Seeing the bright spots through the fog of the Ides of May (Week in Review)

As the wise folks always say, beware the Ides of May. Okay, so that may not be the classic quote, but it is certainly the word on the street in May of 2026. Devaluations are upon us on both the airline and hotel side this month, as well as to at least one transferable points currency. But it’s not all doom and gloom! We continue to find great opportunities for using points and miles.

Just yesterday, I did something that I almost never advise doing: I transferred more than a hundred thousand Amex Membership Rewards points to Hilton Honors, thanks to a 1 to 2.4 transfer bonus ratio. I did that because I was able to book a couple of nights at a swanky-looking and perfectly-located SLH property this summer. In fact, I was even able to book a junior suite, which had a cash rate of well over $2,000 per night, as a standard room award. I employed a couple of free night certificates earned from a recent welcome bonus offer, points that were in my account, and points transferred from Amex. I love using points and things like free night certificates to stay at the type of property that I would never dream of booking with dollars and cents.

Are Hilton points worth less than they once were? Unquestionably. Are they worthless? Unquestionably not. The same will continue to be said about most miles and points despite devaluations over time.

This week on the blog, we see through the doom and gloom and search for bright spots in the Hyatt devaluation, ways to still save the miles by flying further with Avianca LifeMiles, revisiting the ways to increase earnings while buying instant gift cards, and more.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Aeroplan devaluing award chart, but it could be worse

Air Canada Aeroplan announced award chart changes effective June 1st, 2026. Truthfully, in most cases, this devaluation isn’t so bad as far as devaluations go. Nobody likes to see the price of an award increase; however, with the rising cash cost of tickets over the last year or two, it is pretty understandable that some programs are increasing award rates.

For the most part, Aeroplan’s award increases are relatively reasonable at 5,000 or 10,000 miles each way. However, there are a couple of particularly painful devaluations. For instance, first-class awards are increasing substantially in award price, and if you’re piecing together a trip where you’re starting in Europe and flying to Asia in a premium cabin, you’re going to pay a lot more miles in the future. However, for many of the more common use-case scenarios, the change in award pricing here doesn’t feel unreasonably bad. That said, I’d like to see Aeroplan stop making award chart changes for a few years.

Avianca sucks some of the life out of LifeMiles

Sadly, Avianca LifeMiles has had a more painful devaluation than Air Canada Aeroplan. Some business class awards to Europe now cost more than 92,000 miles one way, and we’ve seen economy class increases that make booking an economy class award through Avianca LifeMiles highly unappealing. Perhaps most heartbreaking in this is the disappearance of Avianca’s formerly fabulous mixed cabin award pricing. You will no longer save miles by flying further in economy class, at least not in the way that you have before. As I point out within the post, there are situations where flying an onward connecting itinerary will cost less than flying a non-stop, but that’s not because of mixed cabin pricing.

The good news is that there are some routes that have been unaffected by this latest devaluation, so it’s not a hit across the board. However, it’s certainly a step in the wrong direction. Furthermore, I hate when programs increase the cost of awards without prior notice or notification. In my opinion, it’s just bad business and seems insulting to your core customers.

Chase Points Boost is becoming a Points Bust: Some redemptions now only 1.15 cents per point

When Chase debuted their Points Boost less than a year ago, they came with the promise of redeeming points for up to two cents per point in value. In fact, in the beginning, when Points Boost launched, all hotels bookable through The Edit, Chase’s luxury hotel booking platform, were boosted to two cents per point. It wasn’t much more than a couple of months before Chase started toying with reducing the value of Points Boosts.

Now, we have a better idea of the road map, and it’s clear why they didn’t announce the intention to offer Points Boosts in this way. You’ll now see a range of Points Boost values, spanning from 1.15 cents per point to as much as 2.5 cents per point, though the high-end redemptions are quite rare overall by comparison. This is certainly a disappointing change, though it is a good reminder to redeem at high value when you have the opportunity.

Citi ThankYou Points ending points-sharing between cardholders May 17th

The hits keep on coming, with Citibank ending point transfers between cardholders as of May 17, 2026. We had previously reported on the fact that certain cards would lose this capability in mid-May, but it’s now clear that this will affect all Citi Thank You Points earning cards. This is an incredibly disappointing change to see, as one of the superpowers of Citi Points has long been the ability to transfer to other cardholders. I’m surprised that they’ve made this change since they already limit the total number of points that you can transfer to another member each year, and those points expire within 90 days if unused. It seemed they had a pretty good set of speed limit rules in place.

I’m sure that the cost of offering American Airlines transfers is starting to catch up with Citi, and this is probably a move to reduce costs. If you want to move points to another member, do it before May 17th. Keep in mind that this does not affect your ability to combine your own Thank You Points accounts and pool the points between your own Citi Thank You Points earning cards.

Hyatt devaluation deep dive

There’s no doubt that there’s bad news in Hyatt’s upcoming award chart changes. Greg spent some time digging into the analysis to find the few bright spots that exist.

Personally, I’m really surprised to see that the cost to upgrade to a standard suite or a premium suite is not changing at all when upgrading a paid stay. Furthermore, the points interval for booking a standard suite remains constant in the new award chart, which is goodish news for folks who are looking to book suite awards. Somewhat ironically, in some cases, the difference between a standard suite and a premium suite will be very slim (particularly at higher-end properties). That should present some opportunities to book some really nice suites for a very marginal increase in cost from what you would pay in points for a standard suite.

The changes continue to look rough overall, but I’ll be glad to keep a program where it’s easy to book suites using points for what will, in some cases, continue to be a reasonable rate.

Searching for good news in Hyatt’s devaluation | Coffee Break Ep103 | 4-28-26

World of Hyatt is set to launch its new award chart on May 20th, 2026. As a reminder, the new award chart includes eight categories, with five different pricing bands in each category. It is widely expected that the most desirable properties will increase in point price substantially. If you’re looking to book a higher-end Hyatt, now is the time to do so. If you book a property now that later goes up in price, your reservation will be honored at the current points price.

Also of note is the fact that there are a number of properties changing in category as of May 20th, including numerous properties within the United States moving up from category 4 to category 5. The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, long a family favorite with my wife and kids, will finally move up to Category 5, which means it will no longer be bookable with a Category 1 to 4 free night certificate. You’ll want to take a look for those types of opportunities before May 20th and book any end-of-year mattress runs at Category 1 properties that are increasing to Category 2 before the new pricing takes effect on May 20th.

On this week’s coffee break, we see through the fog and find some small bright spots in the changes.

Wells Fargo has added another new transfer partner: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Trip cancellation insurance success

A couple of months ago, my family had to cancel an Allegiant Airways flight at the last minute since one of my sons became ill leading up to departure. As we had booked using the Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite card, which includes trip cancellation insurance, and Allegiant Airways flights are non-refundable, I filed a trip cancellation claim. I wasn’t sure how fast or intuitive the process would be, but I was very happy with the fact that my claim was approved and paid out within a week of the day I filed it. That makes me far more confident in relying on Chase Trip Protections for future trips.

Does product changing ruin trip protections? | Question of the Week Ep1 | 4-27-26

Speaking of trip protections, for this week’s question of the week, an audience member asked whether product changing would affect their trip protections. In other words, if they booked a trip now using a Chase Sapphire Preferred card and they downgrade their card before travel takes place, would their trip still be covered under the Sapphire Preferred card’s trip cancellation, trip delay, and baggage delay insurances? Listen to this week’s Question of the Week for our take.

Best Bonuses for Huge Spend | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep356 | 5-1-26

Hey there, big spender! This pod is for you. Whether you’re undergoing a renovation, you have big tax payments to make, a kid in college, or just an expensive lifestyle, it is possible to score bigger perks with bigger spend. If you have a lot of spending to do — as in $50,000 or more — and you want to put it on a single credit card, you might wonder about the best perks your purchases can unlock. On this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg and I discuss your best options for really big spend.

Best ways to get to Asia using points and miles (2026)

Award availability to and from Asia has been very difficult to come by in recent months. Hopefully, we’ll see some of that open up as carriers continue to make adjustments to their award charts and award surcharges. This post covers your best options for getting to Asia using miles if and when you can find award availability.

Instant Gift Card Deals: Save Money & Get Rewarded

Have you ever found yourself in line at checkout at a brick-and-mortar store and wished there was some way you could stack a better deal on whatever you’re buying? Our instant gift card deals post can rescue you in just that type of situation. There are numerous options available for buying quick gift cards, sometimes in the exact denomination you need while you’re standing in line. I hate to leave miles on the table, so I’ll often use this if we happen to stumble into a shopping mall and make an unplanned purchase.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to make sure you get those ending soon.

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