Frequent Miler

American Express Platinum Cards® – The Complete Guide

Greg the Frequent Miler and Tim Steinke — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 01:45:54 +0000

American Express Platinum Cards® come loaded with high-end perks: More than a thousand dollars per year in various credit reimbursements, access to multiple types of airport lounges, hotel and car elite status, and much more. All of this goodness comes with a steep $895 per year price tag.

There are multiple versions of the consumer American Express Platinum Card®. n addition to the regular (“vanilla”) card, there are Platinum Cards® branded by Morgan Stanley and Schwab. These cards are mostly the same, but each one has a few unique features. The Business Platinum Card differs in several ways, offering different point-earning bonuses and some different perks.

This post is a complete guide to the various flavors Platinum card, and has been updated for 2026. It includes several recent changes to the cards benefits for Fine Hotels + Resorts, Airbnb, workspace memberships, and more..

Annual Fees

Primary user

Consumer Platinum Cards®: $895
Business Platinum Card: $895

Authorized users for Platinum Cards®

You can add authorized users for free by giving them a Companion Platinum Card®. In this case, the authorized users get very few perks. If you want your authorized users to get lounge access and other top-end perks, they will need authorized user Platinum Cards®. These cost money to add to your account:

Business Platinum: $400 per year for each Platinum employee card.
Morgan Stanley Platinum Card®: First Platinum authorized user card is free. Each additional authorized user is $195 per year.
Other consumer Platinum Cards®: $195 per year for Platinum authorized users.

How to save money by sharing Amex Platinum benefits

If you have family or friends that you trust, consider sharing the cost of renewing your Platinum Card® each year by adding them as authorized users. The best card for this is the Morgan Stanley Platinum Card® since it offers the first authorized user free. Other Platinum Cards® will charge $195 for the first authorized user.

This table shows the total cost of card membership depending on how many authorized users are involved:

Number of Platinum Cards	Consumer Platinum Card®	Morgan Stanley	Business Platinum
1 (Primary Only)	$895	$895	$895
2 (Primary + 1 AU)	$1,090	$895	$1,295
3 (Primary + 2 AUs)	$1,285	$1,090	$1,695
4 (Primary + 3 AUs)	$1,480	$1,285	$2,095

Amex Platinum Perks

Access to high-end perks is why you hold an American Express Platinum Card®.

Perks for all Platinum Cards®

The following perks apply to all Platinum cards:

Flight & Airport Benefits	Benefit Description
5X through American Express Travel®	Earn 5X points for prepaid hotels, airline bookings, and short-term rentals with Airbnb via American Express Travel®
$200 airline fee credit	Registration required. Amex will automatically reimburse up to $200 per calendar year for airline fees for your selected airline only. Eligible fees include baggage fees, flight change fees, in-flight food and beverage purchases, and airport lounge day passes. For tips on using this benefit, please see: Amex airline fee reimbursements. What still works?
Platinum Member Airfares	Save money when booking select premium cabin international flights originating in the US or Canada. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Airport Lounge Access: Centurion Lounges	The cardholder is allowed free entry. Guests are charged $50 per adult, or $30 per child aged 2 through 17. After $75K of eligible spend in a calendar year, the cardholder is permitted 2 complimentary guests per visit. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Airport Lounge Access: Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges	The cardholder and two guests are allowed free entry. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Airport Lounge Access: Delta Sky Clubs®	The cardholder is allowed 10 Sky Club visits per year. After $75K of eligible spend in a calendar year, the cardholder is permitted unlimited visits through the end of the following calendar year. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Airport Lounge Access: Priority Pass Lounges	Registration is required to obtain your Priority Pass card. Member plus 2 guests are allowed free entry. This version of Priority Pass does not cover Priority Pass restaurants. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
CLEAR+ credit	Get up to $219 per year reimbursed for CLEAR+  subscriptions. See also: 5 ways to get CLEAR+  for less.
Global Entry or TSA Pre fee credit	Get reimbursed for the cost of Global Entry or TSA Pre once every 4 years. This benefit is also available to authorized users.
Lodging Benefits	Benefit Description
Fine Hotels + Resorts®	Book high-end hotels through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts and get: room upgrade, daily breakfast for 2, 4 pm late checkout, noon check-in, free wifi, and a unique property amenity. Also: Earn 5X Membership Rewards for prepaid bookings. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
$600 Hotel Credit	Up to $300 in statement credits, semi-annually, on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings or prepaid Airbnb Luxe bookings made through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App. Airbnb and Hotel Collection bookings require stays of 2 nights or longer. *Effective January 1, 2027, Fine Hotels + Resorts® bookings will also require a minimum two-night stay to be eligible for the $600 Hotel Credit.*
$250 Airbnb Experiences Credit	Book a prepaid Airbnb Luxe stay with Airbnb through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App with your Platinum Card^® each year, and you can get up to $250 in statement credits through the remainder of that calendar year after you use your Card to purchase eligible Airbnb Experiences directly with Airbnb.
Hilton Honors Gold status	Enrollment required. Hilton Gold members receive food & beverage credits or free breakfast, room upgrades when available, and other perks at Hilton hotels. This benefit is also available to authorized users.
Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite status	Enrollment required. Gold members receive a welcome gift (bonus points) with each stay, room upgrades when available, 2 pm late checkout, and other perks (details here). This benefit is also available to authorized users.
Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) Sterling Status	Enrollment required. Enroll to get Leaders Club Sterling Status from The Leading Hotels of the World®
Other Travel Benefits	Benefit Description
Emergency Medical Transportation Assistance	Call the Premium Global Assist Hotline: 1-800-333-Amex (toll-free), or 1-715-343-7977 (direct-dial collect). This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
National Car Rental Executive status	Registration required (Enroll here). Book midsize cars and select any car from the Executive Aisle for no extra charge. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Hertz Rental Car Privileges	Registration required (Details and enrollment form found here). Privileges include President's Circle Status, discounts, plus a four-hour grace period for rental car returns. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Avis Preferred status	Registration required (Details and enrollment form found here). Preferred status offers priority service at the counter, discounts, and a one-car class upgrade for groups C-E (Intermediate, Standard, and Full size). This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Cruise Benefits	Pay for your cruise with your Platinum card and receive $100 to $300 in shipboard credit per stateroom, plus additional amenities unique to each cruise line. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.
Miscellaneous Other Benefits	Benefit Description
Cell Phone Protection	No need to enroll. Pay your cell phone bill with your Platinum card. Max $800 per claim, $50 deductible. This benefit is also available to Platinum authorized users.

Perks for Business Platinum cards only

The following perks apply only to Business Platinum cards:

Benefit	Benefit Description
2X Membership Rewards®	Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more. Details: Earn 2X on up to two million dollars of eligible purchases per calendar year, made in any of the following categories: (1) U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, (2) U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, (3) U.S. shipping providers, or (4) eligible purchases of $5,000 or more. Effective 2/17/27, select merchants only.
35% Airline Bonus	Get 35% points back after using Pay with Points for flights booked through Amex Travel with your selected airline, up to 1,000,000 points back per calendar year.
Redeem points for 1 cent per point	Requires an American Express business checking account.
$120 Wireless Credits	Enrollment required. Earn up to $10 back per month when you use your card to pay for purchases made directly with a wireless provider in the U.S. Effective 2/17/27, the monthly wireless credit will be limited to purchases with Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Frontier, Comcast, Charter, Spectrum Mobile, UScellular, Optimum, Ultra Mobile, and Mint Mobile.
$200 Hilton Credits	Enrollment required. Earn up to $50 back per quarter when you use your card directly with a Hilton property.
$1,150 in Dell Credits	Enrollment required. Earn up to $150 in credits each calendar year on all purchases at Dell.com, plus an additional $1,000 back when you spend $5,000 in a calendar year.
$300 ChatGPT Business® Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $300 in statement credits per calendar year on U.S. purchases of ChatGPT Business. Subject to auto-renewal.
$360 Indeed Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $90 back per quarter for purchases with Indeed
$250 Adobe Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $250 back per year on $600+ of U.S. purchases with Adobe
$1,200 Flight Credit	After spending $250,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year, unlock up to $1,200 in statement credits for use in the next calendar year on flights booked on AmexTravel.com.
$2,400 One AP® Statement Credit	After spending $250,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year, unlock up to $2,400 in statement credits for use in the next calendar year on monthly fees for American Express One AP®, American Express’ digital accounts payable product that automates supplier payments on one platform.
Complimentary American Express® ZO Membership from Tishman Speyer	Get up to 4 complimentary day passes per month at U.S. Studio spaces and up to $500 in statement credits each calendar year when you use the Business Platinum Card® for event space bookings and/or a Dining Club membership.

Perks for Consumer Platinum Cards® only

The following perks apply to all consumer Platinum cards (including the regular Amex Platinum, Morgan Stanley Platinum, and Schwab Platinum):

Benefit	Benefit Description
5X on flights	Earn 5X on flights booked directly with airlines (with Business Platinum cards, you must book through Amex Travel to earn 5X)
$400 Resy Dining Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $100 back each quarter after making eligible purchases directly with Resy or for dining purchases at any U.S. Resy restaurant.
$120 Uber One Membership Credit	Earn up to $120 in statement credits each calendar year with an auto-renewing Uber One membership in the U.S.
$200 in Uber / Uber Eats Credits	Get $15 in Uber credits per month ($35 in December) simply by adding your Platinum card number to your Uber account as a payment method. This benefit also includes Uber VIP status. Important: when requesting a ride, select Uber Cash for payment to use your credits.
$300 Digital Entertainment Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $25 back each month after paying for select digital subscriptions: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium and/or YouTube TV.
Free Walmart+ Subscription	Get the full cost back, including taxes, for a Walmart+ monthly subscription. In addition to its standard benefits, Walmart+.
$300 lululemon Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $75 back each quarter in statement credits for eligible purchases at lululemon stores or lululemon.com in the U.S. Enrollment required.
$300 Equinox Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $300 in statement credits per year for a digital or club membership at Equinox.
$300 SoulCycle Credit	Must join Equinox first. Charge the full price of a SoulCycle at-home bike and get $300 back in statement credits.
$200 Oura Credit	Enrollment required. Earn up to $200 back each calendar year in statement credits when purchasing an Oura Ring through Ouraring.com
Active Military Fee Waiver	Amex will waive consumer card fees (including annual fees) for US active military personnel. Call the number on the back of your card and tell them you are serving on active duty and have heard that AMEX offers to handle your account under the Military Lending Act (MLA).

Perks for Morgan Stanley Platinum Cards® only

In addition to standard consumer Platinum perks, Morgan Stanley Platinum cards add the following perks:

Benefit	Benefit Description
First authorized user free	Add one Platinum authorized user for free.
Invest with rewards	Liquidate Membership Rewards points for 1 cent each when deposited to your Morgan Stanley brokerage account.
$500 anniversary spend award	Spend $100K in a cardmember year to get $500. If you spend exactly $100K per year, that amounts to a bonus of half of 1 cent per dollar spent.
Annual Engagement Bonus	Platinum CashPlus clients can get an Annual Engagement Bonus equal to the Platinum card's annual fee.

Perks for Charles Schwab Platinum Cards® only

In addition to standard consumer Platinum perks, Schwab Platinum cards add the following perks:

Benefit	Benefit Description
Invest with Rewards	Liquidate Membership Rewards points for 1.1 cents each when deposited to your eligible Schwab account.
$100 to $1,000 statement credit	Receive a statement credit each year based on your qualifying Schwab holdings: $250,000 invested = $100 statement credit; $1,000,000 invested = $200 statement credit; $10,000,000 invested = $1,000 statement credit

Which Platinum Card® is best for me?

It depends. Your first decision point should be consumer vs. business:

A Business Platinum Card® is best if you highly value the 35% Pay with Points rebate, the Dell credits, and the $120 in wireless credits.
A consumer Platinum Card® is best if you highly value the $400 in Resy credits, $300 in Lululemon credits, $200 in Uber credits, $120 in Uber One credits, $300 in entertainment credits, and the ability to earn 5X directly with airlines and/or if you are already paying for services like Walmart+ and Disney+ and can have them rebated.

Which consumer Platinum Card® is best?

If you decide that a consumer card rather than a business card is right for you (see above), then consider these decision points:

The Morgan Stanley Platinum Card® is best if you want to add a Platinum authorized user (since the first AU is free), or if you qualify for the annual $895 Engagement Bonus (which makes the card free for you and one authorized user).
The Charles Schwab Platinum Card® is best if you prefer cash back over travel rewards (since it lets you cash out up to 1 million points per year at 1.1 cents each); or if you have a lot of money invested with Schwab since you’ll get an annual kickback ($100 for $250K invested, or $200 for $1M invested, or $1,000 for $10M invested).
The generic consumer Platinum Card® is best if you value earning Membership Rewards points when referring friends.

