Transfer Partners

Transfer Partner Optimizer

Given award flight prices (from seats.aero or manual input) and your transferable point balances, find the cheapest path to book.

No API key needed. Uses local JSON data files.

Data Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | data/transfer-partners.json | Credit card → loyalty program transfer ratios | | data/points-valuations.json | CPP valuations per program (floor/ceiling from TPG, UP, OMAAT, VFTW) | | data/partner-awards.json | Which programs can book which airlines |

When to Use

• User has award availability (from seats.aero cached search, live search, or manual input)
• User wants to know "which of my points should I use?"
• User wants to compare the effective cost across their transferable currencies
• User asks about transfer partners for a specific airline or program

Workflow

Step 0: Check Current Transfer Bonuses (Always)

Before recommending any transfer, load the transfer-bonuses skill and check data/transfer-bonuses.json for active bonuses on the relevant currency-to-program pair. A 30% bonus turns a 1:1 ratio into 1:1.3, which can flip the cheapest-currency calculation in Step 3 entirely. Bonuses also have expiration dates that affect timing decisions.

Step 1: Get Award Availability

Use seats.aero (API or web) to search for award flights. Each result includes:

• Source (the loyalty program: "united", "aeroplan", "flyingblue", etc.)
• Points cost per cabin (e.g., 55,000 business)

Step 2: Map Seats.aero Sources to Transfer Partners

Seats.aero source names map to transfer-partners.json keys:

| Seats.aero Source | Transfer Partner Key | Programs That Transfer In | |-------------------|---------------------|---------------------------| | united | united | Chase UR (1:1), Bilt (1:1) | | aeroplan | aeroplan | Chase UR (1:1), Amex MR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Capital One (1:1) | | flyingblue | flying_blue | Chase UR (1:1), Amex MR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1), Wells Fargo (1:1) | | american | american | Citi TY (1:1), Bilt (1:1) | | alaska | alaska_hawaiian | Bilt (1:1) | | virginatlantic | virgin_atlantic | Chase UR (1:1), Amex MR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | delta | delta | Amex MR (1:1) | | emirates | emirates | Bilt (1:1), Amex MR (5:4), Capital One (4:3), Citi TY (5:4) | | etihad | etihad | Amex MR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | singapore | singapore | Chase UR (1:1), Amex MR (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | jetblue | jetblue | Chase UR (1:1), Citi TY (1:1), Wells Fargo (1:1), Amex MR (250:200), Capital One (5:3) | | qatar | qatar | Amex MR (1:1), Bilt (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | turkish | turkish | Bilt (1:1), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | eurobonus | (no direct transfer) | N/A | | aeromexico | aeromexico | Amex MR (1:1.6), Capital One (1:1), Citi TY (1:1) | | smiles | (no direct transfer) | N/A | | finnair | finnair | Capital One (1:1) | | lufthansa | (no direct transfer) | N/A | | ethiopian | (no direct transfer) | N/A | | saudia | (no direct transfer) | N/A |

Programs with "no direct transfer" can only be booked by earning miles directly or through alliance partner bookings.

Step 3: Calculate Effective Cost

For each award option, calculate the cost in each transferable currency:

effective_cost = award_miles / transfer_ratio

Example: Aeroplan business at 55,000 miles

• Chase UR: 55,000 / 1.0 = 55,000 UR points
• Amex MR: 55,000 / 1.0 = 55,000 MR points
• Capital One: 55,000 / 1.0 = 55,000 Cap One miles

Example: Emirates business at 72,500 miles

• Bilt: 72,500 / 1.0 = 72,500 Bilt points
• Amex MR: 72,500 / 0.8 = 90,625 MR points (worse ratio)
• Capital One: 72,500 / 0.75 = 96,667 Cap One miles (worst ratio)

Step 4: Calculate Opportunity Cost (CPP)

Use points-valuations.json to assess what each currency is "worth":

opportunity_cost = effective_cost × point_value_cpp / 100

This tells you the "cash equivalent" you're giving up. Lower is better.

