When to transfer UR points?

[bigbang91]

just for safety reason,i transferred them all to United/BA whenever i accumulate 100k points

[too-much-time]

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@bigbang91 wrote:

just for safety reason,i transferred them all to United/BA whenever i accumulate 100k points

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I looked at BA too, but stumbled across a mention of huge fuel fees across the Atlantic. How bad is it?

[bigbang91]

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@too-much-time wrote:

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@bigbang91 wrote:

just for safety reason,i transferred them all to United/BA whenever i accumulate 100k points

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I looked at BA too, but stumbled across a mention of huge fuel fees across the Atlantic. How bad is it?

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Super bad,700 800$,worth it if you redeem for premium cabin. Otherwise,use BA for domestic AA flight,or for flight to anywhere but Europe. For europe,you will have to do extensive research for flight from partner,lower fuel surcharge

[red259]

I wouldn't transfer until your ready to book an award or you are closing a card/will lose ability to transfer. Programs will deval and you could lose a lot of value in your miles by transferring too early. That being said with Chase I sometimes get nervous that they may randomly decide to take AA and yanke back all those points. 

[Anonymous]

I don't think credit cards will exist in their current fashion in 2028 . The world is moving too fast .

[takeshi74]

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@too-much-time wrote:

Is it safer or more lucrative to keep them in one place rather than the other? 

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No guarantees one way or the other.  Each has to decide based on their own take on the matter.  Those worried about AA from Chase or devaluations to UR may want to transfer as quickly as possible.  Those that don't have that concern and want to keep maximum versatility are more likely to keep them with UR.  It all depends on your priorities and preferences.

[longtimelurker]

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@takeshi74 wrote:

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@too-much-time wrote:

Is it safer or more lucrative to keep them in one place rather than the other? 

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No guarantees one way or the other.  Each has to decide based on their own take on the matter.  Those worried about AA from Chase or devaluations to UR may want to transfer as quickly as possible.  Those that don't have that concern and want to keep maximum versatility are more likely to keep them with UR.  It all depends on your priorities and preferences.

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Right.   There are other things to give consideration:

1) Expiration.  Currently, UR points don't expire, if you transfer them to a program, they may get an expiration date there

2) Partners.   Along with takeshi74 point about flexibility, there is always a slight possibility that partners may go away (I think this briefly happened with Korean Air?) so by not transferring you may in fact lose the possibility to do so in the future

3) Diversity.    If you have a "very large" number of UR (e.g. 1M) it might make sense to transfer part to various programs, as a hedge, while keeping the bulk in UR for flexibility

But it comes down to comfort level and guesses about award devaluation etc!