If you are serving on active duty in the military, then get any or all of the cards since Amex will waive the fees upon request. Call the number on the back of your card and tell them you are serving on active duty in the military and have heard that Amex offers to handle your account under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Amex Platinum Application Tips

Should you apply?

Platinum Card® welcome bonuses are usually worth considerably more than the card’s annual fee. So, as long as you can use some of the card’s perks and meet the offer’s minimum spend requirements, it makes sense to sign up for at least one year. You can always cancel (or downgrade to a less expensive card) once the annual fee comes due in year 2 so as to avoid paying for the second year.

Are you eligible?

Anyone with decent credit is eligible for the regular consumer Platinum Card®. Other cards do have requirements:

Morgan Stanley Platinum Card®: To get this card, you must have a Morgan Stanley brokerage account. E*Trade accounts are also eligible.
Schwab Platinum Card®: To get this card, you must have a Charles Schwab account. Fortunately, even a no-fee checking account is fine. Schwab also offers one of the best no-fee debit cards, with no foreign transaction fees and ATM fee reimbursement.

You can’t earn welcome offers on all three cards. You’re only eligible for a welcome offer for a Platinum Card® if you’ve never held any of the three cards previously.

Applying for Business Credit Cards: You must have a business to apply, but even a simple sole proprietorship will work. It's likely that you have a business even if you don't realize it.

Amex no longer automatically linking Membership Rewards accounts

Nick Reyes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 23:45:53 +0000

As recently reported on Reddit and Doctor of Credit, American Express is apparently no longer automatically linking Membership Rewards accounts when you open a new card. It is still possible to link a new card with your existing Membership Rewards-earning cards during the application process or to call Amex and link it after approval, but it is no longer linked automatically. That begs the question….why not?

For many years, American Express has automatically linked up your Membership Rewards earning cards under a single Membership Rewards profile based on Social Security Number. Until recently, if you opened a new card that earns Membership Rewards points, American Express would recognize your Social Security Number as an existing Membership Rewards account holder and automatically pool together the points earned from those cards. However, sometime recently, American Express stopped doing this automatically.

Apparently, there is a step during the application flow that offers you the opportunity to link a new Membership Rewards points-earning card with your existing Membership Rewards earning cards. If you don’t choose to link the new card during the application flow, Amex will at least initially create a new and separate Membership Rewards account for your new card. That could be inconvenient if you want to be able to pool your points together to use for a valuable redemption or you want to be able to draw from your greater pool for points for a travel booking.

The good news is that it is still possible to get your accounts linked up even after you’ve opened a new card account by calling American Express. I don’t know whether it is possible to accomplish the same thing via the chat function, but it could be worth a try. It is good that cardholders still have the ability to pool their own points, but one has to wonder why the sudden change in policy?

At least one commenter at Doctor of Credit notes that something similar recently happened with American Express Membership Rewards accounts in India. Account terms from American Express India that were reported on reddit indicate that earning and redeeming may be separated by account type in the future for accounts in that country. We’ve recently seen American Express devalue the transfer ratio to certain airline partners, and we have seen the same sort of thing happen from a couple of other card issuers. Chase and Citi both offer different partner transfer ratios based on card type; one has to wonder if American Express intends to do the same thing with Membership Rewards points in the United States.

It is possible that this is just a temporary glitch or a relatively meaningless change. Time will tell how this pans out.

For now, it is worth knowing that if you open a new card that earns Membership Rewards points, you want to watch out for the opportunity to link it with your existing Membership Rewards account, or you may need to contact Amex after the fact to link it up with your existing Membership Rewards points.

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Bilt questions, live at the Chicago Points Travel Festival | Question of the Week Ep20 | 10-26-26

Caroline Yoder — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 22:45:25 +0000

At the Chicago Points Travel Festival last weekend, Greg and Nick filmed a live coffee break episode, letting the audience pick the topic of discussion: Best use of Bilt points now that the dust has settled. At the end of this discussion, they took some questions from the audience, which we’ve consolidated for our “Question of the Week” episode this week.

Bilt questions, live at the Chicago Points Travel Festival

Watch the full episode below, or listen on your favorite podcast platform. You can click the timestamps below to navigate directly to a specific part of the episode within YouTube. For a transcript of this episode, click “Watch on Youtube” on the video below, then click the “…more” link in the video description. This will expand full video details. Scrolling down past the timestamps and chapters, you’ll see a “Show Transcript” button. If you’re an Apple Podcast listener, you can touch and hold a podcast episode to reveal an option to view a transcript.

Watch here:

Or listen here (or click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead):

(00:18) – Would you spend Bilt Cash to pay a mortgage (if you had a mortgage to pay)?

(01:23) – How is rent actually paid to a landlord (through Bilt)?

(02:50) – There was an announcement that Bank of America points will transfer to Alaska Atmos at some point in the future, which makes some think Bilt may be cut off as a transfer partner. Should we transfer just in case?

(04:32) – Where does an authorized user’s points go?

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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder

The post Bilt questions, live at the Chicago Points Travel Festival | Question of the Week Ep20 | 10-26-26 appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Amex launches new Airbnb benefits on Platinum cards

Nick Reyes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:59:52 +0000

Late last week, American Express announced a number of benefits for American Express Platinum Card and American Express Business Platinum Card holders, including elevated earning and the potential to unlock Airbnb Experiences credit. These benefits could certainly be useful for those who prefer booking vacation rentals.

Platinum cards earn 5X Membership Rewards points on prepaid short-term rentals with Airbnb booked through Amex Travel

Both the consumer and business versions of the Platinum card now earn 5 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on prepaid short-term rentals with Airbnb that are booked through the Amex Travel website or Amex Travel app. Assuming that pricing through Amex Travel is on par with what you would expect to pay elsewhere, that will be a nice benefit for those who prefer collecting Membership Rewards points.

Keep in mind that many vacation rental properties are cross-listed on multiple platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, Marriott Homes and Villas, etc. You should always price shop, but if you’re getting a good price through Amex Travel, then earning 5 points per dollar is a great return.

Before this change, the best way to earn an elevated return on Airbnb rentals has been to click through a shopping portal-style deal from one of a handful of airline programs, which have historically offered 1-3 airline miles per dollar spent. Earning 5 transferable Membership Rewards points per dollar will certainly be more attractive for those who have a Platinum card and find a deal they want to book.

It isn’t clear to me whether all Airbnb rentals will be bookable via Amex or whether pricing is always identical to what you’d find directly through Airbnb, but this is certainly a partnership worth keeping in mind.

Airbnb Luxe properties now eligible for lodging credit

The Platinum Card’s twice-annual hotel credits have now become lodging credits. As Tim reported last week, Airbnb Luxe properties booked through Amex Travel now join the Hotel Collection, along with Fine Hotels + Resorts®, to be eligible for one of the Platinum Card’s twice-annual $300 lodging credits (which are available once from January to June and again once from July to December).

It is great to see expanded uses of the lodging credit. However, given the price point of most Airbnb Luxe properties, don’t expect the credit to go as far toward covering a qualifying Airbnb stay as it has for value-priced The Hotel Collection or Fine Hotels and Resorts properties.

Still, for those who need lodging for a group and/or prefer luxury rentals, it will be nice to get some rebate for those types of stays along with the elevated earning through Amex Travel.

Unlock Airbnb Experiences credit with Airbnb Luxe

One benefit of booking Airbnb Luxe properties through Amex Travel is that once you have booked a prepaid Airbnb Luxe stay through Amex Travel with your Platinum or Business Platinum card, you will unlock access to a $250 Airbnb Experiences credit. Interestingly, the $250 in Airbnb Experiences credits are valid through the remainder of the calendar year after you use your card to book an eligible Airbnb Luxe property through Amex Travel.

In other words, the Airbnb experience does not need to be booked in conjunction with the Airbnb Luxe rental. You could book an Airbnb Luxe rental for one trip and use your $250 Airbnb experiences credit on a different trip or even split it over multiple Airbnb experience bookings/trips. That will certainly make the Airbnb Experiences credit more useful and provide an additional incentive to book those Airbnb Luxe stays through Amex Travel.

Again, given the high price point of many Airbnb Luxe property rentals, don’t expect this credit and the lodging credit to defray a large percentage of the cost of an Airbnb Luxe rental. However, if you would already consider booking one of those rentals, this is certainly a terrific bonus to get in return for your booking.

Bottom line

There are many fans of Airbnb-style lodging, particularly for the ability to get a more residential experience that might give you more of the local flavor of the place you’re visiting.

If you’re someone who often books Airbnb rentals, being able to earn 5 points per dollar spent is a nice addition for Platinum Cardholders who book those rentals through Amex Travel. The ability to use the lodging credit and gain an Experiences credit with Amex Travel-booked Airbnb Luxe rentals is probably of more limited utility. However, as was pointed out by a member of our FrequentMiler Insiders Facebook group, it could be particularly appealing for those who plan large group trips (particularly in foreign markets where it might be possible to book a very large home for a price that works out to be fairly inexpensive per traveler).

As Tim pointed out last week, Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings will require a two-night minimum starting in January of 2027. That’s certainly a negative change, but the Airbnb-related additions are nice bonuses for those who can use them.

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Costco.com is selling $100 Amtrak eGift + $20 Amtrak eGift for $99.99

Nick Reyes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 17:45:57 +0000

If you’re a regular on Amtrak, you can currently save some money by buying Amtrak gift cards through Costco.com. That’s because Costco is offering a $100 Amtrak e-gift card packaged with an additional $20 Amtrak e-gift card for a total of $99.99. That could certainly be a really good deal, given that we don’t frequently see opportunities to save money on train travel in the United States.

The Deal

Costco.com is offering a $100 Amtrak eGift Card + a $20 Amtrak eGift card for a total of $99.99
Direct link to this deal

Key Terms

Redeemable Online at Amtrak.com, on the Amtrak App, or In Person
Excludes Food/Beverages, Other Gift Cards and Tickets Sold by Third Party Providers
Limit of 1 Transaction, with a Maximum of 5 Units per Membership Every 14 Days

Quick Thoughts

Getting $120 worth of total Amtrak credit for $99.99 represents a discount of about 16.7%. That’s certainly a very good deal given that I’m not aware of other ways to regularly save on Amtrak train travel. This is a new offering from Costco.com, so I’ll be curious to see how long this lasts and whether we occasionally see additional discounts beyond the current price.

If this turns out to be a long-term thing, it might influence the relative value of transferring Bilt rewards points to Amtrak. As a reminder, Bilt added Amtrak as a transfer partner this fall. While Bilt points ordinarily transfer to Amtrak at a rate of 2 Bilt points to 1 Amtrak point, that can represent a pretty good value since Amtrak points are quite valuable against the cost of train fare.

However, if you’re regularly able to get a 16.7% discount on train fare by purchasing gift cards through Costco, that might affect the math for some people. Keep in mind that Amtrak gift cards cannot be used for food and beverage or tickets sold by third-party providers. However, you can redeem them at Amtrak.com or in the Amtrak app, or even in person. I’m not positive whether you can use multiple gift cards on a single train transaction, so if any readers can confirm one way or another in the comments, that would be great information to include here.

We will certainly keep our eye out to see if Costco.com offers any further discounts on these cards during the holiday season.

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10% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles from Citi ThankYou

Nick Reyes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:45:47 +0000

Citi ThankYou Rewards is currently offering a 10% transfer bonus when you transfer Citi ThankYou points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. While that’s a pretty small transfer bonus, Asia Miles can be quite useful in some cases since Cathay Pacific offers additional award space to its own members. Asia Miles also has some notably good Oneworld award pricing in specific situations. Given that Amex has devalued its transfer ratio to Asia Miles, this bonus represents a decent bump over using Membership Rewards points for Cathay Pacific.

The Deal

Citi ThankYou Rewards is currently offering a 10% transfer bonus when moving points to Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles. With this bonus, Citi Strata Elite®, Citi Strata Premier®, Prestige®, AT&T Access More Cardmembers will get the following ratio:
- 1,000 Citi ThankYou points = 1,100 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Key Terms

Offer is valid for points transfers to Asia Miles completed between 12:01 AM ET October 25, 2026 and 11:59 PM ET November 14, 2026.

Quick Thoughts

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles are mostly known for the expanded availability they unlock for those interested in booking Cathay Pacific premium cabin awards. It can be very difficult to find Cathay Pacific business or first class award space available to book through partner airline programs, but you’ll have more success when searching through Cathay’s own program.

