2026 Hyatt Changes

About three months ago, Hyatt announced a fundamental change to their standard award chart. The changes and an overall Hyatt Overview (why do people love Hyatt?!) can be found here.

We are a week out from when the "new" award chart goes into effect: May 20th, 2026. I've received a few questions about the impending changes that seem worth compiling here.

2026 Hyatt Changes

Why is this a big deal?

The general jist of the change in award chart points pricing is that Hyatt is going to be able to charge significantly more points and/or a wider range of points for the same hotel. The previous standard award chart only had 3 rate options for points (Off-Peak, Standard, Peak) without too large of a sway between them. The new award has 5-pricing tiers with a huge sway in the points price.

For example, if you want to travel between the winter holidays, one could assume that would be consider peak rates.

With the "old" award chart a Category 6 hotel like Hyatt Regency Maui would cost you 29,000 points per night (at most). With the "new" award chart, the same hotel for the same "peak" dates will cost 40,000 points per night after 5/20.

This may be somewhat tolerable; but look at the Category 8 pricing. Grand Hyatt Kauai is a Category 8 hotel that currently costs 45,000 points per night for peak and will jump up to 75,000 points per night after 5/20! OUCH!

2025 Award Chart

2026 Award Chart

What Should I Do?

After 5/19, we really will be at the mercy of Hyatt. You will either need to earn more points, travel less, book lower category hotels, or change your travel plans to travel at less peak times (which, as a mom of 2 which kids in school; can be hard to do!).

Book Now: Since Hyatt generally (currently) releases award availability 13 months in advance*, most Hyatt Hotels calendars are open into June 2027. If you have points or even are contemplating a trip in the next year - I would book in now. 

*Note: Hyatt has said they will be changing how the release availability dates. Those with Explorist or Globalist Status or who hold a Hyatt credit card will be able to book 13 months in advance, but those who don't, will only be given a 12month in advance window. Essentially, incentivizing you to get status or a credit card.

What if I Book Now and Plans Change?

Pay attention to the cancellation policy; but more than likely if you book a trip now and can't make it happen, you can cancel and get your points back.

Be careful - if you book a reservation before 5/20; and need to modify after 5/20, you are at jeopardy that you will likely be required to pay the points differential to the "new" award chart.

What if I Book Now and Price Goes Down?

If you book a Hyatt reservation at one price and the annual changes lead to a drop in that price, historically Hyatt had automatically credited your account for the points difference/drop. It remains to be seen if that will still be the case. (Although if you see this happen to your reservations, you could always cancel yourself and rebook for less)

What if I Want to Apply an Award?

For those of us who have reservations booked for stays after 5/19 and have a Hyatt award we want to utilize (see my Hyatt post for more details on Hyatt awards); your safest bet is to apply the award now, before 5/20.

This is the same advice that was given in past years, but Hyatt seems to have been flexible in the past, that if you had a reservation and the point price increased with the annual changes AFTER you had already booked, if you applied the award after the price increase - there was a chance that you'd have to pay the higher point level. However, having used several GOH awards, I've not run into this issue yet...

...but it doesnt like it may be more strictly implemented now!

Summary

Hyatt's standard award chart and Guest of Honor awards are my favorite reason to keep booking Hyatts. Keep in mind, Chase and Bilt are the only Hyatt transfer partners, which is why I try to save those points for Hyatt and use my other bank stashes to book flights!

I'm curious to see just how "bad" these changes actually are once they go into effect. But, I won't like - a week out and I'm debating scrambling to book a few "just so we have the option" trips for the next year. What Hyatts are you booking?!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know my suggestions.

Wondering how I keep all of this information organized? Check out my Points Tracker!

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

May 2026 Transfer Bonuses

 What is a Transfer Bonus?

Essentially - it's free points or miles!

Transfer bonuses are a limited time promotion where bank/partner programs will offer extra points to transfer your flexible bank points to a specific hotel or loyalty program. Banks frequently (sometimes monthly, sometimes sporadically) announce transfer bonuses, which means if you transfer points from the bank to the partner with the bonus, you’ll get more points for free with that partner, just for transferring! 