Step 5: Present Results

Always use markdown tables.

| Program | Miles Needed | Best Currency | Points Needed | CPP Value | Cash Equivalent | |---------|-------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|-----------------| | Aeroplan | 55,000 | Chase UR | 55,000 | 1.7¢ | $935 | | United | 55,000 | Chase UR | 55,000 | 1.7¢ | $935 | | Alaska | 37,500 | Bilt | 37,500 | 1.7¢ | $638 | | Flying Blue | 57,000 | Any 1:1 | 57,000 | 1.7¢ | $969 |

After the table:

• Recommendation: "Book via Alaska using Bilt points. 37,500 Bilt = $638 opportunity cost vs next best United/Aeroplan at $935."
• Check balance: Verify the user has enough points in the recommended currency.
• Transfer bonus? Check if any current transfer bonuses apply (Roame.travel or TPG bonus tracker).

jq Recipes

Find all currencies that transfer to a program

jq -r '
  to_entries | .[] | select(.key != "_meta") |
  .key as $currency | .value.display_name as $name |
  (.value.airlines // {}) + (.value.hotels // {}) |
  to_entries[] | select(.key == "PROGRAM_KEY") |
  "\($name): \(.value.ratio):1 → \(.value.program)"
' data/transfer-partners.json

Replace PROGRAM_KEY with the key (e.g., united, aeroplan, flying_blue).

Calculate effective costs for an award

# Given: 55000 miles via aeroplan
PROGRAM="aeroplan"
MILES=55000
jq -r --arg prog "$PROGRAM" --argjson miles $MILES '
  to_entries | .[] | select(.key != "_meta") |
  .key as $currency | .value.display_name as $name |
  ((.value.airlines // {}) + (.value.hotels // {}))[$prog] // null |
  select(. != null) |
  "\($name): \(($miles / .ratio) | floor) points (ratio \(.ratio):1)"
' data/transfer-partners.json

Find cheapest path for multiple award options

# Given: united at 55000, aeroplan at 55000, alaska at 37500
echo '[
  {"program": "united", "miles": 55000},
  {"program": "aeroplan", "miles": 55000},
  {"program": "alaska_hawaiian", "miles": 37500}
]' | jq -r --slurpfile tp data/transfer-partners.json '
  .[] | .program as $prog | .miles as $miles |
  ($tp[0] | to_entries | .[] | select(.key != "_meta") |
    .value.display_name as $name |
    ((.value.airlines // {}) + (.value.hotels // {}))[$prog] // null |
    select(. != null) |
    {currency: $name, program: $prog, miles: $miles, points_needed: (($miles / .ratio) | floor), ratio: .ratio}
  )
' | jq -s 'sort_by(.points_needed)'

Cross-Alliance Optimization

Sometimes the cheapest path involves booking through a different program than the obvious one. Check data/partner-awards.json for cross-alliance highlights:

• Virgin Atlantic → ANA: 52.5K business from West Coast. Cheaper than any Star Alliance program.
• Etihad → American Airlines: Fixed chart often beats AA's dynamic pricing.
• Flying Blue → Delta: Often cheaper than SkyMiles, plus free stopovers.
• Alaska → Starlux: Only points booking option for Starlux.

Notes

• Transfer ratios rarely change, but verify against issuer websites before large transfers.
• Transfers are usually instant but can take up to 48 hours. Don't transfer until you've confirmed award availability.
• Some programs run transfer bonuses (10-30% extra). Use the transfer-bonuses skill (live data, weekly auto-refresh) instead of guessing.
• The "best" currency depends on what you have the most of AND what you value it at. A 1:1 transfer from a currency you value at 2.0 cpp costs more in opportunity than a 1:1 from one you value at 1.5 cpp.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: borski
• Source: borski/travel-hacking-toolkit
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.