Asia Miles can be particularly useful for those who need multiple seats, given the expanded award access for their own members. Asia Miles also offers a handful of notably good award deals in specific instances. For example, British Airways business class awards can be a particularly good value when booked via Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, thanks to reduced award surcharges when booking through Cathay Pacific.

Keep in mind that Amex devalued transfers to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles earlier this year. Those with Amex Membership Rewards now only get a 5:4 transfer ratio. That makes this better-than-1:1 ratio from Citi all the more interesting. I would have sooner bet on Citi following suit and devaluing transfers, but it is great news to see things move in the opposite direction with this transfer bonus.

I certainly wouldn’t transfer speculatively at such a small bonus, but it can definitely be worth looking at your award booking needs to see if this bonus can save you some points.

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Fee-free Visa Gift Cards in-store at Staples

Tim Steinke — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 14:45:51 +0000

Staples is again offering fee-free fixed $200 Visa Gift Cards through Saturday, October 31, 2026.

The limit is nine per customer per day in-store, although some stores may allow more. Different stores appear to have different policies regarding the variable-load cards that some Staples now sell. Some folks report that fees are waived when they purchase them…others find that they aren’t. Your mileage may vary.

The Deal

Staples in-store will waive the $7.95 activation fee when you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card.

Key Terms

Offer valid 10/18/26-10/31/26.
Limit 9 per customer per day in-store (YMMV on whether your cashier/store allows or enforces the limit).

Quick Notes

These deals can be a great way of getting rewards through spending at office supply stores. If you can buy 9 at a time in-store, that’s a potential $1,800 each day. Some stores may allow you to buy more than 9, and we’ve also heard occasional reports that some managers will sell fewer than the ad says.

Other times this deal has run recently at Staples:

Fee-free Visa Gift Card Sales

10/4/26-10/11/26
9/20/26-9/26/26
9/6/26-9/12/26
8/23/26-8/29/26
8/2/26-8/8/26
7/26/26-8/1/26
6/28/26-7/4/26
5/31/26-6/6/26
5/3/26-5/9/26
4/19/26-4/25/26
4/5/26-4/11/26
3/8/26-3/14/26
2/8/26-2/14/26
1/11/26-1/17/26
12/7/25 – 12/27/25
11/23/25 – 11/29/25
11/9/25 – 11/15/25
10/12/25 – 10/25/25
9/14/25 – 9/20/25.
8/17/25 – 8/23/25
7/20/25 – 7/26/25
6/22/25 – 6/28/25
5/25/25 – 5/31/25
4/27/25 – 5/3/25
3/30/25 – 4/5/25
3/2/25 – 3/8/25
2/2/25 – 2/8/25
1/5/25 – 1/11/25
12/22/24 – 12/28/24
12/8/24 – 12/21/24
11/17/24 – 11/23/24
10/13/24 -10/19/24
9/15/24 – 9/21/24
8/18/24 – 8/24/24
7/21/24 – 7/27/24
6/23/24 – 6/29/24
5/26/24 – 6/1/24
4/28/24 – 5/4/24
3/31/24 – 4/6/24
3/3/24 – 3/9/24
2/4/24 – 2/10/24
1/7/24 – 1/13/24
12/10/23 – 12/16/23
11/12/23 – 11/18/23
10/15/23 – 10/21/23
9/17/23 – 9/23/23
8/20/23 – 8/26/23
7/23/23 – 7/29/23
6/25/23 – 7/1/23
5/28/23-6/3/23
4/30/23 – 5/6/23
4/2/23 – 4/8/23
3/5/23 – 3/11/23
2/5/23 – 2/11/23
1/8/23 – 1/14/23
12/25/22 – 12/31/22 (only on $100 cards)
12/11/22 – 12/17/22
11/6/22 to 11/12/22
10/9/22 to 10/22/22
September 25-October 1, 2022
September 4-September 10, 2022
August 7-13, 2022
July 10-16, 2022
June 12-18, 2022
May 8-14, 2022
February 27-March 5, 2022
January 16-22, 2022
December 12-18, 2021
October 31-November 13, 2021
October 17-23, 2021
September 26-October 2, 2021
September 5-11, 2021
August 8-14, 2021
July 11-17, 2021
June 13-19, 2021
May 9-15, 2021
February 28-March 6, 2021
January 17-23, 2021

The post Fee-free Visa Gift Cards in-store at Staples appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

$200 inKind dining benefit added to Citi AAdvantage Executive card

Nick Reyes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 13:45:19 +0000

As reported at The Points Guy, The Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Card has added a new dining perk that will certainly be of interest to some readers. Cardholders now get up to $200 in annual inKind dining credits that will be doled out as $100 from January through June and $100 from July through December. Given inKind’s decently broad footprint, many readers should be able to make use of this benefit. On the other hand, these new credits won’t stack with existing credits or earn inKind rewards on the same transaction, nor should they be valued anywhere near face value.

$100 inKind credit January to June & July to December

Yesterday, Citi added a twice-annual in-kind benefit to the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card. Starting immediately, AAdvantage Executive Card holders can add their card as a payment method in the InKind app. Then, when paying at an InKind restaurant, they should automatically see up to $100 come off the bill one time through the end of 2026. Then, in January, the benefit will reset, with $100 available between January and June and $100 between July and December.

For those unfamiliar, inKind is a payment app that can be used to pay your check at some restaurants. While the footprint isn’t quite as large as what you would find with major dining platforms like Resy or OpenTable, there are nonetheless many inKind restaurants around the United States.

The app works really well. All you have to do is get your check from your server and then type the check number into the app to pay the bill. I’ve even been able to pay the bill at the counter when paying for a pickup order or at a counter-service restaurant by asking for the check number to type into the app and pay. The experience has been pretty seamless all the times I’ve used it.

Of key importance: you cannot pay some taxes and the gratuity with inKind credits. You’ll need to charge the gratuity to the card you have on file. I expect that it will be necessary to charge that gratuity and any overage to your qualifying AAdvantage Executive card.

No stacking with existing inKind credit

One of the advantages of using InKind is the ability to earn cash back when dining out. The app used to offer a flat 20% back everywhere, though I believe it fluctuates these days. That percentage back in rewards can be applied towards future dining.

That existing inKind cash cannot stack with the AAdvantage Executive benefit; I believe the same will be true if you have InKind gift card credits loaded to your account. That is to say that I believe you will have to choose to either use the credit from your AAdvantage Executive card or use those existing inKind credits to pay for your meal.

How much is this benefit worth? (Hint: less than face value)

This can be a great deal for anybody with an Executive card. If you have found the card worthwhile primarily for its other benefits, this new benefit will just be gravy, and it should be relatively easy to use in most major cities.

That said, I don’t know whether this benefit would push me over the top to getting the card if I were on the fence. If I lived in or frequently traveled to an area with decent InKind coverage, it certainly would come into the calculation, though not at full face value.

I’ve still used inKind several times a year while traveling, but it isn’t available everywhere (and not at all in my immediate vicinity). The utility will definitely vary. On the other hand, if you live in or frequently travel to cities large enough for Admirals Club access (the key feature of the Executive card) to be of value, you will probably be able to find uses for this benefit.

More importantly, Costco ordinarily sells $100 InKind gift cards for $75, and they frequently discount inKind cards to $69.99 (and occasionally as low as $64.99). We also see inKind sell credit directly through its website/app below face value. Given the ability to easily buy inKind credit for well below face value, you shouldn’t value this InKind credit at face value (and you should probably value it significantly below the prices at which you can easily buy $100 in credit twice a year if you wanted it). That is not to say that I wouldn’t gladly take an additional $200 per year in inKind credit, but if I primarily wanted that, I could buy it from Costco right now for $150 and not be bound to using that $100 in two separate halves of a year. If I didn’t need the credit right now, I could wait until it goes on sale for less — and, again, not have any risk of breakage.

If you are new to inKind

If you are new to inKind, you can get a $25 reward to use on a dine of $50 or more (and so will we) if you sign up via a referral link. You can not stack that discount with the AAdvantage Executive credit on the same dine, but you can use it on a separate dine, so if you are new to the platform, it makes sense to sign up via referral to get that coupon for future use.

Feel free to use one of our links with our thanks:

Bottom line

The Citi AAdvantage Executive card has added a new twice-annual $100 inKind credit. That’s a fun add that will certainly be useful for some. It shouldn’t be valued anywhere near “face value” since we see frequent opportunities to buy inKind credit below face value, but this is still a welcome addition to the card.

The post $200 inKind dining benefit added to Citi AAdvantage Executive card appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Hotel review: SCHLOSS Roxburghe Golf Resort in Scotland (Destination by Hyatt & Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®)

Stephen Pepper — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 01:45:02 +0000

I’d had my eye on SCHLOSS Roxburghe Golf Resort in Scotland for a number of years. Formerly a manor house dating back to the 1100s, it’s now a luxury hotel and golf resort.

It had been on my radar because it was a beautiful-looking category 4 property in the World of Hyatt program, so it seemed like a perfect place to use our Category 1-4 free night certificates. Unfortunately that’s no longer possible as it’s since moved up to category 5, but it is still bookable with Hyatt points. It’s also bookable through American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts® (FHR) and possibly through equivalent programs from Chase, Citi, Capital One, etc.

Another reason it had been so appealing to me is that it’s now only a two hour drive from where we live in the north of England. Armed with a ton of FHR credits, we booked two stays: a two night stay at the end of August and a six night stay in early October. Shae and I were a little underwhelmed after our first stay, but really enjoyed our second stay.

Here’s a full review of SCHLOSS Roxburghe Golf Resort in Kelso, Scotland.

SCHLOSS Roxburghe in Kelso, Scotland

Getting to SCHLOSS Roxburghe

The hotel is near the fairly small market town of Kelso, population ~7,000. The closest airports are Edinburgh in Scotland and Newcastle in England, both about a 90 minute drive away.

If you’ll be driving up there from England, you might find yourself driving up the A68. That takes you through Northumberland National Park which is a very scenic drive, plus you’ll have the opportunity to stop at the Last Cafe in England before crossing the Scottish border.

The Last Cafe in England

Tea & hot chocolate at the Last Cafe in England

Booking SCHLOSS Roxburghe

I’d ordinarily detail how we booked and how much we paid towards the end of a review. However, with SCHLOSS Roxburghe I feel like it’s better to highlight that upfront as your booking method might greatly impact the type of accommodation you end up in.

If you book directly with Hyatt, a standard room is a 1 King Bed Courtyard room which can cost between 15,000-35,000 points per night. There are at least two standard suites: Castle Suite and a two story Courtyard Duplex Suite. As it’s a category 5 property, those cost between 27,000-47,000 points per night (or a standard number of points if redeeming a Suite Upgrade Award). There’s also at least one type of premium suite: an Estate Suite that can cost between 30,000-50,000 points per night.

Somewhat strangely, the Castle Suite is the largest of all the points-bookable suites at 72 sq m (~775 sq ft). The Courtyard Duplex Suite is 52 sq m (~560 sq ft), while the Estate Suite—which is a premium suite—is “only” 48 sq m (~517 sq ft).

When we booked through Amex FHR a year ago, our options were different. FHR had access to additional room types, with the base room type being a 1 bedroom cottage on the grounds of SCHLOSS Roxburghe, rather than in the manor house itself; there were also 2 bedroom cottages available. The 1 bedroom cottages are—as a rough guesstimate based on its similarity in size to an apartment we used to live in—70 sq m (~750 sq ft). That was perfect for us as it gave us a decent amount of space, was more private, and meant it would be quieter with us traveling with our dog.

The thing is, when running a search while writing this review, those one bedroom cottages weren’t listed on the handful of dates I searched. I don’t know if it was an error that they were listed at the time, or if they’re still bookable through any other luxury hotel program other than FHR, but now the FHR room types appear to be similar to those listed on Hyatt’s website.

Check-in

For our first stay, we checked in at the main check-in desk in the manor house. The front desk agent was friendly, but despite manually writing my World of Hyatt account number down for her in a couple of places and asking it to be added to our stay, that was never done.

Front desk

For our second stay, I’d managed to get my account number linked ahead of time (more about that later). Before that second stay, I’d received an email to let me know that if we arrived before 5pm, we should check in at the Kio Kids Club building seeing as we were staying in one of the cottages. We arrived pretty much at check-in time (3pm), so we went straight there and check-in was super-quick.

We received a printed sheet stating what our benefits were as a result of booking via FHR.

