Breaking Points: Credit Card News

Scandinavian Airlines is offering a 30% discount on award flights, bringing business class pricing between the U.S. and Europe down to 42,000 points one-way. Premium economy drops to 31,500 points and economy to 21,000, with children receiving an additional 50% discount. Business class availability is limited on outbound flights to Europe, though return flights and economy flights are widely available. Rove is currently the only major transfer partner, which further limits access. Taxes are low at $5.60 to Europe but around $90 on the return. Book by April 19 for travel through May 31. Full promotion details are available on SAS’s website.

Wells Fargo has added Wyndham Rewards as a new transfer partner. While neither program is especially strong on its own, the 1:2 transfer ratio makes this a notable addition. Wyndham is also a partner of Citi, Chase, Bilt, and Capital One, but those programs transfer at 1:1, giving Wells Fargo a clear advantage. Wells Fargo also transfers to Choice Privileges at 1:2, and with Citi’s upcoming devaluation to 1:1.5, Wells Fargo now offers the best transfer ratio to both programs.

Capital One has rebranded the Spark Miles card as the Venture Business card and the Spark Miles Select as the VentureOne Business card. The “new” Venture Business card is offering 75,000 miles after spending $7,500 in 3 months, plus an additional 75,000 miles after $30,000 in total spend within 6 months. The annual fee of $95 is no longer waived in the first year, but it adds two $50 annual credits, one for the Capital One Business Travel portal and one for advertising and software purchases. The VentureOne Business card remains unchanged, with the same 50,000-mile bonus after $4,500 in spending in 3 months, and otherwise similar benefits.

Virgin Atlantic has quietly raised surcharges on many award flights for the second time in less than a year, particularly on routes to Europe. While you can still find economy awards from the East Coast to London for as low as 6,000 miles, taxes and fees are now around $164, up from about $75 a year ago. Premium cabin fees have also climbed, with business class awards now carrying roughly $700 in surcharges. While Virgin still offers some of the lowest mileage rates, you’ll need to weigh whether the added fees are worth it, especially when alternatives like 19,000 American miles or 23,000 Delta miles come with less than $6 in taxes.

Amex is targeting some users with a 200,000-point welcome offer on the Business Platinum card after $20,000 in spending within the first 3 months. While this isn’t as high as the 300K offers we’ve seen, it includes no lifetime language (NLL), meaning you may be eligible even if you currently have or previously held the card.

This offer is targeted, so you’ll need to click this link and log in to your Amex account to see if it’s available to you.