Good afternoon everyone and happy Friday! A warm welcome to any former Bilt Card 1.0 members who may have found their way here. By now, you’ve likely received your no annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph Credit Card and are wondering: What should I do with this card, should I keep it?

While the Wells Fargo Autograph offers decent bonus categories, my favorite feature is something far less flashy, but far more useful to me: you can earn transferable points and move them to airline and hotel partners without paying an annual fee.  This is a huge deal if you ever need to top off an account with fewer than 1,000 points. There are no minimum transfer amounts, which means no orphaned points stranded after a redemption.  That combination is wonderful, but not very common in the miles / points space.

Wells Fargo Rewards Transfer Partners

Here is the current list of Wells Fargo Rewards transfer partners:

• Aer Lingus AerClub Avios
• Air France / KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Avios
• Choice Hotels (1:2 transfer ratio)
• Iberia Club Avios
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Virgin Red

To demonstrate this feature, I linked my Avianca LifeMiles, Air France / KLM, British Airways, and Choice Hotels accounts to my Wells Fargo Rewards account and initiated several small transfers.  Every transfer was instant and the points posted immediately.

I transferred 361 Wells Fargo Rewards Points to Avianca LifeMiles to bring my balance up to 92,000 miles and extend the expiration of my miles by another year.

I transferred 790 Wells Fargo Rewards Points to Air France / KLM Flying Blue to bring my balance up to 64,000 miles and extend the expiration of my miles by another year.

I transferred 117 Wells Fargo Rewards Points to British Airways Avios to bring my balance up to 65,000 Avios and extend the expiration of my miles by another year.

Lastly, I transferred 177 Wells Fargo Rewards Points at a 1:2 ratio to Choice Hotels, resulting in 354 Choice points and a new balance of 26,001 points and extend the expiration of my points by another year.

According to Frequent Miler’s Transfer Bonus Page, Wells Fargo has never offered a transfer bonus to any of their transfer partners. So while I’m not holding my breath for one, that actually simplifies things for me.  When I need a few more points with Avianca, Air France, British Airways, or Choice Hotels, Wells Fargo points will be the first ones I redeem.

Also, if you would like to earn more Wells Fargo Rewards Points, consider getting the $95 annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Credit Card.  It currently offers 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.  Plus, if you spend $50 or more on airfare, you will get a $50 airline credit, which brings the annual fee down to $45.  Whether this card is worth keeping for a second year depends on how much you value the bonus categories.

If you have any questions about the Wells Fargo Autograph or Autograph Journey Credit Cards, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone!