, as is United. Therefore, you may be able to search United and come across a Lufthansa flight that you can book by transferring points to and booking with United.

Summary

Chase is my favorite bank and favorite flexible points because not only are their partners familiar domestic brand names you recognize, at the same time; they have other travel partners that you can use around the world!

Chase Ultimate Rewards are arguably the most valuable flexible points. You can earn them from a variety of Chase credit cards: Freedom Flex or Unlimited, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ink Business Preferred, Ink Business Unlimited or Cash, or Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business 

Each of the links above will lead you to specific details on each card. If you want to open one of these cards, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit. If you're interested in business cards, but want more information, as well as directions how to apply for them; read here!

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!