What Is A Transfer Bonus And How Can It Mean Big Savings For You

 

One of the top reasons, we love Chase Ultimate Rewards points is because they are so flexible. You can use them in the travel portal to buy flights, hotels, car rentals and even cruises. You can also transfer them to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

And sometimes, Chase offers bonus points when you transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points to specific partners. You can get as many as 100% bonus points. When the bonus offer coincides with a fare sale, then wow! 

Like right now, Virgin Atlantic and FlyingBlue are doing a fare sale and Chase is offering a 40% bonus to Virgin. 

What does this mean? Take a look at some of these fares being offered by Virgin. 

• Heathrow to LAX for just 9,000 Virgin points. 

If you were to take advantage of the transfer bonus, just 7,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points would equal approximately 9,000- 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points. Wow! You could transfer a few more points and fly Premium or Upper Class.

To transfer Chase points:

• Login to your Chase.com account
• Click on redeem points 
• Hover over travel and click on transfer to travel partners
• Click on the partner you want to transfer points TO
• Enter your membership information
• Your name must match exactly! 
• Enter the number of points you want to transfer (must be in increments of 1,000)
• Confirm
• The transfer should happen almost immediately

Word of advice, do NOT transfer points until you know how you are going to use the points. You CANNOT get them back. 

Chase transfer partners are a great way to make that bucket list trip affordable.

One of our favorite Chase Ink Business cards, the Business Unlimited, has a points promotion ending on November 7th. The minimum spend is $6,000, there is no annual fee and the bonus is 90,000 points which equals $900, but if you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card, you can squeeze more value out of this one. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is also offering a bonus $300 travel credit right now which is an amazing offer. 

If you would like help planning your bucket list trip, reach out to me. I'll help you use points and miles to make your memorable trip affordable. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards

 

I've used Chase Ultimate Rewards to travel all over the world for FREE. The points came in very handy to erase Airbnb reservations (this promotion ended) and for flights when we visited the Perito Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. 

I love CUR rewards because they are so flexible. If you don't know where you want to stay or where you will be traveling, then these points are for you. That's because you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines and three hotel chains, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. 

Sometimes the deal is even better transferring CUR than using the points in the travel portal and sometimes the portal is a better value. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Here is an example that happened just last week. 

I had my eye on the Hyatt in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago for an upcoming trip. 

The cash price was showing $350 per night, ouch! 

In the Chase Travel Portal, it was showing $320 per night or 48,005 points. I get 50% more value for my points in the portal because I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 25% more value in the portal.  

But when I checked the Hyatt website, standard rooms are just 12,000 points per night. 

Woohoo! That means by transferring CUR to Hyatt at 1:1 cuts the number of points needed in half and has a value of $740. Nice. 

It's simple to transfer CUR points to dozens of airlines and hotel chains. When you log into your Chase.com account and click on redeem points

Then click on the menu in the top left hand corner and choose transfer to travel partners. 

CUR points transfer immediately to Hyatt and you must transfer in 1,000 point increments. Sometimes Chase will offer a bonus when you transfer. 

You will need to create an account with the EXACT name on your Chase account BEFORE you attempt to transfer the CUR points. 

Once you submit, you cannot get the CUR points back so be certain this is what you want to do. 

When I transferred to Hyatt, the points showed up immediately in my new Hyatt account and I could book the hotel in Evanston. Amazing! 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a 100,000 CUR bonus with a $8,000 minimum spend. It's a hefty minimum spend, but usually it is set at $15,000 so you might say this minimum spend is a bargain. If you have a big expense coming up or can handle the minimum spend, this bonus can be worth thousands of dollars. 

We are hearing this bonus may end September 23rd. 

Another Great Redemption Benefit To Flex Points!

One of the huge perks of having flex points like Chase Ultimate Reward points is that you can transfer the points to a dozen different airlines and several hotel chains like IHG, Marriott and Hyatt. In fact, Hyatt often offers sweet redemption deals. 

This comes in handy when you need points in a loyalty program that you either don't have enough points or you don't have any. Points transfer to all these programs 1:1 so some transfers offer better value than others. 

