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Heads up! This deal ends today.
Yep, this fantastic transfer bonus ends today. I’m debating shifting over 10k or 15k Amex just to have a few more Avios in the account should I want to fly to see my family last minute (LAX – IND is just 10k Avios), or if I’d need a few extra to do a nice upgrade on BA. It’s been quite a few months for the ole Avios program which, in July, went from a 4:5 Amex transfer ratio, to parity, to a great 7:5 limited time bonus ratio: that’s a whopping 75% increase in the amount of Avios you could score transferring from Amex. Tomorrow, the ratio goes back to 1:1, so if you have any upcoming trips and may need some Avios…this is your time.
Personally I think that some of the best redemption options for Avios are positioning flights.
Unfamiliar with positioning flights? Read our Monkey Miles Monday Memo written specifically on the subject. You can also watch our tutorial on how to use Avios to fly on partners…
Avios are also a great use intra-Asia where you can fly Cathay Pacific business class on many routes for just 15k Avios.
Another great use of Avios is upgrading a flight – I’ll show you first class ( in the feature picture) but the concept is the same from cabin to cabin.
BA releases a considerable amount of award space, and they often release quite a bit of first class space from the east coast to London. What’s the cost to utilize an upgrade? Just the difference in Avios between your cabin of service, and the cabin you’re upgrading to. Let’s take a look at a Business Class to First Class upgrade from JFK to London.
The easiest way to calculate this is by using the Avios Calculator. ( it doesn’t work if you have the USA selected as your home country, so change it to UK. or click this link)
You can search to see how much a Business Class ticket would cost you, and then how much a First Class ticket would cost you. The difference is what you’d pay
In peak times it’s only 20k Avios to upgrade to First Class. Because of the 40% Amex transfer bonus that number drops to just 15k Membership Rewards. Amazing deal.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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