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Airlines, hotels, and other loyalty programs are always making changes. Some of the bigger updates are notable enough to warrant their own post on the AwardWallet Blog, while others fly under the radar.
Each quarter, several of these smaller changes roll out, and we distill them into a new edition of Points of Interest. While Q4 2025 was fairly quiet on the changes front, the first few days of Q1 2026 suggest there’s a lot more to come in the months ahead.
So, what’s new in the world of points and miles that you probably haven’t heard about yet? Let’s take a look.
Page Contents
- Amex Closes Another International Centurion Lounge
- HSBC Launches a New Points Redemption Option
- Accor and Qatar Airways Enhance Two-Way Transfer Ratios
- Accor Devalues Transfers to Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
- Accor Drops Transfers From Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- Qatar Adds Xiamen Airlines Partnership
- Emirates Adjusts Mileage Earnings on Korean Air Flights
- Amex Canada Enhances Flying Blue Transfer Ratio
- Bottom Line
Amex Closes Another International Centurion Lounge
Even though The Centurion® Lounge network expands fairly often, it (quietly) shrinks sometimes, too. On January 3, 2026, American Express removed all mentions of the Centurion Lounge at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) from its website and pulled the Delhi pin from its American Express Global Lounge Collection map.
As of now, the last remaining Centurion Lounge in India is at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM).
The change appears fairly abrupt. Google will have you believe the lounge is open. And much like the Centurion Lounge closure at São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in 2025, there are no details anywhere (yet) explaining why the lounge closed or what alternatives Card Members have beyond a handful of Priority Pass lounges.
AwardWallet reached out to Amex for comment, and a spokesperson responded with the following:
“As part of an airport construction project, the American Express Centurion Lounge at Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi closed on December 31, 2025 and will relocate to a new space in Terminal 1, expected to open in Q1 2026. We understand the value our Card Members place on their lounge experience, and to ensure continued comfort, beginning December 31, 2025, we have arranged reserved seating at the Encalm Lounge in Terminal 3 for eligible Card Members.”
The new space is expected to be a brand-new Centurion Lounge, though there are no renderings (yet) of what the new space will look like or what amenities it'll have inside. So, this is something you can mark as “developing.”
Related: American Express Centurion Lounges: Where They Are, What's Inside, and All the Ways to Access Them
HSBC Launches a New Points Redemption Option
If you’ve got either the HSBC Premier World Mastercard® credit card or HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard® credit card in your wallet, we’ve got good news: you’ve got a new way to redeem your points.
On December 16, 2025, HSBC added a new “Pay at the Pump” redemption option. This lets eligible cardholders redeem points at participating gas stations such as BP/Amoco, Sunoco, Chevron/Texaco, and others. Redeeming 1,250 points will save you $0.50 per gallon on up to 20 gallons, which can translate into some modest savings at the pump.
If you purchase 20 gallons of fuel, you can save up to $10. That works out to 0.8 cents per point, which is on the weaker side, especially considering HSBC offers access to transfer partners. In most cases, transferring points is still likely a more lucrative redemption option.
For reference, you can find the terms and conditions of this new redemption option below:
Pay at the Pump fuel redemption with points is available at participating BP/Amoco, ARCO/ampm, Chevron/Texaco and Sunoco gas stations only. To redeem, cardholders must use an eligible HSBC Elite World Elite or Premier World Mastercard credit card at the time of purchase. The $0.50 discount is applied per gallon of fuel up to a maximum of 20 gallons per transaction. A minimum of 1,250 points is required to redeem this offer. This offer is valid only at participating locations with Pay at the Pump capability.
Related: Stack Rewards When Paying at the Pump: The Best Credit Cards for Gas and Fuel
Accor and Qatar Airways Enhance Two-Way Transfer Ratios
It’s rare for a quarter to go by without Accor Live Limitless (ALL) making some kind of change to its points transfer partnerships with its more than a dozen airline partners.
The first change in Q4 2025 came on November 14, 2025, when Accor and Qatar Airways improved the two-way transfer ratios between their respective programs. The new rates look like this:
- Accor Live Limitless to Qatar Privilege Club: Convert 2,000 Reward points into 1,500 Avios
- Qatar Privilege Club to Accor Live Limitless: Convert 3,500 Avios into 1,000 Reward points
Before these changes, 2,000 Reward points converted to 1,000 Avios, while 4,500 Avios converted to 1,000 Reward points.
Accor Devalues Transfers to Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
But wait, there’s more Accor news. On December 9, 2025, Accor quietly devalued the transfer ratio from Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles to its Live Limitless program. Now, 6,000 Lotusmiles will net 1,000 Reward points, which is a sharp increase from the prior transfer ratio, where 5,000 Lotusmiles scored you the same number of Reward points.
Accor and Vietnam Airlines don’t offer two-way transfers, and this change likely won’t move the needle for many travelers. In most cases, Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles are still better redeemed for award flights than transferred to Accor.
Accor Drops Transfers From Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Yet another Accor change from the past few months. You can no longer transfer points from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to Accor Live Limitless as of October 15, 2025. Formerly, travelers could convert 5 CommBank Awards points into 1 Accor Reward point.
Qatar Adds Xiamen Airlines Partnership
On October 20, 2025, Qatar emailed Privilege Club members about its new partnership with Xiamen Airlines. According to the email: “You can now collect and spend Avios on Xiamen Airlines operated flights and expand your horizons to mesmerising destinations such as Shanghai, Beijing and more.”
However, when we've dug for redemption options, the only option we are finding is between Doha (DOH) and Xiamen (XMN). That makes this a pretty limited partnership for most travelers.
Emirates Adjusts Mileage Earnings on Korean Air Flights
Back in early October 2025, Emirates Skywards updated its Korean Air webpage to make a few tweaks to how you'll earn Skywards miles on Korean Air flights:
- Premium economy fares now earn “up to 1.1 Skywards miles per mile flown.” Previously, premium economy fares weren't eligible for mileage earnings.
- First class earning rates dropped from “up to 2” to “up to 1.65 Skywards Miles per mile flown.”
- V-fare international flights are no longer excluded from mileage earnings.
- S, W, and P-fare domestic flights are now ineligible for mileage earnings.
Amex Canada Enhances Flying Blue Transfer Ratio
Attention all Canadian residents who collect Amex Membership Rewards points: your transfer ratio to Air France/KLM Flying Blue just got better. On January 3, 2026, Amex Canada boosted the Flying Blue transfer ratio from 1:0.75 to 1:1.
That’s a fairly big improvement, and for our friends up north, it puts Flying Blue squarely in the realm of a very useful transfer partner.
For easy reference, here are the other Amex Canada transfer ratios to its airline and hotel partners:
Bottom Line
Loyalty programs are constantly changing, and not always in ways that benefit you. That was certainly the case in Q4 2025 and in the first few days of Q1 2026.
While the bigger updates tend to make headlines, plenty of smaller changes fly under the radar. They’re often buried in fine print that most people never see. That’s where Points of Interest comes in: to highlight the things airlines, hotels, and other loyalty programs don’t.
Missed previous issues of Points of Interest?
- Points of Interest October 2025: New Path to Marriott Elite Status, Southwest Standby Restrictions, and More
- 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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