For example, this past week, I was ready to book a Southwest flight to the East Coast, but I was short about 3,000 points. No problem, it took just a few minutes to transfer 3,000 points from my Chase account to Southwest and book the flight. 

To transfer points: 

1. login to your chase.com account

2. click on redeem points 

3. click on travel and transfer to travel partners

4. click on the loyalty program you want to transfer points to

5. confirm your loyalty program number 

6. enter how many points you want to transfer 

7. confirm and submit 

Some transfers happen immediately and others may take as much as seven days. You cannot transfer back to Chase so only transfer points when you are certain. 

If you want to start earning Chase Ultimate Reward points, we recommend you start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee or the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card  with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and a $550 annual fee (this includes a $300 travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass Lounge membership plus 1.5% point value in the portal). 

If you decide to apply for any of those credit cards, please consider using my referral links. 

And if you would like help with redeeming points, you can enroll in my Travel Coaching Program or just book a 30 minute travel coaching session here. 

 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

One of my favorite rewards programs is the Chase Ultimate Rewards. These are points you earn with a number of Chase credit cards including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, FREEDOM, Ink and FREEDOM Unlimited. There are pros and cons of each card depending on your goals. You can read my past posts to research specific cards, but here I am going to focus on the rewards program as a whole. 
Ultimate Rewards are just one of a few programs that are not tied to any one airline or hotel brand which means flexibility. You can transfer reward points at 1:1 to most airlines and hotels except Marriott Bonvoy which is 1:3:

Different airlines that include: 

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways
• Jet Blue
• United
• KLM
• Southwest
• Air France
• Emirates
• Iberia,
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic.

Different hotels include:

• IHG
• Marriott
• Hyatt

Once you transfer to an airline or hotel, you can use these points to book on partner airlines or transfer to another program. For example, if you transfer Ultimate Reward points to Marriott Bonvoy, you can then transfer those same points to dozens of different airlines like American Airlines. Pretty awesome, right? And it gets even better because Marriott Bonvoy will give you a 5,000 mile bonus for the transfer. 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

Another way to use the Ultimate Reward points are to book through the Chase travel portal. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, you get better than 1:1. Sapphire Preferred credit cardholders get 1:1.25 value and Sapphire Reserve holders get 1:1.50. Let's check it out. 

In the portal with the Sapphire Reserve, the Springhill Suites in Durham is listed at 13,155 points per night or $197.33. If you booked the same hotel straight from Marriott, it would cost you 20,000 points per night or $158.90 per night. 
So if you pay with points, you get more bang for your buck by using the portal, but if you paid cash, you would be better off booking straight from Marriott. However, if you transferred Chase Ultimate Reward points to Marriott and then booked your room, you would really get a sweet deal. 

Look at this:
Ultimate Rewards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 1:3 so you would only need approximately 6,750 Ultimate Rewards points to equal 20,000 Marriott points and boom, FREE night. 

Flexibility is key to this program. You can earn Ultimate Reward points pretty quickly too as most purchases earn 1 point per dollar, but travel and dining earn more. 
When things are uncertain in travel like right now, I like the idea that I can accumulate points in a flexible program and be ready when I can travel again. 

Woohoo! Another FREE Travel Success Story!

 

Woohoo! I just booked two round trip flights to Medellin, Colombia on points! And the best part by waiting a few days, I saved 20,000 points. 

I am going to show you how I do this so you can do it too, but if you feel like you need more support, join my Travel Coaching Program. Registration is open now for the second cohort. 

Okay, here's the way to redeem those points and miles:

The first step is to research the destination, which airlines fly there? I use Google Flights to figure that out. You can use the date grid if your dates are flexible to find the best price combination. You can use the price graph to figure out if the cost fluctuates. This is important! 

Once you know which airlines fly to the destination and when the price is the best, you can look at points or miles that will get you there. 

In this case, Copa Airlines had the best flights and it is a member of the Star Alliance. But I don't have any points or miles that transfer to Copa Airlines.

This is when the flexible points come in so handy! Chase Ultimate Reward points and Capital One points are the programs I prefer.  But there are also American Express Rewards and Citi. 

