Choice Privileges Transfer Partners & How To Use Them [2023]

Choice Hotels is one of the largest hotel chains in the world. Traditionally focused on midscale or economy accommodations, the Maryland-based company has a massive portfolio of more than 7,000 hotels in more than 25 countries globally.

Its loyalty program is known as Choice Privileges, and there are some neat ways to redeem these points for great value.

However, if none of the eligible properties are of interest to you in the long run (perhaps you prefer Marriott or Hilton properties), then one of the ways to use your points is to transfer them to airline partners.

Choice Privileges points expire in 18 months unless you have a qualifying activity such as earning, transferring, or redeeming points. If you’re not going to use your points for hotel stays, you can get value from them with airline miles.

We’ll focus on exactly that in this guide — Choice Privileges’ transfer partners, how to transfer points from Choice Privileges, and whether it’s a good idea to do so.

Choice Privileges Airline Transfer Partners

Currently, Choice Privileges has 11 airline transfer partners. Some partners follow a standard 5:1 transfer ratio with a minimum transfer amount of 5,000 points. Other programs maintain different transfer ratios.

Transfers usually take 2 to 6 weeks to process, though the exact times may vary among partners and times of the year.

Choice Privileges is transfer partners with Amtrak as well:

It should be straightforward to calculate how many miles or points you’ll earn by transferring Choice Privileges points.

For example:

• If you transfer 10,000 Choice Privileges points to Alaska Airlines, you’ll end up with 2,000 Alaska Airlines miles.
• If you transfer 4,000 Choice Privileges points to Qantas, you’ll end up with 1,600 Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
• If you transfer 32,000 Choice Privileges points to Amtrak, you will get 5,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

Choice Hotels acquired Radisson Rewards Americas in 2022. As of January 2023, points can be transferred freely between the 2 programs.

Earning Choice Privileges Points

Choice Privileges is an American Express transfer partner at a 1:1 ratio, as well as Citi ThankYou Rewards at an enhanced 1:2 ratio.

That means if you transfer 5,000 Citi ThankYou Points, you’ll earn 10,000 Choice Privileges points, as opposed to the 5,000 Choice Privileges points you’d end up with if you transferred 5,000 points from Amex.

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Although transferring points from Citi ThankYou Rewards is probably the best way to earn Choice Privileges points, it’s important to point out that Barclays is also the sole issuer of a Choice Privileges co-branded credit card.

How To Transfer Choice Privileges Points

Ready to transfer your Choice Privileges points? Follow these steps.

Step 1: Visit the Choice Privileges Rewards Exchange page. Click the Transfer Now button.

Step 2: You’ll be redirected to the Rewards Exchange dashboard where you’ll see transfer partner boxes. You’ll see all of your previously linked accounts at the top of the page.

Step 3: To link your Choice Privileges account to any new frequent flyer accounts, all you need to do is click the box that says Add Programs.

Step 4: You’ll see a list of eligible travel partners pop up in a list. Choose the program you wish to use and click Save Programs.

Step 5: The new frequent flyer program will appear on the Rewards Exchange dashboard. Click LINK in the frequent flyer program you wish to connect.

Step 6: A form will pop up. Enter your details, including your name and loyalty program number. Then, click Link Program.

Step 7: Lastly, your frequent flyer program should be successfully linked. Click Make an Exchange at the bottom of the loyalty program’s box. Enter the number of points you’d like to transfer and click Exchange.

Should You Transfer to a Partner or Book Hotel Stays?

By our valuations, Choice Privileges points are worth around 0.6 cents apiece. That’s not to say that you can’t get more value from your points — on the contrary, it’s possible to get better or worse value, depending on the way you redeem your points. But if a partner offers a better value or more useful redemption, it makes sense to transfer.

The Value of Choice Privileges Points

Traditionally, Choice Hotels have skewed more towards the economy traveler with familiar brands like Rodeway Inn, Quality Inn, and Comfort Inn.

However, if you book a midscale property during a popular event like the Kentucky Derby, Masters Tournament, or Super Bowl, then it’s easy to get multiple times the value! That’s because the most you’ll pay for a standard room is 35,000 points (excluding properties in the Asia-Pacific region).

