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This year is flying by, and the points and miles landscape is changing just as quickly. Many of these updates aren't headline-worthy and often don’t deserve their own post, but they’re still worth knowing about, especially if they affect a partnership, benefit, or loyalty program you participate in.
In this fourth installment of Points of Interest, we’ll walk you through some of the bite-sized loyalty program updates from the past few months.
Page Contents
- Miles & More Bringing Back Mileage Bargains
- Hyatt Cards: Bonus Points at Lindblad, SLH Through Late August
- United and Marriott Double the Transfer Cap for Elites
- Hilton Drops Asiana as a Points Transfer Partner
- Accor Introduces Easy Status Match for Azul Fidelidade Elites
- HSBC Launches 20% Transfer Bonus to Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Wyndham Points + Cash Redemptions Now Start at 750 Points
- Singapore KrisFlyer Tightens Retroactive Mileage Claim Window
- No More Hilton Points on Shared Lyft Rides
- Final Thoughts
Miles & More Bringing Back Mileage Bargains
Earlier this year, the Miles & More program announced a major overhaul. The joint loyalty program for Lufthansa Group airlines, including Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and others, planned to introduce dynamic award pricing and eliminate its popular monthly discounted award promotions known as Mileage Bargains effective June 3, 2025.
But it looks like either the program had a change of heart or the original announcement was miscommunicated. Mileage Bargains are no longer on the chopping block. According to the Mileage Bargains website: “Our mileage bargains will be taking a short break in June. They will return in July.”
Now, hopefully, the return of Mileage Bargains comes with lower taxes and fees…
Hyatt Cards: Bonus Points at Lindblad, SLH Through Late August
Every now and then, I take the long trek to my mailbox to collect the accumulated pile of snail mail. And once in a blue moon, I stumble on something interesting. That blue moon appeared yesterday.
Tucked inside was a letter from Chase pertaining to The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees) — and by extension, the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees) — that said:
“As you may be aware, Hyatt ended its strategic relationship with Lindblad Expeditions on December 31, 2023, and Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) on May 15, 2024. As a benefit to Chase cardmembers, we have continued to award the accelerated 4x Bonus Points on Lindblad and SLH purchases. Effective August 28, 2025, these purchases will receive 1x awards according to your Rewards Program Agreement (RPA).”
In other words, if you're planning to splurge on a Lindblad cruise or book an SLH stay and want to earn 4x points using your Hyatt card, you have until August 28, 2025, to pay for it. Who knew!?
United and Marriott Double the Transfer Cap for Elites
United Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy have a close partnership called “RewardsPlus.” Through this program, enrolled elite members can access perks like complimentary status matches and two-way points transfers between the brands.
Generally, transferring points from Marriott to United is the better deal. You get a 3:1 ratio, plus a 10,000-mile bonus when converting at least 60,000 Marriott points to United MileagePlus miles. Transfers in the other direction happen at a 1:1 ratio, which is not as valuable since United miles are typically worth far more than Marriott points.
Still, Premier elites must transfer United miles to Marriott points pretty often. United recently doubled the annual cap on transfers in that direction from 100,000 points to 200,000 points.
It's nice to see something added for United elites, especially since the airline just cut back on a few other elite perks.
Hilton Drops Asiana as a Points Transfer Partner
Hilton Honors points are most valuable when redeemed for stays at Hilton hotels. Though with the points inflation going on these days, you have to wonder how long we’ll be able to keep saying that. But if you're someone who prefers using Hilton points in other ways, like transferring them to airline partners, there's now one less option.
As of May 31, 2025, Hilton ended its partnership with Asiana Airlines, which means Hilton Honors members can no longer transfer points to Asiana Club Miles. The change was shared with members through the Hilton Honors app.
Wondering which airlines Hilton points still transfer to? Here is the updated list:
Accor Introduces Easy Status Match for Azul Fidelidade Elites
Accor Live Limitless (ALL) has several airline partnerships, including one with Azul Brazilian Airlines. This relationship allows members (with linked accounts) to double-dip on flights and hotel stays, and even transfer points between Accor and Azul. But there's one new perk, too.
If you are an Azul Fidelidade Diamante member and link your account to Accor, you can earn ALL Silver status after your first eligible stay. While the terms do not clearly define what qualifies, it likely refers to a paid stay.
Once you complete that stay, you will unlock Silver status for the rest of the calendar year and all of the next. Even better, you can keep Silver each year with just one qualifying stay, as long as your accounts remain linked.
This is a neat way to pick up hotel status with minimal effort. Well, without much extra effort beyond what it took to earn your Azul Fidelidade Diamante status in the first place.
HSBC Launches 20% Transfer Bonus to Qantas Frequent Flyer
If you're an HSBC (USA) member with a stack of Reward Points that you want to transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer, now is the time to do it. Through June 30, 2025, you will get a 20% bonus on all points transferred to Qantas.
Just keep in mind that Qantas is debuting new award charts on August 5, 2025. So, it's a good idea to have a redemption plan in place before your points lose some of their potency.
Wondering which other banks are offering transfer bonuses to airlines and hotels? Check out our full roundup here.
Wyndham Points + Cash Redemptions Now Start at 750 Points
If you have a small balance of Wyndham Rewards points you're struggling to use, it just got easier to put them to work. Wyndham’s Points + Cash redemptions now start at only 750 points, which is half of the previous 1,500-point minimum.
In addition, these redemptions earn one qualifying night toward Wyndham elite status per night stayed, even if you book multiple rooms using Points + Cash.
Singapore KrisFlyer Tightens Retroactive Mileage Claim Window
Did you know you can file a retroactive mileage claim for flights taken before joining a frequent flyer program? Well, you can, but if you're trying to credit flights to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, the process just became more restrictive.
Before March 28, 2025, new members could request credit for flights flown up to six months before joining KrisFlyer. That window has now been reduced to just 30 days.
But on the bright side, you can now request retroactive credit for Scoot flights as well. And you can also continue to submit claims for partner airline flights, though those are still subject to the partner's approval and the new 30-day restriction.
Lyft partners with multiple airlines, hotel chains, and rewards programs to let you earn extra points on your rides. But one of those partnerships was quietly downgraded in a minor way. You will no longer earn 2X Hilton Honors points on shared Lyft rides.
If your accounts are linked, you will still earn 3X Hilton points per dollar on eligible rides, but only for economy, luxury, or extra seat bookings. Shared rides will no longer earn bonus points.
Related: Bonus Rewards and Monthly Credits: All of the Lyft Benefits Available Through Credit Cards
Final Thoughts
Loyalty programs are constantly changing, and not always in ways that benefit you. 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 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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For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The World of Hyatt Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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