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If you’ve been following the AwardWallet Blog over the past three months, you already know how eventful it's been for points and miles news. From new program launches and enhanced card benefits to negative developments like banks dropping transfer partners, there was a lot to keep up with. Those major changes were the big headlines. But while all that was happening, a number of smaller changes slipped under the radar.
That’s where this quarterly installment of Points of Interest comes in. Here’s a roundup of the niche points and miles updates you may have missed over the past few months.
Page Contents
- MyCitizenM+ Memberships Now Include Marriott Gold Elite Status
- Southwest Makes It Harder to Request Standby in Its Mobile App
- Delta to Discontinue Its Japan Package Tour Travel Voucher Program
- Wyndham Adds Six-Month Booking Window for Vacasa Rentals
- Wyndham Shuts Down Tours and Activities Earning Platform
- Accor Adds Two Airlines and Multiple Banks as Transfer Partners
- Marriott Drops Asiana Club as Transfer Partner
- Bottom Line
MyCitizenM+ Memberships Now Include Marriott Gold Elite Status
Back in April, Marriott announced plans to acquire the CitizenM brand. Shortly after this news hit the airwaves, we encouraged readers to jump on the free MyCitizenM+ status match, in case it might translate into something interesting once Marriott began integrating the brand into its network.
And we’re here to report that if you took the no-risk gamble, it paid off!
If you completed the status match, you now have access to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite benefits along with special perks at CitizenM hotels. To unlock the Marriott benefits, simply log in to your MyCitizenM+ account and follow the steps to link it with your Marriott Bonvoy account.
It’s worth noting, though, that Gold Elite benefits — like enhanced room upgrades and late checkout — aren't yet available CitizenM properties, but that's coming soon.
If you missed the free status match, you can still join MyCitizenM+ for $120 per year and enjoy all the benefits for the next 12 months.
Southwest Makes It Harder to Request Standby in Its Mobile App
Has Southwest made any changes this year that haven’t made travelers’ lives more difficult? We tend to think the answer is “no.” And now that Southwest made it harder to request standby in its mobile app, we can add yet another tally to the list of negative changes (so far) in 2025.
So, what’s the deal this time? In short, if you want to be added to the standby list through the airline’s mobile app, you now need to make the request at least 60 minutes before scheduled departure. Prior to August 24, 2025, the cutoff was just 30 minutes. In other words, there's now less flexibility than there was a short time ago.
However, if you're already at the airport and want to add yourself to the standby list, you can still speak with an airline representative and have them add you as long as you are eligible. This can be done up to 10 minutes before departure.
But with the way things are going, it is anyone’s guess how long standby will stay complimentary for A-List and A-List Preferred elites…
Related: Southwest Rapid Rewards Guide: How the 2025 Changes Are Reshaping the Program
Delta to Discontinue Its Japan Package Tour Travel Voucher Program
If you reside in Japan, you might be familiar with the Delta SkyMiles JTB Japan package tour travel voucher program. Through this program, Japan residents and SkyMiles members with a SkyMiles co-branded credit card issued in Japan can redeem up to 30,000 SkyMiles per calendar year for vouchers to purchase domestic Japanese tours at JTB outlets.
Unfortunately, though, Delta has announced plans to sunset this program. It will be discontinued on March 31, 2026, which is also the final date to apply any outstanding vouchers. For 2026 redemptions, applications must be submitted by March 31, 2026 — and no applications will be accepted after that date.
Wyndham Adds Six-Month Booking Window for Vacasa Rentals
One of the more interesting ways to redeem Wyndham Rewards points is by booking Vacasa vacation rentals. Even though redemption rates increased a little over a year and a half ago, there's still excellent value to be found if you know where to look. But with recent changes to the terms and conditions, these reservations may have just gotten a bit harder to make — especially if you like to plan way ahead.
On August 17, 2025, Wyndham quietly imposed a new six-month booking window for Vacasa vacation rentals. Thus, you can no longer book more than six months in advance, which amounts to the booking window being cut in half.
If you like redeeming points for vacation rentals, your best bet is still to book as early as possible. That way, you’ll have the best availability once your travel dates fall within the booking window.
