Is It Time to Pay Attention to Rove?

Rove just added a 21st transfer partner and it’s another unique one: Copa Airlines ConnectMiles. If you already have Rove miles, there’s a 40% transfer bonus through the end of September. But if you’re like me, you might not have been following Rove too closely or earning points there. Is it time for that to change?

Rove, for the uninitiated, is an independent loyalty program that allows you to earn “Rove miles” through channels like its online flight and hotel booking platform, shopping portal, and dining program. 

What’s starting to make Rove special are transfer partners that few—if any—credit card programs can match. These can open up unique booking opportunities. On the budget end of the spectrum, you can sometimes use 88 miles (plus fees) to fly to Europe with Lufthansa, or 3,500 miles to fly short domestic United flights via Air India. Both Copa and SAS offer solid award chart values with minimal added fees. And at the fancy end of the spectrum, having Lufthansa miles is the best way to live out the points nerd dream of flying Lufthansa first class. In other words, Rove can give you access to redemption options that are difficult or impossible to reach with the usual bank-points ecosystems.

The catch? Most of these redemptions require tens of thousands of points to book, and because Rove is the only major partner for many of these programs, you may need to earn most or all of the miles through Rove. Since I usually travel with points, I don’t spend nearly enough on hotels, airfare, or online shopping to earn enough Rove miles to put those redemptions within reach. Rove, like every other major points program, partners with Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Virgin, and some Avios airlines. So I’d certainly have ways to use Rove miles if I earned them. But at this point I don’t see the need to complicate things. I’ll stick with Rakuten for now, though I might check out Rove for big purchases if they offer bigger rewards.

Lazy Take 🦥

Rove miles can unlock some great redemption opportunities through its unique transfer partnerships, but unless you spend a lot on hotels or online shopping, it might be hard to earn enough to make the program worth the extra effort. But with the right spending habits, Rove could pay off handsomely. 

Lazy tip: You can support LazyPoints and earn 500 Rove miles by signing up with my referral link. But Rove has offered 1,500 miles in the past and that offer may be available through other channels, or might come around again in the future. 

This week on the blog 📝

I finally tried redeeming Bilt Cash for a Walgreens gift card. It’s a solid value, and it was easier than I expected.

We also had another Alaska Atmos Members Day, and I updated the Global Getaways tracker. The September offers didn’t blow me away, but Samoa for 25.5k points each way was a standout. This is also the third month in a row with a solid Japan deal, but I noticed that each one has allowed travel no later than November 18, 2026. We’ll see if that streak continues in October.

Quick Points of the Week ⚡

Special offers ✨

Huge Capital One Shopping referral bonuses. Capital One Shopping can be hit and miss, but this is a low-effort, high-reward way to try it out. Join via my referral link and you can earn $80 in shopping rewards after installing the browser extension and spending at least $10 within 30 days. (I’ll get rewarded too.) Thrifty Traveler has an alternative—their link has no spending requirement, but you’ll have to keep the extension active for 90 days. It may be the better bet if you have no online shopping planned.

More value 📈

Sapphire Reserve DoorDash credit increasing. The monthly credit will increase from $5 to $15 starting in October. (MilesTalk)

Atmos improves lap infant policy. Now you can bring a child on your lap at no cost beyond the government-imposed taxes—even on partner award flights. (OMAAT)

Extra points 🪙

Bonus points on Barclays co-branded cards. These offers are targeted and may vary. I was offered 2,500 Atmos points after making 5 purchases on my Hawaiian Mastercard, which is incredible. (Frequent Miler)

Enter to Win 🎟️ 

Win up to 100k points with Atmos Rewards Shopping. No purchase necessary, but using Alaska’s shopping portal can generate more drawing entries. (Atmos Rewards Shopping)

Points for Charity 🕊️

Earn SkyMiles for donating to United Way. This one comes around once in a while. A $50 donation earns 1,000 SkyMiles. (United Way)

Notable Transfer Bonuses ⬆️

Capital One → JAL (30%). Even with this bonus, the transfer ratio is still slightly less than 1:1. This could be worth it, because JAL has some great premium redemptions, but one-way fuel surcharges for Japan travel are still over $300. 

Lounge News 🍸

Southwest adding lounges and a premium credit card. The card will offer access to the lounges. It’s all part of Southwest’s transition from quirky budget airline to a more mainstream carrier (but without the global route network for award flights). (NerdWallet)

Did you know❓

Save at Hudson News and other airport retailers. Club Avolta is a loyalty program for many airport retailers, and you can even match airline or hotel status to get “elite” status with them for added savings. (From the Tray Table) 

Sign up bonuses of the week 🎯

After a quiet few weeks, there are a few interesting welcome offers to feature this week:

The Citi AA Executive card is offering 125k miles after spending $15,000 in the first five months. The $695-fee card offers unlimited Admirals Club and partner lounge access, though I find most of the card’s other perks and credits to be fairly niche. The card also has poor earning rates outside the AA ecosystem. But AA miles are among the most valuable and easiest to redeem, whether in economy or premium cabins, so this could be a good offer for those who can hit that enormous spending target. 🔥

Rakuten is offering $350 cash back for certain Bank of America credit cards, on top of the cards’ own welcome offers, ranging from about $200–250 after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days. Because these cards don’t earn transferable points or offer any notable perks, they are not the most exciting, but they offer solid earning rates with no annual fees. In fact, this might be the highest welcome offer I’ve ever seen for a no-fee card. 🔥

Finally, Chase’s Avios-earning cards from British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia are offering 90,000 Avios after spending $5,000 in the first three months. These $95-fee cards offer little unless you are a regular customer of these airlines, but this is a solid improvement on the usual 75k bonus, and once earned, the Avios can be transferred to whichever Avios airline suits your redemption needs. 🔥

Other great sign-up bonuses this week

50,000 points+ $300 Bilt Cash + Bilt Gold status on the Bilt Palladium (our take: 🔥🔥🔥)

Up to 80k points + $250 on the Delta Gold (our take: 🔥🔥🔥)

150k points + $250 on the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant (our take: 🔥🔥)

Up to 90k points + $300 on the Delta Platinum (our take: 🔥🔥)

Up to 50k points + two flight certificates on the Delta Reserve (our take: 🔥🔥)

60k points on the Choice Privileges Mastercard (our take: 🔥) 

Up to 100/175k on the Amex Gold/Platinum (our take)

How we rate bonus offers. 

Lazy Pick ✅ (Sponsored)

Noise-cancelling headphones on sale. Active noise cancellation is a travel essential. Over time, I’ve found myself packing my headphones less and less as my cats have destroyed them and I’ve saved space in my travel bag by bringing smaller ANC earbuds. But lately I’ve noticed that they’re just not quite powerful enough, so I’m going to reinvest in my over-ear headphones. Luckily, options like the Anker Soundcore Q20i and Bose QuietComfort are discounted this weekend as part of Amazon’s Labor Day sale. If you’re looking to stock up on travel gear, this is a great weekend to check prices.  

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Enjoy the long weekend! 🦥

And welcome to PSL season. ☕

Sometimes we include referral or affiliate links (we’ll mark them clearly). If you use them, we may earn a commission—never at extra cost to you. We do our best to share great offers, but always double-check for the best deal available. Thanks for supporting LazyPoints 🦥