Today we're covering Marriott guests who got evicted from their rooms with zero notice, Citi's surprise entry into the premium card wars with a direct line to American Airlines, and a clever $99 hack that gets Delta and American flyers into United lounges. Let's dive in.

Marriott abruptly terminated its partnership with Sonder on Sunday, November 9th, and guests with confirmed reservations were told to leave their rooms the same day. No advance warning. No alternative accommodations automatically arranged. Just a notice that their Marriott-confirmed bookings were suddenly invalid.

The good news? Marriott is quietly offering 40,000 Bonvoy points as a goodwill gesture to affected guests — but here's the catch: you need to ask for it. If you had a Sonder booking through Marriott that got canceled, reach out to customer service immediately and reference the 40,000-point compensation that other guests have received. Document everything about your disrupted stay.

For more on this developing story and other Marriott program changes, we're tracking all the updates as they unfold.

The Citi Strata Elite just became impossible to ignore. The welcome offer alone — 100,000 ThankYou Points after $6,000 spend in three months — puts it in premium card territory. But here's what makes this card genuinely unique: it's the only transferable currency with a direct line to American Airlines AAdvantage.

The earning structure is aggressive — up to 12X points in select categories. You'll get annual Admirals Club guest passes, comprehensive travel protections, and credits that can be double-dipped in your first cardmember year if you time it right. For anyone frustrated by the lack of transfer options to American, this changes the game completely.

This pairs perfectly with the current transfer bonus landscape — we're seeing strong transfer promotions across multiple programs right now, making those ThankYou Points even more valuable.

TAP Air Portugal just launched a paid status match that could be the smartest $99 you spend this year. If you have status with American Airlines or Delta, TAP will match you to their equivalent status for one year — which crucially grants you Star Alliance Gold benefits.

Here's what that unlocks: United Club lounge access when flying United or any Star Alliance carrier, free checked bags across the alliance, priority boarding, and preferred seating. The catch? It's a paid match, not free. But compare that $99 to the cost of annual lounge memberships or the effort required to earn status from scratch, and suddenly it looks like a bargain.

For more strategies on maximizing airline elite status benefits across alliances, this is exactly the kind of creative approach that makes your existing status work harder.

United CEO Scott Kirby used his Veterans Day message to employees to declare United "the best airline in the history of aviation." That's quite a claim considering Pan Am's pioneering legacy and Singapore Airlines' decades-long dominance of quality rankings.

United has made genuine improvements recently — better premium cabins, expanded international routes, and more consistent operations. But "best in history" is a stretch by any measure. Singapore Airlines has topped quality surveys for years. Emirates revolutionized first class. Pan Am literally defined the jet age. Kirby's confidence is admirable, but this reads more like internal motivation than objective reality.

Visa and Mastercard just reached a major settlement with merchants that could fundamentally change the credit card rewards landscape. The settlement addresses interchange fees — the percentage that merchants pay on every card transaction, which ultimately funds those lucrative welcome bonuses and earning rates we all love.

If interchange fees get reduced significantly, card issuers will need to adjust their rewards programs accordingly. We've already seen this play out in other markets where fee caps were imposed — rewards get slashed, annual fees increase, or both. The timeline remains uncertain, but this is absolutely worth monitoring if you're building a long-term points strategy.

American Airlines is continuing its cost-cutting campaign, and it's not just customer-facing roles taking the hit. The carrier is now reducing finance staff as part of broader efficiency initiatives. This follows earlier customer service reductions that left many travelers frustrated with longer wait times.

For AAdvantage members, the operational impact remains to be seen, but the pattern is concerning. Leaner staffing often means slower issue resolution, longer hold times, and less flexibility when things go wrong. Keep this in mind when booking award tickets or dealing with irregular operations.

Here's a misconception that trips up even experienced award travelers: assuming airlines always release award space when their schedule opens. In reality, many carriers hold back premium cabin availability initially, releasing it closer to departure or during periodic sweeps.

This is why the "book early" advice isn't universal. Sometimes the best strategy is to set alerts and check regularly as departure approaches. Airlines like Lufthansa and Swiss are notorious for releasing first class award space just weeks before travel. United often opens more business class space 2-3 weeks out. Understanding these patterns can be the difference between "sold out" and snagging your dream redemption.

For help tracking down those elusive seats, tools like Award Travel Finder can alert you the moment space opens up across multiple programs.

Speaking of United, their ongoing buy miles promotion continues through December 31, 2025 with a 30% discount bringing the cost down to 2.63 cents per mile. That's still not cheap enough for most redemptions to make sense, but if you're sitting just short of an award booking and the alternative is paying cash at 5+ cents per mile in value, it could bridge the gap.

Check out our current buy points offers page to compare this against other programs — sometimes transferring from a credit card currency during a bonus period delivers better effective pricing.

Today's stories highlight three key themes: partnerships can end without warning (protect yourself with travel insurance and flexible bookings), new card products are actively competing for your wallet (the Citi Strata Elite's American Airlines transfer capability is genuinely unique), and creative status matches can unlock benefits across alliance networks.

If you're affected by the Marriott-Sonder situation, don't wait — contact customer service today and document everything. If you've been frustrated by the lack of transferable options to American Airlines, the Citi Strata Elite deserves a serious look. And if you hold status with American or Delta but occasionally fly United, that TAP match could be your cheapest lounge access solution this year.

Have questions about any of these stories? Tag us on Instagram @milesandpointsdaily — we read every message.

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Active transfer bonuses worth considering:

Airline programs: