Last Chance: Book Holiday 2025 Flights From Just 7K Points

The busy holiday travel season is almost here. In these final weeks of the year, domestic airfare can get surprisingly expensive — often even pricier than many international routes.

If you haven’t booked your holiday travel just yet, there’s still time. Not only that, but a few excellent transfer bonuses are currently available, giving you one final opportunity to snag discounted flights.

Right now, there are 3 limited-time transfer bonuses that can stretch your points and help you book upcoming holiday travel for far less. Here’s exactly how you can make the most of these bonuses with the credit card points and miles you have in your wallet.

Book United Flights From 7,000 Amex Points

Through Sunday, November 30, American Express Membership Rewards cardholders can receive a 15% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles. This boosts the transfer ratio for a limited time from 1:1 to 1:1.15.

Avianca LifeMiles is part of the Star Alliance, allowing you to book United Airlines saver-level fares at lower rates than United often charges through its own MileagePlus program.

After signing up for a free Avianca LifeMiles account, you can search for mileage tickets on your desired route. Pro tip: Dates marked with a blue underline indicate that saver-level award pricing is available on nonstop flights.

For example, if you’re flying from Denver (DEN) to Orlando (MCO) the day before Thanksgiving, United is currently pricing the one-way fare at $514 or 20,000 miles plus $5.60. Redeeming United miles would definitely save you significant cash (yielding more than 2 cents per point!), but there’s an even better option.

In fact, you can choose from 4 different nonstop flight options on United Airlines for 15,000 Avianca LifeMiles and $5.60 in taxes and fees. Factor in the Amex transfer bonus, and you’re saving a great deal.

Avianca uses distance-based award pricing, which means the shorter the flight, the fewer miles required. As a result, most domestic routes booked through LifeMiles fall between 7,500 and 15,000 miles.

With the current transfer bonus, you’d only need to transfer 7,000 Membership Rewards points to get the 7,500 LifeMiles required, since transfers must be made in increments of 1,000.

Book AA Flights From 10K Capital One Miles

Capital One Miles is offering a limited-time 20% transfer bonus to The British Airways Club through Saturday, November 22.

Because British Airways is part of the Oneworld alliance, you can use Avios to book American Airlines tickets (provided saver-level award space is available, similar to how Avianca LifeMiles works).

For example, if you’re flying from Phoenix (PHX) to Los Angeles (LAX) the Sunday before Christmas, nearly all nonstop American Airlines flights are currently available to book with British Airways Avios.

This route costs only 12,000 British Airways Avios plus $5.60 in taxes and fees for a one-way ticket. While American Airlines itself offers a solid rate of 9,500 AAdvantage miles for the same flight, keep in mind that Citi ThankYou Rewards is the only major transferable currency that partners with the AAdvantage program.

If you don’t have Citi ThankYou Points but do have Capital One miles, this transfer bonus bridges the gap. With the 20% bonus, you’d need to transfer just 10,000 Capital One miles to British Airways to book the same flight — effectively matching AA’s own award rate.

Book Delta Air Lines Flights From 7,000 Chase Points

Perhaps the best transfer bonus on this list is from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Until Thursday, November 20, you can transfer over Chase points with a 40% bonus. After November 20, however, the transfer promotion will decrease to a 30% bonus, which will remain in effect through December 5, 2025.

Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance, meaning you can get some fantastic award deals on its partner, Delta Air Lines. I recently used this transfer bonus for my own family’s holiday travel and saved a significant amount of both cash and points.

Flexibility is essential when hunting for deals during peak seasons. For instance, flying on Christmas Day often means fewer passengers and significantly better award pricing.

Take this Salt Lake City (SLC) to Charlotte (CLT) route on December 25: it prices out at just 18,500 miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. With the current transfer bonus, you’d need to transfer only 14,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic to book it.

Compared to paying $384 cash or redeeming 35,900 Delta SkyMiles for the same Main Cabin fare, the savings are substantial.

As another example, say you’re looking to book a short hop from Atlanta (ATL) to Tampa (TPA). After Christmas and leading into New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, the rate is just 7,500 Virgin Atlantic points plus $5.60 in taxes and fees.

Delta, on the other hand, is charging 17,600 miles or $200 in cash for the exact same one-way ticket.

Final Thoughts

One of the most overlooked ways to maximize credit card rewards is by redeeming them for holiday travel, when domestic fares tend to skyrocket. With the help of credit card points, lucrative transfer bonuses, and international airline partners, you can unlock exceptional value on otherwise pricey flights this time of year.