Thursday, November 5, 2026
Three things got more expensive or harder to get this week — JetBlue's bags, Navy Federal's annual fee (now $95, up from $49, effective November 2), and Delta's best-ever Amex offers, which expired last night — which leaves transfer bonuses as the only place real value is still sitting on the table.
1. Amex is paying 30% more to Virgin Atlantic — and ANA business class to Tokyo is the reason
WHAT HAPPENED — American Express launched a 30% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club on November 2, running through November 30. The base ratio is 1:1, so 1,000 Membership Rewards points land as 1,300 Virgin Points. Virgin's own award chart prices ANA business class between Japan and the central/eastern U.S. at 60,000 Virgin Points one way, 52,500 from the West Coast, and 37,500 from Hawaii; first class runs 85,000, 72,500 and 57,500.
WHY IT MATTERS — Run the bonus against that chart and ANA business class to Tokyo costs roughly 47,000 Membership Rewards points one way from the East Coast, 41,000 from the West Coast and 29,000 from Hawaii. First class from the East Coast lands near 66,000. Those are among the lowest cash-equivalent prices on a four-star-plus long-haul business product anywhere in the U.S. transferable-points ecosystem.
YOUR MOVE — Find and hold the ANA space first, then transfer. Virgin still requires you to call the Flying Club team to book ANA, award seats are capacity-controlled and carrier surcharges apply, so a speculative transfer can strand you in a currency with few other good uses. Transfer in 1,000-point increments and confirm the 1.3x ratio inside your own Amex account before pulling the trigger — Amex's public transfer page is login-gated, so the bonus is confirmed via Amex's in-account offer as reported by multiple independent trackers rather than a public issuer URL. Offer ends: November 30, 2026 · Verified: November 5, 2026 · Source: https://www.virginatlantic.com/en-US/flying-club/airline-partners/all-nippon-airways
2. Delta's 200,000-mile Amex offers hit their deadline — and the richest airline card bonus still standing is a business card
WHAT HAPPENED — Delta's elevated American Express welcome offers carried an official end date of November 4, 2026, and delta.com was still displaying that date on both its personal and business card pages this morning. At their peak the offers ran: Reserve Business 200,000 miles on $20,000 of spend, Platinum Business 100,000 on $8,000, Gold Business 90,000 on $6,000; on the consumer side, Platinum up to 90,000 miles plus a $300 statement credit on $4,000, Gold up to 80,000 plus $250 on $3,000, and Reserve two round-trip Delta Comfort certificates plus 50,000 miles on $10,000.
WHY IT MATTERS — That was the deepest Delta co-brand cycle of the year, and it closed without a replacement announced. The best airline-card bonus still live is the Citi / AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard at 75,000 AAdvantage miles after $5,000 in five months, with the $99 annual fee waived for the first 12 months — above the 65,000 the card normally carries.
YOUR MOVE — If you were sitting on a Delta application, open the official delta.com link and let the terms on the application page govern; a landing page that still shows the offer is worth 60 seconds, but don't plan around it. If you run a business and want status currency instead, the AAdvantage Business card earns one Loyalty Point per dollar for the primary cardholder and every employee card — the rare structure where two people build toward status off the same spending. Offer ends: Delta offers dated November 4, 2026; Citi / AAdvantage Business offer has no stated end date · Verified: November 5, 2026 · Source: https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/airline-credit-cards/american-express-business-cards and https://creditcards.aa.com/credit-cards/citi-business-card-american-airlines-direct/
3. Chase's November transfer menu: take the Avios, leave the IHG
WHAT HAPPENED — Chase opened November with a 30% bonus to British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus Avios through December 1, an 80% bonus to IHG One Rewards and a 30% bonus to Wyndham through December 3. All three programs transfer at 1:1 from Ultimate Rewards, so 1,000 points becomes 1,300 Avios, and 10,000 points becomes 18,000 IHG.
