Wells Fargo is a relatively new player in the world of transferable points. The bank first added travel partners in 2024, when it launched the Autograph Journey card. Although the list was fairly modest initially, Wells said that it intended to pursue additional options aggressively, so we expected the portfolio to expand relatively quickly.
That hasn’t quite been the case. Wells added Virgin Atlantic as an additional partner about six months after the launch of the Autograph Journey, but it’s been all quiet until the recent addition of JetBlue, over a year later.
All that said, Wells Fargo’s stable of travel partners has some excellent redemption possibilities, and there are several appealing aspects to the program. The Autograph Journey card is an attractive $95 card; you can convert “cash” rewards into points, and Wells is very flexible when it comes to person-to-person points transfers, making it very easy to combine points with family and friends. Put all that together, and Wells Fargo Rewards quickly becomes a program worth exploring.
Tips for Redeeming Wells Fargo Rewards
Don’t transfer until ready to book: Don’t transfer points until high-value awards are available and you are ready to book them. Transfers are one-way only. Wells Fargo points are valuable for their flexibility and never expire, so long as you’re a cardholder in good standing. Once you transfer, you are locked into a single program that may or may not have awards available.
Combine points from other Wells Fargo cards: Wells Fargo cardholders of non-cobranded cards can combine earnings on those cards with points earned on the Autograph Journey card. That makes it similar to the Citi Premier/Double Cash combo in that the Wells Fargo Active Cash card earns 2% on all purchases. Holding both the Autograph Journey and Active Cash cards means you can earn 3x-5x in select categories and 2x everywhere else.
It’s possible to transfer points between friends: Wells Fargo allows you to transfer points to family or friends for free, even if one person only has a cashback card. This can be very useful as a means to combine points for high-value awards.
Always have at least 1 transferable credit card account: Most Wells Fargo cards do not directly allow point transfers. As long as you have at least one Autograph card that permits transfers, then you’re good to go.
Current Wells Fargo Transfer Bonuses
Thus far, we haven’t seen a single Wells Fargo transfer bonus. That said, we’re optimistic to a fault, so if one ever happens, you’ll see it here:
| Transfer Bonus Details | Start Date | End Date |
|---|
Wells Fargo Rewards Hotel Transfer Partners
Currently, Wells Fargo only has one hotel transfer partner: Choice Hotels. However, Wells Fargo Rewards transfers to Choice at a 1:2 ratio, which can produce some excellent value when booking Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Ascend Collection properties.
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| Choice | Choice Privileges points seem to be randomly valuable within the US, but dependably valuable internationally in expensive locations such as Scandinavia and Japan. Points can sometimes offer great value when used towards participating Preferred Hotels of the World. | 1 to 2 (Unknown) |
Wells Fargo Rewards Airline Transfer Partners
Wells Fargo technically has ten airline partners, although half of those are the various Avios programs, which allow you to freely transfer balances between them. Rumors are that Wells Fargo is actively seeking to add additional air partners. Hopefully, the recent addition of JetBlue is the first of many.
Best Wells Fargo Airline Transfer Partners
In our opinion, the airline transfer partners below represent the best potential value when transferring Wells Fargo Points.
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Avianca LifeMiles can be decent for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable-ish prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. See this post for details. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| British Airways Avios | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can often be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights outside the US. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Iberia Avios | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
Useful Wells Fargo Airline Transfer Partners
The following transfer partners can be terrific options when using select sweet spots:
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| Finnair Plus+ | Finnair points are now "Avios" and points can be moved to/from other Avios programs. Finnair uses zone based award charts rather than distance based. As a result, Finnair sometimes has better (and sometimes worse) pricing than other Avios programs. | 1 to 1 via BA (Unknown) |
| JetBlue | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Virgin Atlantic offers a few excellent sweet spot awards. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). | 1 to 1 (Unknown) |
Other Wells Fargo Airline Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Best Uses | Wells Fargo Transfer Ratio (and transfer time) |
|---|---|---|
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. |
Wells Fargo Indirect Transfer Partners
In some cases, it’s possible to transfer to an airline or hotel program in order to then transfer from that program to another program. We’ll leave it to the reader to decide whether or not it is a good idea to transfer in these ways (hint: it usually isn’t).
| Rewards Program | Wells Indirect Transfer |
|---|---|
| Hilton | 10K to 15K via Virgin Atlantic |
| IHG | 10K to 10K via Virgin Atlantic |
Other useful transfer partners resources
- Amex Transfer Partners
- Capital One Transfer Partners
- Chase Transfer Partners
- Citi Transfer Partners
- Marriott Transfer Partners
- Transfer Partner Master List
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Perhaps I missed it but how tough is it to be approved for Wells Fargo? Is there a 5/24 rule or anything like that?
Also, do they offer business cards? Most of my spend is through my brick-and-mortar business.
Wells gets no love from the FM team.
Maybe I missed it but I do not see that you added Jet Blue under Best Wells Fargo Airline Transfer Partners. Was that an oversight or are you saying it is not a good transfer partner?
One of the underrated benefits of Wells Fargo’s transfer partners is they allow you to transfer any amount of points. Everyone else seems to make you do 1k increments which leaves extra points sitting around being wasted.