If you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred and any Hyatt stay planned, transfer points to Hyatt before October 1, 2026 - the ratio drops from 1:1 to 4:3 that day, a permanent 25% loss.

Friday, September 18, 2026 — End-of-Week Update

Here's what changed since Tuesday, what's about to expire this weekend and into next week, and one very big warning if you're sitting on Chase points. Grab a coffee — this one matters.

🔥 WHAT'S HOT — ACT FAST

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders: your Hyatt transfers get worse on October 1. Starting that day, the 1:1 Chase-to-Hyatt transfer ratio drops to 4:3 for Sapphire Preferred (and Ink Business Preferred) — 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points will only get you 75,000 Hyatt points, a 25% haircut. Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve for Business keep the full 1:1 ratio. This lands on top of Hyatt's own award chart overhaul, which is pushing top-category free nights up to 67% higher in points. If you have a Hyatt redemption in mind and hold a Sapphire Preferred, move the points before October 1 — you have less than two weeks. (The Points Guy, Frequent Miler)

2. Southwest Rapid Rewards: register by Monday, September 21 for 2x points. Book eligible flights September 18–21 and fly by December 16, 2026 to earn double points — registration required before booking. (Frequent Miler, LoyaltyLobby)

3. Amex Membership Rewards → Avios: 30% transfer bonus ends September 27. Move MR points to British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Avios at 1,000 → 1,300 through the deadline — useful for short-haul British Airways awards and Aer Lingus transatlantic business. (The Points Guy)

4. Buy Aeroplan points at up to 100% bonus — deadline September 25. Mystery bonus (varies by member, up to 100%) on purchased Aeroplan points; worth it only if you're topping off for a specific fixed-chart redemption (see the DFW sweet spots below). (blog.frequentflyerbonuses.com)

5. IHG One Rewards Autumn Sale — book by September 30 for up to 23% off Europe, Middle East, Africa, India & South Asia stays through June 21, 2027 (non-refundable deposit required). (LoyaltyLobby)

Watch out: American Express Membership Rewards transfers to ANA have been failing to post since early September — ANA has acknowledged the issue. Hold off on that transfer until it's resolved. (Doctor of Credit)

TRANSFER BONUSES LIVE RIGHT NOW

*Sources: The Points Guy transfer bonus tracker, Frequent Miler.*

HOTEL PROMOTIONS

Honest take: the Hilton promo is genuinely underwhelming — even Frequent Miler and Thrifty Traveler called it out this week — but it's free to register and stacks with everything else, so there's no reason to skip it if you're already staying with Hilton this fall. The Marriott and Hyatt promos are the better use of five minutes.

AIRLINE SWEET SPOTS

From DFW (Thom's home airport):

• American AAdvantage → Qatar Airways Qsuites, DFW–Doha: 70,000 miles one-way, business class. A recent booking priced the equivalent cash fare at roughly $3,100 — call it 4.4 cents per mile for one of the best hard-product business seats flying. Caveat: nonstop Qsuites space through AAdvantage has gotten hard to find lately; connecting itineraries (AA domestic + Qatar long-haul) are turning up availability more often at the same 70K rate. (Mighty Travels, Thrifty Traveler)
• American AAdvantage, DFW–Auckland nonstop: 83,000 miles each way in American's new Flagship Business Suite (787, closing doors) — one of the better lie-flat values to the South Pacific if you can find the space. We couldn't confirm an exact cash comparison this week, but transpacific business fares to New Zealand routinely run into five figures round-trip. (Thrifty Traveler)
• Aeroplan fixed partner chart from DFW (Lufthansa, ANA, Turkish, EVA, etc.), business class: Reykjavik (KEF) 60,000 miles; Naples (NAP) 75,000 miles. These are fixed charts, not dynamic pricing — a genuine sweet spot as long as partner space is open. (Prince of Travel chart, verified Sep 8, 2026)

Elsewhere:

• Delta SkyMiles: buying miles at up to 50% bonus through September 30 — only worth it if you have a specific redemption already priced out; buying miles speculatively rarely pencils out. (LoyaltyLobby)
• United MileagePlus: buy-miles sale through September 30, up to 100% bonus for members targeted at the top tier (minimum 20,000-mile purchase to unlock it; capped at 50,000 miles per 90 days / 200,000 per year). (LoyaltyLobby)
• Southwest Companion Pass: still 135,000 qualifying points (or 100 one-way qualifying flights) in a calendar year to earn it through the following full year — no change this week, but the 2x promo above is a fast way to pad your count. (The Points Guy)

CREDIT CARD DINING & TRAVEL CREDITS

• Amex Platinum — $100 Resy credit, this quarter (Jul–Sep) closes September 30. Use-it-or-lose-it, no rollover. Remember: as of the August 1, 2026 rule change, the restaurant must show the "Qualifies for Resy Credit" badge at checkout — simply taking Resy reservations is not enough. (American Express)
• Amex Gold — $10/month dining credit at Grubhub (+Seamless), The Cheesecake Factory, Five Guys, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Wonder (up to $120/year), plus its own $100/year Resy credit ($50 semi-annually) at any Resy restaurant, same badge rule as Platinum. (The Points Guy)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve — DoorDash credit jumps from $5/month to $15/month starting October 1, for a combined $35/month ($420/year) when stacked with the existing $10 non-restaurant credits. Requires DashPass enrollment (complimentary for at least 12 months if activated by Dec 31, 2027). (Thrifty Traveler)

DINING CREDITS BY CARD

One to flag as weakened: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve removed dining as a redemption category for its $325 travel credit back in December 2025 — it's travel-portal-only now, and the card stopped accepting new applications in May 2026. If you're still holding one, use the credit through the Booking.com-powered portal, not at a restaurant.

