Something quietly shifted in the loyalty world overnight - and if you blinked, you might have missed two genuinely important developments happening at the same time.

One is about an airline alliance reshuffling that's been years in the making. The other is about a Chase benefit that just got meaningfully more valuable. Both have real implications for how you earn and spend your points this summer. Let's get into it.

How many airlines are now members of the oneworld alliance, following Hawaiian's addition today?

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

Today marks one of the biggest milestones in the Alaska-Hawaiian merger story: Hawaiian Airlines has officially joined the oneworld alliance, and its longtime 'HA' designator code has been retired and replaced with 'AS' - Alaska's code.

For anyone who's been tracking this integration since the merger closed in September 2024, this is a significant moment. Hawaiian and Alaska have been operating under a single certificate since October 2025, but today's changes make it much more visible.

The practical benefits here are real. Oneworld members - including American Airlines AAdvantage, British Airways Executive Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles holders - can now earn and redeem miles on Hawaiian-operated flights. If you're holding Avios or Qmiles and eyeing a Hawaii trip, this changes your options.

It also means that qualifying flights on Hawaiian now count toward oneworld status tiers. If you're chasing Sapphire or Emerald status, Hawaiian legs are now in play.

The Atmos Rewards program - the combined loyalty program of Alaska and Hawaiian that launched in late 2025 - continues to be the primary earning vehicle for both airlines. For all our Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian news, check out our Alaska Airlines stories for the full picture.

Speaking of Atmos Rewards - there's a sweet spot open right now that's worth acting on quickly. Premium economy award space to Barcelona is available starting at just 35,000 Atmos Rewards points one-way from several major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Seattle.

Barcelona in summer is genuinely hard to beat - and premium economy on a transatlantic flight in late spring or summer is a solid redemption at that price point. Award Travel Finder is tracking availability across multiple dates if you want to search options right now.

If you need to top up your Atmos Rewards balance, Alaska is currently running a 100% bonus when you buy points - bringing the cost down to 1.88 cents per point through May 2. That's a decent rate for premium economy redemptions where you're getting solid value per point.

If you've been sitting on a pile of Chase Ultimate Rewards points and haven't looked at the Points Boost tab recently, today's newsletter is your reminder to check it.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve's Points Boost feature - introduced during the 2025 card revamp - has now hit its highest-ever value: 2.5 cents per point on 11 luxury hotels. That's a meaningful step above the card's previous ceiling of 2 cents per point, and well above the standard 1 cent per point baseline for Chase Travel bookings.

These aren't obscure redemptions buried in an award chart. The hotels showing 2.5 cents per point are paid rates at Chase Travel's 'The Edit' collection - which means you still get breakfast, available upgrades, late checkout, and loyalty program credit. You're not sacrificing hotel status perks the way a typical award booking might.

To put the math in context: if you're redeeming 80,000 Chase UR points at 2.5 cents each, that's $2,000 in hotel value. That's a meaningful number. You can run the numbers yourself with the Chase Points Calculator to see how your balance stacks up.

Worth noting: this is also a good reminder that Points Boost availability changes frequently. If you're seeing 2.5 cents per point on a hotel you actually want, that's a now-not-later situation. For everything we've covered on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, see our Chase Sapphire Reserve stories.

If you've been watching HBO's White Lotus and quietly wondering what it would cost to stay at one of those hotels - here's some genuinely exciting news for points enthusiasts.

Season 4 is departing from the Four Seasons format used in the first three seasons (Hawaii, Sicily, Thailand). This time, a World of Hyatt property in France is taking center stage - specifically the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, part of Hyatt's Unbound Collection.

The Hotel Martinez is bookable as a World of Hyatt award, which means you can use points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. With transfer bonuses available right now, it's worth checking all current transfer bonuses before you book.

The timing here is also interesting for a different reason: World of Hyatt is about to roll out a significantly more complex award chart that will push some category prices higher. If the Martinez is on your bucket list, booking ahead of those changes could save you a meaningful number of points. Use the Hyatt Points Calculator to figure out what your current balance is worth.

For all things Hyatt - including our ongoing coverage of the award chart changes and the best ways to earn and redeem - see our full Hyatt coverage.

We mentioned the IHG Business Premier card's record 200K welcome offer last week, but it's worth flagging again with the clock ticking. This offer expires at 9am on April 30th - that's one week away.

200,000 IHG points is a genuinely strong welcome bonus. To give you a sense of scale: that's enough for several nights at top-tier IHG properties like InterContinental hotels or Kimpton resorts. And right now, there's a 70% transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards to IHG running through April 30th - so if you want to boost your IHG balance further, that window closes at the same time.

For more on IHG credit cards and the best ways to use IHG points, check out our IHG credit cards coverage.

Here's a story that deserves more attention than it's getting: more than a quarter of the baggage scales tested at Newark Airport were found to be inaccurate. Some were so far off that they were taken out of service entirely. Others treated bags as overweight when they weren't.

Newark is a major United hub - and United's checked bag and overweight fees add up fast. The odds that some travelers were wrongly charged for overweight bags are high. If you've flown through Newark recently and got hit with an overweight fee that surprised you, it may be worth raising with United.

The broader lesson here: if you're checking bags at a major hub and the weight reading seems oddly high, you're within your rights to request a re-weigh at a different scale. Most airlines will do it. This also makes a solid case for keeping bags under 45 lbs when you can - leave yourself a buffer at any airport, not just Newark.

Not into paying bag fees at all? Friday Flight Deals regularly finds sub-$300 fares to Europe and other destinations where you might prefer paying cash over burning points - worth bookmarking if you travel frequently on a budget.

The answer is: 13 airlines. With Hawaiian's addition today, oneworld now counts 13 full member airlines, including American Airlines, British Airways, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Iberia, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, SriLankan, Alaska, and now Hawaiian. It's one of the most globally connected alliances in the world - and now it has a Hawaii gateway through a U.S. carrier for the first time.

That's it for today - see you tomorrow with more miles and points news worth knowing about. Safe travels!

If you're planning a redemption, check these out first. Data from Award Travel Finder:

Hotels:

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

See all status matches →

Browse all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

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.

Airline programs:

Hotel programs:

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

1. Business Platinum Card: 200,000 points after spending $20,000 in 3 months ($895/yr)

2. Chase Sapphire Reserve: 125,000 points after spending $6,000 in 3 months ($795/yr)

3. American Express Gold Card: 100,000 points after spending $6,000 in 6 months ($325/yr)

4. Ink Business Preferred: 100,000 points after spending $8,000 in 3 months ($95/yr)

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →