Welcome to the Miles and Points Daily Podcast, your daily dose of the best deals, tips, and news from the world of miles, points, and loyalty programs. I'm Lucas, your host, and today we have a packed episode — so let's dive straight in before any of these deals expire, which, let's be honest, they will.

Before we get into the news, a quick word about some tools that can seriously level up your travel game. If you're hunting for award flights or hotel redemptions, head over to AwardTravelFinder.com — it lets you search 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 want to be alerted the moment a points deal drops, check out alerts.AwardTravelFinder.com so you never miss a flash sale. Oh, and before you head to the airport, FlightQueue.com will show you estimated security and passport control wait times so you can plan your arrival like a pro. All the links to those tools — and six more including FridayFlightDeals.com, SeatWifi.com, FlightSeatMap.com, ImmigrationQueue.com, EESQueue.com — are right there in the show notes.

Alright, let's get into the news.

First up — and this one is urgent — the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card has an absolutely outstanding limited-time offer that ends today, August sixth, at nine in the morning Eastern time. We're talking up to one hundred and twenty-five thousand Marriott Bonvoy points, a free night award worth up to fifty thousand points, and up to one hundred dollars back on airline purchases, all on a card with just a ninety-five dollar annual fee. That is a seriously strong offer for a mid-tier hotel card. The annual free night alone can easily pay for the fee, and you also get elite night credits to help you climb the Bonvoy status ladder. If you want to grab this card, click the link in the show notes — but seriously, do not wait. The clock is ticking on this one.

On the subject of Marriott, there's more good news for Bonvoy fans. Marriott is running a promotion on purchased points through September ninth, where eligible members can buy Bonvoy points with up to a fifty percent bonus, bringing the cost down to around zero point eighty-three cents per point. You can buy up to two hundred thousand points pre-bonus during this promotion window. Now, the host of One Mile at a Time personally values Bonvoy points at around zero point seven cents each, so buying at zero point eighty-three cents is slightly above his valuation — but if you have a specific high-value redemption in mind, like a luxury property during peak season, this could absolutely make sense. Log into your Bonvoy account to see which offer you're targeted for.

Now let's talk transfer bonuses, because there are several good ones live right now. The big one: American Express Membership Rewards is offering a thirty percent bonus when you transfer points to British Airways Club, Iberia Club, or Aer Lingus AerClub through September twenty-seventh. This is a popular bonus that hadn't been seen for about a year, so it's great to see it back. With this bonus, you could book business class from the East Coast to Dublin for around thirty-nine thousand transferred Amex points, or West Coast to Hawaii for around seventeen thousand transferred Amex points via British Airways. Remember, Avios can be used across multiple Oneworld carriers including American Airlines, and the different Avios programs each have their own sweet spots. Use a tool like Seats dot aero to compare — or check AwardTravelFinder.com. Just don't transfer unless you have a specific redemption in mind, since transfers are irreversible.

Also still active: Chase Ultimate Rewards is offering a whopping seventy percent bonus when you transfer to IHG One Rewards, valid through August thirty-first. That's one of the biggest transfer bonuses we see anywhere. And Citi ThankYou Rewards has a forty percent bonus to Turkish Miles and Smiles through August thirty-first, plus a twenty percent bonus to Air France-KLM Flying Blue through August twenty-second. Meanwhile, there's a ten percent bonus to Cathay Pacific's Cathay loyalty program from multiple currencies through August twenty-eighth, and Rove is offering a fifty percent bonus to Qantas Frequent Flyer through August fourteenth.

Next up: Southwest Airlines has a cracking Companion Pass promotion — but the booking window closes this Thursday, August sixth. Here's the deal: register for the promotion, then book one roundtrip or two one-way Southwest tickets by Thursday for travel by November eighteenth, twenty twenty-six, and you'll earn a promotional Companion Pass valid from January fifth through March third, twenty twenty-seven. The Companion Pass lets a designated companion fly with you for just the cost of taxes on any trip — whether you're paying cash or redeeming points. That's essentially two-for-one travel. You can even cancel and rebook an existing ticket with vouchers to qualify. If you have any winter travel plans, this is seriously worth a look.

Moving on to something that affects fans of German aviation: Lufthansa has expanded its seat assignment fees to its reconfigured Airbus A380s. Starting flights from September fifteenth, twenty twenty-six, the so-called Privacy Seats — the true window seats in rows A and K — and the bulkhead Extra Long Bed Seats will come with fees of up to one hundred and seventy euros per sector. Miles and More HON Circle and Senator members, as well as Business Flex fare holders, can assign Privacy Seats for free. HON Circle members can also assign Extra Long Bed Seats for free. This doesn't apply to Business Light fares. It's a frustrating trend across European carriers — British Airways has done it for years, Air France and KLM have expanded fees too — but at least Lufthansa is only charging for the premium positions where there's a genuine difference in comfort.

Great news for American Airlines fans: the airline's Boeing seven-seven-seven-three-hundred-ER retrofit project — internally called Olympus — is finally nearing completion on its first aircraft. The plane has been in Hong Kong being reconfigured and is expected back in the US shortly, with a couple more weeks in Dallas for testing before entering service. The new configuration eliminates eight first class seats and adds eighteen business class seats and sixteen premium economy seats, bringing business class up to seventy seats total. That's a huge number and great news for upgrade odds. The new Flagship Suite product is a lovely experience, so this is something to look forward to on American's most premium routes.

Now a quick cautionary tale: Delta's AI Concierge told a Platinum member her award ticket home was safe and still booked — and then the system refunded her thirty-two thousand four hundred miles and cancelled the flight. She was then asked to pay double to rebook. Screenshots of the conversation showed the AI confidently reassuring her everything was fine. The lesson? Don't rely solely on AI tools when managing important bookings. Always verify directly in your account or by calling the airline, especially close to travel dates.

Here's an interesting status play for Bilt cardholders: Kenya Airways will match Accor Gold status to top-tier Kenya Airways Platinum, which also comes with SkyTeam Elite Plus status. Through a chain involving Bilt's Rent Day Accor Gold match, Bilt Gold or Platinum members can now buy twelve months of Kenya Airways Platinum and SkyTeam Elite Plus for just two hundred and ninety-nine dollars. That's a solid shortcut to alliance elite status. One important caveat though: don't expect Delta Sky Club access on regular domestic US flights — SkyTeam Elite Plus doesn't unlock that on most domestic trips.

Finally, good news if you fly American Airlines out of London Heathrow: catering provider DO and CO is taking over permanently on those routes. DO and CO is well regarded in premium catering circles — they service Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines among others — so this should be a real upgrade for business class dining out of Heathrow. The transition is expected to take about four months to complete.

That's a wrap on today's episode! We covered a lot of ground — from a last-chance Marriott card offer, transfer bonuses you need to act on now, the Southwest Companion Pass deal, Lufthansa seat fees, American's cabin retrofit, and more. As always, the links to everything we discussed are in the show notes, including all eight of our travel tools at AwardTravelFinder.com and beyond. If you found today's episode useful, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and visit us at milesandpointsdaily.com. Thanks so much for tuning in — travel smart out there, and we'll see you tomorrow.