Which Airline Miles Are Actually Worth Using in 2026?

The Thrifty Traveler Podcast

The episode is a practical points-and-miles audit in which the hosts and guest Katie Rollins rank airline and hotel loyalty programs as trending up or down. They focus on transferable bank points

Key takeaways

• Katie Rollins says Amex adding Leading Hotels of the World is interesting because boutique properties can be booked at reasonable rates despite a four-to-one transfer ratio.
• Kyle argues Hyatt is down because Chase Sapphire Preferred transfers to Hyatt are now four-to-three, while award pricing has moved into higher tiers such as 60,000 and 75,000 points for many top properties.

Main topics

• Airline loyalty program rankings
• Hotel points and award redemptions

Notable quotes

I can't stop thinking about.

Conclusion

The episode is useful for listeners who want a current snapshot of which airline and hotel

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) Yo, welcome to the show. I'm Gunner and that's Kyle. But today we are leveling up. Joining us in the middle seat, she is Thrifty Traveler's resident foodie adventurer. She's our incredible points and miles deal analyst for Thrifty Traveler premium flight and hotel alerts. It's Katie Rollins. Katie, welcome to the show. How are you? Speaker 2 (0:18) Wow, thanks. I'm doing great. That was such a nice intro. Speaker 4 (0:22) Okay, we have Katie here on the show today because she is more immersed. in airline and hotel points and miles programs than just about anybody on earth, I would say. So we wanted to tap her expertise to discuss who's up and who's down in travel rewards right now. But first, Katie, I need to find something out as we do in every show. How was Iceland? You just got back. It Speaker 2 (0:41) was great. Honestly, yeah. You can't go wrong with a trip to Iceland. It's been on my list for a long time and finally made it happen because of one of our deals. You know, we like to say we get high on our own supply. You know, I just had to book it. But it was so fun. It was a girl's trip. It was pretty much a long, we were there for three days, basically a long weekend trip, which honestly, I think Iceland is underrated for a weekend trip because it was only a six hour flight from here, not that far. And you just, when you land, you just get right to it. So honestly, it was a great time. Can't complain. Gunnar, I actually used part of your guide that you have on the website to plan my trip. So thank you for that. Not the whole thing, but just took some things here and there and added a few different things in there. Speaker 4 (1:28) Which parts of my guide did you not like and that you left out? No, I'm kidding. Speaker 2 (1:32) Honestly, I don't remember. I looked at so many things. But basically, we just did the Golden Circle and then the Southern Coast, which was great. And we even saw the Northern Lights, which I wasn't expecting at all. But we had fantastic weather the whole time. So you Speaker 3 (1:47) bought a lottery ticket when you got home. Yeah, basically, I got a Speaker 2 (1:50) lottery ticket. Sunny. Some of the time, there was not even a cloud in the sky. All blue skies. sunset and then you just see the northern lights come out and it was incredible. So Speaker 4 (2:00) that is spectacular. Okay, so I also heard through the grapevine that you had an all time travel mistake on Speaker 1 (2:08) this trip. And I want you to Speaker 4 (2:09) tell us that story at the end Speaker 1 (2:10) of the Speaker 4 (2:11) episode. Today on the show, we're looking at who's up and who's down in hotel and airline award programs. And we're going to help a listener solve maybe the most annoying airport conundrum to all that more. Speaker 1 (2:21) Hello, this is Matt and Annika. From Valbona Valley National Park in Albania. Welcome back to the Thrifty Traveler podcast. Speaker 4 (2:35) Okay, introducing the show this week was Matt and Annika who are at Valbona National Park in northern Albania. And I'll be honest, I did not know Albania had mountains like that. That was such a cool video. What a spectacular view and what a good day. Is Albania on either of your radars? Have either of you been? I Speaker 2 (2:53) have looked into it, but I have not been yet. So Speaker 3 (2:57) it's Speaker 2 (2:58) on my radar, but not... On your Speaker 3 (2:59) radar now, Kyle? I'm going to go try and visit Dua Lipa. Speaker 4 (3:02) Oh, Speaker 2 (3:02) no. Speaker 3 (3:03) Albania has been on our on in my wife's list for as long as I can remember. Still haven't made it there. So apparently it's not as high as it should be. Speaker 4 (3:10) OK, well, we have Matt and Anika's email address if you ever need some recommendations for Albania. Let's get into something hot and something cold. A look at the good and the bad news out there for travelers right now. And we're going to start with something hot. So, Katie, while we have you here, you head up. Thrifty Traveler Premium Plus Hotel Alerts. You help us dig out the best and rarest hotel award availability all over the world. What has you most excited in hotel awards right now? Speaker 2 (3:36) Honestly, this isn't necessarily super new news, but fairly recent with Amex adding leading hotels of the world as a transfer partner. It does look kind of scary because it's a four to one ratio. So you transfer like... 4,000 points, you only get 1,000. But their rates are super reasonable online. And I think it's just, it creates a really interesting