A 70% transfer bonus flashes up on your bank's app. A week later a different bank offers 20% to the same airline. Which one should you have waited for, and was either worth transferring at all? Those questions get easier once you know the pattern behind the offers.
Transfer bonus history is the quiet advantage most points holders ignore. By our count, a US transfer bonus from at least one of the eight bank programs we track was live in nearly every month of 2026, from a 15% airline nudge to Bilt's 200% Rent Day headline. Some banks run them almost monthly, others a few times a year, and two have never run one. Knowing which is which tells you whether to pounce or wait.
In this guide, you'll see how often each bank runs bonuses, the sizes that are normal versus exceptional, which partners get bonused most often, and a simple framework for judging any offer before you make an irreversible transfer.
Key Takeaways
- Amex and Chase run the most bonuses. In 2023, Amex posted 17 transfer bonuses and Chase 14, more than one a month each, per AwardWallet.
- A bonus is almost always running somewhere. By our count, at least one US bank bonus was live in every month from February through November 2026.
- 20% is the floor and 30% is strong. For airlines, 40% or more is rare; hotels need far bigger numbers to be worth it.
- Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic get bonused most often, so they are rarely worth waiting for because a fresh offer usually returns within months.
- Judge the destination, not the headline. A 20% airline bonus can beat an 80% hotel bonus once you run the maths.
Which Banks Run Transfer Bonuses, and How Often
Before you decide whether to wait for a better offer, you need to know how often your bank actually runs them. The eight programs TransferPoints tracks behave very differently: two run bonuses constantly, two run them occasionally, one runs a huge one every month, and two have no record of running any.
| Bank program | How often (historically) | Typical size | Partners it bonuses most |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Express | Most frequent; several a year across many partners | 20–30% | Hilton, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Avios, Marriott |
| Chase | Among the most frequent; often more than one a month | 20–30% airlines, 70–100% hotels | Flying Blue, IHG, Marriott, Avios |
| Citi | Occasional; a few a year | 20–30% | Flying Blue, LifeMiles, JAL |
| Capital One | Less frequent | 15–20%, occasionally 30% | Flying Blue, Avios, Virgin Atlantic, LifeMiles |
| Bilt | Monthly on Rent Day, one partner at a time | 75–200% (tiered by status) | Hilton, Accor, Wyndham, Avios, JAL |
| Rove | New but aggressive | 40–50% | Flying Blue, JAL, Qatar |
| Wells Fargo | No confirmed US bonus history | None | None |
| Taekus | No confirmed US bonus history | None | None |
Two things drive the differences. Amex and Chase have the deepest partner lists and compete hardest for flexible-points holders, so they bonus constantly. AwardWallet's transfer bonus history counted 17 Amex bonuses and 14 Chase bonuses in 2023 alone. Citi and Capital One run far fewer, and Wells Fargo and Rove's older sibling programs rarely or never bonus. Bilt is its own category: a large bonus every month, but only to one rotating partner during a roughly 24-hour window.
How Often a Bonus Is Actually Running
Here is the insight the tracker pages miss. Because eight banks run offers on their own schedules, the practical question is not "is my bank running a bonus" but "is any bank running one I can use." The answer in 2026 was almost always yes.
The table below lists one or more confirmed US bonuses live in each month of 2026, drawn from TransferPoints' records and the verified histories in our partner guides.
| Month (2026) | Example live bonus |
|---|---|
| February | Bilt → Accor (Rent Day, up to 125%) |
| March | Chase → Avios +20% |
| April | Amex → Hilton +20% |
| May | Chase → Flying Blue +20% |
| June | Amex → Flying Blue +25%; Amex → LifeMiles +15% |
| July | Amex → Virgin Atlantic +30%; Chase → IHG +100% |
| August | Amex → Marriott +30%; Amex → Avios +30% |
| September | Amex → Hilton +30%; Chase → Marriott +70% |
| October | Rove → JAL +50%; Citi → JAL +30%; Capital One → Avios +20% |
| November | Chase → IHG +80% (through December 3, 2026) |
January 2026 was the quiet exception, because Bilt's program relaunch that month centered on redemption bonuses rather than a transfer bonus. The lesson holds the rest of the year: if you hold points across two or more banks, a usable bonus is rarely more than a few weeks away. That is why waiting for a bonus at one specific bank often costs you a live offer at another.