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® benefits

That second time we were also advised that we were eligible for additional benefits as a result of having Globalist status with Hyatt. We could get a free round of golf for one person, as well as free golf cart rental; I’m not much of a golfer (Topgolf and mini-golf is the extent of my golfing activity), so we didn’t end up taking them up on this, but I imagine that’d be an excellent benefit for an actual golfer.

We were also advised that we’d get complimentary access to the spa. That was great because access normally costs £95 (~$127) per person per stay, although it’s a bit of a rip-off for non-Globalist guests given the prices they already charge for stays. If you don’t pay that fee, you don’t get access to the pool, fitness room, etc.

If you’re staying in a cottage and want to charge anything to your room, you’ll want to stop by the front desk in the main building at some point. That’s because they’ll have to set you up with what’s effectively a dummy room number in the main building; that’ll be linked to your cottage number and is what will allow you to charge food, drink, etc. to it. Without that, you’ll be advised by the bars and restaurants that you can’t charge anything to your cottage. We weren’t advised of this either time when checking in, so you might well have to proactively inquire about it if staying in a cottage.

1 bedroom self-catering cottages at SCHLOSS Roxburghe

The cottages at the hotel have either one or two bedrooms. It seems like the majority have one bedrooms, with two cottages being side-by-side. We never had any issues with hearing other people, despite having neighbors during both stays.

Funnily enough, we were in cottage 316 for our first visit (the left half of the building in the photo below) and in cottage 317 for our second visit (the right half of the building below). There was no difference in the interiors, other than the layouts being mirrored.

Two of the cottage accommodations

The grounds seem to have the cottages set up in an L shape, with two buildings (and thus four cottages) on each plot.

Two sets of the double cottages

There’s parking near each of the cottages, but if you have a ton of bags with you then you can, in theory, drive your vehicle down that gravel path closer to your cottage in order to unload. We didn’t do that ourselves, but did see other guests doing that.

Parking for cottages

I don’t know the exact size of the cottages, but they were nice and spacious and were what I’d assume to be about 750 sq ft.

You enter into an area with a rubber mat where you can place muddy footwear (this is Scotland after all), with a wall-mounted coat rack next to it and an umbrella to use during your stay if needed.

Coat rack

The bathroom is off to one side, with the open plan kitchen and living room being straight ahead.

Open plan kitchen & living room

Seeing as it’s a self-catering cottage, there’s a decent-sized fridge, a multi-function oven/microwave, cookware, cooking utensils, plates, silverware, etc. There’s a sink, but no dishwasher. There’s no freezer either; just something to be aware of in case you were planning on rocking up with a bunch of frozen food for the week.

Kitchen cupboards & fridge

The kitchen island had a lower shelf and a bench, so that serves well as a dining table and/or work area.

Silverware, cooking utensils, & cookware

Kitchen island & sink

There’s a complimentary “minibar” in the cottages waiting for you with a bunch of drinks and snacks. This includes the quintessential Scottish drink: Irn-Bru (pronounced ‘iron brew’).

There was two of everything for our first stay of two nights. I’d assumed at the time that that was the standard minibar offering, but in fact it seems like you get one of everything for each night you stay. That’s because when we arrived for our six night stay, there were six of each item. I’m a sucker for free stuff, so I loved that.

Complimentary mini bar snacks

Between the kitchen and living room there was a large cabinet with a coffee and tea station. Inside the tall cupboard was all kinds of drinkware.

Drinks cabinet

Drinkware

The living room had a two-seater sofa (but which could probably fit three people), a coffee table, and ottoman. The TV had a range of channels available; probably 15-20 UK channels, along with about 20 international channels (primarily European, but a few from further afield). A slight downside (for me) was that the TV wasn’t fixed to the wall on a hinge, so it wasn’t possible to access the HDMI and USB ports which meant we couldn’t hook up our Fire TV Stick to watch other stuff.

Living room

Out the back of the living room was a small patio area with a table and chairs.

Patio table & chairs

The bedroom had a king bed that we found comfortable and the curtains did a pretty good job at blocking out the light in the morning.

Bedroom

There’s plenty of closet space if you want to properly unpack (I always just live out of my suitcase), along with a luggage rack, safe, and hairdryer.

Closet

There was also an ottoman in the corner.

Ottoman

The bathroom was a good size too, with a walk-in shower that had both a rainfall showerhead and handheld wand. It seems like that region might have hard water as the rainfall showerhead had quite a few blockages on the nozzles. Flicking at each little nozzle cleared the mineral deposits which allowed more water to come through.

Walk-in shower

The toiletries were Molton Brown and were decent. SCHLOSS Roxburghe doesn’t provide washcloths, so you’ll want to bring one with you if you like to use those when showering.

Toiletries

The bathroom also had a toilet and sink, with a good amount of counter space around the sink.

The installation of the shaving/makeup wall-mounted mirror seemed a little….shaky….in both of the cottages we were in.

Toilet & sink

Overall, we were extremely pleased with staying in a cottage. While it’s not in the main manor house and so you have to walk to get to the spa, breakfast, etc., it afforded much more space, as well as provided the convenience of having a full kitchen which was particularly helpful for our six night stay.

SCHLOSS Roxburghe breakfast

Breakfast is served daily in Charlie’s restaurant from 7am-10:30am. It’s buffet-style, with the ability to order some a la carte options. I’m not sure if you’re charged for the items with a price if you have Globalist status or are staying on a breakfast-included rate (e.g. Amex FHR), or if those are included too. The items at the bottom half of the menu pictured below are included though.

Made-to-order menu

You can order a variety of drinks with your breakfast, including alcoholic drinks. I’m not entirely sure that adding a drop of orange juice to a glass of prosecco merits the £6 (~$8) upcharge to make it a mimosa

Breakfast drinks menu

Be aware that the pours of prosecco won’t always look great depending on what type of glass it’s served in. Shae ordered a glass at breakfast one morning and this is what was served:

Weird pour of prosecco

We asked if they’d forgotten to pour the other 2/3 of a glass, but were assured that that was a standard 125ml pour. I tested it out when we got home with a similarly-sized glass of our own and sure enough, that was indeed a 125ml pour. It does feel kinda stingy when served that way though, so they’d do better to serve prosecco in a smaller glass in my opinion.

The breakfast buffet isn’t necessarily what I’d class as extensive, but there were plenty of hot options, cold cuts, fruit, cereals, breads, pastries, etc.

Vegetarian sausage & scrambled eggs

Black pudding & haggis

Baked beans, mushrooms, hash browns, & tomatoes

Bacon & sausages

Salmon, butter, cheese, fruit, & yogurt

Fresh fruit

Cold cuts

Salad items

Pastries

Energiser smoothies

Cereal & fruit

Breads

Bread & preserves

The scrambled eggs could be best described as sloppy due to how runny they were. That’s not our preferred type of scrambled eggs (both Shae and I prefer them to be scrambled hard), so one morning I ordered poached eggs which were good.

Shae also tried their Scotch pancakes with maple syrup one morning; they were nice enough, but they weren’t really what she was hoping for as they were quite citrusy.

Scotch pancakes

Other bars & restaurants

SCHLOSS Roxburghe has a number of bars and restaurants you can enjoy during your stay.

Charlie’s

Charlie’s is where breakfast is served from 7am-10:30am each day. You can also get lunch there daily from 12:30pm-3:30pm, and dinner from 5:30pm-9:30pm each day.

Charlie’s restaurant menu

Snack menu at Charlie’s

Charlie’s Terrace

From May to August, Charlie’s Terrace is open every day from 12pm-9:30pm. It provides an opportunity to dine outdoors and has its own menu from 12:30pm-5pm, with the Charlie’s menu being served from 5pm-9:30pm.

Sunlaws Restaurant

This restaurant offers a fine dining experience. It’s open for afternoon tea each day from 1pm-3:30pm, and for dinner Wednesday to Sunday from 6pm-8:30pm.

At the time of publishing this review, afternoon tea costs £55 (~$73.50) per person, while the dinner tasting menu is $110 (~$147) per person.

Bar 1745

Bar 1745 is a fun whisky bar with hundreds of different whiskies to choose from, as well as the option to order cocktails, wine, etc.

Bar 1745

During our first stay, we used our $100 (£80) FHR dining credit to get drinks at Bar 1745 which meant I was able to try out a bunch of different whiskies.

Drinks at Bar 1745

There was a QR code at the bar that you can scan to check out the whisky menu.

Whisky menu at Bar 1745

It also had a feature where you could answer several questions in order for it to recommend the perfect whisky to try based on your preferences.

App to help you decide which whisky to order

The Spike Bar

This is a bar that can be found in the golf clubhouse and is open every day during the summer from 7:30am-9pm and every day during the winter from 8am-4:30pm.

State Room Lounge

State Room Lounge is the hotel’s other bar and is open from 12pm-9:30pm each day.

State Room Lounge

During our second trip to this hotel, State Room Lounge is where we used our £80 Amex FHR credit.

More State Room Lounge seating

Amenities

Spa

The hotel has a very nice spa area that features an outdoor heated infinity pool that’s quite long and so is good for doing laps. I thought I’d gotten a photo of it during our first visit and so didn’t take a photo during our second visit, but it turned out I never got a photo of it. You can see it on the hotel’s website here though.

Also outdoors is a whirlpool, a couple of saunas (one dry and one aroma), and a cold plunge pool.

Whirlpool

Sauna

Cold plunge pool

When arriving at the spa, you’re given a bathrobe, towel, and slippers. Inside, there are lots of loungers to relax on, along with a fireplace, with there being a door at one end of the pool which leads outside to the rest of the pool.

Also inside is a refreshments area with a variety of herbal teas and infused waters, as well as little snacks like dried fruit.

Spa snacks

Spa drinks

Access to the spa area costs £95 (~$127) per person; I’m not 100% sure if that’s only charged if you’re staying in one of the cottages, or if guests staying in rooms in the manor house also have to pay that fee. That fee is waived if you have Globalist status.

You can use the spa facilities for up to four hours each day. There are various spa treatments you can book for an additional charge.

Fitness room

Also in the spa area is the fitness room. It’s not huge, but I only ever saw one or two people in there as it seemed like most guests preferred to utilize the actual spa area.

Fitness room

Golf course

It seems like a lot of people who visit and/or stay at SCHLOSS Roxburghe are there to play golf on its Championship course.

Golf course

We didn’t play a round ourselves, but it’s reportedly a beautiful course. If you have Globalist status, you get a complimentary round of golf (I believe only for one person) and complimentary use of a golf cart.

Golf carts

Golf clubhouse

Estate Market

Out by the cottages is the Estate Market, a store selling food and drink for those staying in the self-catering cottages and which is open from 8:30am-4:30pm each day. The pricing of the grocery items was surprisingly competitive; I imagine that there’s a little bit of a markup, but it certainly didn’t seem extortionate.

Estate Market

The store also sells a variety of other items that could make good souvenirs from your trip, as well as scarves, jewelry, etc.

Inside Estate Market

Kio Kids Club

Also out by the cottages is Kio Kids Club. The Kids Club has apparently been closed since September 1, 2025 and the building is currently being used to check in guests staying in the cottages. There is still a playground available for children to use during your visit.

Kio Kids Club

SCHLOSS Roxburghe grounds

When checking in on both occasions, we were given a map that provided a layout of the grounds.

Map of SCHLOSS Roxburghe

The property is spread out over 300 acres, so there are lots of gardens you can walk around.

Gardens

More of the gardens

Rainbow over SCHLOSS Roxburghe

One of the things I love about living back in the UK is the abundance of wild blackberries you can find growing everywhere. SCHLOSS Roxburghe is no exception, so I enjoyed several of these during our visit in August.

Delicious blackberries

If you’re a car enthusiast, the hotel seems to be a popular meetup spot for owners of sports cars.

Car enthusiasts meetup at SCHLOSS Roxburghe

SCHLOSS Roxburghe pet policy

The hotel is pet-friendly, charging a pet fee of £30 (~$40) per night, per dog. We were charged this for our first stay of two nights, but thankfully weren’t charged for having Truffles with us for our second stay of six nights as that would’ve cost us £180 (~$240).

Truffles enjoying the comfortable bed

Much of the grounds are pet-friendly, so there’s plenty of space to walk your pup. Dogs are also allowed in the State Room Lounge, as well as the outer edge of Charlie’s restaurant which means they can come along at breakfast if you want; they just have to stay outside of the food area.

Truffles enjoying some of the morning sun

Parking

Parking is complimentary for all guests. There’s a large parking lot next to the main building for people staying in there, with smaller parking areas next to cottages. There’s also a fairly large parking lot next to the golf clubhouse.

