The Ground Game Beats the Air Game
A useful airline balance does not require a job that puts you on planes. The miles that book awards are often points earned on ordinary purchases, then moved from a bank currency into an airline program. Flying still earns miles. It is not the only way to earn them.
The move only helps when the transfer exists and the award price is real. Some bank points move straight across. Some move at a worse rate. Some programs publish a chart, and some price dynamically with no chart at all. The figures below are the ones in our award file, not a guessed haul.
Credit Cards: The Foundation
Start with a transferable currency if you want the points to stay flexible until a seat is visible. The issuers we track publish these partner totals: Chase Ultimate Rewards lists 14 transfer partners, American Express Membership Rewards lists 20 transfer partners, Capital One lists 22 transfer partners, and Bilt lists 26 transfer partners. Citi ThankYou's count is marked disputed in that same file, so this page does not quote it.
Category bonuses are the ongoing engine once any new-card offer is gone. The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3x on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery. The American Express Gold Card earns 4x at restaurants worldwide, with a calendar-year cap of $50,000 in restaurant spend, and 4x at U.S. supermarkets, with a calendar-year cap of $25,000. Match those categories to the groceries and restaurants you already buy. The card ranking compares the current lineup.
Shopping Portals and Dining
Shopping portals and dining programs pay points on purchases you were going to make anyway. Click through the portal, or link a restaurant program, and the points land in a bank account or airline account you already hold. There is no separate trip hiding in that click.
Read the portal rate at checkout. It changes by merchant, and our award file does not store those rates, so this page will not invent one. If the portal price is worse than buying direct, skip the portal. The points are only worth it on a purchase that still makes sense in cash.
Transfer Bonuses You Should Verify
A transfer bonus adds extra airline miles when you move bank points during a promotion. That bump is not a standing rate, so this page does not quote one. Check the live transfer-bonus tracker and the transfer bonus guide before you move anything. A promotion is useful only when you already want that airline's miles.
The baseline, before any promotion, is the pair's ordinary ratio. Air Canada Aeroplan takes 1:1 transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Bilt. ANA Mileage Club takes 1:1 transfers from Amex Membership Rewards, and from no other bank currency we track. Emirates Skywards is the counterexample: Amex Membership Rewards moves at 5:4, Capital One at 2:1.5, and Bilt at 1:1. Chase Ultimate Rewards is not an Emirates partner.
What to Skip
Skip buying miles as a habit, and skip a trip whose only purpose is to earn the miles. Retail mile sales and mileage runs spend cash and time before you know whether a seat exists. Earn on spending you already do, then transfer when the award is visible.
Also skip assuming every program has a chart. United MileagePlus prices dynamically and publishes no award chart. The figures in our file are unverifiable starting levels, not a published table. United still takes 1:1 transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt, but you have to search the price before you move them. American Airlines AAdvantage also prices dynamically and has no published chart, and it has no US transferable-currency partner in our transfer list. Lufthansa Miles & More likewise has no US bank transfer partners, so those flights are booked with a different program's miles.
Do not move Amex or Capital One points into Emirates and expect the Bilt ratio. The ratios above are the ones on file. Search the seat before you transfer.
Build Your System
Pick the bank currency that matches your spending, turn on alerts for transfer bonuses, and price the award before you move the points. Transfers to airlines cannot be reversed. Use the cents-per-point calculator when you have a cash fare to compare, and read the Chase transfer guide or the Amex transfer guide for the partner list behind the currency you hold.
If those points transfer to Aeroplan, this is a chart price you can plan around. Business class on the transatlantic chart is 60,000 miles one-way. That note matches the figure to the All other partners column on the operator Flight Reward Chart, where the price is fixed. The Select Partners column on the same chart is dynamic. Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Bilt can move points to Aeroplan at the ratio above, which is how a balance earned on the ground books the seat. Read the Aeroplan guide before you transfer.
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The Bottom Line
Earn the points on the ground, confirm the transfer ratio, and read the award price before you move them. A published chart price, such as the Aeroplan business figure above, is something you can plan around. A dynamic program is not. Pick a currency, watch the bonus tracker, and transfer when the seat is there.