Typical Bonus Sizes by Partner Type
A percentage only means something against its normal range. A 50% bonus sounds large, but it is routine for Hilton and extraordinary for Flying Blue. The table below sets the baseline so you can tell at a glance whether an offer's number is ordinary or worth acting on.
| Destination type | Typical bonus range | A strong bonus is | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major airlines (Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Avios, LifeMiles, Aeroplan) | 20–30% | 30%+ | 40%+ is rare and worth acting on |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 20–30% | 50%+ | Chase's +70% in Sep–Oct 2026 tied the record |
| Hilton Honors | 20–30% | 50%+ | Needs roughly +100% to match airline value |
| IHG One Rewards | 70–100% | 100% | Even +80% leaves a point worth under 1¢ |
| Bilt Rent Day (any partner) | 75–125% tiered | 150%+ | One partner, ~24 hours, every month |
Across all programs, 20% is the most common airline bonus and 30% the most common strong one, a pattern AwardWallet's history data confirms. The outliers prove the rule: The Points Guy described Chase's September–October 2026 Marriott bonus as tying the highest it had ever recorded. Hotels carry bigger headline numbers precisely because their points are worth less, so the large percentage is doing more work just to reach parity. We break that maths down in the Amex to Hilton bonus guide.
Which Partners Get Bonused Most Often
If you keep seeing the same airline bonused, that is not a coincidence. A handful of programs appear in nearly every bonus cycle, which makes them poor candidates for speculative waiting and good candidates for patience.
| Partner | Banks that bonus it | Roughly how often |
|---|---|---|
| Air France-KLM Flying Blue | Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Rove | Several times a year across banks |
| Virgin Atlantic | Amex, Chase, Capital One | A few times a year |
| Avios (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus) | Amex, Chase, Capital One, Bilt | Once or twice per bank per year |
| Marriott Bonvoy | Amex, Chase, Bilt | Two or three times a year |
| Hilton Honors | Amex, Bilt | Several times a year |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Amex, Citi, Capital One | A few times a year |
AwardWallet notes Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic appear in nearly every bonus cycle, which matches our own tracking. The takeaway for timing is direct: if your plan runs through a frequently bonused program, a 20% offer is rarely worth jumping on, because a comparable or better one tends to return within a few months. Our Flying Blue transfer bonus guide lists 13 separate Flying Blue bonuses since September 2024 to make that point concrete.
How to Judge Whether a Bonus Is Worth It
This is where history becomes a decision. A bonus is worth taking only when the converted points beat what those same points would do elsewhere. Run every offer through three quick steps before you transfer.
- Normal, good, or exceptional? Compare the percentage with the partner's typical range above. A 20% Flying Blue bonus is the floor; a 70% Marriott bonus is a record.
- Compute the effective ratio. It equals the base ratio times (1 + the bonus). A sub-1:1 base can erase the whole bonus: Amex to JetBlue is 1:0.8, and a no-fee Citi card transfers at 1:0.7.
- Check the destination value. A huge percentage on a low-value currency is still weak.
The table shows why step three matters most. It converts four real bonuses into cents of value per bank point, using the formula base ratio × (1 + bonus) × destination value, with our published valuations.
| Transfer (illustrative) | Effective ratio | Destination value | Value per bank point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex → Flying Blue, +20% | 1:1.2 | 1.4¢ | 1.68¢ |
| Amex → Flying Blue, +30% | 1:1.3 | 1.4¢ | 1.82¢ |
| Chase → Marriott, +70% | 1:1.7 | 0.8¢ | 1.36¢ |
| Chase → IHG, +80% | 1:1.8 | 0.5¢ | 0.90¢ |
A modest 20% Flying Blue bonus returns 1.68¢ per point, while a headline 80% IHG bonus returns just 0.90¢. The bank point is worth more going to the cheaper-looking airline offer. That is the single most useful habit transfer bonus history teaches: read the destination, not the percentage.
Act on a bonus when you have a specific award ready to book, the percentage is at or above the partner's typical range, and the effective value clears what your points would earn through another partner or redemption.
