This one stings. Starting Jan. 1, Bilt is cutting its Hyatt transfer ratio to 4:3, matching what Chase just did to Sapphire Preferred cardholders. Also today: a no-annual-fee card that’s quietly earning 7x points on dining this quarter, and we rank eight new October transfer bonuses from worst to first.
- 💥 The Hits Keep Coming for Hyatt Fans: Bilt to Cut Transfers, Too
- 🎙️ New Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
- 🤝 Deal of the Day: Spring Break in Mexico from 19K Pts. RT!
- 🍽️ 7x on Dining? Move This Card to the Top of Your Wallet
- 🎃 October Kicks Off with a Ton of Transfer Bonuses!
- ✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
💥 The Hits Keep Coming for Hyatt Fans: Bilt to Cut Transfers, Too
If you were holding out hope that Bilt Rewards would stay the last safe haven for sending points to World of Hyatt, I’ve got bad news for you.
Starting Jan. 1, Bilt points will transfer to Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio, down from current 1:1 benchmark. That means every 1,000 Bilt points you send over will get you just 750 Hyatt points – a 25% haircut.
The sliver of good news? You have until Dec. 31 to move points at the current 1:1 ratio.
If that rate sounds familiar, there’s a reason. Bilt is matching what Chase did to legacy Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred cardholders, a change that took effect today. Once Bilt follows suit, carrying the $795-a-year Chase Sapphire Reserve® (or its business version) will be the only way to send points to Hyatt 1:1.
All this comes just months after Hyatt’s painful devaluation and its switch to a new five-tier award chart. Top-tier Category 8 properties that used to max out at 45,000 points a night now cost as high as 75,000 points, with our latest analysis finding that more than 43% of these top-tier properties now price at 55,000 points or more, per night.
Do the math: Come January, that 75,000-point night will take 100,000 Bilt points to book. That’s more than double what the same stay cost at the start of this year.
That’s the real double whammy. Hotels and airlines keep raising award prices on their end, and the banks are making you pay more points just to get to the starting line.
And this isn’t just a Hyatt problem. In the past year or so, American Express has cut its transfer ratios to Cathay Pacific and Emirates and dropped Etihad altogether. Chase dropped Emirates as a partner rather than accept a worse-than-1:1 ratio. Not long ago, 1:1 transfers were the gold standard. Now they’re increasingly something you pay a premium for – or don’t get at all.
If you have Bilt points set aside for a specific Hyatt stay, be sure to transfer them before the end of the year. But no matter how tempting it may be, I wouldn’t move a pile of points over speculatively. Given where Hyatt is heading, that’s probably a losing bet.
Check out our full story for more details!
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
🎙️ New Pod: Who’s Up & Who’s Down in Airline Loyalty?
⚖️ Airline Loyalty Program Check-In: Who’s Up & Who’s Down
🦃 Who’s up and who’s down in airline and hotel loyalty programs? That’s the question we seek to answer this week, going A to Z through (almost) every airline loyalty program to let you know what’s worth earning and what’s not.
To do so, we bring in our resident foodie adventurer and flight deal expert Katie Rollins to show us what she’s seeing in award space every single day. Plus, she dishes out an all-time travel mistake story …
Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned for the next episode next week!
🤝 Deal of the Day: Spring Break in Mexico from 19K Pts. RT!
Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥
Why we love it: Fly to Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, or Cabo for spring break using your miles!
Flying American Airlines with best availability in March and April – peak spring break timing for most travelers!
Fares starting at 19,000 AA miles roundtrip. Use Alaska miles, Finnair Avios, or Japan Airlines miles to book these flights, 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.
– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst
🍽️ 7x on Dining? Move This Card to the Top of Your Wallet
What’s the first card you reach for when dining out? Ordinarily, an Amex Gold or Chase Sapphire card would both be great options, earning 4x points and 3x points (respectively).
But for the rest of the year, a no-annual-fee card that most people never think about when dining out beats them both.
The Chase Freedom Flex® card’s new quarterly bonus categories just went into effect, earning 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards points) on:
- Dining
- Grocery stores (excluding Target and Walmart)
- Donations to the American Red Cross
Grocery will be plenty useful, but dining is where things get really interesting.
That’s because the Freedom Flex already earns 3% back on dining year-round. Add the quarterly bonus (1% base earnings, plus 2% category bonus, and 4% quarterly bonus), and you’re earning a whopping 7% back (7x points) on every restaurant tab for the next three months.
I don’t know of a better return on dining from any card … at any price.
Just know, the quarterly bonus only applies to your first $1,500 in combined spending across all three bonus categories, so if you swipe it at grocery stores and restaurants, you won’t earn 7% on the full $1,500. And you’ll need to activate by Dec. 14, or you’ll miss out entirely.
But the real magic happens if you’ve got a Chase Sapphire or Ink Business Preferred® in your wallet, too. While the Freedom Flex is marketed as a cash back card, it actually earns more valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Pair it with one of those cards, and you can transfer those points to Chase’s slew of airline and hotel partners and redeem for often greater value. That means you’d be earning 7x transferable points on dining, which no other card can touch.
Oh … and there’s this: For a limited time, new cardholders can earn a $250 bonus after spending $500 in the first three months. Max out that $1,500 on dining this quarter, and you’d walk away with $355 – or 35,500 Ultimate Rewards points – before the year is done.
That’s quite the haul from a card with no annual fee.
Bottom line? If you’ve got a Freedom Flex, activate your Q4 categories and move it to the front of your wallet. And if you don’t, a $250 bonus plus 7x on dining makes this the perfect time to pick one up.
