Breaking Points: Credit Card News

The American Airlines Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card is now offering 80,000 miles after spending $3,500 in 3 months. That’s up 20,000 miles over the previous offer of 65,000 miles, but it also requires an additional $2,500 in spending. This is a good offer, but it has had several elevated offers over the past year with the same number of miles after only $1,000 in purchases.

Southwest is offering up to 40% off base fares on select flights between August 31, 2026 and March 3, 2027 when booked by August 13. The discount is automatically applied to eligible cash and points bookings, but only select flights and dates qualify. If you already have a Southwest flight booked during the promotional period, check to see if the price has dropped. Choice fares and higher can be repriced through the “View/Change Flight” option. Basic fares cannot be changed, so you’ll need to search for the new price separately and, if it makes sense, cancel and rebook. Award bookings are especially easy to rebook since your points are redeposited when you cancel.

World of Hyatt has extended its promotion offering 3,000 bonus points on qualifying stays of three or more nights at participating Hyatt Place and Hyatt Select hotels in the Americas through September 30, 2026. You must register here and complete your stay by the deadline. The promotion is capped at 30,000 bonus points and is valid at participating properties in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, and Latin America. You can also stack it with Hyatt's separate promotion offering 2,000 bonus points for every two eligible nights beginning with your second stay, although that offer ends September 7.

Avios.com has added a handy calendar search function that lets you search a full month of award availability on British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. That's a welcome improvement over searching a few days or a week at a time directly through the airline sites, but there are some limitations. The tool currently only searches nonstop flights, although Avios says connecting flights will be added soon. You also can't book directly through Avios.com, and the results don't display taxes and fees, which can be significant, particularly on British Airways awards. You'll still need to click through to the airline's website to see the full cost and book.

Accor elite status can unlock valuable airline status with both Kenya Airways and Qatar Airways, which can then give you valuable perks on Skyteam and oneworld partners. If you are an Accor Gold member, you can pay $299 to match to Kenya Airways Platinum for 12 months. This will give you SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits like free checked bags, priority services, preferred seating, and lounge access on eligible international SkyTeam trips (you won't get Delta SkyClub access on domestic flights). Accor Platinum members can link their account with Qatar Airways, complete one eligible paid Qatar flight and match to Qatar Gold. Qatar Gold includes oneworld Sapphire status and access to lounges such as American Admirals Clubs, Flagship Lounges, and Alaska Lounges, even when flying domestically. If you recently took advantage of Bilt's August Rent Day promotion to obtain Accor Gold or Platinum status, then this will be even easier and cheaper for you. The one thing to look out for is that a Qatar match has a limited annual enrollment cap, so availability is not guaranteed. Be sure to research this before going the Qatar route as you may have to wait until 2027 for it to reset.