Recap Week Ending 9/6/26

Hope you are getting some much needed rest.

This week’s recap focuses on some reminders to either help you earn more points (estimated tax payment deadline=opportunity) or to watch out for upcoming devaluations later this week and month to help you plan ahead.

And if you want more premium award flight deals in your inbox, the earlier you upgrade, the fewer deals you will miss! You can upgrade on my site here. It’s $119.99/year (~$0.33/day or about the cost of a sip of coffee) or $14.99/month.

For many Hyatt lovers, October 1 will be a sad day. Chase is lowering the transfer ratio to Hyatt from the standard 1:1 rate to a 4:3 rate starting on October 1 for most people. The only way to keep the 1:1 transfer rate is to have a Chase Sapphire Reserve (the $795 annual fee personal card) or Chase Sapphire Business Reserve (the $795 annual fee business card). So if you have the popular $95 personal card version or even the $95 Chase Ink Preferred business card, you will see a huge devaluation for the Chase→Hyatt transfer ratio. I personally would not speculatively transfer to Hyatt unless you have a gazillion Chase points. My reasoning is hotels are easier to find and book in most destinations you’re traveling too while flights are more limited and points can help out a bit more.

Air France/KLM devalues their program on September 8. The Air France/KLM Flying Blue program will now offer 3 different award ticket classes. Light, Standard, and Flex. Luckily, this doesn’t apply to partner awards but it means that the business class saver fare we see at 60k points now currently will no longer include lounge access and be nonrefundable. You will have to pay 75k points for the Standard award to have the flexibility to change/cancel your flight for €70. If you’re stuck with AF/KLM points in your account like my dad 😭, I would potentially speculatively book a premium economy or business class award since you can still cancel for €70. There are some great promos, especially in premium economy for 30k points from North America/Europe between Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Vancouver due to the monthly Flying Blue promos. Check them out on Flying Blue’s site here.

If you’re self employed or aren’t withholding enough taxes for whatever reason…? Well September 15 is the deadline to pay estimated taxes. This is a great opportunity for many (including the US government). In the context for points earners, it’s an opportunity that comes with high spend, so it’s a great time to meet a sign up bonus (SUB). Depending on the size of your estimated tax payment, you may want to open up cards that have much higher spending limits than you would normally not be able to hit like a business card with 15-30k+ in spending requirements. Many of these premium business cards (like Amex Biz Plat and CSR Biz) will be shipped overnight, so plenty of time to sign up for these cards this week in time to give money to the IRS 🙃.

The IRS will take payment via credit card…with a fee. More details and related tips & tricks (such as using Amex→Paypal→IRS third-party processor) can be found on Award Wallet or One Mile at a Time.

American Express has a 30% transfer bonus to Hilton Honors through October 14, 2026. That means instead of the normal 1:2 transfer rate, there is now a 1:2.6 transfer rate. Every 1,000 Amex points→2,600 Hilton points. Be aware you can often buy Hilton points at 0.5 cents per point as well when calculating opportunity cost for this bonus.

I think people don’t really appreciate the Amex→Hilton ecosystem, mainly due to being so focused on the Chase→Hyatt ecosystem (that will soon become a much worse value proposition on Oct. 1 for many).

Where I think the Hilton redemption ecosystem shines is for the really high-end properties. In addition to Hilton’s properties under the Conrad, LXR, and Waldorf Astoria brands, there are many luxury boutique Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) also bookable with points.

These properties may cost 100-250k/night (sadly a speed-run of devaluations made some 100-150k properties now cost 250k/night), but if you can find properties that cost 150-200k points/night and combine it with the fifth night free perk (book 5 nights on points, only pay for 4), there is some pretty nice value to unlock. Combine it with how it is easier to generate Amex points (due to business card NLLs, relatively easy to get referrals, and Rakuten payouts), I’m surprised people don’t love Hilton more.

Some examples. The Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam is probably one of the best WAs in the world. You can book their standard room for 150k points a night instead of paying $800-1,200 a night. If you book 5 nights, you only need points for 4 nights due to Hilton’s 5th night free benefit where the fifth night on an award is “free”. So 150k x 4 = 600k points. Sounds like a lot, but you need to transfer 231k Amex points with the current transfer bonus (600/2.6 = ~230.8k points). Assuming the cheapest scenario of $800/night, you get a CPP calculation of ~1.7cpp. Not amazing but not bad.

I also recently got back from the Waldorf Astoria Seychelles, which is on its own private island. I believe rooms start at around $1,400-2,000/night. Standard rooms (1,500 sq. foot villa and a 3,400+ sq. foot garden/yard) cost 150-170k points/night. If you book at the peak 170k points/night, it is 680k Hilton points for 5 nights, or ~262k Hilton points for a stay that likely costs $7,000 (~2.6 CPP). Another recommendation for this specific property is booking a 6th night with points or a Hilton free night certificate as it gives you a free plane transfer from the main island of Mahe. This plane transfer costs €700 per person round-trip and is waived if you book 6+ consecutive nights using points and/or FNC.

Iberia business class to Spain has a lot of availability in…August 2027 if you like to sweat. Most dates price at 59k points one-way, or 46k points with 30% Amex transfer bonus.