Breaking Points: Credit Card News

It’s rare to see changes to an award program that end up being partially positive, especially from Emirates, which has steadily devalued awards over the past several years. The bad news is that Emirates is increasing premium cabin award prices and business-class upgrade costs by roughly 15%. The good news is that Emirates is now allowing one-way saver award bookings, something the program previously did not offer.

One of the most popular Emirates redemptions is its fifth-freedom routes between Newark and Athens or JFK and Milan. Under the old pricing, these flights cost 87,000 miles one-way in business class since you had to book the flex plus award. With the new saver pricing, those same one-way flights can now be booked for 59,000 miles, a substantial reduction. Roundtrip saver pricing is now 118,000 miles versus the old 108,000-mile rate, but because many points and miles enthusiasts prefer booking one-way awards for flexibility and availability reasons, we view these changes as a net positive overall.

Playing off Chase’s recent Paze promotion, Rove has launched its “It Pays to Chase More Rove Miles” promo, offering elevated earning rates of up to 15x at select merchants through May 31, 2026. Rove is also offering first-time hotel booking bonuses of 1,000 Rove miles on bookings of at least $200 with code PAYS200 or 2,500 bonus miles on bookings of at least $500 with code PAYS500.

The shopping promo becomes even more interesting when stacked with Chase’s current 10x Paze offer. Merchants like StubHub currently earn 9x Rove miles, and if you check out using Paze with an eligible Chase Sapphire or Freedom card, you can stack another 10x Ultimate Rewards points on top, creating an effective return of roughly 20x total rewards including normal card earnings.

The Hilton Honors Surpass card is waiving its $150 annual fee for the first year. The welcome offer remains unchanged at 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 in the first six months. The $150 annual fee will apply beginning in year two. The offer expires 7/29/26.

The Hilton Honors Business card is waiving its $195 annual fee for the first year. The welcome offer remains unchanged at 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $8,000 in the first six months. The $195 annual fee will apply beginning in year two. The offer expires 7/29/26.

Hilton Honors is offering 100,000 points plus $100 statement credit after spending $2,000 in 6 months. That’s up from their standard offer of 80,000 miles with the same spending requirement.There is no annual fee. Offer expires 7/29/26.