August's Transfer Bonuses —
Which to Use, Which to Skip

Open any points blog on the first of the month and you'll get the same thing: a tidy list of every transfer bonus currently running, biggest percentage at the top, a one-line "act fast." It's useful as a calendar. It's useless as advice — because a transfer bonus isn't a deal just because it exists, and the largest number is often the worst move on the board.

August 2026 is a perfect illustration. There are four transferable-points bonuses live right now, and they span nearly the entire range from "great" to "please don't." So instead of another list, here's a ranking: what each bonus is, who it's for, and whether it clears the only bar that matters — does moving your points actually beat keeping them flexible? We ran the same exercise last month in our July 2026 transfer bonus roundup; the cast has changed, but the discipline hasn't.

What's Actually Live This Month

Here's the full board for August, with the fine print that most roundups bury. Note the ratios, not just the percentages — a "bonus" only means something relative to what the destination points are worth once they land.

See the inversion? The list is deliberately sorted by our verdict, not by the size of the bonus — and the offer with the single biggest number sits dead last. That's the whole point of this post, and it's the thing the exhaustive-list roundups quietly get wrong: they present a 70% bonus and a 15% bonus as though the first is nearly five times better. It isn't. The bonus is a multiplier on a number — and if that number is small to begin with, a big multiplier still leaves you with small.

The One to Skip: Chase’s 70% to IHG

Chase is running a 70% transfer bonus from Ultimate Rewards to IHG One Rewards through August 31, 2026 — 1,000 Chase points become 1,700 IHG points. It follows the 100% "early bird" version that ran through July 30, which we picked apart in last month's IHG bonus breakdown. The headline is enormous. The math is not on your side.

Start with what the two currencies are worth. Per The Points Guy's monthly valuations, Chase Ultimate Rewards points run about 2 cents each, while IHG One Rewards points sit near 0.5 cents. When you transfer, you're not "growing" your points — you're trading a 2-cent currency for a 0.5-cent one. The 70% bonus softens that trade, but it doesn't reverse it. Move 50,000 Chase points and you get 85,000 IHG points; at roughly half a cent apiece, that's about $425 of hotel value from points that were worth roughly $1,000 sitting in Chase.

You'd need an IHG redemption that returns well above 1.2 cents per IHG point just to break even against keeping the Chase points flexible — and IHG's dynamic award pricing makes those genuinely hard to find outside a handful of aspirational properties. It's telling that the specialists who track this stuff aren't impressed: FrequentMiler's take on the promotion was blunt, headlining it "give it a miss" even at the higher rate. When a 100% bonus doesn't move the needle, a 70% one certainly doesn't.

The one exception: you've already priced a specific, expensive IHG stay — an InterContinental over-water villa, a peak-season Kimpton — the cash rate is punishing, and the points cost divided by the bonus-adjusted transfer clears that 1.2-cent bar. If that's you, transfer the exact amount and book. If it's not, this bonus is a trap dressed as a jackpot. IHG points earned directly are a different story — which is the whole case for holding an IHG co-brand rather than feeding the program from Chase.

The One to Use: 15% to Avianca LifeMiles

Now the bonus almost nobody is leading with. Through August 31, 2026, Capital One miles transfer to Avianca LifeMiles at 1:1.15 — a modest-looking 15%. But LifeMiles is one of the most useful airline currencies in the game for one reason: it prices Star Alliance premium cabins reasonably and charges no fuel surcharges, so the number you see is close to the number you pay.

Here's where it earns its ranking. Star Alliance business class from the U.S. to Europe starts around 63,000 LifeMiles one-way on carriers like United, Lufthansa, and TAP. Apply the 15% bonus and you need roughly 54,800 Capital One miles to land those 63,000 LifeMiles — a lie-flat seat across the Atlantic for the miles most people burn on a couple of domestic economy tickets. Short-haul Star Alliance awards get even cheaper; domestic U.S. hops price from well under 10,000 miles.

The one caution worth naming: LifeMiles expire after 12 months of inactivity unless you hold a LifeMiles+ subscription or keep the account moving. So this is not a currency to stockpile speculatively — but paired with a real booking, the 15% bonus is the best-value transfer on this month's board by a wide margin. Note that we don't carry a Capital One referral link, so there's no card pitch buried here; this is simply the move if you already hold Capital One miles.

The Rest of the Board — and Your Move

Two more bonuses round out August, both worth using in the right hands. Citi ThankYou points transfer to Air France–KLM Flying Blue at 1:1.2 (a 20% bonus) through August 22 — the first deadline to fall this month. Flying Blue's monthly Promo Rewards can stack with the bonus to push transatlantic economy and business awards to genuinely low numbers, which is exactly the scenario we walked through in our Citi Flying Blue bonus breakdown. If you have a Promo Rewards route in mind, this one's a clear yes; if you don't, don't transfer on spec.

The biggest bonus actually worth using this month comes from Amex itself: American Express Membership Rewards transfer to Avios — British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia — at a 30% bonus (1:1.3) through September 27, the longest runway on the board. This is the exception that proves the rule from the top of this post: a big number attached to a useful currency is a genuinely good deal, and Avios is one of the most useful currencies in the game. It shines on short-haul distance-based awards, off-peak Aer Lingus and Iberia flights to Europe, and it now pools freely across the whole Avios family, including Qatar, Finnair, and Vueling. Move 1,000 Membership Rewards and you land 1,300 Avios — on a currency that regularly returns well over a cent apiece. If you want to see exactly where those points do their best work, our Amex transfer partner sweet-spot guide maps it out. To build the Membership Rewards balance that feeds this bonus, the everyday earners are cards like the American Express Gold — 4x at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets — and the American Express Platinum. As always, only transfer once you've confirmed the specific award you want.

So what's the actual move this month? It comes down to a single question you answer before you touch the transfer button:

• Do you have a specific award picked out, with availability confirmed on your dates? If yes, transfer the exact amount that award costs and book it. That's the only green light.
• Chasing the biggest percentage? Stop. The 70% IHG number is the loudest and the weakest. A bonus is a discount on a purchase you were already going to make, not a reason to make one.
• Sitting on Capital One miles with a Europe trip in mind? This is your month — the 15% LifeMiles bonus is the standout, and business class is on the table.
• None of the above? Do nothing. Keeping your points in the flexible card program — where they can still become any of these currencies later — is a perfectly good use of a transfer bonus month.

If you're still deciding which currency should even be feeding your travel in the first place, our primer on why most people play the wrong points game is the right place to start — it's the foundation every one of these monthly decisions rests on.

The Bottom Line

Transfer-bonus season rewards patience, not reflexes. August's board proves it: the flashiest offer on the list — 70% to IHG — is the one to walk past, while the understated 15% to Avianca LifeMiles is the one that can put you in a lie-flat seat to Europe. The percentage never tells you whether a transfer is smart. The destination currency, and whether you have a real booking waiting, is what does.

Three things to carry into any transfer-bonus month, this one included:

• Rank by the landing spot, not the headline. A big multiplier on a weak currency is still weak. Know what the destination points are worth before you move.
• Transfer for a booking, never for a balance. One-way, non-refundable, sometimes expiring — points are only worth moving when a specific award is confirmed and waiting.
• Doing nothing is a valid play. Flexibility has value. If no bonus lines up with a real trip, keeping your points in the card program until one does is the disciplined choice.

Use August's board the way you'd use a sale rack: buy what you were already going to buy, and ignore the rest no matter how loud the sign. For where these currencies go furthest once you've made the move, our Amex transfer partner sweet-spot guide and complete World of Hyatt guide are the maps worth keeping open.