Breaking Points: Credit Card News

Emirates Skywards is a 25% off sale on economy awards on select partner airlines when booked by August 9, 2026. Participating partners include United, Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Qantas, TAP Air Portugal, Copa, among several others. We don't usually recommend Emirates for partner award bookings, but there are a handful of sweet spots you may be able to take advantage of. One useful redemption is for short United flights starting at 6,000 Skywards miles plus taxes. We would only transfer points after confirming availability and comparing the price with other programs. Click here to see the details of this deal.

Oman Air award flights are now bookable with American AAdvantage miles, offering a useful option for travel between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia through oneworld. Oman Air has a strong business class product, but pay attention to the type of plane being used before redeeming, as some longer routes may use a Boeing 737 MAX with recliner seats instead of the 787, which is much better and what you would want to spend your miles on. Oman Air award flights will be most useful for travel between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with sample one-way pricing in business class from Muscat to India or Doha for 30,000 miles, Bangkok or Manila for 40,000 miles, and London for 42,500 miles.

Choice Privileges is offering college football ticket packages through points auctions, with starting bids ranging from 40,000 to 150,000 points. Packages vary but include some combination of game tickets, VIP tailgates, sideline access, and gift cards. This probably would not be our first choice for using Choice points, especially since auction prices can climb quickly, but it could be worth a look for college football fans with a large balance they might not otherwise use. You can see all available auction items here.

Starting August 15, 2026, Priority Pass members will no longer receive one complimentary annual visit to Chase Sapphire Lounges and will instead have to pay the standard $100 entry fee. Eligible Chase cardholders will continue to receive lounge access under their card benefits. Chase is also improving access for those cardholders during connections, extending the entry window from three hours before departure to five hours before a connecting flight.

Some Capital One Venture cardholders are receiving a new $100 annual credit for hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel. The credit requires no enrollment, renews on the cardholder anniversary, and can be applied directly at checkout. Capital One has not formally announced this as a benefit for all Venture cards, and it is not currently advertised to new applicants, so the rollout appears to be targeted. If you already hold the Venture card, check your benefits to see if the credit has been added. Since the card carries a $95 annual fee, using the full credit would more than offset that cost. We’ll update this post as more information becomes available.