How to consolidate travel points from multiple loyalty programs
UPDATED MARCH 2022
Living the life of a Digital Nomad can get hectic extremely fast, especially if you’re relatively new to the game. Traveling across the globe is very fun, but it can also have a quick impact on your savings, so be careful about your spending habits. Luckily, there are a few ways to profit while flying around the world, most notably through reward points and programs.
However, frequent travelers oftentimes have problems with consolidating points from different programs, but there’s a couple of solutions to this problem as well. With so many great online trackers you can get for free, this becomes a piece of cake nowadays. Still, let’s dig a bit deeper into the matter, and name some of the best options out there.
Why consolidate points in the first place?
Instead of monitoring different accounts at the same time, wouldn’t it be great if you could combine all of your points in one spot? Not only that it would make your life easier when it comes to keeping track of overall balance, it could also help you reach your point goals quicker, which you can then use to obtain better service.
Additionally, if you consolidate points, it becomes much easier to book flight tickets without having to pay too much attention to seating arrangements. This way, your family will automatically be booked for seating together. Not only that, but you’re guaranteed to always remain on the same flight, which can be especially important in the case of flight cancelations.
It goes without saying that if one of your accounts has elite status, all travel points instantly become much more valuable. In that sense, by consolidating travel points you’ll be able to maximize the use of every cent. Individuals who travel with family members often let their points go to waste because they simply were not able to collect enough points on each program before they expired. Pooling the points to one joint account allows users to stay on top of every deadline with ease.
Ultimately, having reward points spread across multiple accounts will make it much harder to reach redeeming points, and funneling them into one joint space makes this a much easier task.
Do you have to pay extra to consolidate travel programs?
Combining travel points from multiple loyalty programs into one is an excellent option for so many reasons, but does it come free of charge? That really depends on the type of program you’re involved with.
In most cases, rewards programs allow for point transfer across different platforms, but that service needs to be unlocked by paying a special fee. Just how big that fee is going to be, depends on the program of your choice, but you’ll probably be looking at anywhere from $20 in total to $5 per transaction with a limited amount of transferrable points allowed.
What happens if you want to cancel one of your reward programs?
While it’s not common practice for reward programs to suddenly change their terms, there are certain instances where they might offer promotional periods with better conditions which will make you want to switch things up. Even if that doesn’t happen, there comes a point sometimes when you simply want to cancel one service and move to another.
However, that can leave a lot of reward points and travel miles on the table. Transferring it all to your new program is the only way in which you can keep on using them. Make sure to always do that ahead of time to avoid losing points you’ve amassed up to that point.
Best programs that allow point transfer
Starwood Preferred Guest
In case you have a roommate who loves traveling, or you’d like to transfer points between family members, this might be the best way to go. The only requirement is that both parties shared the same address, for at least a month prior to the transfer. The transfer process itself is extremely simple, and it can be done online in just a couple of minutes.
Capital One rewards
For all Capital One users, flexibility always remains one of the top priorities. The same principles can be applied to frequent travelers as well. With some of the Capital One credit cards, users can collect as many travel miles as they like, with no restrictions. The average value of one point is around 1 to 1.4 cents, which doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re careful, these things can add up quickly over time.
When it comes to travel partners, Capital One works closely with many airlines and hotels, but as with other reward programs, the actual list of partners is updated quite frequently. Most of the airlines that work with Capital One are based abroad, so if that’s of any importance to you, we’d advise you to keep this detail in mind. Furthermore, the transfer ratio is 1:1 in most cases, which is up to market standards.
Capital One reward points can also be transferred to hotels or gift cards. Similar to reward miles, these programs also do not have an expiration date or travel restrictions, which allows for maximum flexibility.
Marriott Rewards
Being one of the most famous hotel rewards programs for years now comes with some added benefits. Marriott allows its users to transfer up to 50,000 reward points during one calendar year! Transferring 1,000 points will set you back $10, but Marriott Platinum Elite and Gold members get this great service free of charge. Additionally, it is possible to transfer more than 50,000 reward points during one year, but these points would have to be immediately redeemed. If you’re interested in expanding these limitations even further, we advise you to check out their Premier Business Credit Card for further details.
