Transferable Points: How Transfer Partners Work

Transferable points are the currency your bank issues: Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Citi ThankYou, Bilt Rewards. They are not airline miles yet.

They become airline miles or hotel points only when you move them into a partner program. That move is a transfer, and the programs you can move them into are transfer partners.

Most transfers run 1:1 and post within a day or two. None of them run backward, and that one fact shapes everything else.

What are transferable points?

A transferable point is a bank currency with its options still open. While it sits in your Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, or Bilt account, it is not committed to any airline or hotel.

An airline mile is the opposite. It is already committed, and it buys whatever that one program charges on the day you book.

• Flexible balance. Points at the bank can still become miles or points in any program on that issuer's partner list.
• Locked balance. Transferred points are the partner's currency, priced by the partner's award chart and governed by the partner's rules.
• The transfer. A one-way conversion between the two, at a ratio the issuer sets and can change.

Amex states the tradeoff in its Membership Rewards program terms: "Once you transfer points, the transfer cannot be reversed and the partner loyalty program's terms and conditions apply."

Expiration follows the partner too. Once your points land, the airline's or hotel's clock is the one that counts, and our guide to whether airline miles expire covers those rules carrier by carrier.

How does a points transfer actually work?

You link the loyalty account to your bank account once, choose an amount, and confirm. Capital One notes that the name on both accounts has to match.

The mechanics then belong to your issuer, and the five programs differ in ways worth checking.

Read the exception column first: the issuer sets the ratio, and it moves.

Are all transfer partners 1:1?

No. The headline ratio is 1:1 at all five programs, and all five publish exceptions to it.

Amex says as much in its terms: "The rate at which points are transferred to participating partner loyalty programs varies by partner."

Amex to Hilton Honors: 1:2

Membership Rewards points move to Hilton Honors at 1:2, so 10,000 points arrive as 20,000 Hilton points.

A ratio above 1:1 is not automatically the better outcome, because Hilton prices award nights in Hilton points. What matters is what the larger balance books, and our hotel loyalty program comparison covers how those charts differ.

Chase to World of Hyatt: 4:3 on some cards

Chase is moving its World of Hyatt ratio from 1:1 to 4:3 for Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred cardholders, as Frequent Miler and The Points Guy have both documented.

New applicants from June 15, 2026 got the new ratio right away. Existing cardholders move to it on October 1, 2026, while Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve for Business stay at 1:1.

Citi made a comparable hotel adjustment earlier in the year. One Mile at a Time reported Choice Privileges moving from 1,000:2,000 to 1,000:1,500 and I Prefer from 1,000:4,000 to 1,000:2,000, effective April 19, 2026.

Which alliance a partner sits in can matter as much as its ratio, since one program often tickets awards across a whole alliance. Our guide to airline alliances maps who can book whom.

Can you transfer points back?

No. This is the one rule that is the same everywhere, and each issuer publishes it in its own words.

• Amex: "Points you've transferred to a partner loyalty program account can't be converted back into Membership Rewards points."
• Chase: "Point transfers to travel partners are final."
• Capital One: "Once you have transferred Capital One miles, they become subject to the receiving loyalty program and cannot be transferred back to your Capital One rewards account."
• Bilt: transfers cannot be reversed once processed, per NerdWallet's Bilt guide.

None of them publishes a path to undo a completed transfer, so plan as though none exists.

Points move one way. Cash fares move both ways, and they keep moving after you book, which is the half of the trip most travelers never act on.

On cash tickets booked directly with Alaska, American, Delta, JetBlue, or United, add your trip and Autopilot tracks the fare and reprices the reservation when it drops. It does not cover award bookings or loyalty balances, so your points stay entirely yours to manage.

How long does a points transfer take?

Anywhere from seconds to about a week, depending on the pair of programs.

Amex sets the general expectation in its terms: "Typically, it takes 48 hours to process the transfer but some programs delay posting points to your partner loyalty account."

Chase's own guidance runs wider, saying most transfers process by the next business day and may take up to seven business days.

• Minutes. Many airline partners across Amex, Capital One, Citi, and Bilt post almost immediately.
• Up to 48 hours. Bilt asks members to allow 48 hours, and up to 72 hours for Southwest.
• A day or two by design. Several Amex partners, including ANA, Cathay Pacific, Delta, and Iberia, are documented as delayed.
• Up to seven business days. Chase's published outer limit.

Why should you confirm award space before transferring?

Because the transfer commits you and the award seat does not wait.

Chase puts it on its own site: "If you're redeeming your points for an award ticket/stay, make sure the award is available." It suggests confirming how many miles or points you will need before you move anything.

1. 1

   Price the award first

   Note the exact number of miles or points the program is charging that day.
2. 2

   Check today's ratio and any fee

   Confirm the current ratio on the issuer's transfer page, and whether a transfer into a US airline program carries the excise tax offset fee.
3. 3

   Transfer only what the booking needs

   Move that amount in 1,000-point increments rather than the whole balance.
4. 4

   Confirm the points posted, then book

   Amex advises being sure the points have transferred first. The seat is only yours once the reservation is ticketed.

The failure mode is undramatic. You transfer, the space is gone, and you are holding a balance in a program you never planned to build.

Award prices move after you book as well, which is its own opportunity, and award ticket price drops covers what to do when the mileage price falls. If the plan changes entirely, award redeposit fees set what it costs to put the miles back.

What is a transfer bonus, and should you wait for one?

A transfer bonus temporarily raises what your points are worth in one partner program.

NerdWallet's explainer puts it simply: "if your points transfer to an airline at a 1:1 ratio, and that airline is offering a 25% transfer bonus, transferring 100,000 points to that airline would net you 125,000 airline miles."

They run more or less continuously, usually for a few weeks at a time.

• Amex to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus Avios: 30%, August 3 to September 27, 2026.
• Amex to Hilton Honors: 30%, September 1 to October 14, 2026.
• Chase to Air Canada Aeroplan: 20%, August 12 to September 30, 2026.
• Capital One to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank: 30%, September 1 to September 30, 2026.
• Citi to Leading Hotels of the World: 25%, August 23 to September 19, 2026.

Those were the windows NerdWallet tracked as of September 1, 2026, and they turn over quickly.

Transfer partners are the most flexible thing about bank points and the least forgiving. The flexibility ends the second you confirm the transfer.

So price the award, check the ratio that day, move what the booking needs, and leave the rest where it can still go anywhere.