FirstClassFlyer

Through Sept. 30, leverage Amex points-transfer bonuses—together with buying points strategies—like never before

It’s not every day that you see lucrative transfer bonus deals on 11 airline mileage programs for access to 64 airlines from a credit card points program. Usually they roll out randomly, one at a time.

But these are unprecedented times with unprecedented deals.

If you’re thinking at all about First Class on Lufthansa or a super cheap Business Class flight to Europe, but dismissing it because you don’t have many points, this is your time to shine.

Even if you’re typically a short-haul domestic traveler.

How Good Are the Deals?

With Iberia’s 40% transfer bonus right now, you can get that 68,000-mile Iberia deal to Europe for just 49,000 miles—or $1,250—check out our most recent alerts here, here, here and here. Or an American domestic deal and 11 of other enticing deals.

With the Virgin Atlantic 30% transfer bonus, you can get incredibly cheap deals with All Nippon Airways in First Class to Japan. What was 110,000 miles is now just 85,000—or $2,125 / 89% off—for Los Angeles and San Francisco round-trip to Tokyo. What was 120,000 miles is now just 93,000 for New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC, round-trip to Tokyo. Check out our most recent alerts here, here, here and here.

Or, you can fly Delta, through Virgin Atlantic, for 100,000 miles round-trip to Europe in Business Class. Delta is notorious for high-cost awards that are often at least 240,000 round-trip. But with Virgin and the current Amex bonus, you can pay just 77,000 miles. Check out our most recent alerts here and here.

Check out our most recent Lufthansa First Class deals via Amex/Air Canada here, and here.

With this promotion, even domestic short-haul first class awards on American Airlines are now just 32,000 Amex points.

Bonuses At A Glance

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The Best of the Best

While half of the aforementioned Amex partners aren’t very interesting, the following are FCF’s cherry picks for you.

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SAMPLE MATH WHEN BUYING AMEX POINTS

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FCF OPPORTUNITY TREASURE MAPS

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* The Amex transfer bonuses are valid until September 30, 2021. The general FCF strategies are timeless.

[["Program","Program Partners","Bonus"],["Aer Lingus AerClub","British Airways, United","40%"],["Aeromexico Club Premier","18 SkyTeam partner airline programs","25%"],["Air Canada Aeroplan","26 Star Alliance partner airline programs plus Etihad","20%"],["Air France-KLM Flying Blue","18 SkyTeam partner airline programs plus Etihad, Finnair, Singapore, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas","25%"],["Avianca LifeMiles","26 Star Alliance partner airline programs","15%"],["British Airways Executive Club","14 oneworld partner airline programs plus Aer Lingus","40%"],["Hawaiian Airlines","Japan, JetBlue, Korean, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia","25%"],["Iberia Plus","14 oneworld partner airline programs","40%"],["Qantas Frequent Flyer","14 oneworld partner airline programs plus Air France, KLM","20%"],["Virgin Atlantic Flying Club","Air France, KLM, Delta, All Nippon","30%"],["Hilton Honors","No airline partners","30%"],["Marriott Bonvoy (3 points to an airline mile, not great)","AEGEAN, Aer Lingus AerClub, Aeroflot Bonus, Aeromexico ClubPremier, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Air New Zealand Airpoints, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, ANA Mileage Club, Asiana Airlines Asiana Club, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Copa Airlines ConnectMiles, Delta SkyMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, FRONTIER Miles, Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club, Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles, Iberia Plus, Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank, Korean Air SKYPASS, LATAM Airlines LATAM Pass, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Rapid Rewards, TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, United MileagePlus, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer, Vueling Club","30%"]]

[["Route \/ Class","Operating Airline","Amex Transfer Partner","Normal Cost R\/T","Net Cost With Bonus R\/T"],["Los Angeles, San Francisco - Tokyo \/ First Class","All Nippon","Virgin Atlantic","110,000","85,000"],["Chicago, New York, Washington, DC - Tokyo \/ First Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","120,000","93,000"],["Los Angeles, San Francisco - Tokyo \/ Business Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","90,000","70,000"],["Chicago, New York, Washington, DC - Tokyo \/ Business Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","95,000","74,000"],["U.S. to Europe \/ Business Class","Delta","#rowspan#","100,000","77,000"],["New York, Boston, Washington, DC to Europe \/ Business Class*","Iberia","Iberia","68,000","49,000"],["Chicago, Miami - Madrid \/ Business Class*","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","85,000","61,000"],["Los Angeles, San Francisco - Madrid \/ Business Class*","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","102,000","73,000"],["Short-haul within North America**","American","British Airways","44,000","32,000"],["Transcon \/ Business Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","77,500","56,000"],["Transcon \/ First Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","103,000","74,000"],["Los Angeles to Maui \/ Business Class","#rowspan#","#rowspan#","77,500","56,000"],["U.S. to Europe \/ Business Class","United","Air Canada","120,000-140,000","100,000-117,000"],["U.S. to Frankfurt \/ First Class","Lufthansa","#rowspan#","200,000","167,000"],["New York to Johannesburg via Paris \/ Business Class","Air France","Air France","170,000","136,000"],["New York to Nairobi via Amsterdam \/ Business Class","KLM","KLM","170,000","136,000"]]