Cost

For our two night stay in late August 2026, our nightly rate was ~$350 per night including taxes and fees. That was booked a few months ahead of that stay.

Our stay in early October 2026 was booked nine or ten months ahead of time. The nightly rate including taxes and fees was ~$280.

Both of the stays were booked through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts, so that also included a $100 dining credit, complimentary breakfast for two people, a guaranteed 4pm late checkout, and more.

At the time, the hotel credit on the American Express Platinum Card® and Business Platinum Card® was a twice-annual credit that was valid for up to $300 back and could be used for one night stays when booked with FHR. That was perfect for us as it meant that the majority of the cost for our first stay was covered (we booked the two nights on two different cards), while the entire cost was covered for our second stay as we paid for each of the six nights with different cards that each had a $300 credit.

Unfortunately, it was recently announced that from January 1, 2027 there’ll be a two night minimum stay requirement to use that credit—even for FHR stays. That makes SCHLOSS Roxburghe much less appealing for me when booked through that program.

Hyatt account linking weirdness

When booking both stays through Amex FHR, I added my World of Hyatt account number because this hotel is part of Destination by Hyatt. Neither booking showed up on my account, so I emailed my Hyatt concierge (I had Globalist status) who added my account number and the two stays—booked as eight separate nights due to the FHR credits—showed up on my account.

However, a few weeks before our first stay I noticed both sets of stays had disappeared. I emailed my concierge who couldn’t get it sorted out, but she copied in the hotel. It turned out that the hotel had moved bookings that were for their cottages to a different reservation system which is what disconnected our stays from Hyatt’s system.

Trying to get the stays linked again was a bit of a palaver; I wasn’t successful with the first stay, even after providing my Hyatt account number at check-in, but did get eventually get the points and elite night credits after the stay after reaching back out to my concierge.

I emailed the hotel before our second stay and finally managed to get my account number linked to the stay and they showed up on my account, but the Director of Rooms at SCHLOSS Roxburghe stated the following in his reply:

I have added your membership number to your stays with us. As you have prepaid via American Express you will not receive points for the accommodation spend. You will still receive World of Hyatt points on your incidental spend.

That seemed weird, but sure enough I earned zero points for the room rate and zero elite night credits after our second stay of six nights. I reached back out to my concierge seeing as she’d gotten the points and elite night credits from our first stay sorted out. However, her reply this time around wasn’t positive:

I reviewed all six reservations that were booked through American Express. Unfortunately, the booking method used for these reservations made them ineligible for World of Hyatt credit.

While reservations made through American Express can sometimes be eligible, there are instances where American Express uses a third-party booking channel. When this occurs, the reservations are considered third-party bookings and do not qualify for World of Hyatt points, Tier-Qualifying Nights, or eligible stay credit.

I understand this is disappointing, especially given the number of stays involved. Based on my review, these reservations were processed through a booking method that does not qualify for World of Hyatt earning or stay credit. If you have future reservations booked through American Express, I would be happy to review them in advance whenever possible to help determine whether they will be eligible for World of Hyatt benefits and credit.

I’m nothing if not ~~stubborn~~ persistent though, so I decided to push back on that. It also occurred to me that the reason the two stays had initially become disconnected from my World of Hyatt account was because SCHLOSS Roxburghe had moved our reservations to a different system. I therefore replied to my concierge, suggesting that as a reason for the booking channel anomaly. I don’t know if that truly was the reason in the end, but she contacted the hotel and a couple of days later the points and elite night credits were added to my account. That was a relief as those six nights were what was going to get me to 50 elite night credits for the year and thus another Guest of Honor award and Suite Night Upgrade award via Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards.

Service

Service was a mix of good and not-so-great. On the positive side of things, the woman who welcomes guests at breakfast most mornings and shows them to a table was always incredibly friendly and perky; she was genuinely a delight first thing in the morning every day.

The guy who served us one evening at Bar 1745 was also very good.

On the less good side of things, service at breakfast wasn’t always very fast when it came to ordering drinks and made-to-order food. One morning we had to flag down a server as no one had taken our drinks orders, then it took forever to get them. Another day my pot of tea didn’t arrive at all. On another morning, a table we were seated at hadn’t been wiped down.

When checking in on both occasions, we were never advised that we’d need to have them set up a dummy room number in order for us to charge food, drinks, etc. to our folio due to us being in one of the cottages. That meant that when we tried to charge a drink to our room, we had to pay out of pocket the first time as they wouldn’t let us charge it to our cottage.

After finding out that we needed to get a dummy/internal room number set up, we stopped by the front desk to arrange that. Before we had a chance to explain what we needed to do, the only front desk agent walked off without acknowledging us and proceeded to be gone for ten minutes before someone else eventually came along and helped us.

Before the first of our two stays, my World of Hyatt account number got disconnected from our reservations due to them moving to a new system. Despite getting in contact with the hotel, for our first stay they didn’t add it back on, nor did they add it to our reservation when I gave it to them when checking in.

Overall, the staff were all nice enough, but it certainly wasn’t the level of service I’d have expected from a five star hotel.

Internet

Internet service seemed to be very good. Our final livestream for the Wild Card Challenge where we announced the challenge winner took place while I was at SCHLOSS Roxburghe and that didn’t seem to have any issues.

Nearby attractions

Jedburgh Abbey

About 15 minutes away from the hotel is the small town of Jedburgh. We’d driven through it on the way to the hotel and seen Jedburgh Abbey by the side of the road, so we drove back there during our second stay to visit it due to how eye-catching it is.

Jedburgh Abbey in Scotland

Tickets are a very reasonable £7.50 (~$10) per person for adults. It’s part of Historic Scotland, so entry is free if you have a membership for that organization. You can also get free entry if you have an English Heritage membership as that’s a partner organization. English Heritage membership includes entry to sites like Stonehenge, Dover Castle, 1066 Battle of Hastings Battlefield, Tintagel Castle, and hundreds of other sites around England.

Jedburgh Abbey

As with many similar attractions in the UK, Jedburgh Abbey is pet-friendly which meant that Truffles was able to join us.

Inside the Lothian Aisle at Jedburgh Abbey

Looking up at Jedburgh Abbey

Mary Queen of Scots House

Also in Jedburgh is the Mary Queen of Scots House. It’s free to visit, but it isn’t pet-friendly and so Shae and I intended to return on a different day to check it out. Other things got in the way (relaxing in the spa being one of them), so we never got around to checking it out, but we would plan to if we ever return to SCHLOSS Roxburghe.

Mary Queen of Scots House in Jedburgh, Scotland

Beirhope Alpacas

An experience we’d been looking forward to during our first stay was doing an alpaca trek with Beirhope Alpacas. The weather that morning ended up being appalling, so they had to cancel it. We’d intended to visit them during our second visit, but our plans had been up in the air and so we hadn’t been certain we’d be able to make that trip. By the time we did know that we’d definitely be staying at SCHLOSS Roxburghe in October, Beirhope Alpacas was sadly all booked up for our dates.

Kelso Abbey

While it’s not quite as impressive as Jedburgh Abbey, Kelso Abbey is only a 10 minute drive away from the hotel and is free to visit, so it’s worth a stop if you find yourself in downtown Kelso.

Kelso Abbey in Kelso, Scotland

Dating back to the 1100s, the Abbey is now in ruins, but some of the exterior of the building is still in very good condition considering its history.

Kelso Abbey

Downtown Kelso

Downtown Kelso is also a cute area, with quite a few boutique stores, along with restaurants, bars, and more.

Downtown Kelso

Pros & Cons

Pros

Beautiful property
Spacious cottages and suites
Lovely spa
Decent golf course (apparently)
Excellent whisky bar
A round of golf and use of a golf cart is a fun perk for those with Hyatt Globalist status

Cons

Service wasn’t what I would expect from a five star hotel
There’s an additional £95 per person fee to use the fitness room, swimming pool, etc. unless you have Globalist status
The breakfast experience wasn’t always great
I had hassles after both of our stays getting elite night credits and points credited

The post Hotel review: SCHLOSS Roxburghe Golf Resort in Scotland (Destination by Hyatt & Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

(Update) Awesome news: Hyatt points transfers can be done online

Stephen Pepper — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 23:46:14 +0000

Update 10/25/26: We hadn’t updated this post regarding the restrictions on Hyatt points transfers going forward, so here are the new rules from Hyatt:

(a) A single Member may (i) gift points not more than once per calendar month and not more than six (6) total times per Calendar Year and (ii) receive points gifted through this method not more than once per calendar month and not more than six (6) total times per Calendar Year.

(b) A single Member may transfer a maximum of 525,000 points per Calendar Year and receive a maximum of 525,000 points per Calendar Year.

(c) Point-gifting requests require a minimum transfer of 1,000 points and are available in 500-point increments thereafter – up to the maximum annual transfer described above.

(d) Each Member must have an active account open for at least sixty (60) days before submission of the gifting request.

All Points received through transfer will be considered Bonus Points for the recipient.

Without limiting any of its other rights, Hyatt reserves the right to review any point-gifting request, to request additional information from the Members involved, and to decline or reverse any request it deems or reasonably suspects (in its sole discretion) to be fraudulent or otherwise submitted in an attempt to circumvent any restriction or other provision of these Program Terms, including the limitations set forth in this section.

In some ways, this is a negative change. That’s because in the past you could send points up to 12 times per year, or you could receive points up to 12 times per year. Now that’s limited to 6 instances of each per year.

There also wasn’t an explicit limit on how many points could be sent or received in the past, but now it’s been capped at 525,000 points per year.

Ultimately, while it’s never nice to see restrictions implemented by loyalty programs, for your average—and even non-average—World of Hyatt member this is unlikely to have any kind of impact.

The rules are also more generous than they are for some other hotel loyalty programs. For example, Marriott caps the number of points you can transfer each year to 100,000. That’s less than a fifth of the number of points Hyatt now lets you transfer, not to mention the fact that Marriott points are only worth about half of what Hyatt points are worth.

Similarly, IHG doesn’t let you transfer points for free at all unless you have Diamond status and/or in certain circumstances as an IHG One Rewards Business member, whereas any World of Hyatt member can send or receive points.

It’s been almost unalloyed bad news from World of Hyatt this year, what with category changes, a new award chart setup that makes many awards far more expensive, some Chase cards only transferring from Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt on a 4:3 basis, and then most recently Bilt announcing a move to the same 4:3 ratio.

Well, we’re able to give some good news on the Hyatt front today. As of tomorrow—October 15, 2026—World of Hyatt members will be able to transfer points to other members online.

As mentioned above, this functionality isn’t alive just yet, but it will be from October 15. Once it is live, we’ll publish a post detailing how to make a transfer. I imagine it’ll be fairly intuitive though given how easy it is to transfer awards like free night certificates, Suite Upgrade Awards, and Guest of Honor awards to other members.

Considering Hyatt built out the functionality to transfer those aforementioned awards to other members a year or two ago, it had been a little surprising that they were still using an outdated method of transferring points up until now.

In case you weren’t familiar with the process, up until now World of Hyatt has allowed members to transfer points to other members for free, but it’s been a bit of a faff. You had to download this form, complete it with both members’ details and have both members sign it (digital signatures have been accepted). You then had to email the form to combinepoints@hyatt.com or physically mail it to World of Hyatt Customer Service (to be honest, it was a little bit of a surprise that they didn’t require that the form be faxed in, but I guess it’s only Barclays that still likes to live in the 80s). It was then a waiting game as to how long the transfer would take to be processed; it usually seemed to be 48-72 hours in my experience, but it had the potential to take even longer.

There was one further limitation as to points transfers: you could only transfer or receive points once every 30 days. We’re not sure if that limitation will remain once this new functionality goes live. We asked our Hyatt rep and they advised that members will be able to transfer a maximum of 525,000 points per calendar year and receive up to 525,000 points per calendar year, but the full terms won’t be released until tomorrow.

The post (Update) Awesome news: Hyatt points transfers can be done online appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Office Depot/OfficeMax: Buy $300+ Mastercard Gift Cards, Save $15

Nick Reyes — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 21:45:01 +0000

Office Depot and OfficeMax stores have returned with their profitable gift card deal on Mastercard gift cards.

The Deal

Buy $300+ Mastercard gift cards at Office Depot/OfficeMax & get $15 off instantly.

Key Terms

Valid 10/25/26-10/31/26.
Limit 10 per household/business (different stores may try to impose various limits that don’t correspond to the ad).

Quick Thoughts

As always with these deals, the best option is to buy in three-card increments, as Office Depot/Max gives a $15 discount for every $300 you spend. So, buying three cards means you’re spending $600, which takes off $30. Buying nine cards means you should get $90 off, but YMMV as to whether a store will let you do that.

