Breaking Points: Credit Card News

There is a targeted Radisson offer through Amex Offers that gives you $50 back after spending $250 or more at participating hotels in Europe and Africa. That's 20% back when spending exactly $250. There are about 175 properties that participate, with most located in Europe, with a smaller number located in Morocco and Tunisia. The offer expires December 31, 2026, and qualifying spending must be settled in person at checkout. This means the stay also has to be completed and paid for before December 31, and prepaid bookings and online or mobile app payments do not qualify. The terms also exclude purchases at bars, restaurants, spas, meetings and events, and valet parking. If you have a Radisson stay planned in Europe or Africa before the end of the year, check your Amex Offers and the participating-property list before booking.

Check your Amex Offers, as many cardholders are seeing targeted Holland America Line offers that can save you up to $250 on a cruise. There are at least two offers that we've seen: spend $750 or more and get $200 back, or spend $1,000 or more and get $250 back. That's could be about 27% back when spending exactly the required amount. The offer expires October 22, 2026, but your cruise can take place after that date as long. Reservations must be booked directly with Holland America online, by phone, or through a Holland America Line travel advisor. Onboard spending and purchases made separately from the initial reservation are excluded. If you're planning a Holland America cruise, check your Amex Offers before booking.

Bilt has added Amtrak Guest Rewards as its newest transfer partner and the only rail partner of any transferable points system. Bilt points will transfer to Amtrak at a 2:1 ratio, meaning 1,000 Bilt points become 500 Amtrak points. Transfers start at 2,000 points for Blue members and 1,000 points for those with elite status, and you can make transfers in 1,000-point increments. The 2:1 ratio limits the upside, but Amtrak points are worth about 2.56¢ each toward Acela tickets, which are Amtrak's high-speed trains, and 2.9¢ each on other routes. Amtrak's points are generally fixed and mirror the cash price, so you'll generally get about 1.28-1.45¢ in value per Bilt point after accounting for the 2:1 transfer ratio. While this won't offer outsized value, this is still a useful option for topping off when the numbers make sense for a specific trip. This is the first time Amtrak has partnered with a major transferable points program since its Chase Ultimate Rewards partnership ended in 2015. We wouldn't jump on transferring points to Amtrak right away, as Bilt has frequently offered transfer bonuses for new partners on the following Rent Day. Obviously there's no guarantee we'll see an Amtrak bonus on October 1, but we should know October's Rent Day details soon, so we'd wait a few days unless you need the Amtrak points immediately.

IHG has a new promotion offering up to 3X points on qualifying paid stays through December 31, 2026. 3X is always better than 1X, but IHG is underselling the potential of this promo. IHG members normally earn 10 points per dollar at most properties. With this promotion, you'll earn 3X the normal amount, so that means you'll earn 30 points per dollar when booking through the IHG app. It gets better if you hold an IHG-branded credit card. IHG Premier or Premier Business cardholders will earn another 10 points per dollar by paying with the card, while the Platinum status included with both cards adds another 6 points per dollar. Add it all together and you can earn 46 IHG points per dollar on qualifying stays!

There are several caveats to be aware of. You must register first, only stays booked after October 1 qualify, and your first qualifying stay does not earn the promo bonus! Starting with your second stay, you'll earn 2X the normal points when booking through an eligible IHG direct channel or 3X when booking through the IHG app. Reward Nights and Points + Cash stays do not qualify, but bonus earning is unlimited. If you have an expensive IHG stay planned later in the promotion period, it might even make sense to do a cheap mattress run to get the non-bonused first stay out of the way and allow your more expensive stay to earn the full 3X rate. For anyone with substantial IHG spending planned between October and December, that could make this promotion significantly more valuable.

Iberia is offering 10%-20% off select award flights when you book by todya, September 23, 2026, for travel through March 18, 2027. The sale excludes holiday travel from December 18 through January 12. You can find 20% off economy awards from Boston, New York, and Washington; 15% off economy from cities including Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Juan, and Toronto; and 10% off select business-class awards from Boston, New York, Chicago, Orlando, San Juan, and Toronto. The most interesting opportunity is stacking the sale with the current 30% Amex Membership Rewards transfer bonus to Avios. For example, an off-peak Boston-to-Madrid business-class award that normally costs 40,500 Avios drops to 36,450 Avios with the sale, requiring only about 28,039 Amex points with the transfer bonus. Economy awards from the East Coast can also drop below 10,000 Amex points one way after stacking both promotions. The catch is that the award sale ends today, so this is one to act on quickly if you find availability that works.