When and How to Transfer Credit Card Rewards Points To Get The Most Value

Summary

Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways – Episode Summary

Episode: When and How to Transfer Credit Card Rewards Points To Get The Most Value
Release Date: April 23, 2025
Hosts: Sally French & Meghan Coyle, NerdWallet Travel

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Introduction to Credit Card Points Transfers

In this episode of Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways, hosts Sally French and Meghan Coyle dive deep into the intricacies of transferring credit card rewards points to maximize their value for travel. The conversation begins with an engaging game that sets the stage for the episode's focus.

Credit Card Points: Truth or Myth

00:00 – 01:24

Megan Coyle kicks off by challenging Sally French with a statement: "The best way to use your credit card points is to transfer them to airline or hotel loyalty programs instead of booking travel through your credit card's travel portal." Sally responds thoughtfully, highlighting that the effectiveness of transferring points depends on selecting the right transfer partners. She emphasizes the importance of understanding which transfers yield the best value.

Transfer Bonuses: Maximizing Point Value

01:24 – 02:18

Sally introduces current transfer bonuses, such as an 80% transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group), which includes brands like Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza. Megan adds that American Express is offering a 20% transfer bonus to Aeromexico Club Premiere or Etihad Guest, and Capital One provides a 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club until mid-May 2025. These bonuses significantly enhance the value of transferred points, turning what might seem like ordinary transfers into highly lucrative opportunities.

Upcoming Travel Regulations and Airline Updates

02:18 – 06:04

The duo transitions to discussing important travel updates:

• Real ID Requirement: Effective May 7, 2025, travelers must possess a REAL ID-compliant identification or alternative approved IDs like a US passport to board domestic flights. Sally shares her recent airport experience reinforcing the urgency of this requirement.

  Sally French [02:54]: "Other approved type of IDs include a US passport or passport card. Your Global Entry card will also work if you have that."

• Free In-Flight Wi-Fi:

  • American Airlines will offer free Wi-Fi on most flights starting January 2026.
  • Delta Airlines already provides free Wi-Fi for Delta SkyMiles members on most domestic flights.
  • United Airlines is rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi, offering free service for MileagePlus members, with broader implementation expected by year's end.

  Megan Coyle [03:37]: "American Airlines is introducing free WI Fi on most of its planes starting in January 2026."

• United Airlines Adjustments: Due to weak demand for certain routes, United is reducing flights during off-peak times, which could affect travelers seeking budget-friendly options.

• Frontier Miles Elite Status: Members of Southwest Rapid Rewards can purchase Frontier Miles Elite Gold status for $40 before April 30, 2025, offering substantial savings for frequent Frontier flyers.

Understanding Points Transfers: Benefits and Best Practices

07:02 – 15:55

The core of the episode focuses on the strategic transfer of credit card points:

• Baseline Value of Points: Typically, credit card points are worth about $0.01 each when redeemed for cash back or through the issuer's travel portal. However, exceptions exist, such as:

  NerdWallet Expert [07:33]: "Most credit card points are worth about $0.01 per point as a baseline value."

  • Chase Sapphire Preferred & Reserve: Offer higher redemption rates of 1.25 cents and 1.5 cents per point, respectively, when booking through Chase's travel portal.
  • American Express: Generally offers $0.01 per point, but certain redemptions like specific hotels or rental cars may reduce this value to 0.7 cents per point.

• Transfer Partners: Transferring points to airline or hotel loyalty programs can unlock higher values, often exceeding 1.5 cents per point. Notable partners include:

  • Hyatt: Valued at over 2 cents per point when transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • Hawaiian Airlines: Offers a 1:1 transfer ratio with American Express, which can be advantageous, especially with Alaska Airlines' acquisition area.
  • Flying Blue (Air France & KLM): Frequently runs promotions, allowing substantial savings on international flights.

  Sally French [16:11]: "Chase's best transfer partner by far is Hyatt. Hyatt points are worth more than 2 cents most of the time."

• Transfer Ratios and Bonuses: While many programs maintain a 1:1 transfer ratio, some, like Capital One's transfer to JetBlue, are less favorable (5:3 ratio). It's crucial to perform the math to ensure the transfer offers better value than redeeming points directly.