Wait when you have no redemption in mind, the partner is one of the frequently bonused programs, and your travel dates are flexible.
Common Mistakes with Transfer Bonuses
Most expensive errors come from misreading the pattern rather than the maths. These are the ones we see most often, and each is avoidable once you know the history.
- Waiting for a bonus at your bank while another bank already has one. If two banks reach the same partner, the live offer usually beats the hoped-for one.
- Chasing the biggest headline percentage. A 125% hotel bonus can return less value than a 25% airline bonus.
- Transferring speculatively. Frequently bonused programs such as Flying Blue return within months, so there is rarely a reason to move points without a plan.
- Ignoring card-tier ratios. A no-fee Citi card transfers at 1:0.7, which cancels most of a 30% bonus before you start.
- Forgetting that a bonus cuts miles, not cash. Taxes, carrier surcharges, and dynamic award pricing all apply regardless of the bonus.
Track Every Bank's Bonuses with TransferPoints
The hard part of using transfer bonus history is not the maths. It is noticing a strong offer in time, across eight banks on eight different schedules, while knowing whether it beats waiting. Bonuses are short, unannounced, and spread across programs, and transfers are irreversible once made.
TransferPoints puts that picture in one place:
- Bonus Tracker: every live transfer bonus across all eight bank programs, in one list on the bonus tracker.
- Transfer Calculator: see how many miles your points become with any active bonus applied.
- Program pages: compare each bank's partners and ratios, from Amex to Bilt.
- FlightPoints: check award availability before you transfer, so your points move only when the seat exists.
Transfer Calculator
Conclusion
Transfer bonus history turns a stream of random-looking offers into a readable pattern. Amex and Chase bonus constantly, Citi and Capital One occasionally, Bilt monthly to one partner, and a usable offer is live across the eight banks in almost every month. Against that backdrop, 20% is ordinary, 30% is strong, and the destination's value decides more than the percentage ever does.
The mistake to avoid is treating every bonus as urgent. Most programs you care about will be bonused again within months, so the real skill is recognizing the exceptional offer and attaching it to a booking you will actually make. TransferPoints keeps the bonuses, ratios, and partner paths in one view so you spend less time watching and more time deciding.
Check the live bonus tracker before your next transfer to see how a live offer compares with the transfer bonus history behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do credit card transfer bonuses happen?
Across all US banks combined, very often. By our count, at least one transfer bonus was live every month from February through November 2026. Individual banks vary widely: Amex and Chase have historically run more than one a month in active years, while Capital One and Citi run only a few a year. Wells Fargo and Taekus have no confirmed bonus history.
Which bank runs transfer bonuses most often?
American Express has historically been the most frequent, followed closely by Chase. AwardWallet recorded 17 Amex bonuses and 14 Chase bonuses in 2023. Amex spreads its offers across many partners, especially Hilton, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, and Avios, while Chase pushes hardest on Flying Blue, IHG, and Marriott. Both run far more bonuses than Citi or Capital One.
Can you predict when the next transfer bonus will happen?
Not precisely. Banks announce bonuses without warning and do not publish schedules, so you cannot count on any specific future offer appearing. History only shows tendencies: Amex has repeated a Flying Blue bonus most Octobers, and Bilt runs one every Rent Day on the 1st. Use those patterns to judge how long you can reasonably wait, never as a promise that an offer will appear.
Is a 20% transfer bonus worth it?
Usually only if you already have an award to book. For airlines, 20% is the floor of what appears, and frequently bonused programs such as Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic tend to repeat within months. A 20% bonus on a 60,000-mile ticket saves 10,000 points, which rarely justifies an irreversible transfer with no plan. Wait unless your dates are set.
Which transfer partners get bonuses most often?
Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic are bonused most often, appearing in nearly every cycle across multiple banks. Avios programs (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus), Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and Avianca LifeMiles also recur several times a year. Because these programs are bonused so regularly, they are the ones least worth transferring to speculatively.
How this guide was made: The TransferPoints team researched and drafted this guide with AI assistance. Every bonus, ratio, and point valuation was checked against official bank and airline information, reputable points publications, and TransferPoints' own transfer data and published bonus histories on November 4, 2026. Bonuses change often, so confirm terms with your bank before transferring. Spot an error? Email [email protected].