For every three cards you buy, you’ll pay $23.85 in fees (3x$7.95), giving you a net $6.15 in profit in addition to any additional rewards. Buying nine cards at a time triples both the profit and rewards (but will likely involve an ID check to make sure that the payment you’re using is yours).

Past Deals

9/27/26-10/3/26
8/30/26-9/5/26
8/2/26-8/8/26
7/5/26-7/11/26
6/7/26-6/13/26
5/10/26-5/16/26
4/12/26-4/18/26
3/15/26-3/21/26
2/15/26-2/21/26
1/18/26-1/24/26
12/14/25 -12/20/25
11/16-25-11/22/25
10/19/25-10/25/25
9/21/25-9/27/25
8/24/25-8/30/25
7/27/25-8/2/25
6/29/25-7/5/25
5/4/25-5/10/25
4/10/25-4/12/25
3/9/25-3/15/25
2/9/25 to 2/15/25
1/12/25 to 1/18/25
12/15/24 to 12/21/24
11/17/24 to 11/23/24
10/20/24 to 10/26/24
9/22/24 to 9/28/24
8/25/24 – 8/31/24
7/28/24 – 8/3/24
6/30/26 – 7/6/24
6/2/24 – 6/8/24
May 5-11, 2024
April 7-13, 2024
March 17-26, 2024.
March 10-16, 2024
February 11-17, 2024
January 14-20, 2024
December 17-23, 2023
November 19-26, 2023
October 23-29, 2023
September 24-30, 2023
August 27 – September 2, 2023.
July 30 – August 5, 2023
June 4-10, 2023
May 7-13, 2023
April 9-15, 2023
March 12-18, 2023
February 12-18, 2023
January 15-21, 2023
December 11-17, 2022
November 27-December 3, 2022
November 6-12, 2022
August 14-20, 2022
May 15-21, 2022
February 13-19, 2022
November 28-December 4, 2021
September 26-October 2, 2021
August 15-21, 2021
May 16-22, 2021

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40X miles / 40% back at TripAdvisor via Capital One

Nick Reyes — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 19:45:40 +0000

TripAdvisor is the Top Deal of the Day at both Capital One Offers and Capital One Shopping today. We’re currently seeing offers of 40X miles per dollar spent through Capital One Offers (for Capital One cardholders) or 40% back through Capital One Shopping (which is open to anyone). Those are solid returns for those booking activities, airport transfers, and more.

The Deal

Capital One Offers (for credit card holders) and Capital One Shopping (a public portal open to anyone) are offering elevated rates for TripAdvisor purchases. We sometimes see rates vary, but at the time of writing, we’re seeing:
- 40X miles via Capital One Offers
- 40% back via Capital One Shopping
- Note: Rates can vary, so see your account for your latest offer. Also keep an eye out for targeted emails from Capital One Shopping, as we sometimes see even better targeted rates

Key Terms

Only eligible for experiences / things to do
Not eligible for hotels, restaurants, vacation rentals, flights, cars, theme parks, or cruises
Purchases made using TripAdvisor Plus are not eligible
Not eligible for LEGOLAND tickets, Walt Disney World tickets, Disneyland tickets, Universal Orlando tickets, San Diego Zoo tickets, Atlanta CityPASS, and numerous other types of tickets (see your offer for full exclusions)
Likely valid for purchases made today only (10/25/26)

Quick Thoughts

This can obviously be useful for tours and things to do, particularly ones with relatively fixed pricing and/or for attractions/tickets that aren’t found in the exclusions.

I have used TripAdvisor for airport transfers in many different places in order to arrange a private transfer — with a return like this, it often winds up being a better deal than booking directly. It can also be useful for attractions that aren’t excluded. For instance, my family went to Arte Museum Las Vegas last summer (sort of a TeamLab lite) and booked tickets through a similar platform in order to take advantage of a similar elevated portal return.

Keep in mind that travel purchases made through Capital One sometimes post as ineligible, only to become “pending” after travel is completed. See this post for more details.

I don’t have specific things in mind, but I’ll be keeping my eye on my email. In the past, I’ve sometimes gotten offers as high as 60-70% back at TripAdvisor, which would probably be enough to draw my attention toward possibilities for upcoming trips.

The post 40X miles / 40% back at TripAdvisor via Capital One appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Citi adds new transfer partner: Copa ConnectMiles

Greg The Frequent Miler — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 13:38:13 +0000

Right on the heels of Rove adding Copa, Citi has quietly done the same. Citi ThankYou Rewards points now transfer to Copa ConnectMiles. Copa has some unique sweet spots, such as Emirates with no surcharges, a free stopover, and two open-jaws on round-trip awards.

1:1 Transfers

Effective immediately, points transfer 1:1 from Citi to Copa for cardholders of the following cards:

Citi Strata Elite®
Citi Strata Premier®
Prestige®
AT&T Access More

1,000:700 Transfers

Additionally, points transfers are available at a 1000 to 700 ratio for cardholders of the following cards:

Citi ThankYou® Preferred
Citi Strata® Card
Citi Double Cash® Card
Citi Custom Cash® Card
Citi ThankYou® Mastercard®
AT&T Universal Rewards World
AT&T Universal Savings and Rewards
AT&T Universal Rewards
AT&T Points PlusSM Card from Citi
AT&T Access

The post Citi adds new transfer partner: Copa ConnectMiles appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Last Chance Deals: 9 transfer bonuses, JAL award sale, 25K miles to Australia, & more

Stephen Pepper — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 01:46:19 +0000

Welcome to our weekly list of what’s ending this week, along with a collection of other deals due to end soon.

Next Saturday is the last day of the month, so there are quite a few deals ending this coming week. That includes a collection of nine different transfer bonuses, a 30% discount on awards with Japan Airlines, an American Airlines award sale to Australia with flights available from only 25,000 miles, several Amex Offers, and more.

Below you’ll find this week’s Last Chance Deals. Those are followed by deals that Won’t Last Long and Other Limited-time Offers. Deals in bold were posted this week.

You can find all the deals that won’t be ending soon on our Current Deals resource.

Last Chance Deals

Won’t Last Long

Capital One Shopping offering $80 referral bonus for both sides
Delta 12Status is back: Washington state residents earn 1 SkyMile for every Seahawks passing yard (This runs through the end of the Seattle Seahawks season, including the postseason if applicable)
SAS EuroBonus paid status match from many programs (including Southwest Companion Pass)
TopCashback: Increased rates on travel sites (Hotels.com 15%, Viator 15%, Klook 22% & more)

Other Limited-Time Offers

Welcome Offers / Credit Cards / Other Finance

Delta business cards: Earn up to 200K SkyMiles with limited-time welcome offers (Expires 11/4/26)
Delta Amex personal cards: New welcome offers add statement credits or roundtrip flight certs (Expires 11/4/26)
Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business card: Earn 100K points + 50K free night certificate with new offer (Expires 11/4/26)

Travel

Accor Amex Offer: Spend $500, get $100 back at luxury properties (Expires 11/2/26)
IHG promo: Earn 10K bonus points for every 2 nights spent at its Ruby Hotels brand (Expires 11/4/26)
Away Chase Offer: Get $50 back when spending $295+ on luggage, bags, & accessories (Expires 11/5/26)
Buy IHG Points for as low as 0.5 cents each (Expires 11/5/26)
Get thousands of free Alaska Atmos Rewards points if you live within 75 miles of San Diego (Expires 11/7/26)
Hilton cardholder promo: Stay 3+ nights & earn 10K bonus points (Book by 11/9/26 for stays through 1/3/27)
Hyatt promo: Earn 2X points on stays at Thompson properties (Expires 11/10/26)
Marriott Homes & Villas promo: Earn 3x points on all 5+ night stays next Summer (Book by 11/10/26 for stays 5/27/27-9/11/27)
Marriott elites can earn 3,000 bonus points per night (up to 12K points) for qualifying Homes & Villas stays (Book by 11/13/26 for stays through 3/31/27)
Rove adds JetBlue as its newest transfer partner, launches with 20% transfer bonus (Expires 11/14/26)
Hyatt Resorts Amex Offer: Get $100 back when spending $500+ (Expires 11/15/26)
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) Amex Offer: Get $100 back on $300 spend (Expires 11/15/26)
Get a 30% transfer bonus from Capital One to Virgin Atlantic (Expires 11/20/26)
Buy Hilton points for 0.45 cents each (Expires 11/21/26)
Bonvoy puts the “meh” in Marriott with new global promotion (Expires 11/22/26)
ALL Accor offering 4X points at “new” properties (Book by 11/22/26 for stays through 3/28/27)
Buy Marriott points for as low as 0.81 cents each (Expires 11/23/26)
Marriott Amex Offer: Spend $375, get $150 back (targeted) (Expires 11/23/26)
Hilton Luxury Brands Amex Offer: Spend $1250, get $250 back in US and Latin America (targeted) (Expires 11/30/26)
Marriott Amex Offer: Spend $450 & get $200 back (targeted) (Expires 11/30/26)
ANA Amex Offer: Spend $2,500+ & get 30K Membership Rewards or $300 back (Expires 11/30/26)
SimplyMiles: Earn 930 AA miles + 930 Loyalty Points on a $200+ Sixt rental (Expires 11/30/26)
Marriott Bonvoy Citi Offer: Get $30 back on $300 (Expires 11/30/26)
Save $50 with JetBlue Citi Offer when spending $300 or $400 (Expires 11/30/26)
Caesars Rewards Citi Offer: Get $25 back when spending $250+ (Expires 11/30/26)

Shopping/Spending Deals

VanillaGift: Get waived Visa gift card purchase fees with promo code VGSHOP26 (Expires 11/1/26)
Kroger: Earn 4X points on select 3rd-party gift cards (Expires 11/3/26)
Targeted Capital One Offers promo: Get up to $20 statement credit on top of rewards (Expires 11/5/26)
Walmart.com Amex Offer: Save $10 on $50 in purchases (Expires 11/15/26)
StubHub promo: Get $20 off $150+ when paying with Paze (stack with StubHub credit + 10X offer) (Expires 11/15/26)

Bank Account Bonuses

List of great bank account signup bonuses available this month
Wells Fargo: $400 / $550 / $825 bonus for new business checking account (no direct deposit required) (Expires 11/10/26)
Earn $450 bonus with a new US Bank checking account (Expires 11/10/26)
Earn 20,000 American Airlines miles with Bask Bank (Expires 11/30/26)
Bank of America Business Checking: Up to a $2,500 bonus (no direct deposit required) (Expires 11/30/26)

Other Helpful Resources

The post Last Chance Deals: 9 transfer bonuses, JAL award sale, 25K miles to Australia, & more appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

United for ~1/3 the points, one last run at the Companion Pass, and more (Week in Review)

Nick Reyes — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 10:45:37 +0000

Earlier this week, I flew my first Air India-ticketed award on United Airlines. I paid 5,500 Air India Maharaja Club points and about $20 to fly from Chicago, IL (ORD) to Albany, NY (ALB). That was a terrific deal against cash rates (which were about $250) or the 15,000 miles that United would have charged for the same flight.

However, it wasn’t a flawless experience. I wasn’t able to add my JetBlue Mosaic number to the reservation, which meant no free checked bag, nor could I select Economy Plus seating at check-in. I thought for sure that I would find a way to get the frequent flyer number changed from the default Air India Maharaja Club number, but after being escalated through several layers of United customer service and trying several other airline websites (including JetBlue’s), I couldn’t get the number successfully changed. In the future, perhaps I could book via Air India as though I’m booking for a different passenger with my same name and birthdate in order to be able to later change the info, but I didn’t think to try that at booking.

Nonetheless, I can’t be too disappointed. I got a terrific deal on my flight, I was through airport security in minutes thanks to fully automated CLEAR gates, and I did manage to cram everything into my bag so I could board without checking a bag. All is well that ends well, but I won’t plan to rely on my reciprocal JetBlue benefits if I book a future United award via Air India.

On the blog this week, read about the major changes coming to Amex lodging credits, how Greg is approaching an unexpectedly cancelled application, everything you need to know to pursue one last Southwest Companion Pass, and more.

This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Amex will tank its Fine Hotels + Resorts Platinum perk in 2027

After a number of recent rumors, this week, American Express announced changes coming to the Platinum Card lodging benefits in 2027.

To trigger credits in 2027, stays will need to be a minimum of 2 nights, whether booked through The Hotel Collection, Fine Hotels and Resorts, or Airbnb Luxe Stays.

