Quick summary
Halfway through 2026, the transfer-bonus calendar tells a story most points enthusiasts didn't expect: drought.
Through the first five months of the year, American Express Membership Rewards ran no airline transfer bonuses at all — a gap that hasn't happened since the early 2020s.
Chase has been more active, but mostly on hotel partners. The Bilt Rent Day mechanic put up the only headline triple-digit airline bonus of the half, and it was a 27-hour TAP Air Portugal window.
Note
📌 Note — five bonuses are confirmed active across the major transferable currencies. All verified on the issuer's transfer-partner page or in an issuer-direct announcement.
What happened
This is what's actually verifiable for H1 2026, what's live as of publication, and what to expect for H2.
Where end dates differ across reporting, we flag the uncertainty.
What's live as of June 2, 2026
| Issuer | Program | Bonus | End date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | Marriott Bonvoy | 55% | through June 30 |
| Amex Membership Rewards | British Airways / Iberia / Aer Lingus Avios | 30% | varies (see note) |
| Amex Membership Rewards | Marriott Bonvoy | 20% | through June 30 |
| Citi ThankYou | Qatar Avios | 30% | through June 30 |
| Bilt Rewards | TAP Miles&Go | 25-125% | June 1 only (27-hour Rent Day window) |
Here's the detail on each.
Chase Ultimate Rewards → Marriott Bonvoy — 55% (through June 30)
The headline of the month. Chase UR transfers at 1:1.55 to Marriott Bonvoy means a 50,000-point Marriott award costs about 32,260 UR.
Pair with a Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred stash for top-tier Marriott redemptions. The 5th-night-free benefit on standard awards stacks naturally.
Amex Membership Rewards → British Airways / Iberia / Aer Lingus Avios — 30%
This is the Avios family's shared currency, so the bonus applies across BA Executive Club, Iberia Plus, and Aer Lingus AerClub.
Best uses: Iberia transatlantic business class from US East Coast to Madrid (one of the rare premium-cabin sweet spots that survived 2025 chart pressure), and BA short-haul economy.
Warning
⚠️ Warning — Avios end date varies across reporting sources. Some cite June 21, others mid-July or September. Transfer with a confirmed seat before quoting any specific deadline.
The Amex Platinum and Amex Gold both feed into MR.
Amex Membership Rewards → Marriott Bonvoy — 20% (through June 30)
Less generous than Chase's 55% to the same program, but useful if your MR balance is heavier than your UR balance.
Best for topping up to 5th-night-free awards rather than full transfers.
Citi ThankYou → Qatar Avios — 30% (through June 30)
Worth noting: this is a discrete June promo, not a "near-perpetual" monthly bonus as previously reported in some industry roundups.
Qatar's Privilege Club opens Qsuite premium-cabin awards via Oneworld partners. At 1:1.3 from a Strata Premier, this is one of the more efficient premium-cabin paths to Asia and the Gulf this summer.
Bilt Rewards → TAP Miles&Go — 25-125% (June 1 only, 27-hour Rent Day window)
Bilt's monthly Rent Day promotion paired with TAP Air Portugal's loyalty program. The 125% top tier requires both Platinum/Diamond elite status AND a $150 Bilt Cash redemption.
Warning
⚠️ Warning — the cardholder spends $150 of their own Bilt Cash to unlock the higher multiplier (they don't receive $150).
The window closed June 2 (East Coast); the article remains relevant for those tracking future Rent Days. Bilt status holders should check our Rent Day breakdown for the full mechanics.
What just expired
Three notable bonuses closed in May.
Chase UR → Flying Blue — 20% (ended May 27, 2026)
The 20% bonus closed five days before Flying Blue's June 2026 promo awards launched.
Members who didn't transfer in May now book the 18,750-mile US-Europe economy promo at 1:1, paying the full mile cost.
Note
📌 Note — the Chase→Flying Blue bonus was 20%, NOT 30%. Window: May 1-27, 2026. Painful timing relative to the June promo launch, but the alternative (speculative 100K UR transfer) is worse.
See our Chase Flying Blue 20% bonus retrospective.
Amex MR → Hilton Honors — 20% (ended May 30, 2026)
Hilton bonuses are typically late-spring fixtures from Amex; this one ran true to pattern.
Best use during the window was topping off to high-end Hilton awards (Conrad Maldives, Waldorf Maldives).
Capital One Miles → Avianca LifeMiles — 15% (ended March 28, 2026)
The 15% LifeMiles bonus was modest by historical standards.
LifeMiles has devalued meaningfully in 2026 (US-Europe business is now in the 80K-92.4K range, no longer the 63K of prior years), so transfer math from Venture X has tightened even with the bonus.
Why it matters: H1 2026 by issuer
This is the story most other roundups missed — 2026 has been a structurally light year for airline transfer bonuses, particularly from American Express.
American Express Membership Rewards
Through May 2026, Amex ran zero airline transfer bonuses (verified against the Amex transfer-partner page and corroborated by cross-issuer transfer-bonus trackers).
