Points transfer partners: which points reach American, Delta and Alaska

Transferable points are only useful where they can go, and the three US carriers with the deepest upgrade and award coverage each accept a different currency. This is the map of who reaches whom, and the one habit that keeps a transfer from becoming a mistake: confirm the seat first.

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Transfers are one way and final. Once bank points become airline miles they cannot come back, and the seat you wanted can be gone by the time they land. Confirm the award space is there, then transfer.

Who reaches whom, as of August 2026

Ratios and partnerships change without notice. Treat this as the shape of the market and confirm the number on the program's own transfer page before you move anything.

Transferable currencies that reach American AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles and Atmos Rewards
Airline program Bank currency Hotel currency
American AAdvantage Citi ThankYou Points, 1:1 Marriott Bonvoy, 3:1
Delta SkyMiles American Express Membership Rewards, 1:1 Marriott Bonvoy, 3:1
Atmos Rewards (Alaska) Bilt Rewards, 1:1 Marriott Bonvoy, 3:1, with a 5,000-point bonus per 60,000 transferred

Three consequences follow from that table, and they are the whole planning problem. American Express reaches Delta and neither of the other two. Citi is the bank route into American. Bilt is the only card currency that reaches Atmos Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy is the general-purpose back door into all three.

Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One miles are excellent currencies with deep partner lists, but as of August 2026 neither transfers to American, Delta or Atmos. If those are the airlines you fly, that is an argument for where to put spend, not for chasing a transfer that does not exist.

The Amex to Hawaiian route into Alaska closed in June 2025, before HawaiianMiles was folded into Atmos Rewards, and no equivalent replaced it. Any guide still describing that path is out of date.

The order that keeps a transfer safe

Speculative transfers are how people end up with 90,000 miles in a program they do not fly. Four steps, in this order.

Step 1

Find the seat

Confirm the award space exists on the exact flight and date, in the cabin you want. Space is the scarce thing; points are not.

Step 2

Price it in the program

Check what that seat costs in miles and cash today, in the program you would transfer to. Two programs can price the same seat very differently.

Step 3

Check the transfer speed

Some transfers are instant, some take days. A slow transfer against a single open seat is a bet, so treat instant partners and slow ones differently.

Step 4

Transfer the exact amount

Move what the booking needs, not a round number. Leftover miles in a program you rarely use are the most common way value quietly evaporates.

2LNR exists to make step 1 quick: an award matrix across roughly 30 airlines, with a calendar per route, plus alerts when space opens on a route you are watching. See how to check award availability for the workflow, and when award seats open up for the timing.

Transfer bonuses, and when they are worth waiting for

Banks periodically run bonuses on specific airline partners, typically 15 to 30 percent for a few weeks. A bonus is real money, and it is also the most common reason people transfer points they had no booking for.

  • A bonus does not create a seat. A 30 percent bonus into a program with nothing bookable on your dates is a 30 percent discount on a mistake.
  • Wait only if the seat will wait. Long-haul premium space on a popular date rarely survives a two-week bonus window. Space you can see now beats a better ratio later.
  • Bonuses favour known plans. If you already have a booking that needs 60,000 miles next quarter, that is exactly the case a bonus is for.
  • Marriott's bulk rule is its own bonus. Transferring in 60,000-point increments earns the 5,000-point bonus each time, which changes the arithmetic of small transfers.

Transfer questions

What points transfer to American Airlines AAdvantage?
As of August 2026 the bank route into AAdvantage is Citi ThankYou Points at 1:1, and the hotel route is Marriott Bonvoy at 3:1. American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One miles do not transfer to AAdvantage. Confirm the current ratio on the issuer's transfer page before moving points, because these partnerships change without notice.
Can I transfer Amex points to Delta?
Yes. American Express Membership Rewards transfers to Delta SkyMiles at 1:1 and, as of August 2026, Amex is the major bank currency that reaches Delta. Marriott Bonvoy also transfers to SkyMiles at 3:1. What Amex does not reach is American AAdvantage or Atmos Rewards, so an Amex-heavy stash pairs naturally with Delta flying.
Which points transfer to Alaska Atmos Rewards?
Bilt Rewards transfers to Atmos Rewards at 1:1 and is the only card currency that does as of August 2026. Marriott Bonvoy transfers at 3:1 with a 5,000-point bonus for every 60,000 points moved. The old workaround of sending Amex points to Hawaiian and onward to Alaska ended in June 2025 when Amex dropped Hawaiian as a partner.
Can I transfer miles between American, Delta and Alaska?
No. These are competing programs, and miles do not move between them in either direction, alliance membership notwithstanding. The only currencies that reach more than one of them are Marriott Bonvoy and, indirectly, whichever bank points you hold. Plan the earning side around the airline you actually fly.
Should I transfer points before or after finding award space?
After, without exception on a specific booking. Transfers are irreversible and often instant in one direction only, so the sequence that protects you is: confirm the seat exists on your flight and date, price it in the program, check how long that transfer takes, then move the exact number of points the booking needs.
Do transferred miles count toward elite status?
Generally no. Transferred miles are redeemable currency; status is earned from flying and, in some programs, from co-branded card spend and partner activity. American's Loyalty Points and Atmos Rewards status points each have their own qualifying rules, so check the program's status page rather than assuming a transfer helps.

Sources

Program facts on this page were checked on 2 August 2026. Transfer partners and ratios are set by the issuers and airlines and can change at any time; the issuer's own transfer page is always the authority.

Program and issuer names are the trademarks of their owners. 2LNR is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any airline, hotel or card issuer named here.

Related: Check award availability | Alaska award flights | Points and miles basics | Track balances on the loyalty ledger

Find the seat, then transfer

2LNR shows confirmed award space across roughly 30 airlines, by route and by date, so a transfer is the last step instead of a gamble.

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