The Extra Mile, Sept. 24: Your Chase & Amex Credits Now Work at Costco & More!

⏳ Last Call: Credits, Transfer Bonuses & Big Card Offers

If your travel to-do list wasn’t long enough already, here are a few more things worth checking off before the end of the month.

Between expiring credits, lucrative transfer bonuses, and big credit card offers, a few quick moves now could save you serious cash (or score your next trip for less).

And if you’re not already, make sure you’re using our (free) Credit Card Benefit Tracker tool. It’s the easiest and best way to stay on top of all these credits and benefits.

💳 Use These Credits Before They Expire

If you’ve got a premium travel card (namely, an Amex card) in your wallet, don’t leave money on the table.

With the end of the month fast-approaching, you’ve got just a week (and change) left to put a handful of these quarterly credits to use before it’s too late.

American Express Platinum Card®

• Up to a $75 Lululemon credit
• Up to a $100 Resy dining credit

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

• Up to $50 Hilton credit (per quarter) on eligible Hilton purchases.

Hilton Cards

• Up to $50 Hilton credit per quarter on the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card.
• Up to $50 airline credit per quarter on eligible airline purchases with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

As tempting as it is to put these credits to use before it’s too late, you shouldn’t go out and spend (extra) money unnecessarily. Be sure to read our full breakdown for a couple of workarounds to make sure you’re getting the most out of them.

And don’t wait until Sept. 30 – charges need to post before month-end.

✈️ Transfer Bonuses Worth a Look

Think of transfer bonuses as a way to stretch your balance of points and miles even further.

The big banks routinely roll out bonuses of 10% to as much as 40% – and sometimes even more! – when transferring points to select airline or hotel partners.

Here are a few that end soon:

• Amex to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus: 30% bonus (fly to Hawaii and back for just 21,000 points or book a lie-flat seat to Spain from 32,000 points each way). This bonus ends on Sunday, Sept. 27!
• Capital One to Japan Airlines (JAL) Mileage Bank: 30% bonus (fly business class to Japan for as low as 56,500 Capital One miles each way or book roundtrip business class flights on partner airlines to Europe for as few as 87,200 Capital One miles). This bonus ends on Wednesday, Sept. 30!
• Chase to Air Canada Aeroplan: 30% bonus (book short domestic flights on United for as few as 8,000 Chase points or even one-way business class tickets to Europe for as little as 47,000 points). This bonus ends on Wednesday, Sept. 30!
• Rove to Copa Airlines ConnectMiles: 40% bonus (business class awards to Europe cost just 65,000 Rove miles with this big bonus). This bonus ends on Wednesday, Sept. 30!

As always: Transfer only when you have a specific redemption in mind. Once points are transferred, you can’t send them back to your bank.

🎁 Huge Limited-Time Welcome Offers

Getting ahead with travel credit cards is all about timing: opening a card when the welcome bonus is at its highest.

Lucky for you, there are a handful of big offers out right now … but they are only here for a “limited time,” so it’s best not to wait too long.

*capital one venture card*

• bonus_miles_full

*bonvoy brilliant*

• bonus_miles_full

*Bonvoy Bevy*

• bonus_miles_full

Long story short? A few minutes of housekeeping now could mean more points, more miles, and more savings on your next trip.

Get the full scoop on everything you need to get done before the end of the month!

– Jackson Newman, senior editor

🎙️ New Pod: How to Save on Your Holiday Flights

🎅 How to Save on Your Holiday Flights (& When to Book)

🦃 Heading home for the holidays can be expensive, especially this year… but it doesn’t have to be. This week, the guys go through when to book your trips (spoiler alert: sooooon), where to target for the best deal, and when to turn to your points and miles to get home for the holidays.

Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next installment next week!

🤝 Deal of the Day: Orlando from $117 Roundtrip This Winter!

Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥

Why we love it: Fares to Orlando, Florida, just went down – under $249 from dozens of U.S. cities!

Get to Disney or Universal this fall and winter, flying nonstop from many cities, too!

Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.

Already a member? Log in to see all your deals. (Not seeing it? Remove your airport filters to see every deal.)

– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst

🛒 Your Amex & Chase Credits Now Work at Costco

Last night, I placed a Costco order without leaving my couch and knocked almost $55 off the bill.

Costco launched nationwide on DoorDash last week. That came a day after Costco added Uber Eats delivery to nearly 600 warehouses in 47 states. That gives you two new ways to get Costco delivered … but more importantly, it gives you a practical way to use the monthly card credits that too often go to waste.

Here’s how to make the most of each.

