Have you ever transferred miles or points from one program to another?
 

The editors of InsideFlyer magazine are doing research for an upcoming article on the different ways members can transfer miles and points. We would like to know if you have ever transferred miles or points from one of your frequent flyer or loyalty programs into another.

Please explain the transfer amounts, how you transferred (via points.com, AMEX, SPG, Amtrak, etc.) and why you chose to transfer.

Include any tips on how to get the most value out of transferring miles or points, if you have any.

You can also email me directly at [email protected]. You will be able to see the finished article at InsideFlyer.com in September.

I've transferred from both Marriott and Starwood to my American Airlines account. The Marriott points I initially received from an employer-paid stay when I did a one-off business trip. The Starwood points were from a credit card promotion.

The reason I transferred them is because I'm a budget traveler who typically travels overseas and stays in hostels or low-end pensiones. Thus, I felt that the points were more valuable to me to GET somewhere rather than STAYING somewhere.

The transfer was done directly from my hotel accounts into the AA program. I didn't have enough points for it to make a difference, but Starwood was willing to tack on an extra 5k miles if I transferrred 20k points out.

I've transferred points a couple of times...

1) I transfered SPG points from SPG to AA (I think, it may have been UA). I did it through SPG directly, and I only transfered a few thousand points... I did it because my SPG account was close to expiration, I had no planned stays (and didn't yet know about the "trick" of charging a meal to count as a "stay"), and just wanted to retain some value for those points.

2) I transfered US miles into... gift cards. These were orphaned miles (about 6000 of them) that I just had no use for, especially as I had no future plans to ever fly US again (I credit all my *A miles to UA, and I try to avoid US whenever possible). I did this exchange via points.com. Technically, this isn't a transfer from one program to another, but I could just as easily have transfered them to some other program that points.com supports... I just didn't have one that I felt was worthwhile, so I chose gift cards.

Starwood Platinums can transfer as little as 1 point into SPG's partner frequent flyer programs. It's a great way to keep lesser-used accounts active.

Same goes true for Points.com, swapping 5 or 10 miles in one program for one mile in another to keep an account active.

It's also frequently useful to be able to transfer points in these ways to generate a partner activity for promotions that reward activity with multiple partners (eg recent Priority Club bonuses for activity with 3 or 4 partners, last year's US Airways Grand Slam promo).

Back in the "good 'ol days" it used to be possible to transfer American Express to Continental to Amtrak to United all at 1 to 1 to 1, effectively making United an American Express transfer partner. Then without notice Amtrak and United severed ties. Choice hotels was added as a partner and that created some arbitrage opportunities. But Amtrak instituted a requirement that members have elite status (or a minimum of Amtrak spend on their co-branded Mastercard) before transferring points out of the program.

American to Diners Club to British Airways was always an interesting option when Diners used to offer an annual 100% bonus on transfers to BA.

Only SPG is good for transferring to some airlines. . Example- for Continental miles you need 3 Marriott or 5 Hilton points to get one CO mile. Also, unlike most airlines, CO and UA only give 1 mile for 2 SPG points, others are 1:1 plus bonus.

I recently transferred 10000 Priority Club points into 3000 US miles (using their 50% bonus). Since I rarely stay in hotels, I had little use for the points, while my US account was 3500 points shy of the 25000 needed for a domestic free flight.

HawaiianMiles and FlexPerks
 

Transfer HawaiianMiles and FlexPerks. One advantage is that you can transfer these to other accounts for no fee.

Ahh! <sniff>

That was the deal that got me started on the whole mileage/points thing.

Lots of european trips later, and have never looked back. :)

Since all of my airline accounts have enough miles in them for at least one business class ticket to anywhere in the world, I wait for bonus offers before transferring points. For example,

• Delta Airlines regularly offers bonuses of at least 30% for transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to its miles.
• U.S. Airways is currently offering a 50% bonus for transferring hotel points to its miles. This month my transfer of 60,000 Starwood Starpoints netted me 112,500 miles, which, along with a few miles previously in that account, gives me a current balance that is enough for a business class ticket anywhere in the world on any Star Alliance carrier.

I try to keep track of all of these bonus offers on the Registration and Other Bonuses page of my website below.

(1) Marriott to AA, 4 times, 120,000 mile increments. I wouldn't be Lifetime Gold on AA without Marriott.

(2) Marriott to WN, 80 credits. We had an upcoming year where I knew we'd be flying to SFO, SAN, SEA, BWI, CHI (a few times), and DEN (a couple times). Paired up the Marriott credits with some Alamo car rentals to hit 100 credits - flew nearly all of my domestic U.S. travel that year for free, paying only for the cheap MDW and DEN segments where it didn't make sense to burn awards.

(3) SPG to YX, 5000 miles. (I'm trying to recall...I might have used Amtrak as an intermediary on this one.) I needed a one-way ticket to Duluth and this was by far the cheapest way to get it - a YX award seat. (In general, I am loathe to convert SPG points - I find them more valuable used for hotel stays.)

(4) AA to HH, I forget exact amount but it was around 75,000 AA miles. Actually followed close on the heels of one of the MR-AA conversions, prior to a one-month trip where I redeemed two Marriott Travel Packages and 2 HH 6-night awards.

(5) Going oldschool to the 1990's: Numerous Diner's Club conversions to miles and points. I recall doing AA and BA conversions doing promotional periods.

I transferred 30,000 Hilton points to 3,000 AA miles (I believe that was it) as I was just short of an award I was booking for my brother and I didn't want to wait until I flew next.

I also once used Points.com to transfer 2,250 orphan YX miles into 250 AA miles.

Transferred Hyatt to AA during the recent bonus promotiong, because I had few Hyatt miles and no prospects of getting more in the near future, and transferred AmEx to Continental to get enough for a last minute trip.

Transferred 40k SPG to AA with 35% bonus, 67500 AA miles received.

I have some Delta FF miles...But I don't fly Delta much anymore. I'd welcome any suggestions to move those to a Star Alliance airline (CO) or a hotel program.

Ah, you reminded me of one. @:-)

I once transferred something - I forget what - through Points.com into 1 AA mile. It was part of the AA "20 partner" promotion several years ago. IIRC, Flyertalkers unearthed quite a few obscure AA partners during that promo. :)