My favorite way of using my credit card boosts the value of my points

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• If you travel and you haven't looked at your credit card's transfer partners, you might be missing out.
• I prefer credit cards that offer as much flexibility as possible in transferring to different partners.
• When my family was planning a trip to Europe, we saved a ton with a promotional transfer rate.

There is no right or wrong way to use points and miles you've earned when you use a credit card , and the options are plentiful. Our family has a favorite method though, and that is transferring points to airline or hotel partners.

You may be familiar with cash-back credit cards , which give a percentage back to your card based on how much you've spent. It's common to receive 1% to 2% back on cash-back cards. Some cards may have rotating categories in which you earn up to 3% to 5% back on specific categories.

Rewards credit cards allow you to earn points or miles on every purchase rather than giving you cash back immediately. Depending on the category, these cards will offer a specific multiplier of points and miles. Strategically using credit cards this way is a great way to capitalize on your spending, especially if you love to travel like our family does.

My favorite credit cards are the most flexible ones

While debating what type of credit card to open and use to earn points can be daunting, our family loves using credit cards that give you the most flexibility in redeeming those points. If you have a co-branded card, such as the Delta Platinum card, you can only use those points to fly Delta. However, you can redeem your points in many ways with a card such as Capital One Venture X , Chase Sapphire Preferred , or American Express Gold . Once you have a collection of points to redeem, it's time to determine how to use them.

Depending on the travel rewards program, you can use points to erase travel-related or other charges you've racked up. You can also redeem points by purchasing gift cards, booking travel through the portal, or redeeming your miles for cash back.

However, transferring your points to a transfer airline or hotel partner can stretch those points even further. Most transfers occur at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that one point will equal one mile when transferred. Beware, however, that some transfer partners offer less than a 1:1 ratio. On the other hand, sometimes you can earn an even higher redemption rate when transferring to hotel and airline partners during what is known as a promotional transfer period.

We saved on our trip to Europe by transferring points

In order to find out whether a promotional transfer period is occurring, you'll have to log in to check your specific credit card's updates, which you can usually do through your card's app or website. I've seen offers for 25% to 50% more points during a transfer promotion deal. When you search for a flight in a travel portal, you may find that it will cost you more than if you transfer the points to the airline directly and book through them. It's best to check both to find the cheapest option.

We've used these promos to stretch our points a bit further, which was the primary way we had enough points to book our trip to Europe for six.

When our family discussed going to Europe, we knew we would have to snag cheap tickets to make it possible. I had racked up a significant amount of Chase credit card points , and when I saw a notification on social media that there was a Chase to Virgin Atlantic promotional deal, I jumped on it.

Taking advantage of this promotional transfer gave us enough points to cover six one-way tickets from Minneapolis/St. Paul into Rome, and six one-way tickets from Barcelona to Minneapolis/St. Paul on the way home. Because Virgin Atlantic has a partnership with KLM, we were able to book KLM tickets for a total of 180,000 points. This equated to only 30,000 points total per person for the entire trip!