Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 51 seconds

☀️ Good morning from my home in Bandung, the city famous for three things: cool mountain air, incredible street food, and traffic that makes LA look like a wellness retreat.

Speaking of wellness, I’ve got some healthy points news for you today:

• 🏨 New transfer partner alert (it’s a good one)

• ✈️ An overlooked sweet spot just got better

🏨 New transfer partner alert (it’s a good one)

Every so often, a transfer partner announcement comes completely out of nowhere.

This is not one of those times.

This bank just added Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) as a transfer partner.

Last year, the same bank added LHW Sterling status as a benefit on its premium card, so it was only a matter of time before they took their relationship to the next level. ❤️

Wait... what is Leading Hotels of the World?

Great question, because this is a program we rarely talk about.

You see, LHW isn't really a hotel chain. It's a collection of around 400 independent luxury hotels under one marketing umbrella. And when I say luxury, I mean LUXURYYYYY…. They’re nice.

Anyway, the loyalty program is called Leaders Club. It’s free to join, and booking any LHW property through it gets you automatic benefits on every stay:

• Daily breakfast for two

• Upgrade priority at arrival

• Early check-in and late checkout considerations

• Free WiFi (which apparently still counts as a “benefit” in 2026 🤦‍♂️)

No elite status required. And now, you can transfer MR points straight into it.

About that transfer ratio… 😬

Okay, deep breath. 👇

Yes, that says 1,000 MR points will give you just 250 Leaders Club points, which comes out to a 4:1 ratio.

But here's the thing: ThankYou points transfer to LHW at a 5:1 ratio.

Earlier this year, they ran a transfer bonus that improved its ratio to 4:1, and I wrote about what a good deal that was in this newsletter.

The math works because LHW award rates are tiny. You don't need hundreds of thousands of points for a nice hotel here.

Let me give you a few examples.

A luxury stay in Paris 🥐

Meet Fauchon L'Hôtel Paris, a five-star boutique hotel right on the Place de la Madeleine (that was too many fancy French words, I know). 👇

The cash rate is over $800 per night, but the award rate is just 10,370 LHW points.

That's about 41,500 MR points for the night, or right around 2 cents per MR point in value. For a luxury hotel in the middle of Paris, that's very good.

It gets even better in Tokyo 🍜

The Imperial Hotel is a legendary hotel in Tokyo, and it goes for around $430 per night in cash.

The award rate, however, is just 4,238 LHW points per night, which means a transfer of about 17,000 MR points.

That's 2.5 cents per MR point, which is freaking amazing these days.

And it's not just the famous cities

LHW points can also take you off the beaten path. Take the Country Club Lima Hotel in Peru, which runs over $300 per night. 👇

For just 3,368 LHW points (or 13,500 MR points) per night, you’ll get a value of about 2.35 cents per MR point.

Lima isn't exactly overflowing with premium hotel options from the big chains, so having a bookable luxury stay there for a modest pile of points is pretty cool.

And remember, those member benefits apply to award stays too, so the real value is even higher than just the cents per point.

The fine print

With only around 400 hotels, this isn't a program for your random overnight airport layover…

It's one you lean on when you want the fanciest hotel in town without the fanciest-hotel-in-town bill.

Of course, none of this matters if you don't earn MR points. 💸

If you want in on 2-cent luxury hotel redemptions, check out our favorite cards from this bank, which are some of the best point-earners in the game.

The bottom line

I love seeing smaller, more interesting programs like this one become more accessible, and a 4:1 transfer ratio only looks scary until you see LHW's award prices.

As I always say, having more options is never a bad thing. 🤷🏼‍♂️

✈️ An overlooked sweet spot just got better

Transfer bonuses usually work the same way: a bank offers extra miles for moving your points to one of its partners.

This one is backwards.

Cathay Pacific itself is offering a 10% bonus when you convert points to Asia Miles from any of its US banking partners, and it runs through August 28. 👇

The eligible bank programs are Capital One miles, MR points, ThankYou points, Bilt Points, and Wells Fargo points. All of them transfer at 1:1 except MR points, which transfer at a sad 5:4 ratio (which I’m still salty about).

But here's the catch:

Because this bonus comes from Cathay and not the banks, you have to register before you transfer… so be careful.

That also means you won’t see the bonus advertised on the banking side.

Why you should care about Asia Miles

A 10% bonus isn't headline-worthy on its own. What IS headline-worthy is the sweet spots it improves, which I'd argue are some of the most underrated in the points world.

You can fly from the U.S. to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific for as few as 27,000 miles each way. 👇

That's a 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong for fewer miles than some domestic round trips.

With the transfer bonus, you're transferring about 24,500 Capital One miles, Bilt points, ThankYou points, or Wells Fargo points (or some from each) to get there.

And Cathay's award chart tops out at 38,000 miles to fly from anywhere on their network to... anywhere else (in economy).

My best friend just used this exact sweet spot to visit me here in Indonesia last week. For 38,000 Cathay miles (transferred from Capital One), he flew from Boston to Jakarta via Hong Kong. 👇

Even he was surprised by how good a deal it was. With this bonus, that same trip would’ve been about 34,500 Capital One miles.

It's not just for flying Cathay

Asia Miles can also be used on Cathay's oneworld partners, and there are some excellent deals to be had.

For example, you can book British Airways business class from the U.S. to London for 63,000 Asia Miles.

With the bonus, that's just over 57,000 points from any of the 1:1 programs.

The best part of that deal is the taxes and fees, which come out to around $220. Book that same flight through British Airways' own program or Atmos Rewards, and you're looking at closer to $1,000 in surcharges.

The bottom line

This transfer bonus itself is modest, but it sweetens some of the best award sweet spots out there.

Just don't forget the homework. 😉 Register for the bonus on this page before you transfer anything, and make sure you transfer points by August 28.

That’s it, folks. One awesome hotel opportunity, one awesome airline opportunity.

See you tomorrow,

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.