🚪 DoorDash

Through Nov. 1, promo code COSTCO20 gets you 20% off orders of $100 or more, up to $50 off.

That code stacks with the *chase sapphire reserve* card’s two DoorDash credits of up to $10 monthly for non-restaurant orders, and Costco counts. That’s exactly what I did last night.

Starting Oct. 1, Chase is adding a new $15 monthly credit that applies to any DoorDash order. The card also includes free DashPass, which waives delivery fees and lowers service fees.

There’s a points bonus, too. My Costco charge on DoorDash coded as a restaurant purchase. That means I earned 3x points per dollar with the Sapphire Reserve, or I could have earned 4x points per dollar with a card like the American Express® Gold Card (you’ll only be able to use the DashPass benefits if you pay with a card that offers it).

🚗 Uber Eats

This is the Amex side of the equation. The American Express Platinum Card® comes with up to $15 in Uber Cash each month ($35 in December), and the American Express® Gold Card comes with up to $10 a month.

Both work on Uber Eats, which means they now work for Costco orders. If you hold both cards as I do, that’s $25 a month toward your next Costco run.

Just make sure you pay with your Amex card, or the Uber Cash won’t apply. Uber Cash also expires at the end of every month, so a Costco order is an easy way to make sure it doesn’t go unused.

⚠️ The Catches

• You need a Costco membership, and you have to link it in either app before you can check out.
• Prices on both apps also run a bit higher than what you’d pay in the warehouse. Still, these discounts should more than make up the difference.

The DoorDash promo code ends Nov. 1, but the monthly credits don’t, and Costco may now be one of the most useful places to spend them.

– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder

🤝 American and Starlux Ink New Partnership

American Airlines and Starlux expanded their codeshare agreement this week, allowing travelers to earn American AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on Starlux flights … but it’s what’s next that we’re most excited about.

As is the case with most airline partnerships, these codeshares usually lead to the ability to book each other’s flights with points and miles, meaning you might soon be able to use American miles to book Starlux flights.

This is already the case with American partner Alaska, which has its own Starlux partnership. Alaska miles are the best way to book Starlux flights right now – offering business class flights to Taipei (TPE) starting at just 75,000 miles each way.

I suspect American will have some similarly great rates, if not better! American’s partner award chart is unusually generous in most cases, so we’re hoping for the best.

For now, the codeshare agreement will offer seamless connections between the airlines and the ability to earn AA miles on flights through Los Angeles (LAX) and Phoenix (PHX) to 20 different U.S. destinations.

– Gunnar Olson (flight deal analyst & travel reporter)

🧳 Come Work With Us: We’re Hiring a Hotel Expert!

Are you a diehard traveler and bona fide “sicko” (that’s a term of endearment around here) when it comes to hotels and award travel?

Do you love nothing more than scouring for the next great hotel redemption? Want to help others do the same? Loathe the prospect of another devaluation but relish the thought of breaking that news?

We don’t just want you. We need you.

Here at TT HQ, we’re hiring again – this time for a dedicated hotel deal analyst & reporter. It’s a hybrid role, split between the two worlds of what we do here at Thrifty Traveler:

• You’ll spearhead and even expand the hotel deal alerts that make our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ service so special, and
• Help us cover the news and must-knows of all things hotels on our site, social media, and in this very newsletter!

Not the right fit but know someone who could be? Send them our way – if we hire them, we’ll give you a $500 airline gift card to an airline of your choice!

There’s tons of additional details, responsibilities, qualifications, and basics about the job on our site, but here’s a big one: We’re specifically looking for someone who can join us in our Minneapolis office.

Fit the bill? Be sure to apply by the Sept. 27 deadline!

… and see you soon in the office?

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

✈️ Other Travel Tidbits

• 💺 American just launched an “Automatic Seat Change” feature that lets solo AAdvantage members set a preferred seat type, then auto-switches them if a matching seat opens up. (JonNYC, via X)
• 🇫🇷 Air France is ending its Paris-Denver route after five years, right as United launches daily nonstop service on the same route starting May 2027. (One Mile at a Time)
• 🇩🇰 SAS is opening a massive new signature lounge at Copenhagen Airport in June 2027, offering 40% more space than its current club. The space includes private hotel rooms, 24 work pods, and an exclusive zone reserved for SAS’s top-tier flyers. (SAS)
• 🏨 Wyndham is offering 4x points on stays through Jan. 15 (capped at 15,000 bonus points) – enough for up to three free nights at properties starting at 5,000 points. (Wyndham Rewards)