Hello and welcome to the Miles & Points Daily Podcast! I'm Lucas, your host, and I'm here to keep you up to date on all the latest happenings in the wonderful world of miles, points, and credit cards. It's a beautiful day to save some money and earn some points, so let's dive right in! Before we get started with today's news, let me tell you about a fantastic tool that could save you tons of points on your hotel stays. Introducing hotelredemptions.com, a tool that monitors your hotel bookings and alerts you when you can rebook for less points. It's like having a personal assistant watching your reservations twenty-four seven, making sure you're getting the best possible deal. Now, let's get into today's miles and points news, and boy do we have some interesting stories for you! First up, we have some frustrating news from American Airlines. The airline decided to celebrate the anniversary of gutting its small business program two years ago with a double miles promotion. Sounds good in theory, right? Well, not so fast. When members tried to register for this so-called celebration offer, they were met with broken registration processes and error messages. It's almost comical - American Airlines tries to make amends for destroying their small business program with a promotion that doesn't even work. My recommendation here is simple: if you're a small business owner looking for miles and points earning opportunities, you might want to look elsewhere until American gets their act together. Maybe consider the Capital One Spark cards or Chase Ink cards instead, which have proven track records of actually working when you try to use them. Speaking of Capital One, we have some fantastic news! Capital One has just added three new transfer partners to their lineup: Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer. This is huge news, especially the addition of Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways. Japan Airlines is particularly exciting because it's not a common transfer partner across all programs. If you're planning any travel to Japan or looking to book JAL's excellent business class products, this opens up new redemption possibilities. Qatar Airways is also a premium addition, giving you access to one of the world's best business class products and their extensive network. My tip here is to start accumulating Capital One miles if you haven't already. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers seventy-five thousand miles after spending four thousand dollars in the first three months, and with these new partners, your redemption options just got significantly better. You can get this card by clicking the link in our show notes. Now here's an interesting story about award redemptions. There's a particular Arctic route - just two hundred and thirty-nine miles - where coach tickets cost nearly four thousand dollars roundtrip. That's more expensive than many lie-flat business class seats from New York to London! But here's the kicker: you can book this same route for just thirty thousand points roundtrip using the right program. This is a perfect example of why points and miles are so valuable for expensive or remote routes where cash prices are astronomical. The lesson here is that points become exponentially more valuable when flying to expensive destinations or during peak travel times. Always check award availability before paying cash for these types of routes. Moving on to some product news, American Airlines has finally upgraded their champagne selection by adding Bollinger champagne to their business class service and lounges. This is part of what seems to be a champagne arms race among the big three US carriers. United partnered with Laurent-Perrier, Delta with Taittinger, and now American with Bollinger. However, there's a catch - while American is pouring premium champagne, their first class passengers are still being served eight dollar wines. It's a bit of a mixed message when you're trying to position yourself as a premium airline. If you're flying American business class internationally, at least you'll now get to enjoy some quality bubbles! We also have an update on the Atmos Rewards program, which is the new combined loyalty program for Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. The Atmos Rewards Business Visa Card is now available with a significant welcome bonus. This card has a seventy dollar annual fee for the company and twenty-five dollars per additional card, so a minimum of ninety-five dollars annually. If you're a business owner who flies Alaska or Hawaiian frequently, this could be worth considering, especially with the current welcome bonus. You can find the application link in our show notes. Here's an important tip for Marriott loyalists: you can now use points to redeem upgraded rooms in many cases. Sometimes you'll have the choice between using points, a small amount of cash, or a combination of both to secure that corner suite or ocean view room. This is a great way to enhance your stay experience without breaking the bank. Always check if point upgrades are available when booking your Marriott stays. Let's talk about Citi ThankYou Points, which continue to be an underrated transferable currency. With their strong transfer partner list including Turkish Airlines, JetBlue, and several others, ThankYou Points offer excellent flexibility. Plus, you can often find great transfer bonuses throughout the year. If you're not already earning ThankYou Points, it might be time to consider adding a Citi card to your wallet. In some concerning operational news, we're seeing capacity cuts and furloughs at Spirit Airlines as they continue to navigate their bankruptcy proceedings. The airline is slashing capacity by twenty-five percent and furloughing pilots and flight attendants. While this is unfortunate for the employees, it might actually benefit Spirit's financial situation in the long run. However, they are adding a nice perk for cardholders - two free checked bags for Free Spirit Travel More Mastercard holders. Finally, there's an excellent deal to highlight today. You can currently book lie-flat business class seats to South America starting at just thirty-five thousand points. This is an incredible value, especially when you consider that South American routes are typically quite expensive. If you've been thinking about visiting countries like Brazil, Argentina, or Chile, now might be the perfect time to book using points. Look for availability on partners like LATAM or Avianca, and remember that flexibility with your dates will give you the best shot at finding these deals. That wraps up today's miles and points news. Before I let you go, I want to tell you about Award Travel Finder. Looking for the best award flights? Use AwardTravelFinder.com to search availability across Qatar Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and more. Try it for free with our link in the show notes. Thanks for listening to Miles & Points Daily Podcast! If you found today's episode helpful, please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or visit us at milesandpointsdaily.com. We'll be back tomorrow with more miles and points news to help you travel better for less. Until then, happy travels and happy earning!