transfer-bonuses
Installation
SKILL.md
Transfer Bonuses Skill
Authoritative reference for current credit card transfer bonuses. Reads from data/transfer-bonuses.json, which is refreshed weekly by scripts/refresh-transfer-bonuses.py. The script scrapes Frequent Miler (canonical) and cross-checks each bonus against AwardWallet. Each active bonus carries a confidence marker (VERIFIED if both FM and AwardWallet agree, LIKELY if only FM, UNVERIFIED if single weak source) per the toolkit's Research Integrity Protocol. TPG is sometimes consulted manually as a sanity check but is NOT scraped programmatically — TPG often shows expired bonuses as active.
When to Use
- Pricing an award booking that involves a transfer. A 30% bonus to JAL changes the real cost of a oneworld booking through JAL by 23%. The math has to factor in the bonus.
- Deciding whether to transfer now or wait. If a bonus is expected to recur (see
frequent_recurring_bonuses_to_watch), it may be worth waiting. - Sanity-checking whether a "good bonus" actually wins. Hotel bonuses especially (Chase UR to IHG 70%, Chase UR to Marriott 50-70%) often look great in headlines but lose to the Chase Travel portal (dynamic Points Boost on CSR/CSP, ~1.5-2.0 cpp on select bookings; not a guaranteed floor). Always pull the actual portal quote and run the math against it, not against an assumed rate.
- Identifying stackable bonuses. Aeroplan Visa cardholders stack a 10% cardholder bonus on top of any Chase UR to Aeroplan promotion.
When NOT to Use
- Transfer ratios in general (without an active bonus). Use transfer-partners for the standard ratios.
- Points valuations (cpp by program). Use points-valuations.
- Award flight availability. Use seats-aero.
- Booking guidance and the hold-before-transfer rule. Use booking-guidance.