All of these programs are flexible meaning you can use the points for any travel, but the two I prefer have a few key differences. 

• Capital One points are always worth one cent per dollar.  You can either book through the Capital One Travel portal or use the travel eraser to get a statement credit for the purchase. If you have the Capital One Venture X, the $300 travel credit kicks in if you book through the portal too. It's great to have Capital One points for tours, flights on budget airlines, independent hotels and more. You can also transfer the points to several hotel chains and more than a dozen airlines. 

• Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be more valuable depending on which credit cards you have and how you use the points. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, my points are worth 1.5%. When I book the flight through the Chase Travel Portal, it will only cost 56,374 points even though the price is $845.60. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, then your points are worth 1.25%. 

You can also transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points to dozens of airlines and several hotel chains. You can read here about how to transfer points to Hyatt for sweet deals. 

Just like the prices for flights increase and decrease depending on the day of the week and when you book, it's the same in the travel portals.  So check several times before you finally book so you get the best deal. When I checked this flight the first time, it was priced at 56,374 points, but I wasn't quite ready to book. Then when I was ready to book, the price had jumped to 74,000 points so I waited a few days and it dropped again. 

Sometimes the price drops on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so keep that in mind. 

A benefit to booking flights through the travel portals is that taxes are included. Pretty nice! Some people are hesitant to book through travel portals because they are considered third party instead of booking directly through the airline. I have not had a problem, but it is a personal decision. 

To book your flight through the Chase Travel Portal, login to your Chase.com account and click redeem points, click travel and then follow the prompts just like you would book through expedia or other third party platforms. When you get to the check out, click use points. You can even pay with a combination of points and cash. 

If you want to start earning Capital One points, you can either apply for the Capital One Venture card with a 75,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee or the Capital One Venture X card with a 75,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and $395 annual fee (this includes $300 travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass Lounge membership). 

If you want to start earning Chase Ultimate Reward points, we recommend you start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee or the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card  with a 60,000 bonus, $4,000 minimum spend and a $550 annual fee (this includes a $300 travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass Lounge membership plus 1.5% point value in the portal). 

If you decide to apply for any of those credit cards, please consider using my referral links. 

Why You Should Apply For This 75,000 Bonus Offer

 

Two of the best credit cards for Chase Ultimate Rewards just increased their bonus offer! Woohoo! 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards offer great benefits and should have a primary spot in everyone's wallet and travel strategy. 

Right now, you can earn 75,000 CUR bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but also comes with a $300 travel credit, $100 global entry credit, Priority Pass membership and an increased value for the points in the Chase Travel Portal.

I love CUR points because of their flexibility. You can:

• transfer them to dozens of different airline loyalty programs 
• transfer them to several hotel chains (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) 
• use them to buy hotels, flights, activities and car rentals in the Chase Travel Portal 
• pay yourself back 
• get a statement credit 

75,000 points equals $750, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal with your Preferred credit card, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,000. And if you combine the points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, then they will be worth 50% more in the Chase Travel Portal for a whopping total of $1,250. 

Like this redemption in the Chase Travel Portal through my Chase Sapphire Reserve account, this Hilton in Moorea has rooms at $938 dollars or 62,554 CUR points. 

And if you transfer them to an airline or hotel, the points could be worth even more depending on the specific flight or the number of rewards needed per night.

Plus if you transfer points to IHG and buy three nights, you get a fourth FREE so that could be very lucrative. 

Hyatt hotels usually fall in the sweet spot of redemption value as well.  

You can only hold one of these cards at a time and you can only get the bonus once every 4 years. You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve here using my referral link. 

Last Chance To Apply For the 80,000 Bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve

It's the last few weeks to apply for the 80,000 bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.  The offer ends December 1st. This is my favorite card and has saved me thousands of dollars on travel. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

What can you do with 80,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points? 

So many things. 

• For one, you can use them in the Chase Travel Portal where the Chase Sapphire Reserve makes the points worth 50% more. 
• You can also transfer them 1:1 to dozens of airlines including United, Jet Blue, Southwest and more. 
• You can transfer them to Hyatt, Marriott and IHG hotels at 1:1.
• Through the end of the year, you can use them to erase Airbnb and dining purchases. 

