Welcome to Miles and Points Daily, the podcast where we cut through the noise and get straight to the good stuff — points, miles, deals, and the occasional travel disaster that makes us feel better about our own trips. I'm Lucas, your host, and today we have a packed show for you. Let's get into it.

Before we dive in, a quick word from our travel tools suite. If you're planning an award redemption and want to know where the sweet spots are, head over to AwardTravelFinder.com — it lets you search award flight and hotel availability across programs like Qatar Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, and more. You can also find high-value hotel redemptions and status match opportunities right there on the site. And if you don't want to miss a deal, check out alerts.AwardTravelFinder.com to get notified the moment points deals drop on flights and hotels. For cheap cash fares and error fares, FridayFlightDeals.com has you covered. Links to all eight of our tools — including FlightSeatMap.com, SeatWifi.com, FlightQueue.com, ImmigrationQueue.com, and EESQueue.com — are in the show notes. Go check them out.

Alright, let's talk miles and points news.

First up — Alaska Airlines and Philippine Airlines have finally activated points redemptions. The partnership has existed for over a year, but up until now, you could only earn points, not redeem them. That's changed. You can now book Philippine Airlines flights directly on Alaska's website using Atmos Rewards points. Based on Alaska's distance-based award chart for Asia, expect a transpacific business class redemption to run you between seventy-five thousand and eighty-five thousand points one-way. Philippine Airlines operates from Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Honolulu into Manila, with connections across Asia. The airline is also set to join the oneworld alliance in two thousand and twenty-seven, which will open up even more redemption possibilities. If you've been sitting on Alaska Atmos points and want to experience Asia, this is worth exploring now.

Next, let's talk about the Delta and Starbucks partnership — because it's changed again. Starting the fifth of August two thousand and twenty-six, the earning structure resets to one SkyMile per dollar spent at Starbucks. Simple enough. The catch? You need to have flown a qualifying Delta-marketed flight within the past twelve months — or plan to fly one within the next sixty days — to be eligible. If you're a regular Delta flyer anyway, this is a nice little perk to have linked up. If you're not flying Delta, though, those miles won't be landing in your account. Worth noting: you can still earn double Starbucks Stars on any day you have a Delta flight scheduled, which The Points Guy values at a minimum four to five percent return on Starbucks spending. So Delta flyers, make sure your accounts are linked.

Now here's one that's genuinely exciting for Bilt members — the August first Rent Day promotion includes an Accor Live Limitless status match. Here's how it breaks down: Bilt Blue and Silver members can match to Accor Silver status by transferring five thousand points. Gold members can match to Accor Gold with five thousand points. And Platinum members can match all the way to Accor Platinum status by transferring fifteen thousand points — and that status is valid through December thirty-first two thousand and twenty-seven. That's an incredible runway for your status. Accor has a massive global hotel footprint, including properties like the Sofitel at Heathrow, so if you travel internationally, this could be seriously valuable. Platinum members especially should jump on this. Remember, Bilt Rent Day promos run on the first of each month, so mark your calendars for August first.

Moving on to some not-so-great news from Marriott — a property in Hawaii has found a creative and frankly irritating workaround to charge resort fees on award stays but not on cash stays. The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property on the Big Island, has started charging sixty dollars per night in resort fees as of the first of August two thousand and twenty-six — but only when you redeem points. Cash rates are listed as exempt from the resort fee. The hotel is framing it as "we charge a resort fee on all rates, but we waive it on select cash rates." Sneaky. For context, World of Hyatt waives resort fees entirely on award stays for all members. This is yet another reminder of the gap between how Hyatt and Marriott treat their loyalty members. If you're planning a points redemption in Hawaii at a Marriott property, check the fine print carefully before you book.

On the card news front, let's talk about the Citi Strata Elite card. New cardholders can currently earn seventy-five thousand bonus ThankYou points after spending six thousand dollars on purchases in the first three months from account opening. The Points Guy values Citi ThankYou points at one point nine cents each, making this welcome offer worth approximately one thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars. The card earns strong rates and plugs into Citi's roster of transfer partners. Citi's application rules are fairly permissive — you can hold other Citi cards and still earn this bonus, as long as you haven't received a bonus on the Citi Strata Elite specifically in the past forty-eight months. If you're interested, the link is in the show notes.

Also worth flagging for Chase fans — the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card from Chase currently has a sign-up bonus of one hundred and twenty-five thousand Marriott Bonvoy points plus a free night award worth up to fifty thousand points after spending three thousand dollars on purchases in the first three months. There's also up to one hundred dollars in statement credits for eligible airline purchases. The card carries a ninety-five dollar annual fee and provides automatic Silver Elite status plus fifteen elite night credits per year. If you're trying to build toward Platinum Elite, stacking this card with a Marriott business card could get you thirty elite night credits annually — leaving just twenty nights of paid stays to hit Platinum. The link to apply is in the show notes.

Now for a story that is equal parts impressive and alarming — JetBlue has officially named its upcoming domestic first class product: BlueFirst. The rollout begins in October two thousand and twenty-six, with around twenty planes being reconfigured per month. The expectation is that the project will wrap up by the end of two thousand and twenty-seven. JetBlue is expected to use the Collins Aerospace MiQ seat — the same one you'll find in American Airlines domestic first class. Economy seat pitch will drop from thirty-two inches to thirty inches to make room, while BlueFirst will offer thirty-six to thirty-seven inches of pitch. JetBlue is also introducing basic fares across more cabins, including a BlueFirst Base fare with no seat selection and change fees — though notably, there will be no basic fare in the Mint business class cabin. It's a smart move for JetBlue financially, and for points collectors, it means more premium cabin inventory to potentially redeem TrueBlue points toward.

And finally — the Discover to Capital One migration is officially underway as of the twenty-seventh of July. If you're a Discover cardholder, your account will gradually migrate to Capital One's platform through two thousand and twenty-seven. Your rewards balance, scheduled payments, and earning rates will transfer over, and your credit score won't be impacted. Once migrated, you'll manage your card through Capital One's app and website. New benefits are being added for Discover cardholders too, including access to Capital One Offers and Capital One Travel portal cashback. If you have multiple Discover cards, they may not all migrate at the same time, so keep an eye on each account individually.

And that's a wrap on today's Miles and Points Daily. Thanks so much for listening — if you found this useful, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and check us out at milesandpointsdaily.com for daily updates. Safe travels, and we'll see you tomorrow!