opportunity to book more unique boutique properties that maybe you wouldn't find when you're just keeping with the big four hotel chains. And honestly, Max Miles Points, our friend Max, he created a really cool guide that shows Like the cents per point ratio, how much Amex points you have to transfer, whether the properties charge taxes and fees. Because some of them do. I know Jackson did like a write-up in the Extra Mile or potentially for the site about that. So just kind of helps you evaluate what is good or what might work for you, what might not. But that's been a really interesting resource that I've been looking at lately and potentially considering booking one myself soon. Speaker 4 (4:38) Nice. What are you looking at? Speaker 2 (4:41) Potentially, well. I'm thinking if I go to Costa Rica next year, I was talking to someone and they had booked this property called the Nayara Tented Camp. It's like in the jungle, this like bungalow over the trees with like its own infinity pool. It looks so cool. So it's like 60 something MX points a night. So it's not cheap, but it looks really nice. So honestly, if you're, you know, running out of chase points, I'd say that's a good option to look into. Speaker 4 (5:09) I like that. Leading hotels of the world now transferable from Amex. Kyle, what are you excited about in hotels right now? Speaker 3 (5:16) I mean, same as Katie. I think once you get past the seeming sticker shock of transferring 10,000 Amex points and only getting 2,500, you start to see, well, some of these properties just charge criminally cheap rates that are cheaper than what a... comparable Hyatt would charge in many cases. So there's like a ton of value here for, I think, especially for Amex points where the hotel redemptions just aren't that great. So that's really promising for me. I'm still just really high on Hilton, I think in large part because of these credit card offers that they rolled out in late summer and will extend all the way through the end of 2026. where even on their no annual fee cards, you can get some points and a free night certificate. That's just, it's such a powerful one-two punch when it comes to hotels that right off the bat, you've probably got at least two nights in a solid property. That's just really hard nowadays for the big hotel chains. Speaker 4 (6:09) Yeah, definitely. All right, let's flip it. Let's do something cold. Katie, who do you think is down in hotels right now? What programs are we wary of at the moment? Speaker 2 (6:18) Well, honestly, I mean, We did call it today's D-Day for in Hyatt world. Unfortunately, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is now, I mean, everyone that has that card now is only able to transfer on a four to three ratio instead of one to one. So I would say personally, that's down. A lot of us here love the Chase Sapphire Preferred, love transferring points to Hyatt. And basically, if you're someone that transfers a lot of points to Hyatt, you essentially just have to have the Chase Sapphire Reserve. And I wouldn't say that card makes sense for everyone. Obviously, the first year for the sign-up bonus, it does. But with all the credits and everything, you kind of just have to see whether it's worth it for you or not. And if you are transferring a lot of points to Hyatt, maybe just paying that big annual fee is worth it to you. So, I don't know. I would say that's down for me. It's kind of unfortunate news, but that's just the name of Speaker 4 (7:08) the Speaker 2 (7:08) game in the points and miles world. Speaker 4 (7:10) Yeah, this morning is October 1st, so the CSP transfers to Hyatt are all... four to three now, which is very, very sad. Kyle, I assume you're down on the same thing. You love to be negative. What are you down on? Yeah, I'm down not just on Hyatt, but on Chase Speaker 3 (7:25) overall as a result of this because I, to a fault, transferred and only transferred Chase points to Hyatt for many years. Just rarely redeemed Chase points elsewhere. And, you know, this has been a one-two punch. I would say it's been a one-two-three punch where... Yes, this transfer ratio is now worse for my Chase Sapphire preferred card. Going back into May when Hyatt revamped its award chart, most of the properties, at least that I care about, got significantly more expensive. And what we feared at the time is when they made that change into this new five-tier award bucket was that it would only get worse, that more and more properties, especially at the top end, would end up pricing out at those 60,000, 75,000 price tiers that... pricing that didn't exist before. Before the top end was 45,000 points. Lo and behold, we started crunching the numbers again a couple of months after this big Hyatt changeover, and that's exactly what's starting to happen. More of these top tier Hyatts are now pricing out in the upper and top absolute, absolutely egregious pricing tiers for some of these properties where at the most you would pay 45,000 points for even the busiest night for the most expensive stay. Many more of those now are pricing out at $75,000. It's only gotten worse since that change was announced in the spring. And when you combine that with this transfer ratio, it's hard to be Speaker 4 (8:47) excited about Hyatt period anymore. Yeah, I totally agree. And I think that the kind of middle class of Hyatt Redemptions is really where all the value is, where it used to be those best hotels in their system. And now for that kind of a stay, that super luxe