Chase says the value of 80,000 CUR points is $1,200 towards travel. But it could be more if you play your cards right. 

On my trip to Ireland last summer I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to cover my daughter's round trip flight which I booked through the Chase travel portal for 30,000 points. 

I erased all of our Airbnb stays at 50% value for 50,000 points and I erased most of our dining with another 30,000 points. 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card also comes with a $300 travel credit so we used that to erase parking and a portion of the rental car. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

The other benefit is that you can transfer CUR points from your other credit cards to your Reserve card and then redeem them for 50% more. Woohoo! 

This card also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass lounge access and FREE Dashpass membership, Instacart+ and $10 Go Puff monthly credit. 

The card does come with a hefty annual fee of $550, but as long as you use the $300 travel credit, Global Entry and lounge access, it will be worth it. 

Couple of important notes about this card. If you already hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you are NOT eligible to apply for the Reserve card. You can only hold one at a time. However, your spouse, partner or other family member could apply for the Reserve card. You can also only earn the bonus on the Reserve only once every four years. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, please consider using my referral link. 

 

My Favorite Credit Card Is Offering An 80,000 Point Bonus!

 

This past summer, I spent two weeks in Ireland and had the opportunity to hike along the Cliffs of Dover. Amazing! And I'll let you in on a secret. This trip was almost FREE thanks to one of my favorite ways to travel for FREE using Chase Ultimate Rewards points. 

For this trip to Ireland, I cashed in CUR points for my daughter's flight and erased all of our Airbnb's for the entire trip! 

One of the best ways to earn and redeem those points is by using the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

What can you do with 80,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points? 

So many things. 

• For one, you can use them in the Chase Travel Portal where the Chase Sapphire Reserve makes the points worth 50% more. 
• You can also transfer them 1:1 to dozens of airlines including United, Jet Blue, Southwest and more. 
• You can transfer them to Hyatt, Marriott and IHG hotels at 1:1.
• Through the end of the year, you can use them to erase Airbnb and dining purchases. 

Chase says the value of 80,000 CUR points is $1,200 towards travel. But it could be more if you play your cards right. 

So for the trip to Ireland, I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to cover my daughter's round trip flight which I booked through the Chase travel portal for 30,000 points. 

I erased all of our Airbnb stays at 50% value for 50,000 points and I erased most of our dining with another 30,000 points. 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card also comes with a $300 travel credit so we used that to erase parking and a portion of the rental car. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

The other benefit is that you can transfer CUR points from your other credit cards to your Reserve card and then redeem them for 50% more. Woohoo! 

This card also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass lounge access and FREE Dashpass membership, Instacart+ and $10 Go Puff monthly credit. 

The card does come with a hefty annual fee of $550, but as long as you use the $300 travel credit, Global Entry and lounge access, it will be worth it. 

Couple of important notes about this card. If you already hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you are not eligible to apply for the Reserve card. You can only hold one at a time. However, your spouse, partner or other family member could apply for the Reserve card. You can also only earn the bonus on the Reserve once every four years. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, please consider using my referral link. 

 

How To Find Amazing Point Deals On Virgin Atlantic

People ask me all the time how I find great flight deals to Europe. There are no tricks, but there are some tips to find them. 

#1 is planning early. If you haven't started planning for next summer, you are late! But I'm here to help. 

#2 is knowing where to look for those deals

#3 is having the points available to jump on them when you find them

Let's go step by step and see what we can find. Suppose we are looking to go to Europe in summer 2025. Usually, I look for flights at least a year in advance so I can find the best deal and get my points earned in time to buy the flights when they open 330 days in advance. But sometimes you can't plan that far out so let's see what's around now. 

My two favorite airlines currently to hop across the pond are Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue (KLM and Air France).

First, let's check Virgin Atlantic to see how many miles we would need to book Washington DC to London on July 8th.

Even now, you could book a flight from Washington Dulles to London for just 6,000 Virgin points and $73 in taxes in July 2025. Pretty sweet. Last month, Chase was offering a 40% transfer bonus and this month American Express is offering the same deal. With the transfer bonus, this flight would only cost approximately 4,000 points. Crazy! 

