Hyatt Prices Jump Tuesday - Plus Amex Just Unlocked 5,700 Accor Hotels Overnight

Two deadline-driven stories landed this week that are worth your attention before Monday morning - here's what to do first.

Hyatt award prices increase on Tuesday 19 May - if you have a redemption in mind, you need to book it today or tomorrow. At the same time, Amex Membership Rewards just added all of Accor as a transfer partner, meaning your MR points can now reach 5,700+ hotels including Raffles, Fairmont, and Sofitel. The two stories are connected: if Hyatt no longer pencils out for your trip, Accor may now be the smarter burn. The full breakdown of transfer rates, which Accor properties make sense, and exactly which Hyatt categories are going up is in one place.

From June, Qatar Airways Privilege Club is introducing a "My List" system that caps who you can redeem Avios for. Until now, UK collectors could use Qatar's Avios redemptions to book for friends and family with relatively little friction - one of the genuine advantages of holding Avios across multiple programmes. That flexibility is being removed. You'll need people pre-approved on your list before you can book for them, and the rules around who qualifies are strict.

This matters beyond Qatar specifically. Part of what makes Avios valuable is the ability to pool effort and book aspirational redemptions for a household or group - and any programme that chips away at that erodes the currency itself. If you've been planning to use Qatar Avios redemptions for someone else this year, you need to understand the new rules before June arrives and your booking attempt gets declined.

The full post covers exactly how the My List system works, which relationships qualify, and what your options are if you're planning a group booking.

Virgin Red is paying a 30% bonus on Clubcard-to-Virgin Points conversions - but only if you convert manually, not via auto-exchange. It's an easy win if you have Clubcard vouchers sitting around, but the mechanics trip people up. The post does the maths so you don't have to.

British Airways Holidays is temporarily pricing Avios part-payments at 33% above their normal rate, with travel valid all the way through to March 2027. It doesn't suit every itinerary, but for the right package booking it's one of the better Avios valuations available right now - and it expires tomorrow.

The popular award search tool has added BA Club and Iberia Club in beta, which sounds like a big deal for UK collectors. The coverage explains why it's genuinely useful for certain searches but also why you shouldn't retire your existing tools just yet - the limitations are real and worth knowing before you rely on it.

Back next Sunday with whatever the programmes throw at us between now and then.

- Jack

The card I have two of - here's why