CARD OFFERS WORTH THE SPEND

Eligibility traps to know before you apply:

• Chase 5/24: if you've opened 5+ personal cards (any bank) in the last 24 months, Chase will likely deny you — applies to Sapphire Preferred/Reserve. New this week: front-line reps report Chase has quietly tightened sole-proprietor business card applications from 5/24 to 3/24, with mixed approval/denial reports so far — treat this as unconfirmed policy until Chase says so officially. (Doctor of Credit)
• Amex once-per-lifetime: you generally can't get a new welcome bonus on a card you've held before (Platinum, Gold, etc.) — this is a firm-wide Amex rule, not a rumor.
• Citi 48-month rule: you're blocked from a ThankYou-earning welcome bonus if you got one on that same product family in the trailing 48 months — this killed a lot of Strata Premier/Elite reapplications this year.

DINING CITY SPOTLIGHT: Houston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Nashville & New Orleans

*Picks below are cross-checked against Thom's own restaurant database: Michelin Guide status, James Beard recognition, and — critically — the ✅ Resy Credit badge, which is pulled directly from live per-venue tracking (not guessed). Database last refreshed September 15, 2026 for city rosters, September 9–16 for individual credit/Michelin checks — noted per pick.*

Houston

• Hidden Omakase (Galleria) — Michelin Selected, mentioned in the guide, #15 on Resy's Houston Hit List. ✅ Qualifies for Resy Credit (verified Sep 15, 2026).
• Tatemó (Spring Branch) — one Michelin star. Books on Tock, not Resy — so it's off the Amex Resy credit entirely regardless of how good it is.

San Francisco

• Mister Jiu's (Chinatown) — one Michelin star, #1 on Resy's SF Hit List for September. ✅ Qualifies for Resy Credit (verified Sep 14, 2026). This is the single best combination of star power and Amex-credit-eligibility in this edition.
• Sorrel (Pacific Heights) — one Michelin star, #10 on the Hit List, books on Resy — but it isn't in our credit-status tracking yet, so we can't confirm the ✅ badge either way this week. Ask at the table before assuming the credit applies.

Las Vegas

• COTE Vegas (Restaurant Row) — Michelin-mentioned Korean steakhouse, books on Resy. ✅ Qualifies for Resy Credit (verified Sep 15, 2026).
• Gymkhana (ARIA) — Michelin Selected, #1 on Resy's Vegas Hit List, books on Resy — but like Sorrel above, not yet in our credit-tracking database, so treat the badge as unconfirmed.

Nashville

• Lockeland Table (East Nashville) — #15 on Resy's Nashville Hit List, books on Resy. ✅ Qualifies for Resy Credit (verified Sep 11, 2026). Not Michelin-listed, but a reliable, well-reviewed neighborhood pick that happens to carry the credit.
• Bastion (Wedgewood-Houston) — one Michelin star — but books on OpenTable, not Resy, so no Amex Resy credit here no matter what.

New Orleans

• Pêche Seafood Grill (Downtown) — Michelin Selected, mentioned in the guide, #12 on Resy's New Orleans Hit List. ✅ Qualifies for Resy Credit (verified Sep 9, 2026).
• Saint-Germain (Bywater) — one Michelin star, #7 on the Hit List — no active booking link tracked this week, so we can't confirm Resy availability at all, let alone the credit. Call ahead.

*The throughline this week: a Michelin star and a Resy listing don't automatically mean the Amex Resy credit applies. Only venues confirmed against Thom's live tracking get the ✅ — everything else is flagged as unconfirmed rather than assumed.*

VALUATION CHANGES

No new cents-per-point revisions to report this week beyond the standing August 2026 markdowns (World of Hyatt to 1.55¢, Southwest Rapid Rewards to 1.3¢, American AAdvantage to 1.4¢). But keep an eye on Hyatt: this week's Chase transfer-ratio cut (see WHAT'S HOT) compounds on top of Hyatt's own award-chart increases from earlier this year, so the effective value of Hyatt points redeemed through a Sapphire Preferred transfer is eroding faster than the headline 1.55¢ figure suggests.

POINTS VALUE CHEAT SHEET

THIS WEEK'S MOVE

If you're holding a Chase Sapphire Preferred and any Hyatt stay on your radar for the next year or two — a Park Hyatt, an Andaz, anything — transfer the points to Hyatt before October 1. The math is simple: 100,000 UR points become 75,000 Hyatt points after that date instead of 100,000. That's a real, permanent 25% loss on top of Hyatt's own chart increases earlier this year. If you don't have a redemption in mind yet, don't transfer speculatively — but if you do, this is a two-week window that won't reopen.

Runner-up: the 70% Chase-to-Marriott transfer bonus (through October 15) is the best transfer multiplier live anywhere right now — worth a look if a Bonvoy redemption is on your list.

*Travel Point is an independent points-and-miles newsletter. Card terms, bonus categories, transfer ratios, and promotion dates change frequently and without notice — always verify current terms directly with the issuer, airline, or hotel program before applying, transferring points, or booking. We are not compensated by any card issuer or loyalty program for inclusion in this edition.*