Rove, the travel rewards program that lets you earn transferable miles without a credit card, credit score or credit check, has launched three generous airline transfer bonuses for October.
Until Oct. 31, members can get a 50% bonus when transferring their Rove miles to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, a 40% bonus when transferring to Air France-KLM Flying Blue and a tiered bonus of up to 35% when transferring to Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
Here’s what you need to know about each bonus and how best to use them.
Not a Rove member yet? Sign up through this link and earn a referral bonus of 1,500 miles, with the opportunity to earn an additional 5,000 miles when making your first hotel booking over $500 as a new user with the code “BRIANKELLY500.”
50% bonus on Rove transfers to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
Rove is offering a huge 50% bonus to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, which matches the bonus Rove offered when it added Japan Airlines as a transfer partner in March.
Japan Airlines prices one-way awards on its own flights between the U.S. mainland and Japan dynamically, with prices starting from just 27,000 miles in economy, 40,000 miles in premium economy and 55,000 miles in business class, plus taxes, fees and surcharges.
With the bonus, available until Oct. 31 at 11:59 p.m. EDT, these seats would require 18,000 Rove miles in economy, 26,700 Rove miles in premium economy and 36,700 Rove miles in business class, an incredible deal for one-way flights to Japan. One of the great features of the Rove loyalty program is that you can transfer miles in increments of 100 rather than 1,000 like many other programs (though a minimum of 2,000 miles per transfer applies), so you can transfer the exact amount you need without wasting any miles.
Japan Airlines also offers award seats at higher mileage rates on popular dates, so check the price for your dates before you transfer. Even though these amounts may be higher, this can still be a great deal given the 50% transfer bonus.
You can also use Mileage Bank miles on partner airlines, including Emirates, British Airways and Air France.
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There are two rules to keep in mind before you transfer. Japan Airlines generally doesn’t allow new Mileage Bank members to redeem miles until their accounts have been open for 60 days (though you can still transfer miles from Rove immediately), so if you don’t have an account yet, it’s a good idea to open one as soon as possible.
You can also only book Japan Airlines award tickets for yourself and eligible family members.
Related: Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 inaugural from New York to Tokyo: Same great service, fabulous new seats
40% bonus on Rove transfers to Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France and KLM, has one of the best sweet spots across the Atlantic of any airline program. Business-class awards between the U.S. and Europe start from just 60,000 miles one-way. That means that during this 40% transfer bonus available through 6:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31, you could transfer just 42,900 Rove miles to book a business-class Flying Blue award.
Premium economy awards start from 40,000 miles (or 28,600 Rove miles with the bonus), and economy awards start at 25,000 miles one-way (or about 17,900 Rove miles with the bonus).
Keep in mind that Flying Blue recently introduced Light, Standard and Flex award fares. Those lowest award prices are now Light fares, which don’t include changes, refunds or advance seat selection. Business Light awards don’t include lounge access, and Economy Light awards don’t include a checked bag, so keep these restrictions in mind if you are looking at the cheapest award rates.
If you need flexibility, you may wish to upgrade to a Standard or Flex award since you’ll receive 40% more miles when you transfer from Rove to Flying Blue.
Related: A review of Air France economy on the Airbus A350-900 from Paris to Denver
Up to 35% bonus on Rove transfers to Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Rove’s bonus to Qatar Airways Privilege Club is available through 4:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31 and depends on how many Rove miles you transfer:
- Transfers of up to 49,999 Rove miles will earn a 15% bonus.
- Transfers of 50,000 to 99,999 Rove miles will earn a 25% bonus.
- Transfers of 100,000 Rove miles or more will earn a 35% bonus.
This means that if you transfer 100,000 Rove miles, you will receive 135,000 Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.
The standout use for Privilege Club Avios is Qatar Airways’ award-winning Qsuite business class. Off-peak, one-way awards from U.S. airports to Hamad International Airport (DOH) in Doha start at 70,000 Avios plus taxes and fees. Booking through Privilege Club comes with better availability than when booking through partner programs like American Airlines AAdvantage.
With the 25% transfer bonus tier, you’d need exactly 56,000 Rove miles for a flight of up to 16 hours (such as from California) in lie-flat comfort, an exceptional way to redeem your miles.
You can also move Avios from Privilege Club to British Airways Club, Iberia Club, Finnair Plus and Aer Lingus AerClub for even more redemption options.
Related: Qatar Airways Qsuite review: Still setting the standard for business class (and a mileage sweet spot)
Bottom line
Rove has been busy adding new transfer partners like Copa Airlines recently, so offering three generous transfer bonuses is the cherry on top.
While transfer bonuses from transferable currencies to airline loyalty programs are common, they are often only at 20% or 30%, so the ability to get up to 35%, 40% or even 50% is a terrific way to maximize your rewards.
Whichever bonus you choose, follow our golden rule of transferring points and miles: Don’t transfer them until you’ve found the award space you want to book, as transfers cannot be reversed.
Joining Rove costs nothing, and you can earn 1,500 bonus miles when you sign up through TPG’s link. As an added bonus, new users can earn an additional 5,000 miles after making their first hotel booking of $500 or more with code “BRIANKELLY500.”