  NerdWallet Expert [11:31]: "As a rule of thumb, you want to avoid transferring your points to a partner that has less than a one to one ratio."

• Strategic Transfers: Points should only be transferred when you have a specific redemption in mind to prevent value loss and ensure availability.

  Sally French [13:21]: "Don't just speculatively transfer your Chase points. Instead, transfer them when you know exactly what you want to book."

Tools and Resources for Optimizing Points

15:55 – 19:59

The hosts recommend several tools to help travelers maximize their points:

• Points Path Plugin: Integrates with Google Flights to display point prices and suggests when using points offers better value than cash.

  Sally French [20:11]: "With Points Path, it will show points prices on Google flights and suggest if it's a better deal to use points versus cash."

• Award Search Tools: Websites like Points.com, Seats, Arrow Points, and Rome help compare point valuations across airlines and hotels.

• NerdWallet’s Own Resources: Comprehensive guides and up-to-date lists of transfer bonuses are available on their website, aiding travelers in making informed decisions.

Listener Q&A: Managing Credit Card Points and Fees

23:07 – 25:30

A listener queries advice on handling an Alaska Airlines credit card, particularly wanting to retain credit history without paying the annual fee. Sally and Megan suggest:

• Product Switching: Contacting the issuer (Bank of America) to downgrade to a no-annual-fee card while retaining the original account history.

  Sally French [24:01]: "NerdWallet's normal advice would be to downgrade cards instead of canceling them to retain your credit history."

• Retention Offers: Sometimes, issuers may offer incentives to keep the card, such as bonus miles, if the cardholder agrees to increased spending.

Hot Takeoff: Edible Points

25:30 – 27:48

In their lighthearted segment, the hosts discuss the concept of "edible points," drawing parallels between points and consumable items like croissants. They explore how some credit cards allow points to be used for dining experiences:

• Chase: Offers points redemption for dining at various establishments, including upscale culinary experiences.

• American Express Gold Card: Provides substantial rewards and statement credits for dining and supermarket purchases, alongside partnerships with Resy for exclusive dining perks.

  Sally French [27:10]: "The Amex Gold also earns four Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 per calendar year."

Despite the playful analogy, they underline the practical benefits of leveraging points for dining perks, enhancing the overall travel and lifestyle experience.

Conclusion and Final Tips

27:48 – End

Sally and Megan wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of strategic points transfers and utilizing available resources to maximize value. They encourage listeners to stay informed through NerdWallet’s comprehensive guides and to engage with the NerdWallet community for personalized travel strategies.

Sally French [28:00]: "Thanks for listening. We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller."

Key Takeaways:

1. Transfer Wisely: Only transfer points when you have a specific redemption in mind to ensure maximum value.
2. Leverage Bonuses: Keep an eye out for transfer bonuses to amplify your points’ worth.
3. Use the Right Tools: Utilize plugins and award search tools to find the best deals and value for your points.
4. Maintain Credit Health: Consider product switching over canceling cards to preserve credit history and score.
5. Explore Diverse Redemption Options: Beyond flights and hotels, explore dining and other lifestyle perks to fully utilize your points.

For more detailed strategies, transfer bonus updates, and tools to optimize your travel budget, visit NerdWallet's Travel Section.

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This summary is based on the transcript provided and aims to encapsulate the episode's essential discussions and insights.

Transcript

[Megan Coyle]

Sally, let's play a game. Tell me if you think the following statement is a truth or myth.

[Sally French]

Oh, you love podcast games. Let's do it.

[Megan Coyle]

Okay, the best way to use your credit card points is to transfer them to airline or hotel loyalty programs instead of booking travel through your credit card's travel portal.

[Sally French]

Huh. Well, I want to say trick question. This one depends. Like, I feel like almost all my answers. You have to know which transfers actually make sense, because not all of them do.

[Megan Coyle]

That's why listeners have us.

[NerdWallet Expert]

We're here to give you the shortcuts.

[Megan Coyle]

On which transfer partners are worth booking with to save you some points.

[Sally French]

Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.

[Megan Coyle]

I'm Megan Coyle.