Airbnb Luxe has been added as a qualifying stay type to trigger the Platinum cards’ lodging credits, though you’ll need to book your Airbnb Luxe stay through Amex Travel. Keep in mind that Airbnb Luxe properties tend to be quite expensive, so the credit is very unlikely to cover 2 nights at one of those properties. However, they’ve added a small consolation prize: if you do book an Airbnb Luxe booking, you can qualify for an additional Airbnb Experiences credit, subject to terms and conditions (see the post for more details).

Overall, this is bad news for anyone who preferred to use their lodging credit for 1-night Fine Hotels and Resorts stays. There’s no doubt that this benefit becomes far less useful when all stays require a minimum of 2 nights.

Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep380 | 10-23-26

Southwest Airlines announced a major program overhaul last week, and on this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air, Greg and I discuss it at length. From the surprisingly high new requirements for an unlimited Companion Pass to our predictions about what this might mean for future promotions, Greg and I share our thoughts and opinions. Elsewhere in the show, we talk about Greg’s recent failed attempt at more Hilton free night certificates, why you might want to consider picking up IHG Ambassador, a nice quadruple stack, and more.

Southwest Companion Pass Complete Guide 2026

As you’ll have heard on the podcast, major changes to Southwest Companion Pass qualification are on the horizon in 2027 and beyond.

This year represents one final opportunity to earn a Companion Pass the old-fashioned way, though it will only be valid through December 31, 2027. Still, if you’ve ever wanted the Southwest Companion Pass, now is probably the time to jump on it since it will be far more difficult to earn in 2027 and beyond. More details can be found in our updated complete guide.

Greg’s top picks (my favorite card offers)

Our Best Offers page is known for having as objective a look at new card welcome bonuses as possible, with first-year value automatically calculated via spreadsheet. The order of cards within an individual bank section is determined by that first-year value rather than some other criteria.

However, if you’re looking for a more subjective analysis of the best offers on the market, Greg regularly updates his top picks. He has recently done just that, publishing the offers that he finds most interesting with his thoughts about why they are worth considering.

What do the annual challenges look like behind the scenes? (A Carrie commentary)

I love the dual headphones Annie is rocking here! I’ve been known to keep an earbud in one ear and an over-the-ear headphone on the other, but stacking over-ear headphones is a new one to me!

If you enjoy watching our annual team challenges on social media, you have two people to thank. One is someone you know and probably already love: our creative director, Carrie. You may not know that she has the help of a secondary master of social media in her twin sister, Annie. In this Carrie commentary, get a glimpse of what the challenges look like behind the scenes and the schedule that Carrie and Annie have to keep in order to keep our audience updated as the rest of us galivant around the world. Our team challenges would be exponentially less fun (and impossible to follow) if not for the masterful storytelling that is largely thanks to the extraordinary efforts of these ladies.

Best use of Bilt now that the dust has settled (Live Podcast Recording!) | Coffee Break Ep126 | 10-21-26

At last week’s Chicago Points Travel Festival, Greg and I recorded a live coffee break in front of almost 500 audience members. We ordinarily come into our podcast with a rough outline about what we’re going to discuss, but for this episode we took suggestions from the audience and got the audience to help decide on the most popular topic. We were asked to speak about Bilt, so Greg and I came up with a podcast on the fly discussing everything we thought relevant to know about Bilt, with no time to prep or organize.

This is the second time we’ve done one of these live podcast recordings, and it was a lot of fun. Freestyling an entire podcast episode off the top of our heads is an exciting challenge that keeps us on our toes and delivered a podcast with just about everything you need to know about Bilt heading into a new year.

Admirals Club passes from Citi Strata Elite and AAdvantage Globe cards: Things to know

Both the Citi Strata Elite card and the Citi Advantage American Airlines AAdvantage Globe cards come with a few annual Admirals Club passes. I’ve recently used a couple of those Admirals Club passes, and I realized there were a few interesting notes that were worth reporting.

For starters, you can get into an Admirals Club with one of these credit card passes even when there is a sign outside saying that one-day passes are not being accepted. See the post for more details, like how you can use it more than once within 24 hours and even on arrival.

Should I use points for business trips? | Question of the Week Ep19 | 10-19-26

On this week’s Question of the Week, Greg answers a reader question about how to think about using points for business trips. I’m curious to hear from those who own very small single-person businesses: do you use points to reduce your costs, or pay cash from the business coffers?

Delta’s Choice Benefits for Platinum and Diamond Elites

Delta Platinum and Diamond elite members get to choose from select benefits each year. In this post, Greg offers his subjective analysis about which of the choices are worth considering and which you should ignore in favor of more valuable options.

IHG One Rewards Complete Guide (2026)

Stephen made extensive updates to our IHG One Rewards complete guide, including broad changes to the credit card landscape, the introduction of new types of free night certificates, new shortcuts to status, and a lot more.

Air Canada Aeroplan Complete Guide (2026)

Tim has updated our Air Canada Aeroplan complete guide to reflect everything you need to know in 2026 about this popular rewards program.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on this week’s last chance deals to be sure you grab them before they’re gone.

The post United for ~1/3 the points, one last run at the Companion Pass, and more (Week in Review) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep380 | 10-23-26

Nick Reyes — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 02:00:42 +0000

In today’s episode, we talk about the StubHub quadruple stack, why you might want to consider IHG Ambassador status, how Greg’s recent credit card application got cancelled, our predictions for the future of Southwest Airlines Companion Passes, and a lot more.

Main Event: Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get

Watch here:

Or listen here (or click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead):

Giant Mailbag

(01:02) Changing frequent flyer number on a partner award

Mattress running the numbers

(08:33) IHG Ambassador Promotion

Bonvoyed: Amex Lodging

(19:17) Amex Lodging credit will require a 2-night minimum in 2027

This Week in Points

(26:05) Bilt adds JetBlue as a new transfer partner

Learn more about this addition here.

(31:27) SAS EuroBonus status match

Get full details of the SAS status match in our post.

(41:23) StubHub Quadruple Stack

Personal Points

(44:32) American Airlines Admirals Club passes from Citi cards

(50:25) Greg’s quest for more Hilton Free Night Certificates

Main Event: Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get

(54:56) Main Event: Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get

Subscribe and Follow

The post Southwest Companion Pass: Now playing hard to get | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep380 | 10-23-26 appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Current Amex Offers

Frequent Miler Team — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 23:45:07 +0000

This post is designed to show current Amex Offers. If you have any Amex cards, even authorized user cards, then you’re eligible to sign up for offers when you log into your Amex account. If you’re planning to shop or book travel, check this page to see if an Amex Offer exists that will help you save money or earn extra points.

Amex Offers often appear on some cards, but not others. Don’t be surprised if an offer listed here is not available on any of your cards. Additionally, some of the offers shown here are only available in specific regions.

CardPointers

The data found below was graciously provided by CardPointers. CardPointers is an app and browser extension which can be used to automatically load Amex offers (and offers from many other institutions) to your cards. Once done, you can quickly and easily see all of the offers available to you.

Current Amex Offers

By default, the following table shows the first 10 offers. To find additional offers, use the search box, or change the number of entries shown, or press Page Next at the bottom.

Amex Offer	Expiration Date
23andMe: Spend $10 or more, earn $10 back Earn a one-time $10 statement credit after using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single qualifying purchase of $10 or more online at 23andme.org by 10/31/2026. View Terms: Melio: Pay business bills by credit card ($230 welcome offer) Greg The Frequent Miler — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 21:46:14 +0000 Melio is a service that simplifies paying business bills. Melio lets you pay bills by credit or debit card for a 2.9% fee, or for free via bank-to-bank ACH transfers. Melio users can pay vendors via whichever method they prefer (e.g., ACH for free up to 5 times per month or credit card with a 2.9% fee). Melio also offers subscription plans for those interested. Fortunately, they continue to offer a free plan (Melio Go) with unlimited 2.9% credit card payments. Those who want to add multiple users, or make more than 5 ACH payments per month, or have other advanced needs may want to consider the Melio Core or Melio Boost plans. Plan pricing and details are available here. It can make sense to pay the 2.9% fee if you want to increase spending in order to earn a large welcome offer or a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend). Unfortunately, you cannot pay personal bills with Melio. Update: If you’re interested in trying Melio, you’ll find a $230 welcome offer below. Why use Melio? Here are some reasons you may find Melio compelling for paying business bills that can’t usually be paid by credit card: Earn credit card rewards. This can be especially compelling when you need to increase your spend to earn a large welcome offer or a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend). Keep your cash for up to 45 extra days. With a service like Melio, you can pay your vendors immediately, but wait until your credit card statement is due to pay off your credit card bill. Melio Welcome Bonus: $230 Sign up for Melio through Frequent Miler’s unique link, and you’ll earn a $230 Tango Card after your first completed payment of at least $500, made with any payment method. You can redeem the Tango Card for a wide range of gift card brands, including Amazon, Southwest, Airbnb, Hotels.com, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway/Albertsons, Best Buy, Disney, Delta, Carnival, Turo, and more. You can also cash out the $230 card via PayPal. We have an affiliate relationship with Melio, and we’ll earn a commission once you complete the requirements to earn your own bonus (as long as you click through our link to sign up). How to earn the $230 Tango Card: Sign up for Melio here: Frequent Miler’s Melio link. Upload a bill or an invoice. Make a first completed payment of $500 or more using any payment method. The following month, you’ll receive an email from Tango with the gift card details. Welcome Offer Terms: Giftcard is issued by a third-party provider and is subject to their applicable terms and conditions (“Giftcard”). Melio is not responsible for the Giftcard use experience or terms and conditions. For a user to be eligible to receive the one-time Giftcard, a user must be a new user of Melio who arrived through a qualified affiliate to this page (submission of proof is required upon Melio’s request), successfully created a Melio account using the link on this page, and their first completed payment is $500 or higher. The gift card will be sent via e-mail. Melio reserves the right to end the promotion ahead of time or to make changes or additions to this promotion for any reason at any time. Melio reserves the right to withhold the Giftcard in case of fraud or abuse and subject to its Terms and Conditions. This promotion is not available to accountants’ clients and/or businesses added and/or managed by accounting firms on the Melio platform. Melio Pricing Melio charges 2.9% to pay with a credit or debit card. Additionally, Melio charges $1.50 per check after the first 2 free checks each month. Frequently Asked Questions Who can use Melio? Almost any U.S.-based business, including sole-proprietor businesses, can use Melio to pay business bills. Businesses cannot use Melio if they are involved with any of the following: Gambling and related activity Multi-level marketing firms or any agents that represent them Sales of tobacco, marijuana, hemp, pharmaceuticals, supplements, nutraceuticals, or paraphernalia. Pornography, obscene materials, or any sexual/adult services Weapons, ammunition, gunpowder, fireworks, and any other explosives Toxic, flammable, or radioactive material Gold, silver, diamonds Other goods and services subject to government regulation. What types of payments are allowed with Melio? Melio offers the following examples of payments that are allowed: Rent (when your landlord is a business, not an individual) Taxes Utilities SaaS & app-based expenses Franchising and operating expenses Legal expenses Accounting & bookkeeping expenses Freelancers/contractors Inventory, raw materials, and supplies Professional services Maintenance services Donations Employee reimbursements Credit card debt (not with a credit card) Loan payments (not with a credit card) Mortgage payments (not with a credit card) Pre-payments (only with ACH bank transfer) Which credit cards can I pay with? American Express: Limited to certain industries Visa business cards Mastercard Discover What types of payments are allowed with Amex cards? The use of American Express cards is only supported in the following industries: Education Government Rent Utilities Membership Clubs Professional Services Business Services Inventory/Wholesale Construction/Logistics Can I make payments with Visa/Mastercard/Amex gift cards? No. Melio does not allow payments from prepaid cards. Can I use Melio to pay a 1099 Contractor? Yes. And your contractor can select how they want to receive payment: check or ACH. Note that Melio typically asks for one of the following for verification purposes: Trade License / Business Registration, Doing Business As (DBA) Registration, Previous Schedule C filing, Most recent sales tax filing, Business utility bill under sole proprietor or DBA name, Sole proprietor bank statement. What types of payments are not allowed with Melio? Melio prohibits all of the following uses: Personal payments (i.e., payments for a non-business entity) Card network-specific restrictions Payments from prepaid cards Balance transfers (paying a credit card balance with a different credit card) Cash advances: payments from a credit card to a business owner; to the business from its owner; to another entity in which the cardholder controls or has interests. This is also extended to household members and relations. Payroll transactions (though freelancers and contractors are supported). Pharmaceuticals, including for animals Flammables Explosives More examples of payments that are not allowed can be found here. Can I earn multiple welcome bonuses if I have multiple businesses? Yes. Plus, a cool thing about Melio is that you can add additional companies from a single login. Simply click your company name at the top, left of your browser, and you should see an option to “Add New company”. The post Melio: Pay business bills by credit card ($230 welcome offer) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners. Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com Tim Steinke — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 20:45:29 +0000 Buying Visa and Mastercard gift cards at Staples can be a great way to maximize the Office Supply Store bonus category on some credit cards, especially during frequent sales that reduce purchase fees to zero (like the one running now). Staples has made this even easier over the last couple of years with frequent zero-fee promos on virtual Visa gift cards purchased directly from Staples.com. However, a few days ago, Miles Per Day noticed that Visa gift cards appear to have been completely pulled from the website. No-purchase-fee sales like this one have become very popular with some miles and points enthusiasts. Quick Thoughts For those poor souls wailing at the loss of an old friend, this probably isn’t anything to worry about. We’ve seen Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com before, but they’ve always returned after a few days. Now, past performance is never a guarantee of future results, so there’s a chance that some sort of permanent change has happened. For the moment, however, we’re not terribly concerned. The post Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners. Get $200 back on Virgin Atlantic flights with new Amex Offer Tim Steinke — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 19:45:41 +0000 A new targeted (but widely available) Amex offer gives you $200 back when you spend $2,500 or more with Virgin Atlantic. If you’re looking for European travel, this could be a useful accouterment and take some of the sting out of those inflated Virgin award surcharges. Best Uses for Virgin Atlantic Points The Deal A new, targeted but widely available Amex Offer is out for Virgin Atlantic: Spend $2,500 in one or more purchases, get $200 back. Enrollment required Expires 12/13/26 Key Terms Eligible Card Members must first add the offer to their Card and then use the same enrolled Card for qualifying purchases. Any Cards issued outside of the US are not eligible. Only Card Members who enroll are eligible. Limit of 1 statement credit per eligible Card Member account. Offer valid for one way and round-trip Virgin Atlantic Airways-marketed flights booked directly with Virgin Atlantic Airways online at USwebsite virginatlantic.com, or through the Virgin Atlantic Airways mobile app only. Flights must originate in the US. This Offer applies only to eligible bookings that are paid for during the Offer period. Excludes bookings made through ticket desk, call center or by calling VA Airways Customer Service phoneline. Not valid on in-flight purchases, luggage charges, and meals. Purchases must be made in USD. Offer is only valid on purchases made directly with the merchant. Offer not valid on purchases made using third parties, such as resellers, delivery services, or other intermediaries. Quick Thoughts Saving $200 on a paid ticket is no chump change, and this offer could be timely for folks looking to save some cash on a trip to Europe. This should apply to surcharges on award tickets, as it only requires a one-way or round-trip ticket booked on Virgin Atlantic (i.e., it doesn’t specify all cash or exclude award tickets). For a family, award taxes and the fuel surcharges added by Virgin Atlantic can easily add up to more than $2,500, so this could help take some of the bite out of those additional fees. Do note: terms require flights to originate in the US and be charged in US dollars to qualify. I always find that mildly annoying since I prefer to book flights as one-ways and would rather book a one-way from Europe to the US—but I can’t do that with this offer since flights need to originate in the US. Regardless, in the right situation, this could be a useful offer. The post Get $200 back on Virgin Atlantic flights with new Amex Offer appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Amex Offer

