Breaking Points: Credit Card News

Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering a 70% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy. The standard transfer ratio is 1:1, so with the bonus, you’ll receive 1,700 Marriott Bonvoy points for every 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred. Offer expires October 15, 2026. Bonus points will be awarded by Marriott Bonvoy in your Marriott Bonvoy account up to 7 days after your transfer is complete.

Singapore Airlines has released its latest Spontaneous Escapes, offering 30% off Saver award rates on select routes for October 2026 travel. Unfortunately, there are only two discounted fares involving North America this month: Singapore to Seattle for 30,800 miles in economy and Singapore to New York for 59,150 miles in premium economy. Book by September 30, 2026 for travel between October 1 and October 31. Keep in mind that Spontaneous Escapes awards cannot be changed or canceled, so confirm availability and your travel plans before transferring points or booking.

Wyndham's new award pricing is now live, and thanks to an analysis by Upgraded Points, we have a much better idea of how the changes affect its 8,000+ hotels. About 34% of Wyndham properties increased in price, 22% got cheaper, and 44% stayed the same. The biggest increase came to the old 15,000-point tier, with more than 2,000 hotels doubling in price to 30,000 points. Another 62 hotels increased from 30,000 to the new 45,000-point tier, and two jumped directly from 15,000 to 45,000 points. While this is certainly still a devaluation, there is some good news as well. A total of 1,337 hotels dropped from 7,500 to the new low 5,000-point tier, another 440 dropped from 15,000 to 5,000, and 58 former 30,000-point properties dropped to either 15,000 or 5,000 points. Existing reservations are protected from increases, while Wyndham says members with existing reservations at properties that became cheaper will automatically receive a refund of the points difference. If you hold a Wyndham credit card, you receive discounts ranging from 10%-25% off the points price. The Wyndham Rewards Earner Premier card offers the full 25% discount, reducing award nights to as little as 3,750 points at the low end and 33,750 points at the new 45,000-point tier.

We have seen multiple reports of Amex Membership Rewards transfers to ANA not arriving at all, even well beyond the normal 2-4 day processing time. Amex and ANA representatives have not always been able to resolve the issue, and there is conflicting information about when the problem began, with some reports pointing to early September while Amex has reportedly said issues were occurring throughout August. Some transfers are still posting normally, so this does not appear to be a systemwide failure, but there is enough evidence that we would be cautious about transferring points to ANA right now for a time-sensitive award. If you do transfer, take screenshots throughout the process and keep records of the transaction in case you need to escalate with Amex or ANA. We'll update this story as more information becomes available.

October 7, 2026 update: Southwest has brought back its up-to-40%-off sale. Book by October 8 for select travel between October 26, 2026 and March 3, 2027. The discount applies automatically to both cash and award fares, with no promo code required. Blackout dates apply around Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and several holiday weekends. If you already have Southwest travel booked, it’s worth checking the current price and repricing or rebooking if the fare has dropped.

Southwest is offering up to 40% off select flights when you book by September 17, 2026, for travel between October 5, 2026 and March 3, 2027. The discount is applied automatically to both cash and points fares, with no promo code required. There are no clear parameters around which flights are on sale and which aren't, so you'll just have to search the route you're interested in. If you're planning a trip and may fly Southwest, it's certainly worth checking to see if your route is discounted. More importantly, if you already have an eligible Southwest flight booked, it's definitely worth checking the current price to see if it's cheaper than what you originally booked. If you booked Choice or above, those fares can be changed without a fee. Even if you booked a Basic fare, which cannot be changed, you can cancel and rebook if the new fare is cheaper.