In order to take advantage of these bonuses, you need to transfer your flexible bank points to the travel partner with the bonus. Not familiar with how to transfer points or which hotels/airlines partner with which banks? You can learn how to transfer points here, Chase Transfer Partners here, American Express transfer partners here and Capital One's here. 

Keep in mind.. once you transfer points, you cannot transfer them back to your bank. They are then "stuck" in whichever airline/hotel partner you transferred to. Transfers from banks to airline or hotel partners are irreversible.

It is NOT recommended to transfer points from a bank to a travel partner, just because there's a bonus. It's generally best to keep your points flexible until you're ready to book travel, at which point you then transfer out of the bank.

Current Transfer Bonuses

(As of 5/12/2026; these are subject to change/additional bonuses added)

American Express 

• Hilton: 20% bonus through 5/30/2026. 
• Note that Amex standard transfer ratio is 1 Amex point equals 2 Hilton points! So when you transfer 1,000 Amex points with this transfer bonus, they become 2,400 Hilton points! (and if you have Hilton Gold Status, which you can get by having an Amex Personal Platinum or Business Platinum card; when booking 4 consecutive nights on points, you get the 5th night free!). This is a GREAT transfer points to take advantage of!

Capital One

• Qantas: 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 31st, 2026 
• Don't want or need to fly Qantas? Maybe you've never even heart of them! (Australian Airline) Keep in mind Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same alliance, such as American Airlines or British Airways, even for domestic flights!

Chase

• Flying Blue (Air France and KLM): 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 27th, 2026

• Don't want or need to fly Air France or KLM? Not going to Europe soon? Keep in mind that Flying Blue is part of an Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same alliance, such as Delta, even for domestic flights!
• For example, you can fly Delta one-way from Denver to Minneapolis this summer and fall for just 9,000 miles booked with Air France (and this is before the transfer bonus!)

That's less miles than booking direct on Delta - for the same exact flight. 

(This is why Airline Alliances can be so powerful!)

 

• Marriott Hotels: 75% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 27th, 2026

How Many Points to Transfer

To figure out how many points you NEED to transfer, you take the amount of points needs to book your flight/hotel and divide that number by the transfer bonus (in numerical form, the percent plus 1).

So say you want to book a 50,000 point flight and there's a 20% transfer bonus. You would calculate 50,000 / (1.2) to figure out how many points you need to actually transfer. In this case, it calculates out to 41,667 points.

Most programs require you transfer points in 1,000 point increments, which means for our example, with a 20% transfer bonus, you'd transfer 42,000 points to book your 50,000 point travel.

Or save your brain cells and some points - use my free Transfer Bonus Calculator! Find all of the current transfer bonuses and calculator linked here.

Air Canada (and its tie to United)

I've mentioned Airline Alliances a few times on the blog. This post provides a deep dive on what they are and why you want to use them.

One of the most common airlines in airline alliances is Air Canada. Why? Because Air Canada is in Star Alliance and 3 major banks transfer points to Air Canada: American Express, Capital One, and Chase

Ummm, okay? Why does this matter? United is also in Star Alliance and a LOT of people love flying United. BUT - the only bank that transfers directly to United is Chase...and a lot of people save their Chase points to transfer to Hyatt. 

No idea what I'm talking about? Lets back up to How to Transfer Points (and Why) as well as Bank Transfer Partners: American Express, Capital One, and Chase

Are you still with me or have I made your head spin? Read on to learn more about Air Canada!

Air Canada Point Redemptions

First and foremost, I'm writing this post on 4/29/2026, but Air Canada announced earlier this week that effective June 2026, they will be raising their points pricing.

The pricing changes may alter how relevant this example is in the future, but it's still a great example to illustrate a benefit of using airline alliances and why.

Air Canada/United Booking Example

Earlier this week I had a friend reach out to ask for help with booking a last minute flight to attend a funeral in New York. 

Being in Denver, a United Hub, she had found a United flight that she wanted to book, but that was nearly $1,000!

She only has Chase points, so we priced the same flight out on United, booking with miles. A total of 30,000 miles roundtrip as a non-United cardholder 

(PS- United cardholders now get at least 10% off all flights! So this flight would have cost 27,000 miles. Learn more about United cards here)

30,000 miles for a roundtrip flight that would cost $947 is pretty good! Especially not to have to spend an unforeseen $1K out of pocket to attend a funeral... See how the United points show that these are "Saver Award" flights? That means there's a chance that airline alliance partners (like Air Canada) could have the United same flight bookable through Air Canada.

