Points of Interest: News You Likely Missed in April and May

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Between April and early May 2026, loyalty programs made a bunch of changes that didn't quite get their time in the sun. Generally, these are minor updates that might not deserve their own article, but they're still significant enough that we're rounding them up in this latest installment of Points of Interest to clue you in on those happenings.

Here's a rundown of the loyalty program changes and points and miles developments — both good and bad — you've likely missed over the past couple of months.

Wyndham May No Longer Give You Advanced Notice of Negative Program Changes

Of late, there's been a somewhat concerning trend of hotel loyalty programs adding language to their terms and conditions that effectively says, “We'll tell you about devaluations, but only if you live in China.”

On April 30, 2026, Wyndham Rewards added a clause to its terms and conditions stating that “Members whose habitual residence is in China” will be subject to the Special Terms outlined in Section I(29).

Within that section, Wyndham added the following language in Section I(2):

“Where such changes may materially and adversely affect Members’ core rights or benefits, Sponsor will provide advance notice to Members as required under applicable law, through one or more reasonable means, including, without limitation, the official website, official social media accounts, official WeChat mini program, email, or other direct communication channels. If you do not accept these changes, you have the right to contact Wyndham Rewards Member Services, at the applicable number found here, to request to opt out of the Program before the changes take effect. Continued participation in the Program following such notice constitutes the Member’s acceptance of such changes.”

In other words, if Wyndham plans to make negative changes to its program, it may only be obligated to provide advance notice if your residence is in China. For everyone else…sorry!

Screenshot of Wyndham Rewards terms and conditions

Now, I'm not saying this necessarily foreshadows negative changes to the Wyndham Rewards program. But if something is brewing, this language suggests those of us outside China might not get much warning before changes take effect.

These China-specific terms are becoming more common

Marriott recently added similar language to its sprawling terms and conditions, as did Hilton. And you'll notice that the wording in these policies, especially Marriott's, is remarkably similar to Wyndham's new language.

In Section 9.15, titled “Special Terms Applicable to Members with Chinese Citizenship Residing in Chinese Mainland,” Marriott added the following clause:

“Should such adjustments be likely to have a material adverse impact on the core rights and interests of Members, the Company will, in compliance with applicable legal requirements, provide prior notice to members in a reasonable manner. In the event that a Member refuses to accept such changes, the Member shall have the right to cancel his/her membership in the Loyalty Program prior to the effective date of the changes by sending written notice of cancellation to Member Support.”

It's a little curious that multiple loyalty programs added nearly identical language around the same time, and it's definitely not happening out of the blue.

Days Inn by Wyndham Vancouver Downtown exterior

I did some digging and couldn't uncover any specific new laws directly tied to loyalty program transparency. However, I did come across recent reporting in China highlighting that Beijing regulators called out IHG over “unfair” membership terms. While IHG wasn't mentioned above as adding new terms (it's been put on notice, though), the local report spelled out that consumer groups declared certain clauses unlawful under Chinese law and gave IHG a deadline to revise its terms…or face litigation.

In other words, this new language may be tied to a broader consumer protection push in China. And from that perspective, no-notice devaluations and snap benefit cuts don't exactly align with consumer-friendly practices, which may help explain why we're seeing a flurry of these terms appear now.

Maybe similar protections eventually make their way to the U.S. Maybe they won't. Who knows.

Wyndham No Longer Guarantees Your Award Stay

As you might've gathered from the above, there's now a special carveout for Chinese residents when it comes to negative Wyndham Rewards program changes. At the time of writing, there isn't a similar protection for everyone else.

And one negative change that rolled out on April 3, 2026, (so actually before the changes above), is that Wyndham no longer guarantees your award stay if a property exits the Wyndham Rewards program.

Previously, there was a big gray area around how Wyndham would handle award stays at properties leaving the program. Ultimately, it was up to Wyndham's discretion. But now it's official: Wyndham's obligation is simply to refund your points.

