All Transfer Bonuses for May 2026: Chase to Marriott at 65%, Capital One to Qantas, and More

May 2026 is shaping up to be a transfer bonus month with a split personality. Chase is throwing a 65% bonus at Marriott Bonvoy — just shy of the all-time high — while Amex is finally back from a months-long drought with a Hilton promo. Capital One is offering 20% to Qantas, Citi is bonusing Leading Hotels of the World at 25%, and Bilt and Wells Fargo are sitting this month out entirely. Below: every active offer, expiration dates, and whether the math actually works.

May 2026 Transfer Bonuses at a Glance

Here’s every active transfer bonus across Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou, Bilt, and Wells Fargo as of May 6, 2026. Bonuses are sometimes targeted, so always log in and confirm the offer is loading on your account before transferring.

From → To	Bonus	Boosted Ratio	Expires	Verdict
Chase UR → Marriott Bonvoy	65%	1,000 : 1,650	May 15, 2026	Skip (top-off only)
Chase UR → Marriott Bonvoy (Phase 2)	55%	1,000 : 1,550	June 30, 2026	Skip
Chase UR → Air France-KLM Flying Blue	20%	1,000 : 1,200	May 27, 2026	Top Pick
Amex MR → Hilton Honors	20%	1,000 : 2,400	May 30, 2026	Skip (top-off only)
Amex MR → JetBlue TrueBlue	10%	250 : 220	May 11, 2026	Skip
Capital One → Qantas Frequent Flyer	20%	1,000 : 1,200	May 31, 2026	Worth It
Citi ThankYou → Leaders Club (LHW)	25%	1,000 : 250	May 16, 2026	Worth It (luxury hotels)
Bilt Rewards	None active	—	—	Wait
Wells Fargo Rewards	None active	—	—	Wait

Chase Ultimate Rewards Bonuses

Chase → Marriott Bonvoy: 65% (Through May 15)

This is the headline-grabber of the month. Chase’s standard 1:1 ratio to Marriott Bonvoy jumps to 1:1.65 through May 15 — so 60,000 Ultimate Rewards becomes 99,000 Bonvoy points. Chase has also announced a Phase 2 continuation at 55% (1:1.55) running from May 16 through June 30, so there’s no urgency to rush the transfer if you’re on the fence.

Verdict: Skip — unless you’re topping off. A 65% bonus sounds enormous, but you’re trading a stronger currency for a weaker one. Most valuations peg Ultimate Rewards at roughly 2 cents per point and Bonvoy at roughly 0.7 cents per point. Even after the 65% bonus, you’re getting about 1.15 cents of Marriott value per Chase point — worse than simply booking through the Chase travel portal, and dramatically worse than transferring to Hyatt at 1:1 or booking Flying Blue business class. We’ve walked through this trade-off in detail in our guide on why you should stop transferring Chase points to Marriott and use Points Boost instead.

The one exception: if you have a high-value Marriott stay locked in (think a 5th-night-free award at a Category 7 St. Regis) and need a few thousand more points to cover it, this bonus saves you Chase points on the top-off. There’s also a creative play through Marriott’s airline partners — transferring 60,000 Marriott points to an airline nets you 25,000 airline miles plus a 5,000-point bonus per 60K block — but the resulting Chase-to-airline ratio still isn’t competitive with Chase’s direct 1:1 partners.

Chase → Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 20% (Through May 27)

This is the bonus to act on. The standard 1:1 ratio bumps to 1:1.2 through May 27, and Flying Blue is one of the most flexible airline programs Chase transfers to — it’s a SkyTeam member (Air France, KLM, Delta, Kenya Airways, Virgin Atlantic operated flights via codeshare) plus Aircalin, Kenya, and a handful of other partners.

Verdict: Top Pick. Flying Blue routinely runs Promo Rewards on top of base award pricing, and stacking the 20% transfer bonus with a Promo Award is one of the best moves in points right now. A recent Promo Reward priced Boston-to-Paris business class at 60,000 Flying Blue miles one-way — which, after the 20% bonus, works out to just 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. That’s a genuine “wow” number for a lie-flat seat across the Atlantic, and it’s the kind of redemption we highlighted in our roundup of the best business class sweet spots using points right now.

One operational tip: Flying Blue transfers are immediate, so wait until you’ve confirmed award space before pulling the trigger. And remember the 1,000-point minimum — useful since Flying Blue’s Promo Awards sometimes price below that floor after the bonus.

Amex Membership Rewards Bonuses

After what felt like a near-total freeze on Amex transfer bonuses to start the year — January, February, and March each closed with zero active MR transfer promos, the longest dry spell we’ve tracked — Amex finally moved at the end of April with two underwhelming offers.

Amex → Hilton Honors: 20% (Through May 30)

This is the first Amex-to-Hilton bonus since summer 2024. Since Amex-to-Hilton is normally 1:2, the elevated ratio is 1:2.4 — meaning 1,000 MR becomes 2,400 Hilton points.

Verdict: Skip unless topping off. The optics look great — 2,400 of anything for 1,000 of something else! — but Hilton points are weak. Most valuations put them at roughly 0.5 cents each, which means the “boosted” transfer nets you about 1.2 cents of Hilton value per MR point. That’s below what you’d get transferring to almost any airline partner. If you have a Hilton Aspire or Surpass redemption planned and need to round out a stay, fine. Otherwise, hold for a transfer to Air Canada, ANA, or Avianca.

Amex → JetBlue TrueBlue: 10% (Through May 11)

This one’s a head-scratcher. The base ratio is already brutal — 250 Membership Rewards points transfer to just 200 TrueBlue points (a 1.25:1 loss). The 10% bonus lifts that to 250:220, which is still a net loss on the transfer itself.

Verdict: Skip. The only reason this bonus exists on paper is the sliver of value from JetBlue’s partner award chart — most notably JAL — but JetBlue has been quietly tightening JAL availability per AwardWallet’s reporting, so confirm any JAL-via-JetBlue plans are still bookable before you transfer.

Capital One → Qantas Frequent Flyer: 20% (Through May 31)

Capital One’s default ratio to Qantas is 1:1, so this promo lifts a normally so-so partner into “actually useful” territory for the month. The boosted ratio is 1:1.2 — every 1,000 Capital One miles becomes 1,200 Qantas points.

Verdict: Worth It (with a specific use). Qantas isn’t a sexy headline program, but it has some genuine sweet spots, and the 20% bonus pushes the math into “go” territory. The big ones:

• Emirates partner awards. Qantas is one of the few programs still pricing Emirates business class predictably, with awards from the U.S. East Coast to Dubai starting around 90,000 Qantas points one-way plus fuel surcharges. After the 20% bonus, that 90K Qantas business class redemption is just 75,000 Capital One miles.
• Short-haul American Airlines domestic flights. Qantas prices AA economy at 8,000 points for flights under 600 miles — cheaper than AA’s own AAdvantage chart on many routes.
• El Al partner awards. A niche use case, but Qantas is one of only a couple of ways to book El Al with transferable currency.

Caveats: Qantas charges hefty change and cancellation fees (5,000 and 6,000 points respectively), and award space can take a bit to confirm — Qantas typically posts transfers within 24 hours but can occasionally run longer during promotional periods. Confirm award availability before you transfer.

One thing to do before moving any points: transfers are one-way and final, so confirm the award exists first. Check availability on Seats.aero for your dates, then transfer — not the other way round.

Citi ThankYou → Leaders Club: 25% (Through May 16)

Citi’s transfer to Leaders Club — the loyalty arm of Leading Hotels of the World — remains one of the more overlooked levers in the transferable points game, and the 25% bonus through May 16 makes it worth a second look.

Important nuance: the bonus ratio depends on which Citi card you hold. Premium ThankYou cardholders (Citi Strata Premier, Prestige, and the shuttered Premier line) transfer at a base 5:1, which the 25% bonus lifts to 4:1 (1,000 ThankYou points becomes 250 Leaders Club points). Lower-tier Citi cards without airline/hotel transfer privileges still can’t access this transfer at all.

Verdict: Worth It if you stay at LHW properties. Leaders Club uses dynamic, revenue-based pricing, and at the right property the math is excellent. We ran the numbers on a specific redemption in our deep dive on the Leading Hotels of the World transfer that beats Marriott and Hilton, and the same logic applies here — LHW is often the best hotel redemption a transferable point can make, if the property fits your trip. Two notes before you transfer: LHW points expire after 24 months without activity, and booking through Leaders Club means giving up the property credits and breakfast you’d typically get through a Virtuoso travel advisor — though Leaders Club status itself does deliver complimentary breakfast and room upgrades at participating hotels. If LHW isn’t your speed, you can also compare cash rates on Expedia before pulling the transfer trigger.

Bilt and Wells Fargo: Quiet Month

Bilt’s Avios partner blitz wrapped up at the start of the month — the April promo ran a tiered bonus of 40% to Iberia, 75% to Aer Lingus, and 100% to British Airways Executive Club, ending May 2 — and nothing new has launched. With the program still settling into its post-Wells Fargo era after the Bilt 2.0 transition completed in February, expect lighter promotional activity for a while. If you’re new to the revamped tiers, our complete guide to Bilt Card 2.0 (Blue, Obsidian, and Palladium) walks through what changed and which tier makes sense for which spending profile. Wells Fargo Rewards has no active transfer bonuses either.

