if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you have a sad deadline coming up on October 1.

October 1, 2026 is the day when you will no longer get a 1:1 transfer ratio to Hyatt.

Now if you opened a new Sapphire card this summer, you already have the lowesr transfer ratio which is going to be 4:3. That 4:3 means if you have 100,000 Ultimate Rewards and want to transfer them to Hyatt, you’ll now only get 75,000 Hyatt points from that transfer.

There are a few ways to strategize with this.

• If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® or the Sapphire Reserve for Business^SM in your household, this change doesn’t affect you. Those cards will maintain the 1:1 ratio for transferring to Hyatt.
• You really only need to have one of those high fee cards in your household to have all of your Chase points be able to transfer 1:1 to Hyatt because Chase lets you combine all your points in your household.
• If you don’t have one of those, and if you often use your points for Hyatt, I think it makes sense to transfer points over before September 30.

In the future...

You could, of course, later, transfer at the lower rate. If you’re only transferring a few thousand points, it won’t make that much of a difference. But if you’re getting to the point where you would be needing 75,000 Hyatt points, I think it makes sense to consider getting a Reserve. At minimum at that point, you’d save 25,000 points which is bare minimum worth $250.

Keep in mind:

• If you’ve never had a Reserve®, you’ll be eligible to earn a welcome offer on this card by opening a new account. That’s going to give you a bunch of points in addition to making your points go further with your Hyatt transfer.
• If you’ve had a Reserve in the past, you’re still eligible to upgrade either a Sapphire Preferred or any Freedom card to the Reserve. You’ll pay the annual fee and get all the benefits but won’t get a bonus. If you really change your mind, you also typically have 30 days to reverse an upgrade.

Either way, you could keep it for a year and try it out. You’ll even get a number of the benefits 3x in the first 12 months of holding the card due to how the bi-annual calendar year benefits like the Stubhub Credit and Dining credits work. If you really don’t find the value after a year, you can downgrade back to a lower fee card.

All that to say -- when changes like this happen, it can be hard to adjust but remember that pivoting is all part of this hobby and there’s always a way to find good value.

Happy Travels,

Katie

PS: This week Card Pointers launched an update that added a feature I've long wished for. (Currently this feature only available on iOS). This lets you activate and sync all of your credit card offers in the background so you never have to do think about it again. No more having to sign in to each bank on a browser to activate! If you are interested in Card Pointers Pro, you can get 50% off an annual or lifetime plan here through Sunday (Affiliate link).

Highlights this week

New Chase Sapphire Reserve® Benefits In honor of its 10th anniversary, Chase rolled out some new benefits on this card, including some limited time offers for current cardholders. This reel goes into the main ones (and what to be aware of) -- you can also see the full press release linked below in the News section. Watch here

Course Transition We're transitioning our free course from Teachable to be hosted on our own site. In the process I'm also re-recording many lessons, updating, and in some ways restructuring the course. If you're in process of taking the course, know that the current site will be down starting September 30 at the latest and we hope for a seamless transition to the new and improved course!

More Community Referrals Needed Due to some issues in the network that we partner with for credit card affiliate links, we have temporarily lost access to all American Express affiliate links. While we wait for the powers that be to sort this out, we are adding Community Referrals for a bunch of cards to the site. Make sure to follow the directions listed so we can use your link! Add yours here

Featured Card Offers

If you're not sure where to start, head to our Three-Year Plan and just follow along

And don't forget you can now browse all 100+ offers we track on our site here.

💳 Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card {affiliate link}

Enjoy $300 to use on hotel and vacation rental bookings through Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening – that’s more than $1,000 in travel value.

My Take: This card is listed in my Three-Year Plan as one of the first cards to get because Capital One cards can be harder to get approved for if you have a lot of recent inquires. This adds a lodging credit to the standard offer making it a great offer for the $95 fee.

If you've opened a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card in the past 48 months, you won't be eligible for this card -- but another great card to look at in that case would be the business version, the Capital One Venture Business. ​

Points, Miles & Travel News

• IHG Timeshare Offer $199 for 3 Nights: In addition you will get $199 or 40k points after attending a timeshare meeting. h/t Frequent Miler.
• IHG Offer For 20k Points After 2 Night Stay(Targeted): Check your IHG account to see if you can register for this offer.
• Card Offers for $50 Off Away Luggage: Check your Chase offers for $50 back when spending $295 on Away luggage.
• 50% Off 2 Lyft Rides for Southwest Card Holders: (YMMV) Use Promo Code SOUTHWEST50 for 50% off your next 2 Lyft rides. Doctor of Credit has the details on this promo.
• TSA Launches Gateside Program: TSA Precheck members can now go past security without a boarding pass at select airports. You must make a reservation 1-3 days in advance. Details on the program here.
• AA and Hyatt End Their Partnership: Link your accounts by Nov 15th to continue earning with both programs through February 28, 2027. More details here. The press release reads like a true break up note.
• Qatar Airways Loosens Restrictions On Booking For Others: Qatar Privlege Club members can once again use their Avios to book flights for others. Frequent Miler has the details.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Adds Benefits for 10th Anniversary: Check the press release for additional benefits to activate and book (Don't wait on this--one must be activated and booked by Oct 16).
• Virgin Cruise Sale: Virgin Voyages is having their semi annual sale which can mean big savings. Make sure to compare the dates and routes to get the best deal. This post will walk you through how to book these cruises using points.

More Deals

• inKind $5 off a $10 Order: This deal is targeted but has worked for our team members. h/t Doctor of Credit. Try here for $30 off $60. Doctor of Credit keeps a running list of these offers here.
• Free/Cheap Streaming Options with Merchant Offers: Check out your Amex cards for offers on cash back from streaming options like Disney+ and Hulu, Paramount+, YouTube TV and more. We found and added these via CardPointers!
• 20% Discount on DoorDash Gift Cards: Costco is currently offering a 20% discount on e gift cards for DoorDash.
• $20 Off $30 Grubhub Order for Prime Members: Doctor of Credit has the details on how to activate this offer.