WHY IT MATTERS — The 80% headline is the trap. IHG is the weakest of the major hotel currencies, and Chase has run a 70–80% IHG bonus repeatedly since 2024, so there is no scarcity premium to chase. The 30% to Avios is the quieter, better deal: Avios prices short-haul intra-Europe and Iberia transatlantic awards low enough that a 23% discount on the entry price is real money.
YOUR MOVE — Transfer to Avios only against a specific itinerary you have already priced, and remember Avios pool freely between British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus once they land. Skip the IHG transfer unless you have a confirmed high-rate IHG booking where 18,000 points clearly beats what 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points buy through Chase Travel — for most readers it won't, and another 80% bonus will be along. As with Amex, Chase's transfer page sits behind a login, so confirm the ratio in-account before you move anything. Offer ends: Avios December 1, 2026; IHG and Wyndham December 3, 2026 · Verified: November 5, 2026 · Source: https://frequentmiler.com/current-point-transfer-bonuses/
4. Marriott is building an airline-style upgrade list — and telling owners it won't cost them upsell revenue
WHAT HAPPENED — On Marriott's November 2 third-quarter earnings call, CEO Tony Capuano said the company is testing a "proprietary, in-app complimentary upgrade list built entirely in-house," currently in beta, that will give eligible elite members "greater visibility into potential upgrades before arrival" while "still preserving premium room upsell opportunities for our owners." CFO Jen Mason said full-year co-branded credit card fees are still expected to rise in the high-30% range, and that third-quarter gross fee revenue grew 14% partly on those card fees. Bonvoy now counts roughly 309 million members.
WHY IT MATTERS — Read the two halves together and the strategy is clear: Marriott will show you where you stand in the upgrade queue, but it is not going to give away the suite it can sell. The more interesting disclosure for award bookers was Capuano's note that Marriott has lowered loyalty charge-out rates and improved owner reimbursement for redemption stays on high-demand nights — the standard lever for prying award inventory loose on peak dates.
YOUR MOVE — Nothing to do yet; no test hotels or rollout timeline were named. But if you've been avoiding Bonvoy award searches on sold-out dates, re-check your 2027 peak-season targets — better owner reimbursement on high-demand nights is exactly the change that makes previously blocked inventory appear. And treat any upgrade-list position as information, not a promise. Offer ends: N/A · Verified: November 5, 2026 · Source: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/11/02/marriott-mar-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/
5. JetBlue's first checked bag now costs up to $70 each way — and the co-brand card just got more valuable than its fee
WHAT HAPPENED — Effective November 3, JetBlue raised its first-checked-bag fee for the second time in 2026. Booked at least 24 hours before departure, the first bag went from $39 to $50 off-peak and $49 to $55 peak; checked inside 24 hours it runs $60 off-peak and $70 peak. The new rates apply to most economy fares on U.S. domestic routes and flights to Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. JetBlue said it is adjusting fees "to help offset rising fuel and operating costs."
WHY IT MATTERS — A peak bag checked at the airport is now $140 round trip per person. The first checked bag remains free for JetBlue Plus, JetBlue Business and JetBlue Premier cardmembers, and for TrueBlue Mosaic members — one bag at Mosaic 1, two at Mosaic 2 through 4. That means a single round trip with one bag now covers most of a JetBlue Plus annual fee.
YOUR MOVE — If you fly JetBlue even twice a year with a bag, the co-brand card now pays for itself on baggage alone; run that math before your holiday bookings. Everyone else: add bags online at least 24 hours out, which saves up to $15 on the first bag versus the airport. And expect the majors to follow — JetBlue has led the last several industry-wide bag fee increases. Offer ends: N/A · Verified: November 5, 2026 · Source: https://www.boston.com/travel/flights/2026/11/04/jetblue-has-raised-checked-bag-fees-again/
Bottom line
Best opportunity: Amex's 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic, which puts ANA business class to Tokyo within reach for roughly 41,000–47,000 Membership Rewards points one way — but only if you secure the ANA seat before you transfer.
Biggest risk: speculative transfers into the 80% IHG bonus. It's the largest number on the board and the worst deal on it, and once those points leave Ultimate Rewards they are never coming back.