Recent Points & Programs Updates

Recent points & programs updates

Program rate changes, transfer-partner additions and removals, and valuation shifts — tracked as they happen. Data last verified September 3, 2026.

• September 3, 2026 — Daily data check, catching up after a missed run on September 2: refreshed 15 point valuations to match AwardWallet's live booking data -- Bilt Rewards 2.11¢ to 2.13¢, Brex Cash 1.62¢ to 1.63¢, Capital One 2.07¢ to 2.08¢, Chase Ultimate Rewards 2.04¢ to 2.07¢, Citi ThankYou 2.33¢ to 2.34¢, Rove 2.29¢ to 2.30¢, Wells Fargo Rewards 2.38¢ to 2.39¢, Alaska Atmos Rewards 2.32¢ to 2.34¢, Avianca LifeMiles 2.81¢ to 2.80¢, Cathay Pacific 2.82¢ to 2.83¢, Delta SkyMiles 1.35¢ to 1.37¢, Iberia Plus 2.86¢ to 2.91¢, Singapore KrisFlyer 2.54¢ to 2.56¢, United MileagePlus 2.04¢ to 2.09¢, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 3.47¢ to 3.46¢. Every card rate built on the drifted currencies was recomputed and re-verified. Also removed Bilt's one-day September Rent Day bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which ran September 1 only and has now ended. Amex Membership Rewards also drifted (2.02¢ to 2.03¢ live) but was left unchanged here -- its value is hardcoded into the value-horizon calculator's test fixtures (the same pp117 coupling that took a dedicated PR the last time Amex moved), so it's tracked as a pending item instead of hand-edited. Self-reported a gap: yesterday's run (September 2) never produced a report or a commit -- flagged for the owner. No other transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update.
• September 1, 2026 — Daily data check: three transfer bonuses expired and were removed (Chase to IHG 70%, Capital One to Avianca LifeMiles 15%, Citi ThankYou to Turkish Miles&Smiles 40%, all ended August 31). Four new bonuses added, all confirmed across at least two independent trackers with matching ratios and dates: Capital One to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank 30% (1,000:975, through September 30), Amex Membership Rewards to Hilton Honors 30% (1,000:2,600, through October 14), Rove Miles to Copa Airlines ConnectMiles 40% -- a new transfer partner for Rove (1,000:1,400, through September 30), and Bilt's one-day September Rent Day bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, tiered by status up to 100% (details in the transfer-bonus note; today only). Re-verified all 38 AwardWallet-tracked point valuations live against AwardWallet's booking data: zero drift, no card figures moved. Also self-reported a gap: yesterday's run (August 31) never produced a report or a commit -- flagged for the owner. Caught one trap: a search summary read a Doctor of Credit Amex-to-Hilton article as covering this September's bonus: the actual article is dated September 2024 and was not used as a source -- Frequent Miler's own current-bonus tracker independently confirmed the same ratio and dates instead.
• August 30, 2026 — Daily data check: nudged Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer's valuation 2.53¢ to 2.54¢ to match AwardWallet's live booking data. No card currency is keyed to KrisFlyer, so no derived card figures moved. Re-verified all 37 other AwardWallet-tracked point valuations live: zero further drift. Re-checked the full active transfer-bonus roster (8 rows, earliest end August 31) against The Points Guy's current table: all match exactly. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets -- searches surfaced an Amex-to-Hilton 20% bonus and a Chase-to-Marriott 55% bonus as if current, but both ended in June/July and are correctly not on our list. No other transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update; Flying Blue's September 8 award-pricing change remains tracked but not yet live.
• August 29, 2026 — Daily data check: removed the five Cathay Pacific 10% transfer bonuses (from Amex, Capital One, Citi, Bilt and Wells Fargo), which ran through August 28 and have now ended. Re-verified all 38 AwardWallet-tracked point valuations live against AwardWallet's booking data: zero drift. Re-checked the full active transfer-bonus roster against Frequent Miler's dated table: all 8 remaining rows match exactly. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets -- a stale search result described a Chase-to-Marriott bonus as current, but Frequent Miler's own table shows that offer ended June 30, so it was not applied. No transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update beyond the Cathay removal.
