In order to diversify your rewards and avoid devaluations, I recommend earning transferable points currencies whenever possible. These points are racked up with programs like Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, etc.
Continue reading: When Are Speculative Points Transfers Worth It? Here’s My Strategy…
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
There are also one-off or last chance opportunities for speculative transfers. I drained my Amex points to fill up on HA to Atmos while I still could. Many even did this with a HA transfer bonus before knowing for certain they would transfer for AS at 100%.
^This. I did similarly since I had a decent balance of AS miles but not enough to use for a one-way J redemption. Doing so seemed worthwhile as it fell into a 'last chance' category.
If I see a 30-40% transfer bonus (which is fairly common), I always transfer points to Avios. Qatar Privilege Club is my "go to" program for long-haul business class. With that strategy my best case is a cool 30-40% bonus, while worst case is I stand the risk of 30-40% devaluation. That's an acceptable trade-off for me.
Another thing to consider is alternative ways you can acquire the points (i.e. buying points). For Avios, I'm rarely bummed about missing a transfer bonus because I can just buy it for 1.2 cents via Avios Boost. AV, AC and VS points are also always on sale for that price or lower. So even with a 40% bonus (making the value of the point transfer 1.2*1.4=1.68 cents), you are still better off with other options, e.g., Hyatt (1.8 cents) for Chase, or AA (1.8 cents) for Citi
@Lucky Any idea why Lufthansa first class availability has been zeroed out on Aeroplan? Nothing from IAD, ORD or NYC to any European destination in the next two days? Usually there is ample space.
While surely never an issue you’ve encountered 😉 if your miles are expiring soonish can be worth transferring minimum amount of points to keep the miles active or top off to the amount you think you might need for next redemption and benefit from the bonus
The four plans I find very useful are Aeroplan, Virgin, Flying Blue and Avios. I'll gladly keep a decent balance on all of them (300k+) and refill on good transfer bonus offers. I would be interested in Turkish or Singapore - but the point expiration policy is a nonstarter.
It's NOT zeroed out. You can fly from JFK and IAH tonight, and from JFK tomorrow. Lufthansa limits the availability of these awards to partners to just 2-3 days before departure.
Just searched this post for “Korean” and not finding any mention, finding this post disingenuous.
What do you find useful for stockpiling Lifemiles? After devaluation and not being able to book awards far out in advance (I used to use to book EVA air business class).
I recently used to redeem Lufthansa first class two days for departure, but Aeroplan charges less miles and fees.