[Sally French]

And I'm Sally French, and we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

[Megan Coyle]

Maybe on points. If you've heard that you should transfer your points for travel redemptions, listen up. It can save you thousands of points, but you have to know which transfer partners you have access to and which ones offer the best rates, because not.

[Sally French]

All of them do. Big hints we'll go over some possible good transfer partners this month in the news, but really quick, let's do our usual disclaimer. We will talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode, but that does not influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms and fees mentioned weren't accurate at the time of posting, but things can change. Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening. For the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

[Megan Coyle]

One thing we'll talk about later in the episode is that there are these special deals called transfer bonuses that can make transferring to a partner even cheaper.

[Sally French]

And one of those special deals right now is a transfer bonus going between Chase Ultimate Rewards to ihg. That's one of the hotel loyalty programs that has brands like Intercontinental Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and one of my personal favorites, Kimpton. That One is an 80% transfer bonus. So if you need 180,000 points for an awards day at one of these properties, you would only have to transfer 100,000 points. The other 80,000 would show up in your IHG account as the bonus.

[Megan Coyle]

That's a lot of points. But this transfer bonus is only running through April 30, 2025. So if you're listening to this episode, after that day, check NerdWallet's list of current transfer bonuses. For others, we'll link to that in the episode description. That's often where I start when I'm looking to use points for a trip.

[Sally French]

And don't worry if you're not a Chase card holder. There are other great bonuses out there. One of the best ones right now is a 20% transfer bonus from AMEX to Aeromexico Club Premiere or Etihad Guest. Both of Those also end April 30.

[Megan Coyle]

2025 and over in City Land. Cardholders with City thank you points can transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying club with a 30% bonus and they have a bit longer to do that. That one ends May 17, 2025.

[Sally French]

Lots of good deadlines there to note. Another good one is that the federal requirement to have a real ID for commercial domestic flights is finally going into effect May 7, 2025. That's after years of delays.

[Megan Coyle]

That means you have two weeks, two weeks, people to get your real ID. If you don't have one already.

[Sally French]

You know Megan, I was actually just at the airport this week and saw signs everywhere aggressively reminding. So here we are passing on those aggressive reminders to our listeners.

[Megan Coyle]

This is your reminder to schedule your appointment at the dmv. So once the requirement goes into effect, if you don't have a REAL ID compliant, state ID or driver's license, you might have to bring another approved type of ID to board a domestic flight.

[Sally French]

Other approved type of IDs include a US passport or passport card. Your Global Entry card will also work if you have that. We have a list of the accepted IDs and how to tell if you even have a real ID. On NerdWallet's website you can find that link in the show description.

[Megan Coyle]

Hopefully you would remember if you spent hours at the DMV getting it. So all right, another piece of news I heard last week that I'm really excited about. American Airlines is introducing free WI Fi on most of its planes starting in January 2026. Yeah, thank goodness because I'm paying like 25 to $35 each flight to use the Internet on my American flights. And that is really starting to add up.

[Sally French]

Ooh, I actually just dropped $60 on a two device wi fi pass on American Airlines this month in fact. So this is so welcome.

[Megan Coyle]

And just a reminder, it's free to join the American Airlines a Advantage program. So once this WI Fi service launches, it won't cost you anything to join and then connect to the Internet.

[Sally French]

You know, Megan, free Wi Fi is becoming a trend on airlines. Delta already offers free Wi Fi for Delta skymile members. For example on most of its domestic flights.

[Megan Coyle]

And United is joining the party as well. It previously announced that it's equipping its planes with Starlink Wi Fi and the planes that use the Internet provider will offer free WI Fi for United mileage plus members. It's kind of rolling out slowly. The first United Express regional jet with Starlink is on track to launch next month and the first bigger jet with Starlink should launch before the end of.

[Sally French]

The year, ringing in 2026 with free Wi fi on many of the big airplanes. I am thrilled. I am also glad you mentioned United Airlines because they talked about their quarterly results last week and a lot of the same results as Delta Airlines that we talked about a few weeks ago are echoed in what they said. Weak demand for domestic flights and flights between Canada and the U.S. but they are seeing premium seats like United Polaris and international routes are still going pretty strong.