JetBlue TrueBlue
You probably already know a thing or two about this terrific carrier, but did you hear about their fantastic family pooling feature? Although it’s limited to two adults and five children, it offers a great way to earn free miles in no time. While JetBlue is already famous for offering terrific ticket prices, it’s not a bad deal to earn some extra rewards while you’re at it.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
In order to use this awesome program, all you have to do is open up your Ultimate Rewards account. This task should not take up more than a couple of minutes of your time. Chase is a bit restrictive with their transfer policy, so take that into consideration.
They insist that it’s only possible to transfer points between you and one other member of your household, and it strictly needs to include one other Chase card. Another option includes opening up a business account and transferring the points to other businessmen.
Multiple cards enable you to use this service, including:
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Freedom
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Ink Business Cash
Ink Business Unlimited
Ink Business Preferred
After signing up, and adding your household member you want to transfer the points to, simply submit the request, and the process should be done in minutes.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
A couple of months ago, Citi decided to add a 100K point limit to their allowed transfers, but they still remain one of the best options out there. Within that limit, the points that are transferred have to be redeemed within a 90 day period, or they become invalid. It is only possible to send or receive 100K Citi points in the duration of one calendar year.
World of Hyatt
With World of Hyatt, there are two major requirements one must follow. First of all, both accounts that are used for transfer have to be in good standing, and most importantly, all users need to be wary of the fact that they’ll only be able to transfer points once every 30 days. This includes both the sending and receiving components. The very process of point transfer is pretty straightforward. Just find the point sharing tab on their website, and fill out a form to proceed with your transaction.
Hilton Honors
If you still haven’t heard of this tremendous point-sharing program, you’re missing out, big time! Still, have no worries, we’ll inform you of everything you need to know. Hilton Honors is a relatively new program, and it quickly became one of the best ones. Best reward cards you can use to transfer Hilton points include:
Hilton Honors American Express Card
Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
The limitations of this program are so unrestrictive, that you won’t even feel it. It’s possible to combine points with 10 other individuals! That’s not the whole story either. While the limit is set to 500K points you can send out, that line stands at 2 million Hilton points you can receive!
Emirates Skywardss
Groups of up to 8 members can join the same pool. While there is no possibility to move the current miles you might already have, you can do so for any future ones you rack up after signing up. With that in mind, we advise you to sign in for this program as soon as possible, if you plan on using it. Otherwise, you’ll just be spending your free miles needlessly.
Club Carlson
Unlike most of the abovementioned programs, this one has a rather clear separation between elite and non-elite accounts. While elite accounts see almost no restrictions whatsoever, it’s a different story when it comes to the less fortunate ones.
The non-elite members may only transfer points to accounts belonging to their household members. Not only that, but both of these accounts need to exist for at least a year, prior to using the transfer. Finally, both individuals need to share the same address for at least 30 days, prior to using this service.
HawaiianMiles
If you happen to possess a Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard, you can send and receive reward miles completely free of charge. However, be warned that if you plan on using this service without it, you will have to pay a $25 fee first.
IHG rewards
With IHG rewards, users have no limits when it comes to the number of points they can transfer. The process of transfer is fairly simple, users only need to sign in to their account and visit the transfer page on the IHG website.
However, it’s really important to stress that these transfers do not come free of charge and that they are limited per single transfer. This limit is set to 1,000 points, and the cost of transfer is $5. The simple math means that if you transfer 10,000 points to a different account, you’ll have to pay $50 for that action. I think that we’ll all agree that this is not the best option out there.
Best apps to monitor your rewards:
AwardWallet
Not only that this website is amazing due to the sheer number of loyalty programs covered, but it also sports one of the simplest designs out there. A couple of minutes is all it takes to create an account, and you’ll be on your way towards maximizing your rewards. To make matters even better, it’s completely free as well.
Quickly after adding all of your reward programs, this terrific app will keep track of your progress, and even alert you with notifications if any of your points are about to expire.
Points Loyalty Wallet
From credit card rewards to frequent flyer miles and hotel reward points, this fantastic website is a lifesaver that becomes your own personal assistant. Best of all, it allows you to use your reward points in many different ways, including gift cards from major retailers, tickets to movies, dining and many more. With real-time updates, you’ll always be on top of your game, and you’ll be able to access your profile from anywhere on the planet.
Best of all, it’s also possible to move points across all of your reward plans, all you have to do is select your favorite one. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?
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