The magic of transferring points and miles
Transferring points and miles
If your goal is to make the most out of your credit card points and miles, transferring to travel partners is one of the best ways to maximize their value. Transfer partners are airlines and hotel brands that partner with a bank, enabling you to move your rewards into their loyalty program. Each bank has a different set of transfer partners.
Transferring points and miles to travel partners is really the key to award travel - it’s a huge part of our strategy and so important to learn! Let’s dive into the details.
Different types of points
First, you need to understand that not all points are created equal. Flexible points are our favorite type of points because they’re the most versatile. You can transfer them to travel partners, which - again - is the key to award travel. The different types of flexible points are:
Chase Ultimate Rewards (our #1 fave)
Capital One Venture Miles
Citi ThankYou Points
American Express Membership Rewards
Flexible points can be redeemed in a variety of ways:
Cash back
Gift cards
Redeem in credit card’s travel portal
Transfer to partner hotels & airlines (ding ding ding!)
Hotel points and airline miles that you earn from co-branded credit cards are specific to each hotel brand or airline. They are not transferrable, meaning you need to redeem those points and miles at their relevant hotel brand or airline. Think Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, Delta, American, United, etc. While we love co-branded cards and know they have their place in the award travel game, they just aren’t as versatile as flexible, transferrable points.
The value of transferring points & miles
For the purposes of today’s post, we’ll be focusing on transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards. We recommend that everyone start by signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. To understand why that is and to access our referral link, check out this blog post.
If you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card now under their current promotion, you will earn 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards. You’d have the following options to use those 75,000 points:
Cash back (worth $750 or 1 cent per point)
Gift cards (worth $750 or 1 cent per point)
Redeem in the Chase travel portal (worth $937.50 or 1.25 cents per point)
Transfer to partner hotels & airlines (worth $1,875 or 2.5 cents* per point!)
* While exact redemption values can vary, 2.5 cents per point is a conservative estimate. Usually our redemptions come out to be ~5 cents per point.
To illustrate the supersized value you would get by transferring your points, let’s book a Hyatt stay using three different methods. First, we’ll book a stay via the Hyatt website paying cash. We’ll compare that to booking the same stay via the Chase travel portal using our Chase Ultimate Rewards. Lastly, we’ll book that same stay a third way: by using Hyatt points that we’ve transferred over from Chase, which will show the power of transferring your points.
Method #1: Paying Cash on Hyatt’s Website
First, I go to the Hyatt website, search for the Andaz Costa Rica Resort and type in my desired dates. In this case, I’m looking for 3 nights in March of next year. (Sidebar: Everyone needs to put this resort on their bucket list, especially once you see the price of booking it with points!)
This 1 king bedroom with a partial bay view looks good to me.
The cash price including taxes and fees is $4,176.48. Now let’s see about our other options.
Method #2: Using Chase Ultimate Rewards via the Chase Travel Portal
In the Chase travel portal, I look up the same Andaz Costa Rica Resort and plug in the same 3-night stay in March of next year.
You’ll see the travel portal quotes us a cash price of $3,434.60 for three nights at this resort, so it’s definitely a better price than booking outright on the Hyatt website. If I choose to apply the 90,247 Chase Ultimate Rewards I have in my account, it would still cost $2,306.51 in addition to my points. While it’s the cheapest option so far, I’m not sold on this price either.
Method #3: Using Hyatt Points Transferred from Chase
Back to the Hyatt website, and you guessed it. Same resort and same 3-night stay. This time, I selected the option to pay in points.
The points price for this room is 25,000 per night, meaning you could book a 3-night stay at this resort with your 75,000 points by opting to pay using Hyatt points! And perhaps the craziest part about all of this is Hyatt doesn’t charge resort taxes or fees when you book with points, so it would cost $0 to stay at this resort for 3 nights!
When I go to the checkout, Hyatt reminds me that I don’t have 75,000 Hyatt points in my account yet. At this point - after I’ve verified award availability for the dates that I want - I would transfer the necessary amount of points from Chase to Hyatt in order to book this stay. Pro tip: Never transfer your points before verifying award availability!
Let’s review:
Booking on the Hyatt website paying cash: $4,176.48
Booking via the Chase travel portal using points: 90,247 points + $2,306.51 in cash
Booking on the Hyatt website using points transferred from Chase: 75,000 points + $0 in cash
And there is the magic of transferring your points!
How to transfer Chase points
The process of transferring Chase points to one of their transfer partners is really simple once you know the navigation. It’s also immediate for most transfer partner sites.
First, log into your Chase account from either a computer or your mobile app. The below photos are from a mobile app.
Navigate to your Chase Sapphire Preferred account and find the Benefits & rewards section. Don’t click the Book travel button; click on the arrow to drill into the Benefits & rewards section.
Next, find the Ultimate Rewards section and click that little arrow.
Then, click Redeem points.
Finally, choose the option called Transfer points to partners.
When you get to this screen, all of Chase’s travel partners will be listed. You’ll see that all points are transferred at a 1:1 ratio, which is a good thing. The transfer partners at the top have current transfer bonus offers, which are great to take advantage of if you can use them. However, we don’t recommend transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards out to partner sites unless you’re ready to book.
Once you select a transfer partner (Hyatt in our case), it will prompt you to designate how many points you want to transfer. You confirm it, and it’s done. From there, you would navigate to Hyatt’s website, log into your World of Hyatt account, find your desired booking, and reserve it with your Hyatt points!
Conclusion
Transferring credit card points and miles to travel partners can unlock tremendous value and open up a world of travel opportunities. By understanding the benefits and following a strategic approach, you can maximize the value of your rewards and enjoy unbelievable travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach.
To get started, we would recommend testing out this approach:
Find a Hyatt property online where you’d like to stay
Look up the price to stay there in points
Open the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to help get you there
Earn the Chase welcome bonus
Transfer those points over to Hyatt and book your stay for $0 😊
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to making the most of your credit card rewards and enjoying supersized value on your next travel adventure.
Good luck! We’re here for any questions!