We searched, and low and behold, the same exact United flights were available on Air Canada's website for the same price of 30,000 points (although you will see that taxes and fees differ).

In this case, United and Air Canada are charging the same amount of points for the same flight (but Air Canada's fees are higher); but if I wanted to save my Chase points and use Capital One or American Express points instead - that's an option. (or if I had some points from one bank that I wanted to use and then "top off" with points from another bank!

BUT, we could do a little bit better because I remembered Chase is having a 20% Transfer Bonus to Air Canada. Using my Transfer Bonus Calculator, we plug in the needed 30,000 points, a 20% bonus, and a 1:1 ratio to learn that we only need 25,000 Chase points transferred to Air Canada to book this 30,000 point flight!

It's worth noting that there are 2 major considerations when specifically booking United flights through Air Canada:

• Taxes and Fees are higher. United charges the standard $5.60 one-way for domestic flights, whereas Air Canada is a bit higher (but the trade off is, you're saving points. So you'd have to decide where you find more value: saving cash or saving points)
• Cancellation Policy. United lets you cancel points flights for free and immediately redeposits the points so that you could book something else. Air Canada charges a hefty $150 cancellation fee if it's been more than 24 hours since your made your booking. (I generally only book flights on Air Canada that I know I am going to take! or if I need to cancel/change, I hope for a flight time change to give me the ability to decline accepting the changes).

American Express Business Platinum

I know, it's ANOTHER high spend business card and in a short amount of time. Plus a high annual fee.

BUT - hear me out! I think it's worth if you can hit the spend and are offered 300,000 points!  Let's talk about the details and current offer for American Express Platinum Business.

American Express Business Platinum

Annual Fee: $895 (Ouch! I know! More below)

Current (Elevated) Sign up Offer: Spend $20,000 in 3 months, earn up to 300,000 points*

Referral Link: Thank you for your support!

Getting the Best Offer: Amex is weird with sign up bonuses! *Notice how the offer says "up to"? Not everyone is going to be offered 300,000 for this card. The bonus offer can and will vary. The same link may produce a one offer on your phone and a different amount of points offered on your computer. 

The good thing is: your credit IS NOT pulled, until you accept your offer! So you can apply, receive your offer and then decide if you want to accept or not.

For this particular card, I would only accept 250,000 points or more.

Once you accept the offer, then your credit is pulled. BUT - the other good things with Amex, is that if you already have Amex cards, your future card applications are typically a soft credit pull (not a hard pull!)

It's always best to check the link in a few different browser and devices (clear your cookies, incognito mode, on your phone), before you apply and accept - to ensure that you're getting the highest offer).

If you get a low offer; clear your cookies, wait 24 hours, and apply again.

5/24 Status: This is not a personal card, it's a business card! Therefore, it won't take one of your 5/24 spots. (If you're not familiar with what 5/24 Rule is, visit this post New to Points, Rule 2)

Why "We" Got This Card:

1. $20,000 is A LOT of money, especially in 3 months. But 300,000 points is A LOT of points! Since we have the spend, it was worth it to get this nice chunk of points! I like to use my Amex Points for flights (booked by transferring to Airline Partners) and to Hilton (which transfer from Amex at a 1:2 ratio, which means your points DOUBLE when you move them to Hilton! Learn more about hotel sweet spots in this post.)

2. Rakuten: aka an online shopping portal where you earn Amex Membership Rewards points instead of cash back. Those points can really add up. In August I received 65,000 MRs from my quarterly Rakuten earnings and used those to book a 70K point one-way business class flight to Europe (with a cash value of $4,700). If you aren't familiar with shopping portals and/or Rakuten, this post will tell me you and also show you how to select points instead of cash back.

Off-Setting the Annual Fee

The signup offer is enticing enough for me to be willing to open the Business Platinum alone. However, the benefits of this card can help offset the hefty $895 annual.