Hotel bonuses were limited to:
- Hilton 20% (ended May 30)
- Marriott 20% (current through June 30)
- a brief JetBlue 10% (TrueBlue is a hotel-adjacent partner for Amex)
The current 30% Avios bonus — live in late May / June — is Amex's first airline transfer promotion of the year. By comparison, Amex ran 15-20+ transfer bonuses across 2023-2025.
Warning
⚠️ Warning — if you've been holding MR expecting transfer bonuses to materialize before redemption, 2026 is breaking that thesis.
The Amex Platinum refresh added significant earn-side credits but the redemption optionality through transfer promos has tightened. See our Amex 30% Avios bonus deep-dive for the strategic implications.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase has been the more active issuer in H1, though several specific transfer bonuses that have circulated in industry coverage — including a purported UR→Hyatt 30% bonus — could not be independently verified and appear to be false.
Warning
⚠️ Warning — Chase→Hyatt bonus never existed. Chase has never run a UR-to-Hyatt transfer bonus in the program's history. UR→Hyatt is always 1:1 (which is itself the value proposition).
The verified Chase transfer bonuses in H1 2026:
- UR → Flying Blue: 20% (May 1-27, 2026 — confirmed by FrequentMiler, Upgraded Points, OMAAT, TPG)
- UR → Southwest Rapid Rewards: bonus mentioned in third-party coverage; could not be independently verified from Chase's transfer-partner page; verify before relying on it
- UR → Marriott Bonvoy: 55% (current, through June 30)
That's a useful set of three confirmed bonuses across hotel and airline partners. Chase's 14 transfer partners saw modest rotation in H1.
Citi ThankYou
The Citi-to-Qatar Avios 30% bonus appears to be a discrete monthly promo running June 2026, not the "near-perpetual" recurring bonus described in some industry coverage.
The Strata Premier continues to be undervalued among transferable-points cards.
Capital One Miles
Capital One ran the early-2026 LifeMiles 15% (Q1), then went quiet on airline bonuses through May.
Warning
⚠️ Warning — any specific Capital One airline bonuses circulated in industry roundups beyond LifeMiles should be independently verified before transferring. Several claims floating around the points-and-miles community for H1 2026 (notably a purported 40% Wyndham bonus) could not be substantiated from primary sources.
Bilt Rewards
Bilt's Rent Day mechanic is the most interesting transfer-bonus structure in the market — a once-monthly elite-tiered bonus to a rotating partner with a 27-hour booking window and a Bilt-Cash-boost lever.
June 2026's TAP Air Portugal promo was the standout single event. Bilt has stated publicly that certain partners (Hyatt, Alaska) are not currently part of the Rent Day rotation despite community speculation.
Who wins
- Chase UR holders with Marriott redemptions queued up — 55% is the headline bonus of the month
- Amex MR holders with Iberia or BA awards in mind — first MR airline bonus of 2026
- Citi ThankYou holders with Qatar Qsuite plans — 30% at 1:1.3 ratio
- Bilt Platinum/Diamond elites with TAP Air Portugal positioning — the 125% tier is real
- Top-tier Marriott property bookers — 5th-night-free stacks naturally with the 55% bonus
Who loses
- MR holders waiting for an airline bonus — six months and counting
- Capital One transfer hopefuls — only 15% LifeMiles in Q1
- Anyone who believed the false Chase→Hyatt bonus — it doesn't exist
- Speculative transferrers — Aeroplan, LifeMiles, Turkish all devalued in 2026
- Casual Bilt members without elite status — locked out of the 125% TAP tier
What should you do now: H2 2026 patterns
- Q3 hotel bonuses peak July-August. Historically all five issuers concentrate hotel program bonuses in late summer ahead of fall travel. Marriott and Hilton are the most likely targets.
- Aeroplan bonuses may return post-devaluation. With Aeroplan's June 1, 2026 chart hike adding 10-67% to most awards (US-Europe business 70K→75K, US-Europe first 100K→120K), issuers will likely pitch bonuses to "offset" the devaluation. Watch for 25-30% Amex-to-Aeroplan promos by Q4.
- Flying Blue Promo Rewards will likely get a fresh transfer bonus. After the May Chase-to-Flying-Blue bonus ended just before June's monthly promo awards, expect a Q3 make-good — historical pattern suggests one in July or August.
For the broader portfolio context, our Amex Trifecta 2026 and Chase Sapphire Trifecta 2026 guides cover how to position MR and UR balances across both ecosystems.
The best travel credit cards 2026 buy-list covers which combination fits which travel patterns.
Bottom line
Warning
⚠️ Warning — never transfer speculatively without a confirmed award seat.
Transferable points are flexible; airline miles aren't, and 2026's airline-program devaluation pattern (Aeroplan, LifeMiles, Turkish) means yesterday's "great" transfer can become today's stuck balance.
Every bonus above is a real opportunity — but only when the award seat exists at the price advertised.