For a family of 5 like mine, you are talking just 20,000 points and less than $400 to hop across the pond. 

Now let's check Flying Blue. 

Flying Blue is the loyalty program for both KLM and Air France. It's not the loyalty program for Virgin Atlantic, but that airline shows up on the portal as well. But now look at the points. On Flying Blue, it would cost you 20,000 miles and $124 in taxes for the one way flight from Washington Dulles to London. Still a great deal, but definitely not as good as on Virgin Atlantic. Occasionally, Chase and Amex will offer transfer bonuses to Flying Blue as well making this deal even better. 

To find these deals on Virgin, you will need to start at the reward seat checker. Once you enter your departure and destination airport, you will get a view of the month you choose and available reward seats. 

Then you go to the actual website and put in your dates to locate the flights. 

Now here's where it gets interesting. You might be saying this is all great, but I don't have any Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue points. 

That's true, most of us don't. 

But if you follow my blog or have worked with me in the travel coaching program, you know how much I love flexible points. My favorite flex points are Chase and Capital One and this is when they come in especially handy. 

Both Chase and Capital One are transfer partners for Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic. You can read here about how to transfer your flex points to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

Remember once you transfer your points, you can't get them back even if the flight is no longer available. 

Right now, you can pick up 75,000 Capital One points by applying for the Capital One Venture or Venture X cards. 

• Both come with a 75,000 bonus for a $4,000 minimum spend. 
• The Venture card has a $95 annual fee and the Venture X has a $395 annual fee because it also comes with a $120 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass membership and a $300 travel credit. 

For Chase points, our favorite cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve credit cards. 

Both come with a 60,000 point bonus for $4,000 minimum spend. The Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but comes with a $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass membership. 

Don’t spend tons of money on your next vacation. Instead, let us help you travel for almost FREE forever. Join our coaching program today, and start making your travel dreams a reality—just like this success story!

We can’t wait to see you in the program and help you unlock all the amazing travel rewards waiting for you.

Woohoo! Let’s make your next trip an AlmostFREE adventure!

https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder/results/month?origin=LHR&destination=JFK&month=02&year=2025

How To Find JetBlue Flights For Just 7000 Points

 

Let's just say this is number one zillion why I love Chase Ultimate Reward points. The option to transfer points to JetBlue. 

Jet Blue has six hubs, JFK, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Boston, San Juan and Los Angeles. And if you search flights, you can find one way flights for as low as 7,000 points and $5.60 in taxes. Wow! 

JetBlue partners with Hawaiian Airlines, Iceland Air, Eithad, Qatar, TAP Portugal, Singapore Airlines and South African Airways. You book all of these airlines on the Jet Blue website so it's fairly easy. To find these incredible deals, go to the JetBlue.com website. Enter your departure airport and destination airport and a date. Be sure to click use true blue points. 

Look at this flight from JFK to Orlando, Florida. 

To get a monthly overview, click on the date.

But it gets even more interesting if you want to fly across the pond. Look at this one way flight from LAX to Lisbon, Portugal. Taxes are shown as $5.60 and the cash price is more than $800. Wow! 

What's amazing about this is your Chase Ultimate Reward points transfer to Jet Blue 1:1 which makes these flights very cheap plus the taxes are low. In my travel coaching program, I show you how you can earn thousands of CUR points easily with just your normal purchases. 

Now whenever you are planning to transfer points from Chase, Citi or Amex to an airline, be sure the flight is available BEFORE you transfer points because you can't get the points back. 

The transfer should happen immediately though the fine print says it could take a few days. 

I usually put the flights I want in the cart and then make the transfer. You may have to log out and back in for the points to show up in your Jet Blue account. 

My favorite way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards is with my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. Right now, you can earn 60,000 bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. It also includes a Global Entry credit, Priority Pass Lounge Access and travel delay and cancellation insurance. If the $550 annual fee for the Sapphire is too heft, my next favorite is the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. It comes with the same bonus offer and less benefits, but only has a $95 annual fee. 

Need guidance finding and making these redemptions, join my travel coaching program and let me help you. Use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" for $50 off.