[Megan Coyle]

But like Delta, United is also going to make a few cuts. They're going to cut back on flights at off peak times and on lower demand days.

[Sally French]

Ah, that's too bad because those low demand days are when you can typically find the best deals.

[Megan Coyle]

Don't take away my 6am flight on a Tuesday. Just kidding. Take it. I always regret booking that flight later when I'm waking up at 4:00am Same.

[Sally French]

All right. One last thing I saw is that Southwest Rapid Rewards members of any level can purchase Frontier Miles Elite gold status for $40. That's if they purchase before April 30, 2025. Now $40. That's about the price of a carry on bag on most Frontier flights. So if you've got more than just one Frontier flight this year, this could be worth it if you pay that fee. Just once again, it is free to join Rapid Rewards if you're not a member already.

[Megan Coyle]

I wish other airlines would jump on this bandwagon too. First free Wi Fi next $40 elite status here I come.

[Sally French]

Although the other airlines are not usually charging for carry on bags, so I can't hate it too much. Yeah, that's that wraps up today's travel news update. But before we move on, we want to tell you how you can enter to win a one on one travel strategy coaching session with one of NerdWallet's credit cards and travel rewards experts. NerdWallet has a free email newsletter called Travel Nerd. If you sign up for Our Newsletter By April 30, 2025 then you will be entered to win a private coaching session. It includes a personalized wallet analysis, a suggested credit card strategy you can use to earn points, friendly answers to your specific travel questions and more. To sign up, just visit nerdwallet.com travel newsletter or find a link in today's Episode Description.

[Megan Coyle]

If you listen to our.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Episode on Best Credit Cards, which you totally should. Yeah, I feel like I'm about to drop a spoiler, but if you haven't listened, maybe go back and start there.

[Sally French]

But if you already do have a travel credit card, especially one that earns transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Miles City, thank you points or Built Rewards, this episode is the right spot.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Today we're unpacking point transfers.

[Sally French]

Ooh, scary. Well, at least really was for me at one point when I was new to travel credit cards.

[NerdWallet Expert]

And it's not as scary as it sounds. It really is very simple. But the tricky part is making sure that transferring points will actually be a better deal for you.

[Sally French]

And that's why we exist.

[NerdWallet Expert]

So let's go over some basics before we get too deep here. Most credit card points are worth about $0.01 per point as a baseline value, and that's usually the case if you redeem your points for cash back or cover a travel expense in your credit card issuer's travel portal.

[Sally French]

But exceptions do exist, and these exceptions are both good and bad.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Let's start with the good. The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve have an even higher redemption rate. When you redeem your points for travel in the Chase Travel portal, it's 1.25 cents per point for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and 1.5 cents per point for the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

[Sally French]

This is basically like saying if you have either of those two cards, you're kind of rich than you thought.

[NerdWallet Expert]

On the other side of the coin, American Express, their travel portal, not the greatest flights and certain hotels, give you $0.01 per point, which is, you know, baseline. But if you try to book most other hotels or a rental car, you'll only get 0.7 cents per point.

[Sally French]

0.7. So that is less than one penny per point.

[NerdWallet Expert]

If you want to keep it simple and redeem in the travel portal, that's fine. Just know that you're getting about $0.01 per point with most of these programs.

[Sally French]

And as Megan said, that's fine, that's fine. But if you want to unlock next level value, let us introduce you to transfer partners.

[NerdWallet Expert]

These are hotel or airline companies that partner with your credit card issuer and you can send your points there for, hopefully more value. You can find a list of the transfer partners of every major credit card rewards program on the Nerd Wallet website and the Show Notes.

[Sally French]

Of course, you might recognize some of these transfer partners. We're talking about United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, and then there's the hotel brands like Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt Partners vary credit card. So for example, with Chase credit cards, one of their best transfer partners is Hyatt. That's because Hyatt points are just so valuable.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Then there are usually a few international airlines as well.

[Sally French]

And you might be sitting there wondering like, I don't go to Canada often. Why should I transfer my Chase points to Air Canada? Now, first of all, Rude Canada is great. And second of all, Air Canada is in the Star alliance, which means you can book United Airlines flights using Air Canada aeroplan miles. So sometimes it's actually cheaper to a United airlines flight with 20,000 Air Canada points in this example, versus it could be 35,000 United miles if you booked that same exact flight through United.