Get the full scoop on this quarter’s Freedom category bonuses!
– Jackson Newman, senior editor
🎃 October Kicks Off with a Ton of Transfer Bonuses!
Transfer bonuses are about as good as it gets in the world of credit card points.
Banks and points programs regularly roll out bonuses of 20%, 30%, heck even as high as 100% or more to select airlines and hotel chains.
And October is a real doozy. There are (double-counts on fingers) eight brand-new transfer bonuses spread across a handful of popular programs like Amex, Capital One, Bilt, and Rove … and that’s on top of several ongoing bonuses!
Most of these new bonuses will stick around through the end of the month with a pair of one-day-only opportunities. Some, naturally, are much better than others.
But you read this newsletter to get caught up fast? I hope it’s not for my “humor,” anyway.
So rather than go deep on each and every bonus, let’s rank them from worst to first using Thrifty Traveler’s patented flame emojis (the more 🔥🔥🔥, the merrier you should be) with a quick blurb about why it’s a hit … or a dud.
🇲🇽 20% Bonus to Aeromexico from Amex Membership Rewards
Valid through Oct. 30
Rating: 💩
Ok, so we’re breaking the 🔥 scale right off the bat.
I’ll be honest: I’ve never earned nor used a single Aeromexico Rewards point … and there’s a good reason for that: They stink – even with a 20% bonus bringing Amex transfers to nearly a 1:2 ratio.
I won’t waste your time, and neither should you. Let’s move on.
🇶🇦 Up to 35% Bonus to Qatar Avios from Rove
Valid through Oct. 31
Rating: 🔥
If you’re shopping online like crazy or booking hotels and are therefore flush with Rove Miles, there’s a case to make for sliding this bonus higher.
But Rove is still somewhat niche – though that’s changing quickly. Plus, it’s not a flat bonus: While you can get up to a 35% bonus, that requires sending at least 100,000 Rove Miles to Qatar. Transfers under 50,000 miles get just a 15% bonus, while those up to 99,999 miles get a 25% bonus.
🚊 Up to 125% Bonus to Amtrak from Bilt Rewards
Today only!
Rating: 🔥
Amtrak is Bilt’s newest transfer partner. Yes, the train line.
Unless you’re in the Northeast, where Amtrak is ubiquitous, this is an easy pass … and even if you are, it’s still probably an easy pass.
🛏️ Up to 125% Bonus to Hilton Honors from Bilt Rewards
Today only!
Rating: 🔥
I might add another half-flame if I could.
Even though I’m more bullish on Hilton points than most, I still don’t love this bonus unless you’re absolutely flush with Bilt Rewards from paying your rent or mortgage.
As always with these monthly Rent Day promos, higher status with Bilt = bigger bonuses. You can also get instant Hilton status through the end of the year, but there are other (and, IMO, better) ways to do that for even longer.
🇬🇧 20% Bonus to British Airways from Capital One
Valid through Oct. 31
Rating: 🔥🔥
I like British Airways and Iberia Avios … but I really like Qatar Avios and Finnair Avios. And even though this is a one-way transfer bonus from Capital One to British Airways, the ability to combine Avios between five different airlines means it’s really a 20% bonus to all five.
That means cheaper AA flights to Hawaii or the Caribbean, Qatar Qsuites for less, lie-flat seats on Iberia to Madrid for 20% fewer points, and more.
🇫🇷 40% Bonus to Air France/KLM from Rove
Valid through Oct. 31
Rating: 🔥🔥
Air France/KLM Flying Blue has been one of our favorite mileage programs for years – not just for booking Air France to Paris and KLM to Amsterdam, but especially for booking Delta-operated flights for a fraction of what Delta charges.
But with Air France’s recent negative changes to its own redemptions and Rove miles still being somewhat niche, I’m slotting this one lower than might make sense.
🇫🇷 25% Bonus to Air France/KLM from Amex Membership Rewards
Valid through Oct. 31
Rating: 🔥🔥
… so 25% is better than 40%?
Look, math was never my strong suit – that’s why I’m a journalist. But we know tons of you have Amex points, so this 25% bonus to Flying Blue is just more relevant.
Plus, it’s no coincidence that this bonus means that 60,000 points gets you 75,000 miles – exactly enough to cover the difference between a pesky “Light” business class fare and the better “Standard” option.
🇯🇵 50% Bonus to Japan Airlines from Rove Miles
Valid through Oct. 31
Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
The best mileage program in the world gets a massive, 50% transfer bonus? Yes please.
This 50% bonus means you could book:
- JAL business class to Tokyo for 37,000 Rove Miles
- BA business class to London from just 28,000 miles
- Roundtrip to Tahiti in Air France biz class for 57,000 miles
I could go on and on and on. And yes, Rove Miles are still niche … but maybe this bonus is enough to put them on your radar?
– Kyle Potter, executive editor
✈️ Other Travel Tidbits
- 🚗 North American riders can now use the Lyft app in Europe, starting with Barcelona and Hamburg and rolling out to London, Paris, Rome, and other major cities by the end of October. (Business Wire)
- 💳 Still available: Get a one-time $300 credit for hotels and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel and a 75,000-mile bonus on the Capital One Venture Card for a limited time.
- 🛫 Delta is targeting some SkyMiles members with a $100 eCredit for flying Delta Main to select international destinations between Jan. 15 and March 31, 2027, if they enroll first. (Frequent Miler)
- 📶 United has launched a new Premier status match pitched around the speed of its Wi-Fi, inviting flyers with elite status on other airlines to switch to MileagePlus. (United)
