Points and miles, week of May 25

World of Hyatt made two structural changes to its award pricing this week, both effective May 20. The program replaced its three-tier chart (off-peak, standard, peak) with a five-tier model (Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, Top), and simultaneously shifted 136 properties into new categories. The headline hit: Category 8 properties now cost up to 75,000 points per night, up 38% from the previous 45,000-point ceiling. On the upside, Category 1 floors dropped to 3,000 points, and nine US hotels lost their free-night-certificate eligibility, suggesting some repricing to lower tiers. See the chart restructure and category changes for details. Reservations locked in before the cutover preserve the old pricing.

Elsewhere, Emirates Skywards devalued its awards by 15% across the board and introduced a one-way Business Classic tier. Read the full devaluation.

Transfer bonuses

Three transfer bonuses expire within the next two weeks. Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air France/KLM offers a 20% bonus through May 27, and Amex Membership Rewards to Hilton pays 20% through May 30. Rove to Aeroplan runs at 25% through June 6.

Three new bonuses launched this week. Chase Ultimate Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy carries a 55% bonus through June 30, making the effective transfer ratio 1.55:1. That's a flagship pairing for Marriott redemptions. Citi ThankYou Points to I Prefer offers 30% through June 13, and Amex Membership Rewards to Etihad Guest pays 40% through June 15.

Award availability this week

Turkish Miles&Smiles dominated deal-alert activity this week, with eight snapshots tracking business-class availability across North America in May, June, and July.

Turkish business class to Istanbul: Five deal alerts covered the program's standard 135,000-mile rate on US and Canada gateways. Denver to Istanbul opened at 135K on May 30. Washington Dulles to Istanbul appeared on June 21. Twelve North American hubs (including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles) showed July 10-11 inventory at 135K, working out to roughly 3.3 cents per point. See the Denver snapshot, Dulles route, and multi-gateway summary.

Turkish business class to Europe and Asia: Two additional routes launched this week. Houston to Athens appeared on July 11 at 165,000 miles (2.4 cents per point against a $4,000 cash fare), and Los Angeles to Milan opened on July 11 at 175,000 miles (2.3 cents per point). Read the Athens deal and Milan snapshot. A broader multi-destination alert covers 13 US and Canadian gateways with redemptions ranging 135K to 275K miles.

Singapore KrisFlyer first class: Two opening snapshots captured Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita at 449,000 miles on October 15 (3.1 cents per point on a $14,000 cash fare) and Los Angeles to Singapore at 471,500 miles on the same date. Read the Narita alert and Singapore route snapshot.