[NerdWallet Expert]

When you move your credit card points to a transfer partner, it's almost like a currency conversion. Like how things cost different amounts here than they do in Europe.

[Sally French]

I know, like how croissants in France are €2. And then I feel like in the US I'm paying $6 for a croissant.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Oh, yeah, the croissant inflation is terrible. The cool thing is though, that when you have a credit card with transferable points, there are no fees for converting your points.

[Sally French]

Beautiful. Why would you spend six points on a croissant when you could transfer your points to a loyalty program and spend two points on the croissant?

[NerdWallet Expert]

I'd take the two point croissant any day.

[Sally French]

Right. So just to be clear, croissants are not real redemptions for the big bank points programs.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Well, it kind of is with the Starbucks rewards program. But I digress.

[Sally French]

You love your Starbucks. I know Listeners out there, you have to go back to our episode about flight delays and cancellations to hear more about Megan's obsession with Starbucks rewards. Now, Megan, you said that there are no fees for converting your points, and that is true. But it is not always a one to one ratio. So a one to one transfer ratio basically just means that you're turning 50,000 credit card points into 50,000 airline miles or whatever amount of points you want to convert. This is if you choose to move them to a certain airline or hotel. Of course, many airline and hotel partners have their own transfer ratios, and a.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Majority of them are one to one ratios for a lot of these big credit card rewards programs. So that's good. Keeps the math simple. And as a rule of thumb, you want to avoid transferring your points to a partner that has less than a one to one ratio.

[Sally French]

Yo, you are cheatering on getting robbed if you go this route. So only do this in very rare cases, like maybe you found some really great deal on points.

[NerdWallet Expert]

For example, Capital one just added JetBlue Airways as a transfer partner, but the ratio is 5 to 3. This means if you transfer 5,000 capital 1 miles to JetBlue, you'll only receive 3,000 JetBlue True Blue points.

[Sally French]

Yeah, personally, that's not ideal.

[NerdWallet Expert]

In practice, that means you end up needing to transfer a lot more credit card points to be able to book your flight with JetBlue points. In that case, you might actually save some miles if you just book through the Capital One travel portal.

[Sally French]

Let's just recap. The first reason you might want to transfer miles is if you can get a better value. So usually better than $0.01 per point if you redeem your points through a transfer partner's loyalty program instead of your credit card's travel portal.

[NerdWallet Expert]

And the second reason is maybe you need to top off your account. So we just talked about how that JetBlue transfer ratio isn't super advantageous to cardholders, but if you only need a few, let's say like 3,000 JetBlue points, because you already have maybe 15,000 JetBlue points from flying and you're just trying to book something that's 18,000, so you just need that 3,000 difference. Like that could be worth it maybe.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Little small transfers just to get you that final mile there. I would say that's when I would recommend it.

[NerdWallet Expert]

And buying points usually isn't a good option. That's something that you might see when you're checking out and you don't have enough points. But airlines and hotels sell them for more than they're worth. So it's typically better to just transfer a few thousand points from your credit card than it is to buy them from the airline or hotel.

[Sally French]

Yeah, don't fall for it. I see so many emails that are like, deal to transfer points and it is rarely worth it.

[Megan Coyle]

All right, we've got lots more to say about points transfers. Stay with us. We're back in a moment.

[Sally French]

Now, another thing that I want people to understand about transferring points is that you usually should not just transfer your credit card points to a hotel or airline without a specific redemption in mind. So what I'm saying is don't just speculatively transfer your Chase points. To Hyatt. Even though Hyatt is a great transfer partner, we typically don't recommend that. We instead say only transfer them. If you know ex what hotel room you want to stay at and when, what flight it is, what date, what time. Make sure then that you have checked that. It truly does cost less in points in that loyalty program than it would to just pay when you book it through the credit cards travel portal.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yeah, there's so many things that could go wrong if you were to speculatively transfer points. For example, if it's a hotel, like maybe the hotel availability will get booked up and you won't be able to use those points for a stay at the hotel you want. Or maybe you're going on a trip and you transferred all your points to Hilton, but there are no Hilton hotels in that destination. Remember, points can generally only go one way, from credit card to the hotel or airline program. It's really hard to move them around once they're at a hotel or airline because they charge more. The transfer ratios aren't as good. You would lose a lot of value that way.

