There's a window closing tonight that I think a lot of people are going to miss. The Amex Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic 30% transfer bonus - one of the better transfer deals we've seen this month - expires at midnight. If you've been sitting on Amex points and eyeing a premium cabin redemption, tonight is the moment to act.

We've also got a genuinely exciting sweet spot to cover today - one that combines two of the most underrated programs in the game for a route that rarely shows up cheap. Let's get into it.

Alaska Mileage Plan recently rebranded. What is the program now called?

The answer is waiting near the bottom of today's newsletter... keep scrolling. 👇

If there's one thing to do before you close this email today, it's this: decide whether you want to transfer Amex Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. The 30% bonus disappears tonight.

Here's what that actually means in practice. Transfer 10,000 Amex points and you land 13,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. Transfer 50,000 and you end up with 65,000 - enough to get seriously close to some high-value Upper Class redemptions on routes where Virgin prices things better than most programs.

Virgin Atlantic is one of the better-kept secrets for booking ANA business and first class to Japan, as well as Delta One on transatlantic routes. The program prices some of these redemptions far below what you'd pay in SkyMiles or United miles. A 30% bonus on top of that math is genuinely meaningful.

You can check current Virgin Atlantic award availability using our Virgin Atlantic Reward Seat Finder before you commit to the transfer - always smart to confirm the seat exists before moving the points.

This one stopped me mid-scroll this morning. Rarotonga in the Cook Islands - one of the most remote and genuinely stunning destinations in the South Pacific - is bookable right now from US West Coast cities for as low as $350 round-trip, or around 23,000 Amex points, for travel in early 2027.

Here's the part that makes this deal really interesting: the routing goes through Hawaii, which means you can add a Hawaiian stopover on the way out or back at no extra cost. You're effectively getting two destinations - Hawaii and the Cook Islands - in a single booking. Flights are on Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines, operating as Atmos Rewards partners.

The cash price floors around $350 from some West Coast gateways, and the points price comes in around 23,000 Amex Membership Rewards transferred to Atmos Rewards - which is genuinely exceptional for this routing. Award Travel Finder has been tracking South Pacific availability this week if you want to run a search before committing.

Travel window is early 2027, which gives you plenty of time to plan - but award space at these prices won't stick around indefinitely.

Alaska Atmos Rewards (the program formerly known as Alaska Mileage Plan - more on that name change in the trivia reveal) just launched one of its periodic buy-points promotions. Right now you can purchase Atmos points with a 100% bonus, which works out to roughly 1.88 cents per point.

Buying miles is almost never worth it at face value - but Alaska Atmos is one of the programs where the math can actually work out. The program has excellent partner award rates (Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and now Philippine Airlines as we covered earlier this week) and a distance-based chart that rewards long-haul premium bookings.

If you have a specific redemption in mind - say, JAL business class to Tokyo or Qantas to Sydney - and you're just short on points, 1.88 cents per point is a defensible purchase price for a redemption worth 3-5 cents per point. If you're just speculating, I'd skip it. You can track this and all other active buy-points deals on our buy-points tracker.

A reader emailed me this week asking which Chase Ink card to get first - the Business Cash or the Business Unlimited. It's a question I see constantly, and the honest answer is: it depends entirely on where you spend.

Both cards have no annual fee and currently come with the same excellent welcome bonus. The Ink Business Cash earns 5% back at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services (up to $25,000 annually) plus 2% at gas stations and restaurants. The Ink Business Unlimited earns a flat 1.5% on everything.

Here's the move that many people don't realize: if you pair either of these no-fee cards with a Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards (like the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, or the Ink Business Preferred), the cash back converts to fully transferable Ultimate Rewards points. That changes the calculus entirely - suddenly that 5x at office supply stores is 5x UR points you can send to Hyatt, United, or any of Chase's other transfer partners.

If your business spending is spread across many categories, go Unlimited. If you have meaningful spend at office supply stores or on phone/internet bills, the Cash card's 5x is hard to beat.

If you fly Southwest regularly or have a specific redemption in mind, this is worth a look before Sunday. Southwest Rapid Rewards points are currently available at a 40% discount, and this offer expires this Sunday, August 2 - just two days away.