Common-Use Card Benefits:

• $600 annual hotel credit: provided as 2 $300 bi-annual (Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec) credits. You need to book a pre-paid Fine Hotel+Resort or Hotel Collection stay in the Amex Portal during these time frames, but do not have to stay during the time period, in order to get the credit. For example, it's April at the time of writing this post. I could use my $300 hotel credit to book a Fine Hotel+Resorts stay for October of this year! (Learn how I used this benefit in the past here!)

• $150 Dell Statement Credits: enrollment required. Then use card to make a purchase direct with Dell and receive a statement credit.

• Airport Lounge Access: global access to Centurion Lounges and Priority Pass Lounges (This is nice for us because DEN has a Centurion Lounge in the same terminal that Southwest flies from. I hold the personal Platinum card and have lounge access, so now Ben and I could both enter for free. However, we would have to paid for the kids)

• 35% Airline Bonus: Purchase a flight in Amex Travel with points and get 35% points back. Airline Selection Required.

• Hilton Gold Status: This gives you 5th night free when you book 5 consecutive nights on points! Enrollment required (we used this for Costa Rica! This benefit in itself saved us over $500!)

• $200 Hilton Statement Credit: Provided as quarterly $50 Hilton purchases (gift cards are not eligible). Some Hiltons you can use this in the gift shop or coffee shop; you dont need to be staying at a Hilton to use this. Enrollment required.

• Marriott Gold Status:  Enrollment required 

Long-Term Plan

Is this a keeper card for us? No. I already plan to close or downgrade this card after it's been open for 12months so that I don't pay the annual fee again.

I personally find more use out of my Personal Platinum and it's benefits. Learn more here

But I wanted to share this to remind you - when you open a credit card, it's not a marriage! You don't have to keep cards you're not gaining value from (as long as it's been opened for at least 12 months!)

Summary

While this isnt a forever card, it's an amazing sign up bonus and I'm glad we can take advantage to stockpile more Amex Membership Rewards.

If you're on the fence if you could hit the high spend of $20k in 3 months or if you want to pay the $895 annual fee; the Gold Business Card is another great offer with a lower spend ($15k in 3months) and lower annual fee ($375). I actually think the Gold Business annual fee is MUCH easier to offset, because you get $20/mo flex spending. When I held the card in the past, I would purchase a $20 gift card monthly at my local office store and that's $240 "off" of that $375 fee!

If you want to open any of the cards I refer to, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance! You can find referrals for Amex Business Platinum or Business Gold here.

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit. If you're interested in business cards, but want more information, as well as directions how to apply for them; read here!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

United Elevated Offers

United is making a huge push for credit cardholders! Starting in April, United will offer a minimum of 10% savings in all flights purchased (cash and points) AND expanded award availability for cardholders. If you live in a United hub, or know you'll be flying United in the next 12 months, I would take advantage of a United card sign up bonus now.

There are two current offers to highlight that I think are worth considering:

United Mileage Plus Card

Current (elevated) sign up bonus: Earn 70,000 points by spending $3,000 within 3 months of opening the card. (Referral Link)

Annual Fee: $0 the first year! 

Then $150 after (as a reminder, after holding a card for 12 months, you can choose to close or downgrade it. You could open this card, use it for 12 months, and once that $150 fee hits the second year, you could close the card within 30 days of the fee hitting and have the fee reimbursed

5/24: This IS a personal card, so it will take up one of your 5/24 spots. (Don't know what 5/24 is? Review Item 2 here!)

Benefits Highlights:

• Free checked bag for you + one, on every single flight (To be honest, I usually save my cash and book a Basic seat, then with this benefit, I check my bag for free!)
• Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit: simply use this card to pay for your application fee and you'll receive a credit statement
• 2 United Club passes (yearly)
• Priority Boarding
• Cardmember pricing discounts: starting in April, a minimum discount of 10%

On top of these, you also benefit from:

• Earn 7x points on all United flights
• Earn 2x points on inflight food and beverage
• No foreign transaction fees 
• $10/mo Instacart credit (when you pay with this card) + a 3 months Instacart+ Membership
• 2 $50 Hotel Credits, when you book and prepay for a hotel through United Hotels
• $5/mo rideshare credit
• Insurances such as lost luggage, trip delay, baggage delay, extended warranty, auto rental, and trip cancellation and interruption

My Take: I have this United Explorer card and it's actually one of my older cards! In the past I've kept in because if we fly one roundtrip flight, getting 2 free checked bags each way, covers the cost of the annual fee! Now with the "Cardmember" pricing and discount, it's definitely a keeper for me, living in a United hub.

Referral Link: Using one of my referral links is free for you, but provides me a small kick back of points and helps keep this small business running! Thank you!

United MileagePlus Business Card

Current (elevated) sign up bonus: Earn 100,00 points + 2000 PQP by spending $5,000 within 3 months of opening the card (Referral Link)

Annual Fee: $150

5/24: This  a business card and does not count against your 5/24. (Don't know what 5/24 is? Review Item 2 here!)

Benefits Highlights:

• Free checked bag for you + one, on every single flight (To be honest, I usually save my cash and book a Basic seat, then with this benefit, I check my bag for free!)
• $125 Travel Bank <this is like a $125 United giftcard! You can use this to purchase cash flights, upgrades, baggage, seats, etc. This benefit itself basically pays for the cards annual fee!
• 2 United Club passes (yearly)
• Priority Boarding
• Cardmember pricing discounts: starting in April, a minimum discount of 10%

On top of these, you also benefit from:

• Earn 7x points on all United flights
• Earn 2x points on inflight food and beverage
• Earn 2x points on all dining
• Earn 2x points at gas stations, office supply stores and local transit
• 25% back for United inflight food/beverage/wifi
• No foreign transaction fees 
• Complimentary Premier upgrades on award tickets

My Take: this business offer is GOOD! I'm currently contemplating if my P2 or I should try to grab this, even though we're still working on our Chase Sapphire Reserve Business minimum spend!

Referral Link: Using one of my referral links is free for you, but provides me a small kick back of points and helps keep this small business running! Thank you!

Summary

If you're looking for United miles to have on hand, look no farther than these elevated offers. I personally would consider the Business offer first (learn more if you could actually qualify for business cards and how to apply here!), but the personal card offer is enticing too!

If you want to open either of these cards card, I would truly appreciate if you use my referral links (Personal Card or Business Card). This doesn't cost you a cent, but provided me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

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Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

American Express Platinum (Personal)

It's no secret that the Amex Gold Personal card is one of my top 3 recommended cards (reasons why here and all 3 favs listed here). However, it's big sister card, the Platinum (both personal and business) got a big makeover as of September 18th, 2025. (It looks like Amex is taking a similar approach to Chase with it's Sapphire Reserve makeover).

Take a depth breathe, because the already high $695 annual fee for the personal Platinum card, just got higher - jumping to a whopping $895 per year. Let's talk through the card and it's benefits in this post to determine if it's the right card for your wallet.

American Express Platinum (personal)

Annual Fee: $895

Current  Sign up Offer: Spend $12,000 in 6 months, earn up to 170,000 points*

Referral Link

Note the 6-month minimum spend on the personal cards instead of the usual 3-month duration! I know this really helps out low spenders.

*Amex is weird with sign up bonuses. The same link may produce a 75K offer on your phone and 100K offer on your computer. It's always best to check the link in a few different browser and devices (clear your cookies, incognito mode, on your phone), before you apply and accept - to ensure that you're getting the highest offer)

5/24 Status: This IS a personal card, therefore it will take one of your 5/24 spots. (If you're not familiar with what 5/24 Rule is, visit this post New to Points, Rule 2)

Why I Got This Card

1. The high sign up bonus and extended 6-month spend is one of the best across all flexible points banks. It's hard to beat! 

2. Rakuten: aka an online shopping portal where you earn Amex Membership Rewards points instead of cash back. Those points can really add up. In August I received 65,000 MRs from my quarterly Rakuten earnings and used those to book a 70K point one-way business class flight to Europe (with a cash value of $4,700). If you aren't familiar with shopping portals and/or Rakuten, this post will tell me you and also show you how to select points instead of cash back.