• August 28, 2026 — Daily data check: added a new transfer bonus -- Citi ThankYou Points to Leading Hotels Leaders Club, 25% (1,000:250, up from the standard 5:1), running August 23 through September 19, 2026 -- confirmed across Frequent Miler, AwardWallet, Doctor of Credit, Upgraded Points and One Mile at a Time. Re-verified all 38 AwardWallet-tracked point valuations live: zero drift. The five Cathay Pacific 10% transfer bonuses (Amex, Capital One, Citi, Bilt, Wells Fargo) end today and stay listed through their last day; expect them gone tomorrow. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets -- no elite-tier or other valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update.
• August 27, 2026 — Daily data check: nudged Citi ThankYou Rewards' valuation 2.32¢ to 2.33¢ to match AwardWallet's live booking data, with every card rate built on it recomputed. Covered two days of points/miles news across the usual outlets, since Wednesday's automated run didn't complete -- no other transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update.
• August 25, 2026 — Daily data check: nudged two currency valuations to match AwardWallet's live booking data -- Brex Cash 1.61¢ to 1.62¢ and Singapore KrisFlyer 2.52¢ to 2.53¢. Neither currency feeds a card's earn rate, so no derived card figures moved. Checked American's AAdvantage upgrade policy: as of today, elites on the nine 3-cabin domestic/Hawaii routes (JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO, BOS-LAX, DFW-HNL/KOA/OGG, PHX-HNL, ORD-HNL/OGG) clear one cabin at a time instead of straight to Business -- a caveat PR is open for the Executive Platinum tier copy. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets -- no other transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation change cleared the bar for a same-day update.
• August 23, 2026 — Daily data check: removed the Citi ThankYou-to-Flying Blue 20% transfer bonus, which ran through August 22 and has now ended. Nudged Singapore KrisFlyer's valuation 2.51¢ to 2.52¢ to match AwardWallet, with every card rate that uses it recomputed. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets -- no other transfer bonus, elite-tier or valuation changes cleared the bar for a same-day update.
• August 21, 2026 — Daily data check: refreshed 7 card valuations against AwardWallet, confirmed stable across three independent checks over the past several days -- Bilt Rewards 2.10¢ to 2.11¢, Brex Cash 1.63¢ to 1.61¢, Capital One 2.05¢ to 2.07¢, Chase Ultimate Rewards 2.03¢ to 2.04¢, Wells Fargo Rewards 2.39¢ to 2.38¢, Flying Blue 2.17¢ to 2.24¢, and Singapore KrisFlyer 2.50¢ to 2.51¢. Every card rate that uses these currencies moved with it. Checked today's points/miles news across the usual outlets and everything else on the site -- transfer bonuses, elite tiers, other valuations -- held up against primary sources; nothing else changed.
• August 18, 2026 — The signed-out homepage now follows the locked design: Wallet, Strategy, Ask demos, Best Card, Programs, and Data & Resources as one continuous story. Strategy shows the grocery comparison across all three readings with cream-and-ink table chrome and Freedom Unlimited at $9 across readings. Ask demos reveal fixed sample answers and say Ask is not live here. Best Card uses the shared Marriott store shot on the homepage and /best-card.
• August 18, 2026 — If you try to sign in with an email that does not have an account yet, the sign-in message now gives you a clear Create account choice. It keeps the email you entered and opens the account form; a wrong password on an existing account still stays a sign-in error.
• August 15, 2026 — Daily data check: removed the Rove-to-Qantas 50% transfer bonus, which ran through August 14 and has now ended. Re-verified every card valuation, other transfer bonus and elite-tier figure on the site against AwardWallet and issuer sources -- everything else held up, and nothing new is live yet (Citi's rumored Japan Airlines transfer partner still isn't, and the Citi AAdvantage Executive refresh stays queued for August 23).
• August 14, 2026 — The Homepage, Wallet, and Points Strategy now show Conservative, Average, and Highest modeled readings from one verified snapshot. The higher-spend sample shows a month, one year, and five years with the assumptions beside the numbers. Wallet keeps existing balances separate from spend projections, and Strategy tests its sample grocery recommendation across all three readings.
• August 14, 2026 — Homepage and header polish. The three homepage demos now show their real totals as soon as the page loads — $9 and $14.40 in the card comparison, a $1,165 wallet Conservative total, 750 Hyatt points after the ratio change — instead of sitting at $0 until the animation runs. The Free plan's button now starts your wallet setup instead of scrolling further down the page. Every public "verified" date now reads the same date as the data itself. On a phone the header account control reads "Sign in" in full instead of cutting off mid-word; the full "Sign in / Create account" wording is still in the menu. Pricing now marks Free as the current plan only for a signed-in Free account. Methodology now describes the AwardWallet data as a verified static snapshot. The program-change card stays inside the phone screen before its animation, and the tablet header has more room around its controls.
