Many of us have convinced our significant others to join the miles and points hobby and also sign-up for credit cards as well as earn miles and points – after all, if your household can earn a huge sign-up bonus twice on a credit card, then why not? Many of our readers have sent in questions recently asking to go over the various policies of different points programs when it comes to transferring points to someone else, and if it is even possible. The good news is that, yes, you can transfer bank points to someone else, but there are some restrictions to be aware of.
Like with anything in the rewards industry, you always want to play by the rules and do not abuse the system so that you do not risk your points being taken away – if you stay within the rules of each program, you’ll be fine. Remember that selling or trading points, among other aspects, is forbidden by virtually all programs.
Transferring Airline Miles
Most airlines allow you to transfer your miles to anyone, however there is a fee and usually it is not worth it. The standard fee is around $10-$15 for every 1,000 miles transferred and not only that, there may also be a transaction fee and some airlines do specify a minimum and maximum number of points you can transfer.
Because the fee is high, we do not recommend transferring airline miles between accounts unless there is a promotion – like if there is a bonus on transferred miles or perhaps a discount.
American Express Membership Rewards
American Express does not allow you to transfer your Membership Rewards points to another person’s Membership Rewards points account. However, you can transfer your AMEX Membership Rewards points into the frequent flyer or frequent guest account of an authorized user on your credit card account.
For example, if your spouse is an authorized user on your credit card that earns Membership Rewards points, you can transfer directly into their frequent flyer or frequent guest account from your AMEX Membership Rewards points balance.
Capital One Rewards
If you have a credit card that earns Capital One Rewards points that can be transferred to airlines, you can transfer these points to any other Capital One Rewards member who’s credit card also earns these same types of points. There are no restrictions – the person you are transferring to can be anyone and there is no limit on the number of points transferred.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to another household member who’s account has the same billing address as your account.
For example, if you are married and both you and your spouse open a Chase credit card and the address on both of your accounts is the same, you can freely transfer points between both of your accounts.
Citi ThankYou Points
You can transfer your Citi ThankYou Points to any person – no restrictions at all. If both of your credit cards earn ThankYou points, you can transfer between the two accounts. However, transferred points expire 90 days after they are moved to another account and there is no way to extend the expiration date – so you definitely want to make sure the person you transfer to uses them sooner rather than later.
There is only one important aspect: you can send up to 100,000 points and receive up to 100,000 points per calendar year.
When/Why Should You Be Transferring Points?
There are a few reasons why you may wish to transfer your points to another person and they could be:
- you want to pool your points together and book an award ticket from one airline account
- one person is traveling alone and they don’t have enough points for their ticket
- you want to close your credit card account but want to keep the points active in the same type of account
- you are switching to a different type of credit card that may not allow transfers of points to airlines
There could be an endless number of reasons, so the list could go on and on.
The good news is that in most cases when you do transfers between bank accounts of points, the transfer is instant – so they would show up right away in the other person’s account and would be ready for use. Remember that most bank points programs also transfer to airlines instantly, but not always. If you would like more information as far as transferring bank points goes between accounts, you can always run a quick search and find other articles related to specific programs.