When to Transfer Points and Precautions when doing so

Transferring points to airlines and hotels is typically the best way to get the most value from your points. Lately, there has been a lot of questions asked about when one should transfer points? The typical answer is when you have found the deal you want to take advantage of. This year has thrown a small wrench into that logic with Chase and American Express offering as much as 30% bonus points when transferring to certain partners. On the surface, this appears like a great offer and in reality, it is a good offer, but there are catches.

The largest issue when transferring points is once they are transferred you cannot get them back to Chase or American Express. If you know you will be flying with a certain partner airline or staying with a certain partner hotel in the coming year, but do not have plans locked in yet, then take advantage of the deal. On the other hand, if you are unsure or have only hopes of traveling a certain route using that airline and have fairly limited flexibility with travel you will want to hold off.

Here is why: Airlines and hotels have limited reward tickets or stays and this becomes even more limited when you want a business class seat or hotel suite. If you transfer before finding the deal you want the deal may not be there when it is time to book and your points are locked in with that partner. For example, one transfers 100k points to British Airways and earns the bonus and now has 130K points. You are planning to use those points to take your family to Europe next summer but can only travel in June. When you search the award availability is very low and it comes with high fees that make the points less valuable. If you would have saved those points and transferred to the deal you found with United you would have the flexibility to transfer to United and get better flights with fewer charges. The more flexibility you have with your travel plans the less risk of having points with a partner that you cannot use and possibly have a risk of losing the points if you do not earn or transfer points to that partner within a year in some instances.