• August 14, 2026 — Strategy's Next tab now includes your account's card-earning recommendations alongside points-transfer moves when both are available, and the This Month summary counts an earning recommendation as a real move -- it no longer reports "Nothing to move" and "$0/mo" when the only recommendation is which card to use for a category.
• August 13, 2026 — Daily data check: added a new transfer bonus we were missing — Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan, 20% (1,000:1,200), running August 12 through September 30, 2026. Aeroplan cardholders may see a richer offer up to 30% in their own account. Also re-verified every card valuation, other transfer bonus and elite-tier figure on the site against AwardWallet and issuer sources — everything else held up, and no transfer bonus has expired.
• August 11, 2026 — The compact best-card cheatsheet now includes streaming and online purchases alongside dining, groceries, gas, travel and transit, so every everyday category from the full strategy is available at a glance.
• August 11, 2026 — Daily data check: nudged Brex Cash's Average value from 1.62¢ to 1.63¢ to match AwardWallet's latest booking data. No cards use Brex Cash today, so nothing else on the site changed. Also re-verified every transfer bonus, card valuation and elite-tier figure on the site against AwardWallet and issuer sources — everything else held up.
• August 10, 2026 — On smaller screens, the first-time Ask P&P AI guide now sits above the question area instead of squeezing it into a side-by-side layout.
• August 7, 2026 — Fixed two Avianca LifeMiles sweet spots that had gone stale. We were telling you US–Europe business ran about 63,000 miles one-way on Lufthansa and partners, and that Lufthansa First ran 100,000–120,000. Both figures assumed LifeMiles still has an award chart. It does not — it dropped fixed pricing years ago and now prices every route separately, so in July 2026 the same transatlantic business seat ranged from 54,010 miles (SWISS out of New York) to 92,400 (United out of Newark). We have replaced the single number with the real range and told you to search your own route. We have also removed the Lufthansa First entry: Lufthansa's flights have not been bookable through LifeMiles since May 2026, so we were pointing you at a redemption you could not make.
• August 6, 2026 — Corrected the point values quoted in card notes. The four United cards described MileagePlus miles as worth about 2.01¢ and the four Delta cards said 1.34¢ — both were readings behind what we actually use to calculate those cards’ earn rates (2.04¢ and 1.35¢). The maths on the cards was right; the sentence next to it was not, which is arguably worse. We now check every value quoted in prose against the value we calculate with, on every card, every day.
• August 6, 2026 — Transferring to Cathay Pacific for the 10% bonus? You have to register first — Cathay only counts transfers you make after registering, so points moved beforehand earn nothing extra. The bonus also caps at 10,000 bonus miles across all banks combined, not per bank, and the miles can take up to 12 weeks to show up. The offer closes 11:59pm Pacific on August 28. All five bank listings now say so.
• August 6, 2026 — The elevated Citi transfer ratios we list assume you hold a premium ThankYou card — Strata Elite, Strata Premier or Prestige. Citi says transfer value depends on which card you have, and holders of the no-annual-fee cards get less than the headline number. We have added that caveat to the Citi bonuses; we are not publishing the reduced ratios because Citi does not publish a ratio table and we will not print a number we cannot source to them.
• August 6, 2026 — Refreshed point values against AwardWallet’s booking data. Ten moved: Alaska Atmos 2.25¢ to 2.32¢ and Wyndham 1.32¢ to 1.40¢ are the only ones big enough to notice; Bilt, Chase, Citi, Rove, Iberia, United, Virgin Atlantic and Choice all shifted by a hundredth of a cent. Every effective earn rate built on those values was recalculated in the same pass. One caveat worth stating: AwardWallet’s valuations page and its public data feed currently disagree on these ten, and we followed the page, which is the source we have always used and the one carrying their newest programs. We are watching whether the feed catches up.
• August 5, 2026 — The Demo banner now has a fully solid background, so page content cannot show through it while you scroll.
• August 5, 2026 — The Demo banner now stays at the top for returning visitors, even when their browser cached the earlier Demo stylesheet.
