Does U.S. Bank Have Transfer Partners? (Yes, Finally)

By Bryce Casson, Founder · Cardocrat · Updated August 2026

The short answer: Yes, finally. In August 2026 U.S. Bank turned on point transfers on the Altitude Reserve, about eight months after teasing them, but the rollout was rocky: it went live with four partners and pulled two within a day, leaving just Ethiopian ShebaMiles at 1:1 and ALL Accor at 2:1. The bigger catch is that only the Altitude Reserve can transfer, and that card is closed to new applicants. So U.S. Bank technically joined the transferable-points club, but with a skeleton list on a card most people cannot get. It is a foothold, not yet a rival to Chase or Amex.

The short answer: yes, but barely

After years as a fixed-value program, U.S. Bank finally became a transferable-points currency in August 2026. Points on the Altitude Reserve can now move into airline and hotel programs rather than only redeeming at a set rate, which puts U.S. Bank in the same category, in principle, as Chase, American Express, Citi, and Capital One.

In practice it is far more modest than that sentence suggests. The live partner list is tiny, the launch was messy, and access is limited to a single card that new customers can no longer apply for. So the honest answer to “does U.S. Bank have transfer partners” flipped from no to yes, but with more asterisks than any other bank in the space. You can see its lineup on our U.S. Bank cards page.

The whole story: eight months of “coming soon”

This launch was a long time coming, and not gracefully. When U.S. Bank overhauled the Altitude Reserve in December 2025, it posted a coming-soon note promising the ability to transfer points to a range of airline and hotel programs, and it simultaneously cut the card’s travel redemption from 1.5 cents to a flat 1 cent per point. That cut was widely read as groundwork, aligning the point to the standard 1-cent value every transferable currency uses right before launching partners.

Then nothing happened for months. The original target of mid-December 2025 came and went, the note lingered as “coming soon,” and observers started to wonder whether U.S. Bank had quietly shelved the idea. It finally flipped the switch on August 12, 2026, roughly eight months late and about a year after the first hints.

The debut was chaotic. Transfers went live with four partners, then within about 24 hours two of them, Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer, vanished from the list, reportedly over technical issues, replaced by a “more partners coming soon” message. So the program launched and half-unlaunched on the same day.

Who the partners are now, and the catch

As the dust settled, two partners remained reliably live: Ethiopian ShebaMiles at a 1:1 ratio, and ALL Accor Live Limitless at 2:1, meaning two U.S. Bank points for one Accor point. Flying Blue and Qantas may return, since the removal was framed as temporary, but for now they are not dependable.

The larger catch is the card requirement. Only the Altitude Reserve can access transfers, and U.S. Bank stopped accepting new applications for that card, so you cannot simply sign up to get in. A handful of holders of older FlexPerks travel cards reported access too, but the Altitude Connect, Altitude Go, and the newer Smartly card cannot transfer at all. In other words, the feature launched on the one card the public can no longer open.

How to actually transfer your points

If you do hold an eligible Altitude Reserve, the mechanics are straightforward. Log in to your U.S. Bank account, open the Altitude Reserve card, go to the Rewards Center, and choose the new option labeled something like “Rewards your way with loyalty rewards transfer.” That hands you off to a Points.com portal where you link your airline or hotel account and move the points over.

Watch the ratios before you pull the trigger, because they are not all 1:1. Ethiopian moves at a full 1:1, but Accor is 2:1, so you lose half your value on paper and it only makes sense if you have a specific Accor redemption that beats a straight 1-cent cash-out. And as always, transfers are one-way and irreversible, so confirm the award you want is actually available first.

Is it actually any good right now?

Being honest: not really, not yet. Two live partners is nothing next to the 20-plus that Chase, Amex, Citi, and Capital One each offer, and one of the two, Accor at 2:1, is a weak ratio. The single bright spot is Ethiopian ShebaMiles, a Star Alliance program with a few genuine sweet spots, so a savvy traveler could occasionally beat 1 cent per point through it.

But you cannot even get the card that unlocks any of this, which makes the program more of a proof of concept than a reason to change your wallet. For almost everyone, U.S. Bank points are still best valued at a flat 1 cent, exactly as before. If award travel is your goal, the established transfer banks remain the tools to reach for, and you can compare them on our transfer partners cheat sheet.

The future: could U.S. Bank join the major issuers?

This is the interesting question, because the infrastructure now exists, and infrastructure is the hard part. U.S. Bank has a working transfer engine, a Points.com integration, and at least four partner relationships it has signed, even if two are temporarily dark. Expanding a list is far easier than building the plumbing from scratch, so the ceiling here is real.

To actually join the ranks of Chase and Amex, though, U.S. Bank would need to do two things. First, grow the partner list from a token two into a competitive dozen or more, ideally with marquee airline programs people actually want to use. Second, and more important, extend transfers beyond a discontinued card to something the public can open, most obviously the widely available Smartly card, whose up-to-4% earning is U.S. Bank’s real mass-market weapon. A 4% card that also fed transferable points would be genuinely disruptive.

Our take: U.S. Bank has cracked the door, but it is nowhere near the room yet. Treat this as promising groundwork rather than a finished product. If they broaden the partners and put transfers on a card people can actually apply for, revisit the conversation, because at that point they could become a real fifth or sixth player. Until then, judge U.S. Bank cards on what they do today, and hold a proven transferable currency if flexibility is what you want. See how those work in our guide to transferable points.

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Frequently asked questions

Does U.S. Bank have transfer partners now?

Yes, as of August 2026, but only two are reliably live: Ethiopian ShebaMiles at 1:1 and ALL Accor at 2:1. It launched with four and pulled two, Flying Blue and Qantas, within a day, so the working list is very short for now.

Which U.S. Bank card do you need to transfer points?

Only the Altitude Reserve can access transfers, and it is closed to new applicants. Some holders of older FlexPerks travel cards reported access, but the Altitude Connect, Altitude Go, and Smartly cards cannot transfer.

What happened to Flying Blue and Qantas?

Both launched as partners on August 12, 2026, then disappeared from the transfer list within about a day, reportedly because of technical issues. U.S. Bank replaced them with a “more partners coming soon” message, so they may return.

How do you transfer U.S. Bank points?

Log in to U.S. Bank, open your Altitude Reserve card, go to the Rewards Center, and pick the loyalty rewards transfer option, which sends you to a Points.com portal to move the points. Ethiopian transfers 1:1 and Accor 2:1.

Is it worth getting a U.S. Bank card for the transfer partners?

No. The only card that can transfer is the Altitude Reserve, which you can no longer apply for, and the live list is just two partners. Choose U.S. Bank cards on their everyday value and treat the points as worth about 1 cent each.

Could U.S. Bank become a major transfer-points issuer?

Possibly. The transfer infrastructure now exists, which is the hard part. To rival Chase or Amex it would need to expand well beyond two partners and, crucially, extend transfers to a card the public can actually open, such as the Smartly. Until then it is promising groundwork, not a finished program.