Wyndham Shuts Down Tours and Activities Earning Platform
Sadly, we’re not quite out of the woods when it comes to negative Wyndham changes rolled out without notice. This one involves Wyndham’s Tours and Activities platform.
For those unfamiliar, the platform was powered by Viator and offered a guaranteed 10X Wyndham Rewards points on experiences, day trips, activities, and more. It was an easy way to rack up rewards with minimal effort. But alas, that program is no longer.
On August 17, 2025, Wyndham shut down the website entirely. At the time of writing, the site redirects to a “This site can’t be reached” error page.
If you had an existing booking you haven’t yet completed, it’s worth reaching out to Wyndham to confirm whether it will still be honored and if you’ll still earn points for it.
Accor Adds Two Airlines and Multiple Banks as Transfer Partners
Like clockwork, Accor made a few updates to its roster of Live Limitless (ALL) transfer partners over the past few months. The changes include one new airline partner with two-way transfers, another airline partner with one-way transfers, and several new bank partners with two-way transfers.
Vietnam Airlines
On October 1, 2025, Accor officially added Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles as a two-way transfer partner. That means you can move points in either direction: transfer Accor Reward points to Lotusmiles or convert Lotusmiles into Accor Reward points. The transfer ratios are as follows:
- 3,000 Reward points = 2,000 Lotusmiles
- 5,000 Lotusmiles = 1,000 Reward points
To make a transfer, log in to your account and follow the prompts to initiate the transfer from either Accor or Vietnam Airlines.
Air New Zealand
On September 3, 2025, Accor launched a new partnership with Air New Zealand’s Airpoints program. Unlike some of Accor’s other airline relationships, this one only allows one-way transfers.
Once you’ve logged in and linked your Accor and Airpoints accounts, you can transfer 2,000 Reward points to Air New Zealand in exchange for 30 Airpoints Dollars. Keep in mind that Airpoints Dollars have a fixed value of one New Zealand Dollar, which at the time of writing equals about $0.58.
By comparison, 2,000 Accor Live Limitless Reward points always translate to €40 in value (about $47) toward a hotel stay. So, converting those same 2,000 points to 30 Airpoints gives you roughly $17.50 in value towards award flights instead. In other words, it's not exactly a great deal.
New bank partners
In addition to airline partners, Accor also maintains relationships with more than three dozen banks and credit card rewards programs. Over the past few months, it added three new partners:
- Bank Al Bilad
- Convert 10,000 30,000 Travel Pass Points into 500 1,000 Reward points
- BetterBanking Rewards
- Convert 10,000 BetterBanking Rewards Points into 500 ALL Reward points
- Kotak Mahindra Bank
- Zen/Mojo Card: 12,000 Kotak Points = 1,000 ALL Reward points
- Classic Card: 30,000 Kotak Points = 1,000 ALL Reward points
- Premier, Affluent, Classic Travel Card: 2,000 Kotak Points = 1,000 ALL Reward points
Marriott Drops Asiana Club as Transfer Partner
Marriott Bonvoy members can transfer Marriott points to 37 airlines. If you've been tracking it carefully, you might notice that number is a bit lower than it has been. Marriott has phased out several airline partnerships over the last couple of years. And the list got a bit shorter with the removal of Asiana Club effective July 1, 2025. Unfortunately for Korea-based readers, Marriott also dropped Korean Air SKYPASS in 2024.
Bottom Line
Loyalty programs are constantly changing, and not always in ways that benefit you — and that was absolutely the case throughout Q3 2025.
While the big updates make headlines, plenty of smaller changes tend to fly under the radar. And they're often buried in fine print that most people will never see. That is where Points of Interest comes in: to highlight the things airlines, hotels, and other loyalty programs do not.
Missed previous issues of Points of Interest?
- Points of Interest June 2025: Mileage Bargains Not Dead, Surprise Hyatt Card Bonus Categories, and More Program Updates
- Points of Interest March 2025: Delta Drops a Partner, Marriott Tweaks Breakfast Policy, and More
- Points of Interest December 2024: Emirates Slashes Mileage Earnings, IHG Doubles Point Earnings, Marriott Inks New Partnership, And More
- Points of Interest October 2024: Amex Centurion Lounge Closes Spa, New Delta Partner Earnings Chart, and More
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