• August 5, 2026 — The sample account now carries a persistent Demo banner above the site header, so it stays clear that the cards, balances, and spending are not yours. Demo also has one name everywhere, a signed-out navigation link, and its own sitemap entry.
• August 5, 2026 — Card rankings now handle exact half-cent values the same way on every device. This fixes rare cases where two browsers could choose different cards for a very small spending amount.
• August 5, 2026 — Alaska's Atmos Rewards points moved from 2.24¢ to 2.25¢ in AwardWallet's member-booking data, so the three Atmos cards now show slightly higher effective earn rates. It is a one-hundredth-of-a-cent move and it will not change any decision you make — we apply it because a stale number quietly becomes a wrong one. The Ascent card's description still said 2.21¢ from an earlier reading; that is fixed too. While checking, we found eight rows on the United and Delta cards where the little "how we got this number" note still quoted a value one hundredth of a cent behind the one we actually used — the rates themselves were right, the explanation had drifted. Those now agree. We also checked all 37 other valuations we take from AwardWallet and nothing else moved.
• August 5, 2026 — The Citi to Turkish 40% transfer bonus ends earlier on its last day than the calendar suggests. Turkish's own terms close it at 23:59 Türkiye time on August 31, which is late afternoon in the US — so if you are planning to transfer on the final day, do it in the morning. Worth knowing alongside the caveat already on this bonus: the extra miles do not post until September 1 at the earliest, so it is no good for a booking you need this month. One tracker lists this bonus as ending August 30; Turkish's terms page says August 31, and we go with the airline.
• August 4, 2026 — The public Wallet page now shows what a built wallet contains, how balances become a conservative value, and what it unlocks before asking you to enter anything. The demo now runs the real signed-in Home, Wallet, Points Strategy, and Ask P&P screens with a labeled sample account. You can change sample wallet details and ask sample questions. Changes stay in this browser session, and the demo skips account storage, bank connections, and live AI.
• August 4, 2026 — Onboarding's Worth Knowing cards now move to a different wallet-backed fact each time one appears. If your wallet cannot support another fact, the extra card is skipped. The cards also take up less space.
• August 4, 2026 — Points Strategy now keeps the card-count tradeoff beside its earning recommendations: another card is useful only when it clears the fee and adds to a points balance you are already building.
• August 4, 2026 — Shared links to the Privacy, Security, Terms, Refunds, and Best Card Privacy pages now carry the same Points & Prompts preview image as the rest of the site.
• August 4, 2026 — Monthly spending now keeps its source. Connected cards retain their own category totals, spending you add can stay with a specific wallet card, and anything you cannot place has a separate untracked bucket. The Wallet shows this source breakdown before the combined category totals, so adding a manual amount does not overwrite or masquerade as a Plaid total.
• August 4, 2026 — After setup, you see a short Wallet guide. Review a card comparison using the cards you entered and fill missing balances or spending. Open Points Strategy when the inputs look right. We wait for connected spending to identify the card that carried a purchase before showing card-specific missed rewards.
• August 4, 2026 — Bank connections now call out cards they just added before asking for a separate rewards-program balance. Onboarding also lets you add another bank or card, and the post-onboarding mapping button no longer sends work into a hidden setup screen. Imported spending is explained before the category list, including that an edit sets the full category total.
• August 4, 2026 — The Methodology and Resources pages now name the source for each data type, define what the verification date covers, and state the current affiliate policy. A build check blocks the filler phrases removed in this pass.
• August 4, 2026 — Fixed the Resources page so it has one page heading before and after the interactive view loads. Its links and body copy have not changed.
• August 4, 2026 — Amex is running a 30% bonus to all three Avios programs — British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus — through September 27. That turns the usual 1:1 into 1,000:1,300. Avios move between the Avios airlines for free, so you can transfer into whichever one has the bonus and shuffle from there; it is a reasonable way into Qatar Avios too. As always, only transfer once you have found the award seat.

Tracked program changes

Banks & transferable points

• Chase → World of Hyatt (Oct 1, 2026) — No longer a flat 1:1. Sapphire Reserve keeps 1:1; Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred drop to 4:3. New applicants already get 4:3; existing cardholders keep 1:1 until Oct 1. Bilt still transfers to Hyatt at 1:1.
• Amex → Etihad Guest (Jun 30, 2026) — Partner removed entirely — Membership Rewards no longer transfer to Etihad.
• Amex → Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (Mar 1, 2026) — Transfer ratio cut from 1:1 to 5:4 (1,000 MR now becomes 800 miles).
• Capital One → Emirates Skywards (Jan 13, 2026) — Dropped from 1:1 to 1,000:750 — 25% fewer miles per point transferred.
• Amex → Emirates Skywards (2026) — Now transfers at 5:4, not 1:1.
• Amex transfer bonuses (2026) — Effectively absent so far this year, breaking a long-running pattern of frequent 20–40% bonuses.
• Citi ThankYou → Aeroméxico Rewards (Jan 25, 2026) — Partner removed entirely — Citi points no longer transfer to Aeroméxico.
• Citi ThankYou → American AAdvantage (2026) — New partner added — 1:1 from a premium Citi card, 1,000:700 from a no-fee ThankYou card.
• Bilt Rewards → Accor Live Limitless (2026) — Transfer ratio corrected — was shown as 1:1, actually 3:2.
• Bilt Rewards → American AAdvantage (2024) — Partner removed — that relationship ended in 2024; American is gone from Bilt's transfer list.
• Bilt Rewards → United MileagePlus (2026) — New partner added at 1:1 — Bilt joins Chase as one of only two bank currencies that reach both United and World of Hyatt.
• Chase Ultimate Rewards → Wyndham Rewards (2026) — New hotel partner added — Chase's fourth hotel transfer option.

Airlines

• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (Aug 1, 2026) — Fuel surcharges rise about 41% for tickets issued on or after August 1, 2026, and Asia Miles passes them through to award tickets in full. A Hong Kong to North America or Europe redemption now carries roughly HK$1,362 (about US$174) in surcharges, up from HK$965. Anything ticketed by July 31 keeps the lower rate.
• United MileagePlus (Aug 2025) — The free-stopover perk on award itineraries was discontinued.
• Finnair Avios (2026) — Real sweet spot documented: 30,000 Avios one-way in economy (43,500 in premium economy) from Helsinki to the US, before feeder-segment and surcharge caveats.
• Delta Diamond Medallion (Jun 1, 2026) — Complimentary CLEAR+ ends; it's now $129/yr for new memberships and renewals.
• Alaska + Hawaiian → Atmos Rewards (2026) — Merged into one currency and one distance-based chart. Short-haul economy fell 5,000 → 4,500. Hawaii under 3,500 mi can drop 15,000 → 12,500, but Midwest/East Coast Hawaii flights now cost more (new 3,501+ mi band).
• Southwest Rapid Rewards (2026) — Two free checked bags gone ($45 fee); nonrefundable Basic fares introduced; open seating overhauled.
• American AAdvantage (2026) — Program changes for the year — check earning and status rules before relying on 2025 advice.
• Air Canada Aeroplan (2026) — Still publishes fixed partner award charts.

Hotels

• Marriott Bonvoy (Jul 2026) — Another quiet award-rate increase, ~5–10%, some properties up to 16%. Fully dynamic, no chart, no notice given.
• World of Hyatt award chart (May 20, 2026) — Three tiers (Off-Peak/Standard/Peak) replaced by five (Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, Top). 112 hotels moved up a category; 24 moved down.
• Hilton Honors (Mar 2026) — Award rates up 5,000–30,000+ points/night at many properties. Fourth such adjustment in ~18 months.
• IHG One Rewards (2026) — Fully dynamic, but no broad devaluation reported this year.