For example, if you book a Sleep Inn stay during the weekend of the Kentucky Derby with a cash value of $550 per night, you’d get a redemption value of at least 1.6 cents per point!

When faced with the decision to transfer points to a partner or book hotel stays using points, it can often be overwhelming to make a decision.

When It Makes Sense To Transfer Choice Hotels Points

If Choice Privileges points are worth 0.6 cents each, then you should only transfer to travel partners if you feel confident that you can get at least 3 cents per mile in value.

For example, if you have 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles but need 5,000 more to book a luxurious Qatar Airways Qsuites flight, then it’s a no-brainer to transfer 25,000 Choice Privileges points to AAdvantage!

Similarly, if you feel that you can get more than 1.5 cents per point in value through Qantas or Virgin Australia, it’s a great idea to transfer your Choice Privileges points to these programs.

In most situations, it doesn’t make sense to transfer points speculatively to Choice’s travel partners without a specific redemption in mind.

Ultimately, it boils down to the value you can get out of your transferred miles, but we really like the idea of booking upscale hotels using Choice Privileges points!

Other Ways To Use Your Points

There are plenty of other ways you can use your Choice Privilege points, including:

• Bluegreen Vacations (vacation rentals)
• Charitable donations
• Cruises
• Gift cards
• Golf by Choice
• Magazine subscriptions

When you redeem points for Bluegreen Vacations bookings, you’ll do so as if you were booking an ordinary Choice property with points.

There are plenty of charities you can donate to, including The American Red Cross, Operation Homefront, The Polaris Project, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. You can redeem as few as 1,000 points for donations, which usually give the charity $5. Some charities offer better value than others in terms of donation value.

When you redeem Choice Privileges points for cruises, you’ll usually get a redemption value of around 0.3 cents per point.

As far as gift cards go, you’ll usually redeem 8,000 points for a $25 gift card, giving you a redemption value of around 0.31 cents per point.

Booking preferred tee times using Golf by Choice will get you a fixed redemption value of 0.3 cents apiece.

Lastly, magazine subscriptions are a low-value redemption. For example, if you get 44 issues (2 years) of Entertainment Weekly, you’d have to redeem 4,000 points. You can purchase 22 issues for $4.99, giving you a redemption value of around $10. That’s a value of 0.25 cents per point.

Bottom Line: By redeeming points for charity, cruises, gift cards, tee times, or magazines, you’ll only get 0.2 to 0.3 cents per point of value. For this reason, we recommend transferring your points to airline partners before considering any of the alternative options!

Redeeming Choice Privileges Points

Choice Privileges points are valuable in certain ways. For example, if you book Choice Hotels or Strawberry Hotels with points, you can get some stellar value.

You’ll get even more value if you book a stay during a popular event, such as a sporting event or concert.

The best way to calculate redemption value is to check the cash price of any hotel you’re interested in booking. Then, simply divide the paid rate by the points cost.

Remember, we value these points at 0.6 cents each, so if you can get just 1 cent per point of value from your hotel stay, you’re getting a deal almost twice as good!

There are also some situations in which it’d make sense to just transfer your Choice Privileges points to airlines. Qantas and Virgin Australia, for example, maintain a reasonable 2.5:1 ratio, making it possible to get great value from your points transfers.

Final Thoughts

Choice Privileges is a relatively niche hotel loyalty program. With the recent 1:2 transfer partnership with Citi, Choice Privileges is gaining a lot more attention in the public eye.

Still, Choice Privileges focuses primarily on providing budget and midscale accommodations — its luxury portfolio is still lacking, especially considered to Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt.

So whether you’re booking a hotel stay using points or transferring points to airline frequent flyer programs, you’ll want to do the math beforehand to make sure you’re getting good value.

At the end of the day, Choice Privileges currently partners with 11 frequent flyer programs and 1 travel program (Amtrak). Transfer ratios vary wildly, but the standard ratio is 5:1.

You now have all the details you need to transfer Choice Privileges points to its partners.