[Sally French]

Yeah, and I'll just add a lot of people love these more general programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards because those points can be used across so many different travel brands. The problem with just Hyatt is you can only redeem those points in Hyatt. So I always say it's better to keep your points more general and then transfer them to that specific program when you have a specific trip in mind.

[NerdWallet Expert]

It gives you so much flexibility. And one of the great things about these transfers is that most of them happen instantaneously, like within seconds.

[Sally French]

Yeah. Oh, magical.

[NerdWallet Expert]

But keep in mind that things do happen and sometimes you do have to wait a little bit for your points to transfer. So if it's a really special deal, I would recommend putting that flight or hotel stay on hold. Most airlines and hotels have a way to do this. Usually you just call them or sometimes there's a way to do it online. But make sure you do this if you are afraid that this booking might go away. And if you don't see your points in your account within an hour or two.

[Sally French]

And I will note that some transfers do take longer, but that it's more more the exception than the norm.

[NerdWallet Expert]

All right, I want to talk about which transfer partners are good, because when I'm looking to book travel, I don't check every airline or every hotel on the list.

[Sally French]

So at NerdWallet, the nerds like me and Megan have done the work to figure out what points in each of these programs are actually worth. Generally speaking, nerdwall, it says that if a point is worth more than 1.5 cents when you do the transfer, that's a good redemption.

[NerdWallet Expert]

And at NerdWallet we have done so much work to figure out what these valuations of these points are like. We literally manually look up every single cash price and every single redemption rate for a set of flights and hotel stays. And we look at them every year. There's hundreds of data points and we'll link to the full results in the show notes. We actually just updated our international airline valuations as well, so those are really helpful.

[Sally French]

So let's say some of the best transfer partners. I'll start with Chase. Their best transfer partner by far is Hyatt. Hyatt points are worth more than 2 cents most of the time, so you'll usually spend less points to book a Hyatt with Hyatt points. Then if you would just use Chase points to book the same Hyatt hotel.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Through Chase Travel for Amex, I'm hot on transferring to Hawaiian Airlines right now.

[Sally French]

Aloha.

[NerdWallet Expert]

It sounds random, but Hawaiian Airlines transfers one to one. This is kind of a special case. If you have Hawaiian Airlines miles, you can transfer them to Alaska Airlines. Alaska acquired Hawaiian last year and Alaska has some great low cost redemptions, especially for international award flights on One World Partners.

[Sally French]

And speaking of international programs, let's talk about some of the best international redemptions I mentioned earlier. I love Canada and Air Canada. Even though their program has gone through some devaluations this year, particularly for partner award flights, I still say I like Air Canada. What's nice is they are a transfer partner of Chase, Capital One and Amex.

[NerdWallet Expert]

They're super flexible points. And if I were going to pick an airline to book other airline alliances like the Sky Team alliance, which has Delta Airlines, I would actually choose Flying Blue, which is the frequent flyer program for Air France and klm. That program also had some devaluations earlier this year, but I booked my flights to Geneva, Switzerland to go skiing in the Alps in February this year and it was just 22,000 points from LA to Geneva.

[Sally French]

Very nice. Was that part of a Flying Blue promo?

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yes, sort of. So KLM and Air France, their Flying Blue program has these monthly promotions where they have discounted award flights between certain cities around the world and the hubs in France and the Netherlands. So I booked during this month where their flights from LA were in the promo. But actually the lowest cost flights were 15,000 points. But you know, I wanted to get the better itinerary so I splurged and I spent 22,000 points to get there.

[Sally French]

Amazing.

[NerdWallet Expert]

What fair class, just economy, you know.

[Sally French]

But it works okay. Just economy. And I will say they do have these same promos for business class and premium economy, obviously more points, but these promos change every month. So your city might be this month or next month if Air France or KLM flies there.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Another great way to save on points when you're transferring is to book during a transfer bonus. So these are usually like a month long or six weeks and I'll just use March as an example. Last month there was a 50% transfer bonus to Marriott from Chase Ultimate Rewards. The Marriott transfer ratio is typically one to one. So with the bonus, if you transferred 100,000 Chase points, you get 150,000 Marriott points in your Marriott account.

