Our roundup of this week's top 5 travel deals

Reading Time: 7 min

International carriers are having a moment this week, with three foreign airline credit cards raising their welcome offers at once, a European award promo returning with 25% off select transatlantic seats, and two major transferable currencies launching fresh bonuses to some useful overseas rewards programs.

Plus, American Airlines quietly announced a cut to a longstanding upgrade perk for its elites, and two hard-to-book airlines finally opened up their award seats to a pair of U.S. loyalty programs. Let's take a closer look at all the news and deals in travel and rewards this week.

If you're looking to diversify your points stash, three credit cards from overseas carriers are quietly making a case for a spot in your wallet right now.

First, the ​Chase Aeroplan Card​, which earns points with Air Canada, is offering up to 100,000 bonus points, split across two tiers. You'll earn 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, and another 25,000 after hitting $20,000 in the first year. The card carries a $95 annual fee and is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule.

Next, the ​Virgin Red Rewards Mastercard​ from Synchrony and Virgin Atlantic comes with up to 80,000 bonus points, also broken into two tiers. New cardholders earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in three months, and 20,000 more after a total of $6,000 in spending within six months. The offer on this $99 annual fee card expires August 24th.

And Barclays has bumped its ​Lufthansa Miles and More Premier World Mastercard​ to 70,000 bonus miles after $4,000 in spending within 90 days, which is up from the standard 50,000 bonus miles offer. The annual fee is $89, and cardholders get a companion ticket and two complimentary Lufthansa business lounge vouchers each year.

In the long term, none of these cards are better than ​one that earns transferable points​ like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards. But each one unlocks a program with genuinely useful sweet spots for international award travel. If that's of interest, then the timing is worth a look.

The one workout that travels with you

Hotel gyms are hit or miss. Walking isn't — and if you've ever logged 20,000 steps wandering a new place, you already know the feeling. ​Simple builds a personalized step target around your actual metabolism and lifestyle​, so the walking you're already doing (in Rome, at the airport, around the block) starts adding up to something. No treadmills, no restrictive plans.

Get your walking target

If a European fall or winter trip is on your radar, one loyalty program just gave you a reason to start pricing it out now.

Air France and KLM's ​Flying Blue Promo Rewards​ knock 25% off award pricing between a dozen U.S. cities and Europe this month, with economy from 18,750 miles and premium economy starting at 30,000 miles. Bookings must be made by August 31st for travel through January 31st.

There are no business class discounts in this monthly batch, but the eligible cities with economy availability include Phoenix, Seattle, and Dallas, plus Los Angeles, Orlando, and Miami as exclusives for ​Flying Blue Extra subscribers​. Premium economy is available from New York, Houston, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

Flying Blue is a transfer partner of ​every major transferable currency​, so topping off from Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bilt, or Wells Fargo remains straightforward if you're a few miles short.

​Points Path Pro​ and ​Founders Club​ members get live Air France and KLM points pricing directly in Google Flights, including these discounted awards. You can use our 7-day award calendar to find days with availability, or try the ​Flying Blue calendar trick​.

Two banks launched transfer bonus promos this week for some international award programs that can punch above their weight when it comes to overseas award travel.

Now through September 27th, American Express is offering a 30% bonus when transferring Membership Rewards to British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus. Since these three Avios programs let you shuffle points between them for free, this is effectively one bonus with three landing pads.

Also, Citi is running a 40% bonus on transfers to Turkish Airlines through August 31st, capped at 50,000 bonus miles. Note that in this case, ​the bonus is applied by Turkish​ and won't post until September 1st at the earliest, so don't plan on using the bonus miles for an immediate booking.

If you're a ​Points Path Pro​ or ​Founders Club​ member, not only does live Aer Lingus and Turkish award pricing show in your Google Flights results, but both transfer bonuses are also baked into our bank transfer indicators, so the boosted redemption values appear automatically wherever you're comparing options.

We've also added an ​ongoing list of all active transfer bonuses​ to Points Path, both in the extension and on our website, so you can quickly see them at a glance. And you can be automatically emailed about all new transfer bonuses when you sign up for the free ​Transfer Bonus Alerts service​ with our friends at ​Your Best Credit Cards​.

In case you missed it...

​Use AI to book restaurants that sell out in minutes​

If you've still sometimes had luck using your American elite status to land a seat up front on long-haul flights that actually matter, ​American released some news this week​ that you won't love.

Starting August 25th, American elites seated in economy on domestic flights with three cabins will no longer get complimentary business class upgrades. Instead, upgraded elites will only move up one class — from economy to premium economy, or premium economy to business.

The change affects nine routes flown by the airline's Boeing 777s, 787s, and Airbus A321XLRs. These planes currently operate transcontinental flights from New York and Boston to Los Angeles, JFK to San Francisco, and Dallas, Phoenix, and Chicago service to Honolulu, Kona, or Maui.

This is definitely a hit to American's elites. Even if getting a complimentary upgrade to business on these routes was rare before, it's now officially impossible. Your options now include buying or using an Instant Upgrade to get into premium economy in the hopes of clearing into business from there, or using a Systemwide Upgrade Award, which still confirms into business.

The one small silver lining for American elites is they can now get complimentary upgrades to premium economy, which might clear more easily than business class upgrades. But most high-level AA elites will likely be unhappy with this change on the whole.

Finally, this week Alaska and American quietly filled in a couple of the more frustrating gaps in their partner charts, and the additions open up some genuinely useful routings.

Alaska points can now be redeemed for flights on Philippine Airlines, with nonstop business class to Manila starting at 75,000 points one way from Seattle and San Francisco, or 85,000 from Los Angeles and New York. Economy runs 37,500 to 42,500 points depending on your departure city.

Meanwhile, American finally added awards on Oman Air, one of the last oneworld partners to come online after the airline joined the alliance last year. U.S. to Muscat runs 40,000 miles in economy and 70,000 miles in business. Keep in mind you'll need to make at least one stop if you're traveling on Oman Air from the U.S. to Muscat.

We've connected both of these new partners in ​Points Path​, and every user — including those using the free extension — can pull up live award availability with Alaska points on Philippine Airlines and American miles on Oman Air. It's the fastest way to see where these new sweet spots actually have seats.

How to fit more of your wardrobe into a single carry-on

Reclaim up to 50% of your suitcase capacity in 15 seconds. This BAGSMART 18-piece set pairs color-coded compression bags with a cordless, packable, Type-C rechargeable pump that shrinks bulky layers and extra outfits anywhere—no wall outlet required.

Get it at Amazon

That wraps up a busy week across airlines, credit cards, and points and miles. But if you've got an international trip on the horizon, don't miss ​our roundup of the international travel essentials we actually pack​. Have a great weekend! ✈️

This story may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers, and we may receive compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Points Path may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how and where links appear in this story. This story does not necessarily include all financial companies or all available financial offers. The editorial content in this story is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. All prices are accurate as of August 9, 2026, at 12pm ET.