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Many credit card issuers don't let you gift someone the points or miles you've earned directly. However, there are still ways you can use your credit card rewards as a gift.
Transfer Points or Miles With Eligible Credit Cards
Credit card rewards programs often don't let you transfer points or miles to someone else's account. There are a few exceptions, but even then, make sure to review the requirements to see if you can request a transfer.
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Here's a list of some of the major credit card rewards programs that do allow gifting, along with their transfer rules.
- Capital One Venture Rewards: You can transfer the miles you earn to and from eligible rewards cards.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: You can transfer points to a household member's Chase Ultimate Rewards account, but you may need to call Chase to link your accounts first. You can also transfer Ultimate Rewards directly to a household member's eligible airline or hotel loyalty program account if they're an authorized user on your card.
- Citi ThankYou Rewards: With our partner Citi, you can transfer eligible ThankYou points to any other eligible ThankYou Member account. However, you can't transfer taxable points, such as points you received as a bonus for opening a Citibank account. Additionally, the shared points will expire 90 days after the transfer. Not all Citi cards allow cardholders to transfer points.
- Wells Fargo Rewards: You can transfer your rewards to another person by depositing the cash back rewards into their eligible Wells Fargo account, or using your rewards to pay down the balance on their qualifying Wells Fargo credit product.
Other major rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards and Bank of America Travel Rewards, do not allow rewards to be transferred to someone else.
Alternative Ways to Gift Someone Credit Card Rewards
If you can't transfer your credit card rewards directly to someone else, there are several ways to give someone a gift using your rewards.
Transfer Rewards to Loyalty Programs That Offer Pooling or Transfers
Some rewards programs, including Capital One Venture Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards, only allow you to gift rewards to other customers. However, you may be able to transfer your rewards points or miles to your loyalty account at partner airlines and hotels that do let you pool your rewards or transfer them to others.
The transfer partners can vary depending on the card program, and rules around pooling or transferring will vary by loyalty program. For instance, JetBlue lets you pool points with up to six people for free. Anyone in the pool can then use the points to book travel. In contrast, American Airlines only lets you transfer miles to one person at a time, and you may have to pay a fee for each transfer.
Book Travel for Someone Else
You might be able to use your rewards to book a flight, hotel room or other type of travel for someone else. With some programs, you'll need to book the travel through the card issuer's online travel portal. Others let you pay for travel with your card and then redeem your rewards for a statement credit to cover the purchase.
Get and Gift Cash Back or Gift Cards
Another option could be redeeming your rewards for cash back. Often, you can get the cash back as a statement credit, by check or have it directly deposited into a bank account. You could then send the other person a cash gift, perhaps using a peer-to-peer payment app, bank transfer or simply a card with cash. You may also be able to redeem your rewards for a gift card that you can then give to the person.
Donate Credit Card Rewards to Charity
You may also be able to donate your credit card rewards to an eligible charitable organization, and could then share that you made the donation with the other person in mind.
However, if you want to claim a tax deduction for the donation, you might have to redeem your rewards for cash back and then make the donation directly. Otherwise, the IRS might consider it a donation from the credit card issuer.
Check Your Credit Card Reward Offers
The best rewards credit cards often require a good credit score. You can check your FICO® Score☉ for free with Experian and learn about the different factors that are most impacting your score. You can also use your Experian account to get matched with personalized credit card offers based on your credit profile. Some rewards cards offer big intro bonus offers, which could give you plenty of points or miles to use and gift.