[Sally French]

So we mentioned like you want to go for 1.5 cents to be a great redemption. But when you have these transfer bonuses that can make something that used to be a so so transfer partner like I'm looking at you Marriott and it can turn it into a much better one. Of course this is just for a limited time, so we have done some nice work for you. Nerd Wallet has a page with all the current transfer bonuses. It also shows some transfer bonuses we've seen in the past to help inform maybe your your speculative trading and we'll link to that in the Show Notes.

[NerdWallet Expert]

We also have guides to the best and worst transfer partners of each of the major banks in the Show Notes too. So we have a lot of resources for you.

[Sally French]

The I think key takeaway here is even with a transfer bonus, do the math because it is not not always a good idea to transfer points.

[NerdWallet Expert]

So Sally, do you have any strategies for finding out what the best transfers are?

[Sally French]

I will say even though I write these pages on NerdWallet, I am also kind of lazy and I do so many flight searches on Google flights. And with that I use a plugin called Points Path. So with Points Path you install this plugin and it will show points prices on Google flights. And not just that, it has this really cool feature where it'll actually tell you if it thinks it's a better deal to use points versus cash. Because sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

[NerdWallet Expert]

I'm pretty sure I told you about Points Path.

[Sally French]

Okay, I'm stealing what credit should go to you.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Thank you.

[Sally French]

You're right. You're right. Thank you for showing that to Me.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yeah, it was really helpful when we were looking at valuations of all these airline programs. So that was a really good one. The other award search tools I like are points. Yeah, Seats, arrow points, me and Rome. These all work pretty much like a flight search tool, except that they'll show you the flight prices also in points. And some of them will tell you which airlines are transfer partners of which banks. These are really helpful if you're trying to book something on points and you have these flexible currencies.

[Sally French]

And then you mentioned all the work you did on your own valuations. I think we should shamelessly plug ourselves, right, Megan?

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yes, totally. If you haven't heard it enough, we have that list of how. How much each airline and a hotel program's points are worth. We also have articles on the best ways to fly to name your destination. You know, I know I've written tons of articles like that at NerdWallet. Let other people do the work for you when you're trying to figure out how do I fly to Europe on points? Because people who look at this every day, we see the prices more often. And we can help point you to the places that maybe people don't always know about.

[Sally French]

I think we should do some episodes on how to fly to those places in a future show. What do you say?

[NerdWallet Expert]

I love it. And for people in the know, the best ways to redeem your points to fly to a certain place is called a sweet spot. I just love that. Like, I always think of ice cream or something.

[Sally French]

I love it. You can totally just Google like Mexico's sweet spots. And I feel like a article Megan wrote will come up.

[NerdWallet Expert]

All right, and one last tip before we move on is some of these award search deal aggregators send out deal alert emails or notifications. So you talk to the founder of going.

[Sally French]

That's right, Scott.

[Megan Coyle]

Yeah, he's our guy. Going does that, right?

[Sally French]

Yes.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Those emails give me lots of ideas, even if I don't book them. I remember seeing in an email what airline points they mentioned. So I sort of bank that knowledge for my next trip.

[Sally French]

I will say we've been talking a lot about airlines. I think it's so much easier to use points for hotels. They don't have as many partnerships as airlines do. So it's just like you transfer your points to the hotel loyalty program. You book your stay, bang, boom. It's very simple.

[NerdWallet Expert]

But it's kind of fun to find the flight deals. Once you get good at it, it is fun.

[Sally French]

It's like uncovering a magical treasure okay, so should we move on to listener question time?

[Megan Coyle]

Let's do it.

[NerdWallet Expert]

All right, so one of my friends is a new smart travel listener, and she asked me recently what she should do with her first credit card. It's an Alaska Airlines card because she's from Seattle.

[Sally French]

Okay.

[NerdWallet Expert]

She used to fly Alaska Airlines a lot, but now she lives in Atlanta, and it's not as useful. She doesn't want to lose that credit history because it's the longest card she has had open, but she doesn't want to pay the annual fee anymore. Does she have any options here?

