If you feel like it’s increasingly difficult to maximize your points and miles, you’re not alone—34% of respondents said they believe their travel points and miles are less valuable than they were two years ago, according to a July 2025 TPG/YouGov survey. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still get great value from your rewards in 2026. You just need the right strategies and tools.
This is one of the overarching travel trends we’re noticing heading into 2026: the importance of flexibility (in more ways than one) and taking advantage of offers and tools to increase your points and miles.
Flexibility is key
It’s no secret that the more flexible you are, the easier it is to find travel deals. For example, a great business-level award may only be awarded on a handful of dates. And the best flight deals are often only available on specific routes.
By 2026, flexibility will become even more important – not only when it comes to airlines, dates and routes, but also when it comes to the transferable currency you collect. Only 21% of U.S. adults we surveyed preferred transferable awards, but these travelers have an advantage when booking award travel.
Earning miles with your favorite airlines is convenient, but you never know when an airline may reduce presence at your airport or end its relationship with your favorite airline partner. Even worse, if an airline changes its award chart (or eliminates it entirely), you might find yourself with a bunch of miles that are suddenly worth significantly less than they were before.
Even for the same flight, we are increasingly finding that award rates vary greatly depending on the plan you book. We’ve also seen some airlines restrict award space with specific partners.
In 2026, transferable rewards will be more important than ever in dealing with change and depreciation. After all, you can transfer rewards like Chase Ultimate Rewards points and American Express Membership Rewards points to multiple partners and use them to book a variety of rewards.
RELATED: Credit Card Transfer Partners: A Guide to Transferring Points and Miles to Airlines and Hotels
But even if you already have a transferable reward, you need to think more about Which Transferable currency you choose to earn in 2026. Some currencies have more partners than others, giving you more options – but this only helps if those partners offer flights and hotels to the destinations you want to visit.
Reward your inbox with the TPG daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers and get breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts
For example, TPG travel writer Rachel Craft finds Chase Ultimate Rewards to be her most useful currency because she can transfer it to her two most-used airlines—United and Southwest—as well as her favorite hotel program, World of Hyatt. “Bilt points are my most flexible points, earning them at no cost and depositing them into my account instantly. I don’t know how you do that,” says Carly Helfand, director of points, miles and credit card content. Senior writer Ben Smithson has recently begun relying heavily on the Citibank Appreciation Rewards program thanks to Citibank’s new partnership with AAdvantage.
As you can see, the most valuable transferable currency for you depends on your unique scenario and may change over time.
Often, a single currency is not the answer – many TPGers prefer to diversify their rewards strategies to provide more redemption possibilities. So far, lead writer Katie Genter likes using five transferable currencies and using multiple hotel loyalty programs because it allows her to earn book rewards through many different loyalty programs.
The same guidelines apply to certain credit card offers. Hotel and airline co-branded cards may offer valuable benefits, such as free nights and flight points. But even if you like keeping these cards for the benefits, you’ll probably want to spend most of your money on cards that earn transferable rewards on a wider range of purchases.
The deals are still there; they’re just going faster
In recent years, many programs have increased reward rates or abandoned reward tables in favor of dynamic pricing. Unfortunately, these depreciations have eliminated many of our favorite points and miles sweet spots.
While knowing the ins and outs of reward charts used to be key to maximizing rewards, now it’s even more important to know how search Reward rate for each project (more on this later).
The deals are still there, but you’ll often face stiff competition. The competition means “unicorn” prizes tend to feel more scarce and harder to book, with only 10% of U.S. adults we surveyed booking one of these high-value prizes.
Therefore, speed and flexibility are more important than ever. Booking the most coveted award flights and accommodations often requires having transferable awards on hand and being ready to snap up the deals as soon as you see them.
Related: The award redemption that changed the way we travel forever
Points aren’t the only currency you can use to still score great deals. We’ve also seen an increase in transactions booked with cash. In the United States, for example, declining confidence in the economy and job market has led to a decline in discretionary purchases such as travel. Some places that rely on tourism, such as Las Vegas, have responded with big promotions to try to lure tourists back.
Economy-class fares on cross-border and transatlantic flights are getting cheaper as demand for travel to the U.S. from these regions decreases. But just because you see a fare today doesn’t mean it will be there tomorrow—so you’ll want to book an attractive fare when you see them.
But how can you find these deals (without making travel searching your full-time job)?
Awards reminders and tools are crucial now
Experienced award travelers likely know which program to use to book travel to a specific destination, and there’s always good availability along the route. But even so, award reminders and tools have become necessary to overcome limited award availability and the fact that many airlines don’t share award space with all partners.
TPG employees frequently use Seats.aero, Rooms.aero, Expert Flyer (owned by TPG parent company Red Ventures), Point.me and other tools to find reward spaces and set reward reminders. You don’t have to pay anything to get some value from these tools, but a paid membership to the platform that offers them is certainly worth it.
Other things we find worth spending money on are subscribing to one or more of the flight deals services. Some, like Going or Thrifty Traveler Premium, even include some bonus offers. If you have the flexibility to choose your travel dates and destinations, you’re bound to find a deal that’s right for you when you subscribe. However, since these lists contain many subscribers, it’s important to get bonus space quickly once an alert is sent.
bottom line
More than one-third of U.S. adults surveyed by TPG believe points and miles are worth less now than they were two years ago. This feeling is sure to arise as loyalty programs increase reward rates and competition for certain “unicorn” rewards increases.
But you still get great value. Focus on earning transferable rewards, then use the tools to find high-value redemption options for the trips you want. Remember: When you see an attractive offer or bonus space, be flexible and book quickly.
