This Week in Points & Miles: August 9–15
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Busy week. Chase started quietly showing some people 175,000-point Sapphire Reserve offers, U.S. Bank launched transfer partners and deleted half of them a day later, and there is a genuine pile-up of deadlines between now and August 25. Here is everything that mattered, in the order you should care about it.
Deadlines this week
Start here. Everything below closes within roughly the next ten days, and two of them close Monday. Several are targeted, so check your own account before you plan around one.
Deal | Details | Ends |
|---|---|---|
Chase Sapphire Lounges drop Priority Pass | Priority Pass and LoungeKey from a non-Chase card stop working entirely — both the free annual visit and the $75 discounted entry | Today, Aug 15 |
IHG buy points, up to 100% bonus | About 0.5 cents per point. Tiered: 80% at 5,000, 90% at 11,000, 100% at 40,000. Targeted | Aug 17 |
Frontier GoWild $199 pass (booking perk) | Buy by Aug 17 for advance booking with no blackout dates through Jan 4, 2027. After that, domestic confirms only 1 day out | Aug 17 |
Alaska Atmos Rewards buy points | Up to a 100% bonus on purchases of 30,000+ points. Atmos is the most valuable airline currency in TPG's August valuations | Aug 20 |
United buy miles, up to 100% bonus | Roughly 1.88 cents per mile, capped at 50,000 miles per 90 days. Only worth it against a booking you have already priced | Aug 20 |
Citi ThankYou → Flying Blue, 20% bonus | 1,000 Citi points become 1,200 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles | Aug 22 |
Emirates buy miles, 25% bonus | About 2.4 cents per mile. Listed so you can skip it knowingly — this one is expensive | Aug 22 |
American Airlines elite upgrade change | Not a deal — a deadline. Main Cabin bookings stop clearing into business on the nine routes that have a premium economy cabin | Starts Aug 25 |
New & elevated card offers
The welcome-offer board is unusually rich right now. Three of these are new in the last few days.
Chase Sapphire Reserve, 175,000 points (targeted) after $6,000 in 3 months, against a public offer of 100,000. Matching targeted offers of 125,000 on the Sapphire Preferred and $300 on the Freedom Unlimited. No public link — it surfaces in the Chase app and the pre-approval tool. First reported Aug 13.
Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select, 80,000 miles after $3,500 in the first 4 months, with a $0 intro annual fee (then $99). That is a low spend bar for a big airline bonus, and Citi becomes the exclusive AAdvantage co-brand issuer this year.
Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard, up to 80,000 Virgin Points — 60,000 after $4,000 in 90 days, plus 20,000 more once you hit $6,000 within six months. $99 annual fee, and a 33% jump over the previous public offer.
Amex Platinum as high as 175,000 points after $12,000 in 6 months, with Business Platinum as high as 300,000 and Gold as high as 100,000. These are all "check your offer" style, so eligibility varies by person.
Chase Ink Business Preferred, 100,000 points after $8,000 in 3 months — still the lowest spend requirement this card has carried since 2020.
Devaluations & program changes
The other side of the ledger. One of these happened in under 24 hours.
U.S. Bank launched transfer partners on Aug 11 — and cut half of them on Aug 12. Altitude Reserve cardholders got Flying Blue, Qantas, Ethiopian Sheba and Accor. A day later Flying Blue and Qantas were gone, leaving two. Frequent Miler called it possibly the swiftest program devaluation ever.
Chase Sapphire Lounges stop honoring Priority Pass today. Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Reserve for Business, J.P. Morgan Reserve and Ritz-Carlton cardholders keep unlimited complimentary access, and now get up to 5 hours before departure instead of 3. Everyone whose Priority Pass comes from another card is out.
American Airlines narrows complimentary elite upgrades on Aug 25. Book Main Cabin on a flight that has a premium economy cabin and you will clear only into premium economy, not business. It hits about nine routes — premium transcon and widebody Hawaii flying. Book premium economy and business is still in play.
Amex folded Tock into Resy on Aug 12. Roughly 8,000 venues joined Resy — good news — but the Resy statement credit does not trigger at Tock-sourced restaurants until Sept 15, 2026. Worth knowing before you book expecting the credit.
Korean Air's absorption of Asiana cleared its final approvals on Aug 12. The merger completes Dec 17, and Asiana leaves Star Alliance on Dec 16 — that is the date award travelers should circle. The Asiana Club to SkyPass conversion ratio still has not been published.
Avianca LifeMiles devalued again — the third time in roughly 15 months, with award prices up across many United and Star Alliance routes. Keep that in mind before taking the 15% Capital One transfer bonus that runs to Aug 31.
Worth a read: this week's deeper dives
Everything we published this week that goes past the headline. If you only click three, make it the first three.
Chase Just Dropped a 30% Aeroplan Transfer Bonus — Here's the Part Everyone Misses — most people only get 20%, and Aeroplan's lack of fuel surcharges matters more than the headline number. Runs to Sept 30.
IHG Points at Half a Cent Until August 17: Buy Them, Transfer Them, or Skip It? — the buy-versus-transfer math, with Monday's deadline attached.
Chase Is Showing 175,000-Point Sapphire Reserve Offers — Here's How to Check Yours — where to look, and the three catches nobody mentions.
Best Travel Credit Cards of 2026: Our Honest Picks by Category — overall, beginner, premium, business, hotel and expat picks, with the offers that actually matter.
Avios Finally Built an Award Calendar — Here's How to Use It (And What It Can't Do) — timely, given the Amex-to-Avios 30% bonus runs to Sept 27.
Frontier's $199 Unlimited Flight Pass: The August 17 Catch You Need to Know — including the blackout dates and the fact that GoWild flights earn you nothing.
Citi ThankYou Cards, Explained: The Strata Lineup, the AA Transfer, and How to Get Approved — useful if the Turkish or Flying Blue bonuses have you eyeing a Citi card.
How to Book STARLUX With Points in 2026 — Atmos Rewards vs Etihad Guest vs American AAdvantage, compared.
What to watch next week
Monday, Aug 17 is the busiest day on the calendar — IHG's buy-points sale and Frontier's GoWild booking window both close. Then Aug 20 (United and Atmos points sales), Aug 22 (Citi to Flying Blue), and Aug 25, when the American Airlines upgrade change takes effect.
After that, a cluster lands on Aug 31: Citi to Turkish at 40%, Chase to IHG at 70%, and Capital One to Avianca LifeMiles at 15% all expire the same day. The two long-runway bonuses — Amex to Avios through Sept 27 and Chase to Aeroplan through Sept 30 — give you time to find award space before you transfer, which is exactly how it should be done.
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Offers and deadlines change without notice and many are targeted. Always confirm current terms in your own account before transferring points, buying points, or applying for a card.
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