3. Honestly, I initially opened this card strategically for the sign up bonus and to get automatic Hilton status so that I could book a Hilton Property on points (transferring from Amex to Hilton at a 1 to 2 ratio) AND with Hilton status, I could pay for 4 nights with points and get the 5th night free for our Costa Rica trip... but now that the new annual fee and benefits rolled out, I think this card may be a keeper (or I'll have P2 get it after he gets the gold!)

So let's jump into the benefits!

Off-Setting the Annual $895 Fee

The signup offer and the benefits of this card can make it easy to offset the $895 annual, depending which of these you use. 

Travel-Related Benefits

$200 Airline Fee Credit: While you can't use this benefit to directly purchases flights; you can this use this benefit to cover incidentals like seat selections and/or baggage fee. However, you can also use this credit with some airlines to purchase airline credit, which you can you can use then towards cash flights.

How I used this Benefit: In my Platinum Benefits page, I selected United as my associated airline. I then went to United TravelBank and used my Platinum card to make 2 ($100) TravelBank           deposits. On my credit card statement, the charges came through and then the statement credit            appeared within a few days.

Note: As of 2/4/206, the Travel Bank hack doesn't seem to be working; but you can still use this benefit to pay for checked bags and select seats!

Value I receive from this Benefit: $200 

American Express Centurion Airport Lounge Access and Priority Pass Select Membership: To be honest, even though Denver has a Centurion, I still haven't used this benefit! I know! But I'm generally travelling with someone else and the guest benefit is essentially non-existent (or not worth the guest fee of $50 when I have other free lounges available.

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $50 I have utilized Priority Pass lounges and this benefits. Although f PP Lounges are better international!

$209 Clear Credit: Use your Platinum card to pay for your Clear membership and receive a statement credit each calendar year.

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $0 I haven't utilized this benefit. I probably         should, but again, the majority of the time I've traveling with others who only have TSA                        Precheck. But - really this is a no brainer that I need to take advantage of!

$600 Hotel Credit: Use AmexTravel to book a Fine Hotel Resort or Hotel Collection booking and receive a $300 statement credit, twice a year (Jan-June and Jul-Dec). Note - the reservation only needs to be made during this time frame and paid up front, charging the Platinum card, for the credit to be issued. You don't have to stay during these time periods.

These hotels are often more expensive, so sometimes the $300 don't go very far, but if you can find a lower cost stay (using websites like MaxmyFHR) it can be well worth it! Note the Fine Hotel Resorts allow a one-night stay, but the Hotel Collection requires a 2-night minimum  booking.

The really nice thing about Fine Hotel Resorts is that you get an elevated stay! These bookings include free Daily Breakfast for 2, $100 Resort Credit (per stay) which can be used for resort experiences like the Spa or Restaurant/Bar/Room Service. You also receive guaranteed 4pm check out, and noon checkout (when available). You may also receive a complimentary upgrade!

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $657 - This benefit updated 9/18/25 and I sadly didn't use the previous $200 available in Jan-June. However, I'm pretty impressed that with one night stay I'm able to find this much value! (Granted the hotel I'm using this at this charges a $60/nt resort fee and $55/nt parking; but it's well worth it!)

Automatic Hotel Status: By holding the personal Platinum card you receive Marriott Silver Status and Hilton Gold Status. Enrollment required. Hilton Gold status allows you to receive 5th night free and free breakfast for two at select hotels.

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $500 - I utilized Hilton 5th night free for Tabacon Resort, which was a cash value savings of $500!

Global Entry or TSA Precheck: Receive up to $120 statement credit every 4 years Global Entry (which includes TSA PreCheck) or $85 credit every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck; when you pay your application fee with your Platinum Card

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $0 - Myself and my entire family have Global Entry (and PreCheck) from other credit card benefits

Rental Car Status: By holding the personal Platinum card and enrolling in Hertz, Avis, or National loyalty program - you can receive premium status for rental parks and updates.

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $0 - I utilize this benefit already from other credit card benefits

Dining Benefits

$20/mo Uber or Uber Eats Credit:  Assign your platinum as your form of payment for Uber and receive $20/mo credit in the Uber app - which can be used on rides or food!