stay, I'm looking at Hilton more and more instead of Hyatt. And Speaker 3 (9:04) you're not a middle class guy. Definitely Speaker 4 (9:06) not. I want the Econo Lodge or I want the Park High at Tokyo and I don't want anything in between. All right. We need to talk about who's up and who's down in airline programs next. But first, we're going to take a quick break. Speaker 3 (9:18) One thing I always do before an international trip is make sure I have a plan for Internet because the last thing I want is to land in a new country and realize I can't pull up directions, book a ride or even message someone that I arrive safely. That's why I set up Saley before I leave. It takes just a couple of minutes. I open the app, choose my destination, pick a data plan, and that's it. Then when I land, I'm connected and ready to go. This saves me so much money since I'm not using my carrier's daily data plan. Saley works in more than 200 destinations worldwide, and it's become part of my essential pre-trip checklist. And because Saley comes from the team behind NordVPN, it also includes built-in features like web protection and an ad blocker while you're traveling, which means your data is safer. Download Saley and use the code THRIFTY at checkout for 15 % off your first purchase or head to saley.com slash thrifty. The details are in the show notes. Speaker 4 (10:14) All right, it's time for the extra mile where we dig a little deeper on an important travel topic. And because Katie is with us today, the extra mile is brought to you by the flight and hotel deal alert subscription that she helps make great every single day. That's Thrifty Traveler Premium. Katie, what is the best hotel deal and what is the best flight deal we've sent in the past few weeks? What can you stop not stop thinking about? Speaker 2 (10:36) Honestly. All of the Japan Airlines miles redemptions, I can't stop thinking about. But specifically, flying from LAX to Tahiti on Air France for only 85,000 miles round trip is just insane to me. And I don't have enough Japan Airlines miles right now, but that's when I wanted to book so bad. Yeah, Speaker 4 (10:56) I also can't stop thinking about that deal. It's pretty crazy as well. What about hotels? For hotels, Speaker 2 (11:01) I would have to say Kalala Island. That's one that whenever we send it. I'm just like, why have I not been there yet? Why have I not spent my Hilton points on it? And one of our colleagues, Tracy, actually just wrote up an awesome review on the site. And after I read it, I was like, wow, yeah, I need to make this happen at some point. Speaker 4 (11:21) That's awesome. If you want to book those deals and see the next one, sign up for premium today at thriftytraveler.com slash premium. Use promo code TTPOD for $20 off your first year. Okay, so let's start digging into the various airline programs from around the world. I suspect for most of them, it'll be a quick, you guys are just going to give me an up or a down as to how we feel about this program right now. We're going to focus on the miles you can easily earn from transferable bank programs like Amex and Chase and Capital One. So niche programs like Lufthansa, Miles & More, and Air India Maharaja points are not going to be in the mix here. So we're going to go alphabetically and stop at the ones that we think more discussion. And top of our alphabetical list is going to be Aer Lingus, Air Club, Avios, transferable from Amex, Built, Chase, and Wells Fargo. What do we think? Up or down on Aer Lingus, Avios? Down. I think because I don't, Speaker 3 (12:13) there's rarely, if ever, a situation where it would make sense to transfer points to Aer Lingus to book a flight where you would be much better off using any of the other Avios programs like British Airways, Iberia, Qatar, Finnair. Speaker 2 (12:29) Yeah, that actually made sense. I was going to say up mostly just because it's Avios and you can just transfer within the program. So like if you had miles stuck in Aer Lingus, it's not the end of the world because you can just move them. I agree with what Kyle said. If you can just transfer directly to British Airways or Finnair, that's the better route to go. But Speaker 1 (12:47) I'm fine on Speaker 2 (12:49) Aer Speaker 1 (12:49) Lingus. A Speaker 4 (12:50) resounding meh. A resounding middle. I guess I can break the ties on these if we want to. Yeah, Speaker 2 (12:58) you'd be the tiebreaker. Speaker 4 (12:58) I'm going to break the tie. I'm going with Katie. I think that just having obvious, you can't strand those points. So it's kind of a nice, and you can transfer from. a lot of places. Speaker 3 (13:07) Let the record show I will be keeping score of Speaker 4 (13:10) how many Speaker 3 (13:10) times you break the tie against me. Speaker 4 (13:13) It's going to be really hard for me to break the tie for you. I promise you that. Aeromexico rewards points. You can transfer them from Amex and Capital One. Man, I don't think about Aeromexico rewards ever. What say you? Speaker 2 (13:25) I'm going to go down on that one. I can't say I've ever looked at booking a flight with Aeromexico rewards points. Speaker 3 (13:31) Yeah, it's so niche. And I think some people are lured in by the fact. that it's not a one-to-one transfer ratio from Amex. You get more Aeromexico points. It doesn't matter. It's not enough to offset. There are way better SkyTeam programs to redeem whether you're trying to fly Aeromexico itself or Delta or Air France or whatever. It's just, it's not