[Sally French]

I like this question. A lot of people open credit cards because they used to use that brand. So Nerd Bullet's normal advice would be to downgrade cards instead of canceling them. That's a good recommendation because you'll still retain the credit history. And having a longer account history is one of the major factors in determining your credit scores. So generally speaking, a longer credit history is better for your credit scores.

[NerdWallet Expert]

But unlike some airline cards, Alaska Airline actually doesn't have a no annual fee card.

[Sally French]

Boo. So that throws a wrench in what I was about to say.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yeah, well, don't worry. I called the issuer, bank of America, to find out, and even though they don't list it on their website, they do have cards that you can product switch to.

[Sally French]

Really?

[NerdWallet Expert]

So here's what they said in an email. Yes, a customer can call and request to be converted from an Alaska Airlines credit card to another bank of America credit card. Generally, the cardholder must be in good standing, and the bank may apply other criteria.

[Sally French]

Sounds like your friend should do that. So don't cancel the card outright. Just call to downgrade to a no annual fee card. I always recommend before you cancel any card, just in general, even if you're like, this card has an annual fee, and I. I don't want anything to do with it anymore. If they can't downgrade you, they might offer you some sort of retention offer to get you to stay. And I've done this before where I'm like, I just want to cancel the card. And then they're like, well, if you spend a thousand dollars, in two months, we'll credit your account with 10,000 miles. And then you're like, okay, maybe I will do that.

[NerdWallet Expert]

That's great advice, Sally. And also, if you didn't get the retention offer that you wanted or maybe the product switch that you want isn't available, I would recommend calling back again because sometimes they're able to offer you other options as you're standing with the bank changes as more time passes and new promos come around. So if you don't get it the first time, try again.

[Sally French]

Always call.

[NerdWallet Expert]

So now it's time for our favorite part of the show. Hot Takeoffs are hot takes about travel.

[Sally French]

Okay, I got the Hot Takeoff this week. Points should be edible, much like croissants.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Oh my gosh, I love it. What a callback. I feel like you're trolling, but honestly, you can kind of do that, right? Some cards actually do let you use your points on dining. So for example, some Chase cards let you use your points on Chase dining to order takeout or even book these fancy culinary experiences, like one on ones with a famous chef.

[Sally French]

And then Amex has this partnership with a company called Resy that gets you fancy dining perks for certain Amex card holders.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Yeah, the Amex Gold is one of those. That card has a 325 annual fee and it offers up to $50 in statement credit credits twice a year after you pay with the American Express Gold card to dine at US Resi restaurants.

[Sally French]

And that's on top of a bunch of other dining related perks on that card. Other ones are a 10 monthly statement credit when you pay with your card at certain restaurants, there's $10 in Uber Cash each month. You can use that on rides or you could use it on Uber eats.

[NerdWallet Expert]

The Amex Gold also earns four Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 per calendar year and four points at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases. I dare you to try and memorize those.

[Sally French]

And so basically TLDR is this is a great card if you're spending a lot of money on food. And fancy food at that with all that spend. Aidan. And then of course, there is the most important foodie perk of them all, and that is $7 in monthly statement credits when you use your card at US Dunkin Donuts locations.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Wait, Dunkin? That's not fancy at all.

[Sally French]

You made a culada and munch?

[NerdWallet Expert]

No, that's your real hot take.

[Sally French]

See, I was just leading up to it.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Okay, tell us about an amazing transfer you made for a dream vacation. Email [e-mail] or leave us a voice memo. We might play it on the next show and also come back for more by following the show on your favorite podcast app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio.

[Sally French]

Yes, do follow so you never miss an episode.

[NerdWallet Expert]

This episode was produced by Hilary Georgi and Tess Biglin. Claire Sosi helped with fact checking. And a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help.

[Sally French]

And here is our brief disclaimer. We are not financial or investment advisors. We are just two nerds obsessed with points.

[NerdWallet Expert]

This info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes.

[Sally French]

Hopefully it was entertaining and may not.

[NerdWallet Expert]

Apply to your circumstances.

[Sally French]

Thanks for listening. We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller.

[NerdWallet Expert]

See you next.