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $160 - We utilize this benefit almost monthly. We've missed one month to date~

$120 UberOne Credit:  Use your Platinum to purchase an auto-renewing year long UberOne membership and receive a statement credit every calendar year. UberOne gives free delivery for UberEats and also discounts

Estimated Value I receive from this Benefit (to date): $0 - I need to set this up! My P2 has been paying $7.99 a month for UberOne (Grrrr!)

Summary

There's a lot of ground to cover with Amex Platinum, but that's what makes the high annual high justifiable! In fact, my annual fee just hit on this card and I'm keeping it because I find more than enough value for the fee I pay.

If you want to open this card, or any of the cards I post about, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit.

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

Finding and Booking Hotels

My last post focused on how to search for flights to use your points ((read here) and this post, as the title suggests, focuses on hotels; includes which hotels chains you can book on points, some hidden fees, and some advantages.

I know hotels are not a priority for some and I can appreciate that. For years, we were a short-term rental family too. But now that my kids are a little older and we can all go to bed at the same time; hotels also can have their conveniences.

Finding and Booking Hotels

Let's start off by reviewing transfer partners. Not always, but often times, you will be able to use less points/get more value out of your points, by transferring flexible points from the bank to specific travel partners (hotels and airlines). If you don't know how to transfer points, you'll want to take a look at this post.

Each bank has their own set of partners, some which overlap and some that are interdependent to only one bank (which is just another reason to diversify your points across different banks!).

Chase Hotel Partners

• Hyatt
• IHG
• Marriott
• Wyndham

Capital One Hotel Partners

• Accor (2:1 ratio)*
• Choice Privileges
• Preferred (IPrefer) (1:2 ratio)*
• Wyndham

American Express Hotel Partners

• Choice Privileges
• Hilton (1:2 ratio)*
• Marriott

Of all the hotel partners, Hyatt has been a long time sweet spot. This is because historically Hyatt has had a 3-tier standard award chart - meaning the amount of points it costs to stay at a Hyatt are fixed, The amount of points is not tied to the cash price. Hyatt point cost depends on what Category (Luxury) Level the hotel is (Levels 1-8 or A-F for All Inclusives) and what time of year you're traveling: Off Peak, Standard, or Peak. In February 2026, Hyatt announced changes to it's award chart that expand the 3-tier points costs to 5-tier. You can read more about the award chart changes and Hyatt specific tips and tricks here.

A major downfall for Hyatt is that it has a smaller footprint (less hotels) not only in the US, but internationally.

Unlike Hyatt, most of the other award partners use what's called dynamic point pricing; which means that the point price to book a stay will vary, depending on the cash price. Because of this, most other hotels, when booked on points, cost a significant amount of points more during peak travel times (and in general, compared to Hyatt).

However, there are still opportunities to find some great non-Hyatt stays! Let's go through some hotel booking tips and tricks

Hotel Booking Sweet Spots

Transfer Ratio

If you scroll up to the list of hotel transfer partners, you'll see an asterisk (*) on some. This is because these hotels don't transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

Both, American Express to Hilton and Capital One to Preferred Hotels, transfer at a 1 to 2 ratio; meaning you DOUBLE your points when you move them to from either of these banks to the corresponding hotel.

Amex to Hilton, 1:2 transfer

Book # Number of Nights, Get a Free Night

This is another fav sweet spot to be aware. Unlike Hyatt, other hotel chains will offer a free night if you book 3 or 4 nights on one reservation, under certain criteria.

• Hilton 5th Night Free: If you have Hilton Silver Status Silver (earned by staying 10 nights, 4 stays, or spending $2,500 in a year on a Hilton card) , then you can get 5th night free on award stays!

• One of my favorite ways to utilize 5th night free is by holding the American Express Platinum Card. With this card, you will earn a hefty sign up bonus (here's my post on "Good" sign up offers) AND this card also comes with Hilton Gold Status.

• I used these benefits when I booked Tabacon Resort in Costa Rica. Booking on Hilton, the hotel was 80,000 points per night; so 80,000 * 5 nights, would have cost me 400,000 Hilton points. Because I was transferring Amex points and got the 5th night of my stay free (thanks to my Amex Platinum), then I needed 80,000 * 4 nights, 320,000 Hilton points. Because of the 1:2 transfer ratio, I needed only 160,000 Amex points (to book a 5 night stay that would have cost 400,000 Hilton points!)