Southwest points are simple and transferable directly to cash-value flights, which makes them different from most other programs. At a 40% discount, if you know you're going to use them, the math is straightforward. If you're unsure, our Southwest Points Calculator can help you run the numbers on whether your target redemption justifies the purchase.

Also worth noting: JetBlue's 125% buy-points bonus (which we covered yesterday) runs through Sunday, August 9 - so you have a bit more breathing room on that one if JetBlue routes fit your travel plans better.

Quick tool update worth sharing. We just shipped a feature on Award Travel Finder called Standing Orders - and it's genuinely useful for people who are hunting award space on specific routes.

The idea is simple: instead of manually checking the same route every week, you hand the tool an instruction in plain English. Something like 'every Sunday, check whether LHR to NRT business class opens on any program I have points for' - and the tool runs it automatically, emails you the result, and stores the instruction for future sessions. It works through the Award Travel Finder chat, Claude, or ChatGPT. It's a Premium feature, but if you're serious about a specific redemption, it eliminates the manual grind of checking availability.

The answer is: Atmos Rewards. Alaska Airlines rebranded its Mileage Plan loyalty program to Atmos Rewards - a name change that caught a lot of people off guard given how established the Mileage Plan brand was. The program itself remains one of the strongest in the US for partner award redemptions, distance-based pricing, and partner diversity (including the recently added Philippine Airlines).

The Cook Islands sweet spot caught my eye today - but I'm curious: what's the most underrated destination on your award travel bucket list? The one you keep thinking about but haven't pulled the trigger on yet. Hit reply and tell me - I read every response and genuinely love hearing where you all want to go.

That's it from me today. The Virgin Atlantic bonus ending tonight is the one I'd prioritize if you have Amex points sitting idle - and the Cook Islands routing is worth bookmarking even if 2027 feels far away. Good ones disappear fast.

- Jack

We track airline Starlink rollouts, live equipped aircraft, and in-flight Wi-Fi details at SeatWiFi. If connectivity matters on your next trip, check the aircraft before you book.

Flying soon? Check your exact flight on SeatWiFi before you board.

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card: Earn 200,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $6... ($6.5/yr)

2. Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 175,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases with... ($5.5/yr)

3. The Platinum Card: 175,000 points after spending $12,000 in 6 months ($8.95/yr)

Here's what we're seeing in award availability right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

• The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali - Maui, HI, US | 1.3cpp value | 79,000 pts/night

• The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort - Bora Bora, PF | 2.3cpp value | 130,000 pts/night

• Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal - Cabo San Lucas, BCS, MX | 1.4cpp value | 140,000 pts/night

• Calala Island, an SLH Hotel - NiCaribbean, NI | 2.9cpp value | 150,000 pts/night

• InterContinental Hotels Kaohsiung - Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung City, TW | 1.1cpp value | 41,000 pts/night

Status Matches & Challenges:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM | SkyTeam

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM | SkyTeam

• Flying Blue (Iberia) - Air France / KLM | SkyTeam

Live Transfer Bonuses:

• Amex Membership Rewards → Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: +30% bonus - ends July 31, 2026

• Amex Membership Rewards → Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: +30% bonus - ends July 31, 2026

• Capital One Miles → EVA Air Infinity MileageLands: +30% bonus - ends July 31, 2026

• Citi ThankYou Rewards → Air France KLM Flying Blue: +20% bonus - ends August 22, 2026

• Rove Miles → Frontier Miles: +25% bonus - ends July 31, 2026

• Rove Miles → Qantas Frequent Flyer: +50% bonus - ends August 14, 2026

Buy Points & Miles Deals:

• Air Canada (Aeroplan): 85% bonus at (ends August 12, 2026)

• American Airlines (AAdvantage): 40% discount at (ends August 30, 2026)

• Breeze Airways (Breezy Rewards): 50% discount at (ends August 27, 2026)

• Etihad Airways (Etihad Guest): 25% bonus at (ends August 30, 2026)

• EVA Air (Infinity MileageLands): 40% bonus at (ends August 05, 2026)

• Garuda (GarudaMiles): 25% discount at (ends August 30, 2026)

Full live tracker → milesandpointsdaily.com/buy-points-promotions

Browse every award deal we track at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Friday Flight Deals finds the best flight deals when paying cash beats using points.

Browse all deals at FridayFlightDeals.com →