A quick change: The Weekly Travel Summary now goes to everyone who gets Travel Summary by email, so this is the first one landing in your inbox. It’s one email on Fridays with the week’s points and travel news worth knowing, and there’s nothing extra to sign up for.
A week of 2027 changes announced early, with Bilt shuffling its program yet again, Citi making the AAdvantage Platinum Select pricier but better, and Amex bringing Airbnb into the Platinum’s hotel credit.
Cards and points
- Bilt announced its 2027 changes: Bilt Cash now lasts 12 months, but the 4% Bilt Cash option goes away at your card anniversary unless you opt out first (my post).
- The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select‘s fee goes from $99 to $150 on Jan 24, 2027, with new perks including a $100-a-year inflight credit and travel insurance (my review).
- The Amex Platinum‘s two $300 semiannual hotel credits are massively devalued to require a 2 night minimum, but also now cover prepaid Airbnb Luxe stays, plus a new $250 Airbnb Experiences credit and 5x on Airbnb through Amex Travel (my post).
- The Citi AAdvantage Executive added a $100 inKind dining credit each half-year, with the first $100 usable now (my review).
- Citi ThankYou added Copa ConnectMiles as a 1:1 transfer partner (Frequent Miler).
- From Feb 17, 2027, the Amex Business Platinum’s $10 monthly wireless credit and 2x on shipping only count with select companies (Frequent Miler).
Recent changes to the blog
I’ve been working hard on updating the site to make it more useful, and with that has come a lot of new pages and features, the kind I think many of you will find yourselves coming back to. They’re all kept current the same way the card reviews are.
New this week:
- United MileagePlus sweet spots, the first airline in the sweet spots series.
And the ones from before:
- The Card Finder: the same set of questions I ask friends and family when they ask which card to get next.
- The best credit card offers right now, the 25 welcome offers I’d look at first, checked every day.
- Sweet spots by program for Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham, with more airlines coming soon.
- Award search tools compared: what each one is good at, what’s free, and which ones I actually use.
- Welcome offer history, so you can tell whether today’s bonus is a good one.
- A credits calendar showing when every card credit resets.
- A premium card calculator for whether an annual fee is worth it for you.
- Downgrades and retention offers for every card I review.
- Annual fee history, a devaluation timeline, and my minimum values for points and miles.
My posts this week: what’s new on the rebuilt Travel Summary and Bilt’s 2027 changes.
That’s the week. See you next Friday.