You'd think a goodwill gesture might involve rebooking affected guests at another nearby property. But considering Wyndham, alongside several other hotel programs, reserves the right to make negative changes without advance notice unless you're a resident of China, it's not especially surprising to see the program formally codify a less consumer-friendly policy.

You'll find this new language in Wyndham's terms and conditions under Section 3, subsection A, point 3.

Frontier Hikes GoWild! Pass Enrollment Fee

Frontier Airlines sells a GoWild! Pass that offers the opportunity to fly as much as you want for a fixed fee. At any given time, there are a few different versions of these passes available, but one of the options that's almost always on sale is the monthly pass.

And on April 4, 2026, Frontier increased the enrollment fee on its monthly passes from $99 to $119.

Screenshot of Frontier Airlines GoWild enrollment costs.

With enough flying, you can certainly justify the cost of a GoWild! Pass. But if you're considering signing up for a monthly pass, just note that the upfront enrollment fee is now a bit steeper than it used to be.

Flying Blue Adds Miles Redemptions for Rental Cars

Hertz has been in the news a lot lately. And one bit of Hertz-related news you might've missed is that Flying Blue, the loyalty program of both Air France and KLM, added the ability to redeem miles for Hertz rental cars.

Screenshot of Flying Blue rental car webpage.

On April 2, 2026, the Flying Blue program rolled out a new webpage outlining how to redeem miles for rental cars. To make one of these redemptions, you can enter your booking details here and select “Use Miles and Cash.”

Screenshot of Flying Blue rental car booking webpage.

At a minimum, you can redeem as few as 250 miles toward the cost of a Hertz rental. But the jury's still out on how good of a deal this is. No matter how many different searches I tried, I couldn't find a rental car eligible for a miles redemption. Maybe your luck will be better than mine.

It's worth noting, though, that this functionality is exclusively available to Flying Blue members booking in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Amex UK Adds One Transfer Partner — and Tweaks Another

American Express UK shook up its transfer partner network again by adding a new partner and tweaking the transfer ratio mechanics for another.

On May 1, 2026, Amex UK added Accor Live Limitless as a transfer partner. Effective immediately, Amex UK Card Members can now transfer 3 Membership Rewards points to Accor and receive 1 ALL Reward point in exchange. The minimum transfer amount is 300 Membership Rewards points.

Screenshot of American Express UK Accor partnership

Also on May 1, 2026, Amex UK modified the transfer mechanics for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. Before these changes, Card Members needed to transfer points to Asia Miles at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points. After the update, transfer increments dropped to just 500 points.

The minimum transfer amount of 1,000 points still remains in effect, however.

Screenshot of American Express UK Cathay partnership

Amex New Zealand and Australia Add a Transfer Partner

What's next? More Amex news…though not of the U.S. variety.

American Express Australia and American Express New Zealand both added a similar transfer partner on April 22, 2026: Accor Live Limitless.

Screenshot of American Express NZ Accor transfer partner page.

With both Membership Rewards programs, you can now transfer 2,500 Membership Rewards points and receive 500 ALL Reward points in return.

Additionally, both Amex Australia and New Zealand advertise that transfers can be made in increments of 5 points, with a minimum transfer amount of 2,500 points and a maximum of 999,995 points. Transfers are expected to take up to 48 hours to complete.

Accor Drops an Airline Transfer Partner

It wouldn't be a Points of Interest roundup without Accor Live Limitless making changes to its partner network.

If you didn't know, Accor has several airline transfer partners. Through March 30, 2026, that included ITA Airways Volare.

Accor has now dropped ITA as a transfer partner. Before these changes took effect, ALL members could transfer 4,000 Reward points and receive 5,000 Volare points in return — or transfer 4,000 Volare points to get 1,000 Reward points. But with ITA sunsetting the Volare program in favor of Miles & More following its integration into the Lufthansa Group, it's only natural that this partnership went by the wayside.

Screenshot of Accor/ITA partnership page.

Thankfully, Accor still has several other airline transfer partners. So if you're looking for somewhere else to send your Accor points, you might consider one of these airlines instead:

From

Transfer Ratio

Min.Transfer

Average Time