100,000 points. On a $95 annual fee card. That number alone is enough to stop the scroll - but before you race to apply, there's a lot more going on with the Chase Sapphire Preferred right now than just the bonus.

Chase quietly rolled out a major card refresh this week, and depending on how you use the card, you might love it or hate it. There are genuine wins buried in here - but also a few cuts that will sting longtime holders. Let's break it all down.

How many airline and hotel transfer partners does Chase Ultimate Rewards have?

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

The Chase Sapphire Preferred's refresh is now live, and the headline is hard to ignore: the welcome bonus has jumped to 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after meeting the minimum spend. For a $95 annual fee card, that's a remarkable offer - and it puts the CSP closer to territory usually reserved for premium cards.

On the positive side, the card received updated earning rates and some benefit tweaks that will benefit certain cardholders. The refreshed version is still one of the best entry points into Chase's ecosystem, and those 100K points transfer 1:1 to 14 airline and hotel partners - including Hyatt, United, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Virgin Atlantic.

But here's where it gets complicated. The changes are described as a mixed bag - some people come out ahead, others don't. If you've already held the card for a while and were comfortable with the previous benefit structure, the new version may not improve your situation. The calculus depends heavily on how you spend and which transfer partners you actually use.

The one thing that's universally true: if you've been on the fence about applying, a 100K offer on a $95 card is worth serious attention. We covered the Chase Sapphire Preferred's benefit refresh in detail when it was first announced - and if you want the full breakdown of what changed, that piece is worth reading before you decide.

For anyone crunching the numbers on whether Chase points are worth holding vs. transferring right now, the Chase Points Calculator is a useful starting point.

A new transfer bonus landed quietly this week - and it's one that Amex Membership Rewards holders should pay attention to. From now through July 15, 2026, you can transfer Amex points to Avianca Lifemiles with a 15% bonus. The catch: this bonus isn't being offered by Amex directly. It's coming from Lifemiles on their end, which means you'll need to initiate the transfer through the Lifemiles portal rather than your Amex account.

Avianca Lifemiles is a Star Alliance currency, which means you can use it to book partners like United, Lufthansa, ANA, and Singapore Airlines. Historically, Lifemiles has offered competitive pricing on long-haul Star Alliance redemptions - especially Business Class on carriers that price award seats aggressively through their own programs.

The 15% bonus isn't the biggest we've seen from Lifemiles, but it's a meaningful bump that could tip the math in your favor if you've been weighing a transfer. If you have a specific redemption in mind, do the math before July 15 - that's when this window closes.

Award Travel Finder is tracking live availability on Star Alliance routes right now - worth checking if you're planning to put those Lifemiles to work.

Finnair Plus has launched one of its more aggressive buy-points promotions: up to 40% off purchased Avios, bringing the per-point cost down to roughly 1.3 cents each. That's a price worth paying attention to, especially if you know where you want to fly.

Here's the detail that matters: there's a specific approach to purchasing that gets you closer to the floor price rather than paying more per point. The promo is tiered - the more you buy, the better the discount. So if you have a redemption in mind and know roughly how many points you need, buying in the right tier makes a material difference.

Finnair Plus Avios are part of the broader Avios ecosystem, meaning they can be transferred between British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, and Qatar Privilege Club. That flexibility makes a strong price-per-Avios more interesting than it might look on the surface - you're not locked into flying Finnair.

If you're a UK-based reader thinking about Avios, Smart With Points has been covering the Avios ecosystem in depth - their take is always worth a read before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

Chase has opened registration for Chase Freedom Flex Q3 2026 bonus categories, and the timing is worth acting on now - the quarter starts July 1 and you must register in advance or you'll miss the bonus entirely.

For Q3, the card earns 5x points on the first $1,500 in combined purchases in the bonus categories for the quarter. That's up to $75 worth of points (or more, if you're transferring to partners and getting higher value) just from capping out the category spend. If you already hold the card, registration takes under a minute - just don't forget to do it.

The Freedom Flex earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which means that 5x can become something far more valuable if you're stacking with a Sapphire card and transferring to partners. Speaking of which - if you're newer to Chase's ecosystem and wondering how these cards work together, we've covered Chase Ultimate Rewards in detail in a previous issue at the link below.

The answer is 🅲️ - 14 partners. Chase Ultimate Rewards currently has 14 airline and hotel transfer partners, including United, Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and more. Most transfer at a 1:1 ratio, which is one of the reasons Chase points are consistently rated among the most valuable flexible currencies in the game.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred hitting 100K points, I'm curious - are you already a CSP holder, or is this refresh enough to get you to apply? Hit reply and let me know - I read every single response and always appreciate hearing your take!

A packed day in the Chase world - between the CSP refresh, the Freedom Flex Q3 window, and a couple of solid Amex and Avios plays, there's genuine action to take before some of these deadlines close. Don't sit on the Lifemiles bonus - July 15 will come fast.

- Jack

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

1. The Platinum Card: 175,000 points after spending $12,000 in 6 months ($6.95/yr)

2. Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in y... ($5.5/yr)

3. Chase Sapphire Reserve: 150,000 points after spending $6,000 in 3 months ($7.95/yr)

Points sitting in your account? These are the redemptions worth looking at this week, tracked by Award Travel Finder:

Hotels:

• The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa - Bora Bora, PF | 2.0cpp value | 76,000 pts/night

• Residence Inn Maui Wailea - Wailea, HI, US | 1.6cpp value | 70,000 pts/night

• Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach - Dana Point, CA, US | 1.7cpp value | 95,000 pts/night

• Zemi Beach House, LXR Hotels & Resorts - West Indies, AI | 2.5cpp value | 110,000 pts/night

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kailua-Kona - Kailua-Kona, HI, US | 1.6cpp value | 40,000 pts/night

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 →