*Based on off-peak / ** Up to 4,000 miles R/T

[["Operating Airline","Route","Class","Best Amex Transfer Partner","Mileage Cost With Transfer Bonus","Cash Cost at 2.5 Cents Per Amex Point","Regular Published Fare","Savings $","Savings %"],["All Nippon","San Francisco - Tokyo","First","All Nippon","85,000","$2,125","$20,128","$18,003","89%"],["Delta","Atlanta - Paris","Business","Virgin Atlantic","77,000","$1,925","$4,349","$2,424","56%"],["Iberia","New York - Madrid","Business","Iberia","49,000","$1,225","$3,095","$1,870","60%"]]

[["To\/From","Airline\/Class","Outbound","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/handful-of-cheap-amex-first-class-all-nippon-airways-seats-from-chicago-to-tokyo-93000-r-t\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago-Tokyo<\/a>","All Nippon Using Virgin Atlantic\/First Class","Dec., June","Jan., Feb., April","July, Aug.","Feb., March, June, Aug.<\/span>","Dec.","July, Aug."],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/first-class-scattered-all-nippon-single-seat-discount-availability-to-tokyo-from-los-angeles-if-you-know-where-to-look-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles-Tokyo<\/a>","#rowspan#","Jan.","Aug.","Feb., June, July","Oct. to Dec., March, May, Aug.","Jan.","Feb., June, July"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/handful-of-cheap-first-class-all-nippon-airways-from-new-york-to-tokyo-93000-r-t-next-month-august\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York-Tokyo<\/a>","#rowspan#","Oct.","Aug.","","Oct.","Aug.",""],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/handful-of-cheap-first-class-all-nippon-airways-from-san-francisco-to-tokyo-85000-r-t\/\" target=\"_blank\">San Francisco-Tokyo<\/a>","#rowspan#","Jan., April, June","","July, Aug.","Dec.","Feb., July","Aug."],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/europe-two-delta-routes-biz-class-77000-miles-points-r-t-four-seats\/\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta-Paris<\/a>","Delta Using Virgin Atlantic\/Business Class","Jan., <\/span>Feb.<\/span>","","","Feb.<\/span>","",""],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/three-delta-routes-to-europe-77000-points-biz-class-r-t-think-getting-5-to-9-for-1s\/\" target=\"_blank\">Boston-Amsterdam<\/a>","#rowspan#","Dec. to Feb.,<\/span> Mar.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>","","Jan., Feb.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>","Dec.<\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/three-delta-routes-to-europe-77000-points-biz-class-r-t-think-getting-5-to-9-for-1s\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York-Frankfurt<\/a>","#rowspan#","","March<\/span>","Dec. to Feb.<\/span>","","Dec., March<\/span>","Jan., Feb. <\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/europe-two-delta-routes-biz-class-77000-miles-points-r-t-four-seats\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York-Milan<\/a>","#rowspan#","Nov.<\/span> Feb. <\/span>","Dec., Jan. <\/span>","","Jan.<\/span>","Dec., Feb.<\/span>","Dec.<\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/three-delta-routes-to-europe-77000-points-biz-class-r-t-think-getting-5-to-9-for-1s\/\" target=\"_blank\">Minneapolis-Paris<\/a>","#rowspan#","Nov., Dec.<\/span>","Jan.<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>","Nov., Dec.,<\/span> Jan.<\/span>","","Feb.<\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/very-rare-treasure-map-of-49000-amex-points-availability-for-boston-europe-business-class-r-ts\/\" target=\"_blank\">Boston-Madrid<\/a>","Iberia\/Business Class","Nov.,<\/span> Dec., Jan., May, Sept.<\/span>","Nov., Feb., March, June<\/span>","April, July, Aug.<\/span>","Nov. to Feb., Sept.,<\/span> Nov.<\/span>","Jan., March, June<\/span>","April, May, July, Aug.<\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/handful-of-dirt-cheap-europe-business-class-flights-from-los-angeles-73000-amex-points-r-t-for-travel-in-2022-treasure-map\/\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles-Madrid<\/a>","#rowspan#","Jan., Feb.,<\/span> April, July, Aug.<\/span>","","","Jan.,<\/span> March, April,<\/span> July, Aug.<\/span>","Feb.,<\/span> March, July",""],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/very-rare-treasure-map-of-49000-amex-point-availability-for-new-york-europe-business-class-r-ts\/\" target=\"_blank\">New York-Madrid<\/a>","#rowspan#","Oct., Dec., May, June, Aug.<\/span>","Nov.,<\/span> May, June","Nov., Jan. to April, July<\/span>","Oct.,<\/span> Dec., Aug.<\/span>","Nov., May,<\/span> June<\/span>","Jan., to May,<\/span> June,<\/span> July<\/span>"],["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/europe-business-class-flights-for-61000-miles-or-amex-chase-points-r-t-from-miami-great-availability-for-two-seats\/\" target=\"_blank\">Miami-Madrid<\/a>","#rowspan#","May, June<\/span>","April, June<\/span>","Nov. to March, July<\/span>","","April to June<\/span>","Nov. to March,<\/span> April, May, July<\/span>"]]