Expiration Date

23andMe: Spend $10 or more, earn $10 back
Earn a one-time $10 statement credit after using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single qualifying purchase of $10 or more online at 23andme.org by 10/31/2026.

View Terms:

Melio: Pay business bills by credit card ($230 welcome offer)

Greg The Frequent Miler — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 21:46:14 +0000

Melio is a service that simplifies paying business bills. Melio lets you pay bills by credit or debit card for a 2.9% fee, or for free via bank-to-bank ACH transfers. Melio users can pay vendors via whichever method they prefer (e.g., ACH for free up to 5 times per month or credit card with a 2.9% fee).

Melio also offers subscription plans for those interested. Fortunately, they continue to offer a free plan (Melio Go) with unlimited 2.9% credit card payments. Those who want to add multiple users, or make more than 5 ACH payments per month, or have other advanced needs may want to consider the Melio Core or Melio Boost plans. Plan pricing and details are available here.

It can make sense to pay the 2.9% fee if you want to increase spending in order to earn a large welcome offer or a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend). Unfortunately, you cannot pay personal bills with Melio.

Update: If you’re interested in trying Melio, you’ll find a $230 welcome offer below.

Why use Melio?

Here are some reasons you may find Melio compelling for paying business bills that can’t usually be paid by credit card:

Earn credit card rewards. This can be especially compelling when you need to increase your spend to earn a large welcome offer or a big-spend bonus (for example, some credit cards offer free hotel nights or elite status with big spend).
Keep your cash for up to 45 extra days. With a service like Melio, you can pay your vendors immediately, but wait until your credit card statement is due to pay off your credit card bill.

Melio Welcome Bonus: $230

Sign up for Melio through Frequent Miler’s unique link, and you’ll earn a $230 Tango Card after your first completed payment of at least $500, made with any payment method.

You can redeem the Tango Card for a wide range of gift card brands, including Amazon, Southwest, Airbnb, Hotels.com, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway/Albertsons, Best Buy, Disney, Delta, Carnival, Turo, and more. You can also cash out the $230 card via PayPal.

We have an affiliate relationship with Melio, and we’ll earn a commission once you complete the requirements to earn your own bonus (as long as you click through our link to sign up).

How to earn the $230 Tango Card:

Sign up for Melio here: Frequent Miler’s Melio link.
Upload a bill or an invoice.
Make a first completed payment of $500 or more using any payment method.
The following month, you’ll receive an email from Tango with the gift card details.

Welcome Offer Terms: Giftcard is issued by a third-party provider and is subject to their applicable terms and conditions (“Giftcard”). Melio is not responsible for the Giftcard use experience or terms and conditions. For a user to be eligible to receive the one-time Giftcard, a user must be a new user of Melio who arrived through a qualified affiliate to this page (submission of proof is required upon Melio’s request), successfully created a Melio account using the link on this page, and their first completed payment is $500 or higher. The gift card will be sent via e-mail. Melio reserves the right to end the promotion ahead of time or to make changes or additions to this promotion for any reason at any time. Melio reserves the right to withhold the Giftcard in case of fraud or abuse and subject to its Terms and Conditions. This promotion is not available to accountants’ clients and/or businesses added and/or managed by accounting firms on the Melio platform.

Melio Pricing

Melio charges 2.9% to pay with a credit or debit card. Additionally, Melio charges $1.50 per check after the first 2 free checks each month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can use Melio?

Almost any U.S.-based business, including sole-proprietor businesses, can use Melio to pay business bills.

Businesses cannot use Melio if they are involved with any of the following:

Gambling and related activity
Multi-level marketing firms or any agents that represent them
Sales of tobacco, marijuana, hemp, pharmaceuticals, supplements, nutraceuticals, or paraphernalia.
Pornography, obscene materials, or any sexual/adult services
Weapons, ammunition, gunpowder, fireworks, and any other explosives
Toxic, flammable, or radioactive material
Gold, silver, diamonds
Other goods and services subject to government regulation.

What types of payments are allowed with Melio?

Melio offers the following examples of payments that are allowed:

Rent (when your landlord is a business, not an individual)
Taxes
Utilities
SaaS & app-based expenses
Franchising and operating expenses
Legal expenses
Accounting & bookkeeping expenses
Freelancers/contractors
Inventory, raw materials, and supplies
Professional services
Maintenance services
Donations
Employee reimbursements
Credit card debt (not with a credit card)
Loan payments (not with a credit card)
Mortgage payments (not with a credit card)
Pre-payments (only with ACH bank transfer)

Which credit cards can I pay with?

American Express: Limited to certain industries
Visa business cards
Mastercard
Discover

What types of payments are allowed with Amex cards?

The use of American Express cards is only supported in the following industries:

Education
Government
Rent
Utilities
Membership Clubs
Professional Services
Business Services
Inventory/Wholesale
Construction/Logistics

Can I make payments with Visa/Mastercard/Amex gift cards?

No. Melio does not allow payments from prepaid cards.

Can I use Melio to pay a 1099 Contractor?

Yes. And your contractor can select how they want to receive payment: check or ACH.

Note that Melio typically asks for one of the following for verification purposes: Trade License / Business Registration, Doing Business As (DBA) Registration, Previous Schedule C filing, Most recent sales tax filing, Business utility bill under sole proprietor or DBA name, Sole proprietor bank statement.

What types of payments are not allowed with Melio?

Melio prohibits all of the following uses:

Personal payments (i.e., payments for a non-business entity)
Card network-specific restrictions
Payments from prepaid cards
Balance transfers (paying a credit card balance with a different credit card)
Cash advances: payments from a credit card to a business owner; to the business from its owner; to another entity in which the cardholder controls or has interests. This is also extended to household members and relations.
Payroll transactions (though freelancers and contractors are supported).
Pharmaceuticals, including for animals
Flammables
Explosives

More examples of payments that are not allowed can be found here.

Can I earn multiple welcome bonuses if I have multiple businesses?

Yes. Plus, a cool thing about Melio is that you can add additional companies from a single login. Simply click your company name at the top, left of your browser, and you should see an option to “Add New company”.

The post Melio: Pay business bills by credit card ($230 welcome offer) appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com

Tim Steinke — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 20:45:29 +0000

Buying Visa and Mastercard gift cards at Staples can be a great way to maximize the Office Supply Store bonus category on some credit cards, especially during frequent sales that reduce purchase fees to zero (like the one running now).

Staples has made this even easier over the last couple of years with frequent zero-fee promos on virtual Visa gift cards purchased directly from Staples.com. However, a few days ago, Miles Per Day noticed that Visa gift cards appear to have been completely pulled from the website.

No-purchase-fee sales like this one have become very popular with some miles and points enthusiasts.

Quick Thoughts

For those poor souls wailing at the loss of an old friend, this probably isn’t anything to worry about. We’ve seen Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com before, but they’ve always returned after a few days.

Now, past performance is never a guarantee of future results, so there’s a chance that some sort of permanent change has happened. For the moment, however, we’re not terribly concerned.

The post Visa gift cards disappear from Staples.com appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

Get $200 back on Virgin Atlantic flights with new Amex Offer

Tim Steinke — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 19:45:41 +0000

A new targeted (but widely available) Amex offer gives you $200 back when you spend $2,500 or more with Virgin Atlantic. If you’re looking for European travel, this could be a useful accouterment and take some of the sting out of those inflated Virgin award surcharges.

The Deal

A new, targeted but widely available Amex Offer is out for Virgin Atlantic: Spend $2,500 in one or more purchases, get $200 back.
- Enrollment required
- Expires 12/13/26

Key Terms

Eligible Card Members must first add the offer to their Card and then use the same enrolled Card for qualifying purchases.
Any Cards issued outside of the US are not eligible. Only Card Members who enroll are eligible.
Limit of 1 statement credit per eligible Card Member account.
Offer valid for one way and round-trip Virgin Atlantic Airways-marketed flights booked directly with Virgin Atlantic Airways online at USwebsite virginatlantic.com, or through the Virgin Atlantic Airways mobile app only.
Flights must originate in the US. This Offer applies only to eligible bookings that are paid for during the Offer period.
Excludes bookings made through ticket desk, call center or by calling VA Airways Customer Service phoneline. Not valid on in-flight purchases, luggage charges, and meals.
Purchases must be made in USD. Offer is only valid on purchases made directly with the merchant. Offer not valid on purchases made using third parties, such as resellers, delivery services, or other intermediaries.

Quick Thoughts

Saving $200 on a paid ticket is no chump change, and this offer could be timely for folks looking to save some cash on a trip to Europe.

This should apply to surcharges on award tickets, as it only requires a one-way or round-trip ticket booked on Virgin Atlantic (i.e., it doesn’t specify all cash or exclude award tickets). For a family, award taxes and the fuel surcharges added by Virgin Atlantic can easily add up to more than $2,500, so this could help take some of the bite out of those additional fees.

Do note: terms require flights to originate in the US and be charged in US dollars to qualify. I always find that mildly annoying since I prefer to book flights as one-ways and would rather book a one-way from Europe to the US—but I can’t do that with this offer since flights need to originate in the US.

Regardless, in the right situation, this could be a useful offer.

The post Get $200 back on Virgin Atlantic flights with new Amex Offer appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.