We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

Know Before You Go:  Which Points Transfer to Which Hotels?

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Having the right miles & points for your situation is key to getting Big Travel with Small Money.  But sometimes, knowing which miles or points are right for you isn’t obvious.

    Earning transferable points is typically the best option, because of the flexibility they provide.  But trying to remember all of the many transfer partners for each type of points is a great way to get a headache.

    We’ve already made a handy chart for which points transfer to the major airlines.  And now here’s an easy way to make sure you’re not missing out on hotel awards!

    Feeling Lost When It Comes to Hotel Transfer Partners? We’re Here to Help!

    Million Mile Secret Agent JR asked:

    This is very handy, thanks.  How about a similar chart for hotel partners?

    Great idea, JR!

    While transferable points are great, there aren’t that many hotel transfer partners.  But in some situations, converting your flexible points into hotel points can be a great deal.

    Some airline miles transfer to hotels.  But this generally isn’t the best value, unless you’re taking advantage of Marriott Hotel + Air packages.

    So let’s look at which points transfer to which hotel chains.  And I’ll help you figure out how to earn the right miles & points for your travel goals.

    Which Points Transfer to Your Favorite Hotels?

    It will be MUCH easier to earn the miles & points you need once you figure out where you’re going.  Because your favorite hotel might not be the best option for every trip.

    I love Hyatt for their comfort and excellent customer service.  But outside of larger cities, there aren’t many Hyatt hotels.  And some places, like New Zealand, don’t have a single Hyatt (although there will be one soon)!

    Doing Your Research BEFORE You Start Collecting Points Can Save You Big Time When Booking Your Award Travel!

    To make your search easier, I recommend using a hotel award search tool like AwardMapper or Hotel Hustle.  Both of these sites allow you to search for award night prices across most of the major hotel chains at the same time.   So you’ll be able to easily see which hotel points you need to book free nights.

    And Hotel Hustle will even show you if an award night is available on the dates you searched!  But it’s always good to double check if the award night is open directly with the hotel.  Because sometimes Hotel Hustle will not be 100% accurate.

    Once you have an idea of what hotels you want to stay at, you’ll usually want to earn flexible points.  Because available award nights can change quickly, especially during peak season.  And it will take several weeks (or months) for your sign-up bonus to post to your account.  So if possible, plan as far in advance as you can.

    Note:   Until recently, Citi ThankYou points transferred to Hilton.  But once AMEX became the sole issuer of Hilton cards, Citi ended their transfer partnership with Hilton.

    Make Sure You Get a Card That Can Transfer Points

    Most of these points programs will only let you transfer your points if you have one of their annual-fee cards.  So here is a reminder of which cards earn points you can transfer to hotel partners.

    Chase Ultimate Rewards

    Link:   Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners

    In my opinion, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are the best to earn for hotel transfers.  You can get incredible value transferring to Hyatt.  And between IHG & Marriott, you’ll have award night options almost anywhere in the world!  But IHG and Marriott transfers are usually not the best deal, as you’ll typically get more value transferring to airlines or Hyatt.

    Chase has lots of great no-annual-fee cards, like the Chase Freedom®, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, and Ink Business Cash Credit Card.  But these cards do NOT allow you to transfer points to travel partners directly.

    In order to transfer the points you earn with these cards to travel partners, you must first transfer them to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve℠, or Chase Ink Plus / Ink Bold (no longer available).

    Here are step-by-step instructions on how to combine Chase Ultimate Rewards points to a card which allows you to transfer them to hotel partners.  Transferring points is free to all transfer partners.  But it’s not always instant!

    AMEX Membership Rewards

    Link:   AMEX Membership Rewards Transfer Partners

    AMEX Membership Rewards points can be a decent option for hotel transfers, depending on where you’re going.  Choice Hotels are great in certain countries, like Norway, Sweden, or Japan.  And Hilton hotel transfers usually aren’t the best use of your points, because the most expensive hotels cost 95,000 Hilton points a night!  Starwood points are great, but the transfer ratio for AMEX Membership Rewards isn’t.

    So if you want to earn Starwood points or Hilton points, you might be better off getting an AMEX Hilton card or Starwood personal or business card.

    And remember, only certain AMEX credit cards are eligible to transfer points!

     

    AMEX Membership Rewards Points Can Be a Great Way to Book Choice Hotels Award Nights in Norway

    AMEX Membership Rewards points usually transfer within 2 days, but can vary depending on the transfer partner.

    Starwood Preferred Guest

    Normally, Starwood points do NOT transfer to other hotels.  But the Marriott-Starwood merger has given us some great benefits.  Including the ability to transfer Starwood points to Marriott at a 1:3 ratio!  And because Marriott & Ritz Carlton are part of the same loyalty program, you can use the points at both hotels!

    This arrangement won’t last forever, because they are working toward making a single loyalty program sometime soon.  But until that happens, there are unique opportunities.  Thanks to the Marriott-Starwood merger, you can indirectly transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Starwood through Marriott.  And AMEX Membership Rewards points transfer indirectly to Marriott at a 1:1 ratio through Starwood (AMEX Membership Rewards points transfer to Starwood at a 3:1 ratio, and Starwood points transfer to Marriott a 1:3 ratio, which ends up being a 1:1 ratio).

    These transfers are NOT the best deals.  But they can be a nice way to top off your account.

    Because of the Marriott-Starwood Merger You Can Use AMEX Membership Rewards Points to Stay at Great Marriott Hotels!

    You can stock up on Starwood points with the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express credit cards.  And Starwood does not have any card-specific transfer restrictions.  As long as you have Starwood points, you can transfer them to Marriott!

    And Marriott points transfer directly to Starwood at a 3:1 ratio, which gives you more flexibility to get the best deal.  You can stock up on Marriott points with the Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card or the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

    Transfers between Starwood and Marriott are usually instant, and your status will automatically match too.

    Bottom Line

    Before you sign-up for a credit card, make sure you’re collecting miles & points that fit your travel goals.  You can use tools like AwardMapper & Hotel Hustle to search for award night prices across multiple hotel chains at once!  This makes it easy to know which hotel points are useful in the places you want to visit.

    Once you know which points you need, earning transferable points will give you the most flexibility.

    But make sure you’re getting a card that allows hotel partner transfers.  Because both AMEX Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards require you to have certain cards before you can transfer your points to hotels.

    Also, until the Marriott-Starwood merger is complete, you can transfer Starwood points to Marriott (and vice versa) at a 3:1 ratio!  This is has created some unique opportunities for great deals!

    Which kind of miles & points are your favorite for hotel stays?

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)