If you’re sitting on Bilt points, the once-monthly Rent Day double-dip on transfers to Hyatt and Air France-KLM (on the 1st of every month) remains the most reliable way to extract value — even without a stacked bonus.

How to Decide When to Pull the Trigger

The single biggest mistake I see readers make: speculatively transferring during a bonus without award space confirmed. Transfers are one-way. If KLM business class to Paris isn’t open on the dates you need, those Chase points are now Flying Blue miles forever. A few rules I follow:

1. Confirm award availability first. Use ExpertFlyer, seats.aero, or the airline’s own calendar before initiating any transfer. For Flying Blue specifically, log in and complete a dummy booking up to the payment screen.
2. Hold any non-immediate transfer for a better bonus. Chase has run a 70% Marriott bonus before, and Amex has run 30% Hilton offers in past years. Our historical transfer bonus tracker shows the recurring patterns by issuer and partner — if you don’t need points this month, wait.
3. Math the cents-per-point both ways. Multiply the number of points you’re transferring by your “from” valuation, then by your “to” valuation × the bonus ratio. If the second number isn’t bigger, the bonus is a trap.
4. Mind the deadline window. The Amex-to-JetBlue bonus ends May 11; Chase-to-Marriott ends May 15; Citi-to-LHW ends May 16. Don’t get caught initiating on the last day if your transfer is one of the few that’s not instant.

For deeper context on how this month stacks up against past Chase, Amex, and Citi promos, our January 2025 transfer bonus roundup shows what an earlier month looked like for offers. And if you missed earlier rounds, our best transfer bonuses archive documents how the patterns repeat year over year — extremely useful for timing speculative card sign-ups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these transfer bonuses targeted or available to everyone?

Most are public and apply automatically when you initiate the transfer, but a few may be account-specific. Per The Points Guy, Amex in particular has increasingly used targeted transfer bonuses that appear in some accounts and not others — even for the same partner and same promo period. Always confirm the bonus appears in the transfer ratio on the issuer’s website before you commit.

Can I undo a transfer if I change my mind?

No. Every major issuer treats transfers as final. Once points leave Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, or Bilt for a partner program, they’re the partner’s currency and subject to that program’s rules — including devaluations and expiration policies. Confirm award availability first.

How long do transfers take to process?

It varies by partner. Chase to Flying Blue is immediate. Chase to Marriott is around 2 days. Capital One to Qantas can take up to 24 hours. Most Amex transfers to airlines are instant; transfers to hotel partners like Hilton are usually immediate as well. Always plan a buffer if you’re booking close-in.

Why is Amex running so few transfer bonuses in 2026?

It’s a real shift, not just a slow month. Per Thrifty Traveler’s analysis, Amex ran significantly fewer transfer bonuses in 2025 than in prior years, and the pace has continued to slow in 2026 — likely a combination of Amex reining in program economics after several years of aggressive promos and shifting marketing budget toward Membership Rewards portal deals. The April 28 launch of the Hilton bonus is the first meaningful Amex promo of the year.

What’s the minimum amount I can transfer with a bonus?

It depends on the program. Chase requires 1,000 points minimum. Amex requires 1,000 points to most partners but allows 250-point increments for Amex to JetBlue, which is unusually low. Citi requires 1,000 points to LHW. Capital One typically allows 1,000-mile increments. Always confirm in the issuer’s transfer portal.

Will Chase run another Marriott bonus higher than 65% later this year?

Possibly. The all-time peak was 70% (run in November 2025 and August 2024 per historical data). Chase typically runs Marriott bonuses 2–3 times per year. If you don’t have a specific stay in mind, waiting for a 70% offer — or skipping Marriott entirely and transferring to Hyatt at 1:1 — is usually the smarter play.

Are there any Bilt or Wells Fargo bonuses expected this month?

Nothing announced as of May 6. Bilt’s last bonus run (40-100% to the Avios family) wrapped on May 2, and Wells Fargo Rewards has been quiet since the Bilt 2.0 transition. Expect Bilt to focus on Rent Day promotions on the 1st of each month rather than partner-specific transfer bonuses for now.

Bottom Line

Two clear winners this month: Chase to Flying Blue (20% — book European business class for as little as 50,000 Chase points one-way after the bonus) and Capital One to Qantas (20% — niche but powerful for Emirates partner awards and short-haul AA flights). The 65% Chase-to-Marriott bonus grabs headlines but doesn’t actually beat keeping points in Chase, and the Amex offers are top-off material at best. If you’re sitting on Citi ThankYou points and have a luxury hotel stay coming up, the 25% LHW bonus is the dark-horse pick of the month.

The bigger story underneath all of this: Amex’s near-disappearance from the transfer bonus game has put a crack in what used to be Membership Rewards’ biggest selling point. Chase, Capital One, and Citi are all running multiple bonuses per month right now. If you’re choosing your next earning card, that’s worth weighing.