Good morning!!
Hi {{first_name | there}},
Bilt is in the news again and is redefining the word “simple”, new transfer bonuses, DoorDash set to acquire Instacart, expansion of airlines offering basic business/first class, and some credit card changes.
What’s not to love about the everchanging points & miles landscape!
I’ll also be in Chicago this week/weekend for Chicago Seminars. If you are attending, come say hi!
Lastly, I wanted to call out one of my favorite award search tools, seats.aero, is raising prices on November 9th. Monthly goes from $9.99/month→$12.99/month and annual goes from $99.99/year to $109.99/year. But if you are already subscribed, you lock in your current rate.
They recently added some new features as well including British Airways seach, Cathay search, and Japan Airlines search is now in Beta. You can also connect seats.aero with your AI assistant now (ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, and Gemini).
If you are interested in signing up, you can support me by using my seats.aero affiliate link here.
Table of Contents
New transfer bonuses
A new month often brings a new round of transfer bonuses and we are in luck this month!
New bonuses
Chase 30% bonus to Avios (so Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia) which can freely move to Finnair or Qatar as long as accounts have been open 30+ days and names match. Makes transfer rate 1 to 1.3. Ends 12/1/26
Chase 80% bonus to IHG. Makes transfer rate 1.8 to 1. Ends 12/3/26. Not worth it because IHG points can often be purchased for 0.5 cents per point. So the math is you turn 1 Chase point (worth 1 cent minimum) into 1.8 IHG points (worth 0.9 cents). So you are losing more than 10% on this transfer (you also earn points when you buy points).
Chase 30% transfer to Wyndham. Makes transfer rate 1 to 1.3. Could be worth it, could be sh*t. Depends on redemption you find on Wyndham. Ends 12/3/26.
Capital One 20% bonus to Air France/KLM, making transfer rate 1 to 1.2. Ends 11/30
Keep track of all the current transfer bonuses on the Frequent Miler site here.
Bilt’s upcoming changes
I'm calling it Bilt 2.1! Bilt wants to make their program even more complicated with the upcoming changes they just announced. Here is the long and drawn-out and complicated details straight from the horse’s mouth (Bilt)
So let’s get into it. After already launching a somewhat complex program this year with 3 new credit cards, Bilt is making some updates again because Bilt Bux Cash is going away for new cardholders in 2027 and for any cardholders (or those who opened the card by the end of this calendar year) who opt-out of “opting in?” to remain in the Bilt Cash ecosystem. There are also some other changes for the countless coupons that I can’t even keep track of.
Here’s a quick chart.
Source: Bilt, Frequent Miler, The Points Guy, Find Flights for Me
Do I opt in for keeping Bilt Cash? Do I open a card now to get grandfathered in? Again, personal preferences and spending habits. There are certainly ways to get a lot of benefits from Bilt Cash including being able to earn a lot of points on your mortgage. Here are some readings and tools that can help you make a more informed decision since it is very complicated and not a straightforward yes or no for people.
DoorDash, Instacart, and your monthly coupon credits
DoorDash announced they have entered into an agreement to acquire Instacart for ~$17 billion equity value with combination of cash and stock. A bunch of credit cards have coupons/credits/membership benefits for DoorDash or Instacart. They probably won’t be impacted for a while as the deal won’t close until for another year at the earliest (potentially early 2028).
Credits you probably aren’t using but should or could use with DoorDash or Instacart. Good time to remember to use them! A lot of these credits are per order and the credit/coupons don’t stack.
I use $70/month of Instacart credits across multiple cards by placing multiple separate pickup orders from Wegman’s because there is no pickup minimum and no additional fees (except the items are marked up by 10-20% from my experience). I get a lot of coffee or cheap essentials.
DoorDash
Chase Sapphire Reserve / J.P. Morgan Reserve: At least 12 months of DashPass + $35 a month in promos: $15 off one eligible order and $10 off each of two non-restaurant orders.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: At least 12 months of DashPass +$10 off one eligible non-restaurant order each month
Chase Ink Business Preferred: A monthly $10 promo on non-restaurant orders while you’re enrolled in DashPass and pay with the card
Chase co-branded (IHG, Marriott, United, etc.): Up to $10 off one non-restaurant order per month
Chase Freedoms: $10 off non-restaurant orders per quarter
Instacart (need Instacart+ for the credits)
Chase co-brands (IHG, Marriot, etc. but excluding United): 3 free months of Instacart+ (stacks per card) + $10 credit per month
Chase Ink Cash/Unlimited: 3 free months of Instacart+ (doesn’t stack but I think there are some workarounds) + $20 credit per month
United Club/Club Business: Free Instacart+ through 2027 + 2x $10 credit per month
United Quest: 3 free months (stacks) of Instacart+ and first monthly order get $10 credit and second monthly order get $5 credit
Mastercards: 3 free months (stacks) of Instacart+ and $10 credit on your second Instacart order per month
Other news to highlight
New route: Anchorage/Tokyo on Alaska Airlines, but on a 737 Max 8 for 8 hours (View from the Wing)
Wyndham partners with Homes & Havens, a replacement of the Vacasa partnership. Could be good use of Wyndham points (Doctor of Credit)
Citi refreshes American Airlines cards, Platinum Select & AA Business Card. Higher fees + more perks (Upgraded Points)
Apparently influencers have influenced $7 trillion+ in global travel spending. Not sure how you come up with these numbers, but travel brands do pay for social media content (Skift/Meta sponsored)
Point.me names Air France/KLM Flying Blue as the top airline loyalty program (Point.me PR)
Shopping portal promos where you can earn bonus miles for spending more (Frequent Miler)
Rakuten has 25% cash back/points back at Foot Locker today, and a lineup of elevated cashback through 11/10 before the fun Black Friday week stuff begins (Rakuten, not an affiliate link)
United rolls out “Basic” Domestic First Class fares ☹ (One Mile at a Time)
Why lounges are crowded? AA says lounge visits in 2026 expected to be up 80% vs. 2016! (View from the Wing)
Deal of the week
The beginning of the month brings a new round of Air France/KLM Flying Blue promos, where you can get 25% off award flights on select routes.
This month, New York somehow was granted 25% off business fares between NYC and European destinations! You can view all the region/city pairs on Flying Blue’s site here. Prices start at 45k points per person in business (non-refundable), or ~56k points (changeable/cancellable for a €70 fee).
Combine it with Capital One’s 20% transfer bonus, you can book a promo award for an even better deal!
And check your Amex offers, you could save $150 on $1,500+ spend with AF/KLM (easy to do with the taxes/fees on award tickets now ☹ ). For Amex travel insurance purposes, I believe you need to book both ways of your flight with your Amex card for it to work (either a round-trip, or both one-ways with the same card).
Source: American Express