Breaking Points: Credit Card News

Wyndham is offering targeted bonuses that include 4,000 bonus points or 10 elite night credits after completing a qualifying stay. These are technically targeted offers, but we were able to access and register for both offers after logging into our Wyndham account, so it's worth checking both even if you didn't receive an email. You can check your eligibility for the 10 elite night credits here and the 4,000 bonus points here. Make sure you log in to your account first. If you're eligible, you must register before booking, book a qualifying stay within 14 days of receiving the offer, and complete that stay within 90 days of receiving the offer. The terms don't make it clear whether members who are eligible for both offers can earn both bonuses from the same stay, so we wouldn't count on that until we see data points. The 4,000 points are worth about $40 based on our Wyndham valuation, while 10 elite nights could provide a significant shortcut if you're pursuing a higher Wyndham status level.

The Chase Freedom Flex has an elevated welcome offer and several new features. New cardholders can earn $250 after spending $500 in the first three months, up from the standard $200 bonus with the same spending requirement. Chase has also eliminated foreign transaction fees on the Freedom Flex, a nice upgrade for a card with no annual fee. They did eliminate cell phone protection, though, and that change applies to both current and new cardholders. You can now also preview upcoming 5% rotating categories earlier in the Chase app, and Q4 2026 categories include grocery stores, dining, and donations to the Red Cross. Because the card already earns 3% back on dining, the quarterly bonus stacks to provide a total of 7% back on dining in Q4. There is a $1,500 limit in combined purchases across the quarterly 5% bonus categories. Chase has also added Points Boost offers that can increase the value of points by up to 10% on select hotel bookings through Chase Travel. Remember that although the Freedom Flex is marketed as a cash-back card, you can combine the rewards with Ultimate Rewards from an eligible Sapphire or Ink card and transfer them to Chase's airline and hotel partners.

Chase appears to have reversed course and is once again allowing product changes to the Freedom Flex. There are now multiple data points from Freedom Unlimited and original Freedom cardholders successfully switching to the Flex, despite those cards running on Visa while the Freedom Flex is a Mastercard. If you have a Sapphire card and want to downgrade to the Flex, you may first need to product change to the original Freedom or Freedom Unlimited, then request another change to the Flex. The Freedom Flex earns 5X Ultimate Rewards on rotating quarterly categories, and while those rewards are technically issued as cash back, you can combine them with points from an eligible Chase card that transfers to airline and hotel partners.

Bilt has updated its terms to allow Bilt Blue, Obsidian, and Palladium cardholders to upgrade or downgrade between cards. Having the flexibility to product change is always good news. Upgrades are already rolling out in beta to select cardholders, and the terms also indicate that Bilt may offer targeted bonuses for upgrading. Unfortunately, the details are very much on brand for Bilt, meaning unclear and convoluted. The new terms include complicated language about potentially clawing back welcome bonuses, Bilt Cash, points, elite status, and annual credits when downgrading within 30 days of an annual fee posting. It's not clear whether this language applies only when you initially open or upgrade a card, or whether Bilt could also claw back benefits when you downgrade within 30 days after the annual fee posts on your second year of holding the card. Those are very different policies, and the latter would be unprecedented in the points and miles world. The terms aren't clear enough for us to confidently say how this will work or what we'd recommend doing. For now, the important takeaway is that Bilt is adding the ability to upgrade and downgrade its cards, but we'd wait for clarification from Bilt and real-world data points before making any decisions based on the new rules.

There are growing reports that Chase may have tightened its 5/24 rule for business credit card applications, as multiple customer service reps have told applicants they must now be under 3/24 instead. We are not ready to call this a confirmed change yet, but there are now enough independent data points that it's worth having on your radar, especially if you planned to open a Chase business card in the near future. Multiple applicants at 3/24 or 4/24 have recently been denied for Chase business cards, with Chase reconsideration representatives specifically telling them that a new 3/24 restriction applies. Most reports so far involve people applying as sole proprietors, and several Chase representatives have reportedly cited mid-September as the start of the new rule. There are also conflicting data points, including applicants at 3/24 or 4/24 who have still been approved, but that doesn't necessarily disprove anything since Chase has been increasingly inconsistent with approvals over the last 9-12 months after tightening restrictions on many of its cards. We don't yet know exactly how the rule works, who it applies to, or how consistently it will be enforced. There is also no indication that Chase has changed the 5/24 rule for personal cards. While we don't recommend changing your entire credit card strategy based on this yet, if you're at 3/24 or 4/24 and planning to apply for a Chase business card as a sole proprietor, you should absolutely be aware of it. Between this and the recent Citi Strata updates, these are both good reminders of the importance of staying flexible in this hobby. We'll update this as more data points emerge