• I know the high Amex Platinum Fee scares a lot of people, but this one example of utilizing just one Platinum Card benefit, saved me over $500 (compared to having to pay for the 5th night of our stay); not to mention all of the other "easy" benefits this card now has like, $300/yr Lululemon, $300/yr streaming credit (pays for our Disney/HBO!), and $400/yr Resy credit.

• IHG 4th Night Free If you hold the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG One Rewards Traveler Card, or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Card, then when you book 4 consecutive nights with points at an IHG property, you would pay 0 points for the 4th night. If you want a bit of a longer stay, you could book an 8 night trip and pay 0 points for nights 4 and 8!

• Marriot 5th Night Free All Marriott Bonvoy members automatically will receive the benefit of 5th night free, when using points to book five consecutive nights, under one reservation.

Free Breakfast

That's right, some hotels include free breakfast - which can be a huge cost savings!

• Hyatt Place: most Hyatt Place hotels include free breakfasts and several we're stayed at have more than just cereal and prepackaged muffins! (Note: some Hyatt Places are transitioning to needing Hyatt Discovery Status (10 nights) or higher, to qualify for free breakfast)

• Hyatt (with Status): Similar to Marriott, if you have top tier Hyatt status (Globalist) OR if you have "temporary" Globalist status (which is to say, you've been gifted a Guest of Honor), then you are eligible for free breakfast/food/beverage credit for up to 2 adults and 2 children. My Hyatt post mentions how I obtain Guest of Honor (GOH) awards.

• Hilton: With Gold Status or above (easily achieved by opening a Hilton card or American Express Platinum card), you qualify for Daily Food and Beverage Credit or Continental Breakfast (varies by brand and region)

• Marriott (with Status): With Marriott Platinum, Titanium or Ambassador status, guests will received $100 breakfast credit if continental breakfast isn't available; at select Marriott Brand Hotels (JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, Delta Hotels, Autograph Collection, and Renaissance Hotels)

Family-Discount

Have a larger family or traveling internationally where room occupancy limits require you to book more than one hotel room? Select Hyatt properties offer family pricing discounts; when you book one room (on points or cash), you can add a second room at half off the standard room rate; but you must pay in cash! To take advantage of this offer, directly contact the hotel you want to book or World of Hyatt and ask for the "Hyatt Family Plan Rate". Not all Hyatt properties offer this discount.

Premium Card Benefits

In the past year, many of the major bank "premium" credit cards now come with hotel booking benefits in the bank's travel portal. Remember how I said we almost "always" want to transfer points from the bank to hotels to book directly? This is the exception.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve/Reserve Business both come with:
• Qty (2) - $250 "Edit" Credits a year: To utilize this credit, search in the Chase Travel Portal for hotels labeled "Edit" for a 2 night stay or longer. You can only use one credit at a time (they do not stack for $500 off). Using this credit not only will give you a $250 statement credit, but also gives you benefits during your stay like guaranteed late check out, possible room upgrades, breakfast for 2 and $100 resort credit (usually available to use at hotel spa, restaurants, and even parking fees). You can combine use of cash and points.
• Qty (1) - $250 Select Hotel Credit: This was added in 2026 and is a credit for select Chase Hotels booked in the portal. This credit DOES stack with the Edit Credit. If you're booking a 2-night stay or more, if your selected hotel is an Edit hotel and one of the brands that call under this category, you'll receive a total of a $500 statement credit!

• American Express Platinum Card

Summary

This post really was intended to cover tips and tricks of booking hotels with points; rather than the mechanics of "how to book" hotels on points. If you need help with the "how to", please feel free to reach out!

If you're overwhelmed, don't worry - that's natural. Earning points can be easy, but redeeming points and understanding how to redeem to spend as little points as possible, and/or maximize your point value is a skill that comes with time and practice!

If you're ready to use points to book flights, check out this post.

If you have points you're ready to use to book, but don't have the time or patience to go down the rabbit hole of possibilities that is award flights, I'm happy to do the work for you! Check out my award booking intake form!

If you want to open any of the cards I refer to, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit. If you're interested in business cards, but want more information, as well as directions how to apply for them; read here!

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