📈 Travel Prices Are Rising. Here’s How to Hedge Against Them - The Points Guy

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If you’ve been following the news, you already know that airfare and gas prices are about to spike amid the current conflict in the Middle East – and no one can be sure just how high they will rise, or how long these conditions will last.

There’s so much bad news in that first sentence that we could spend all day unpacking it all. But instead, we’ll just give you some good advice (since we assume that’s what you want from us).

Book now – with points and miles. There’s little (if any) downside, and tons of upside.

Today, we’re talking about:

✈️ Why the smartest travelers are booking with points right now
💳 The business cards worth a double-dip
🤑 A no-brainer 100,000-point offer

SMART TRAVEL

Hoarding points? Now's the moment to book

Points and miles aren’t just a way to score free travel. In so many ways, they’re actually the best currency to use for booking trips.

Especially in moments like this — when outside circumstances are suddenly driving up airfare and gas prices, with no reliable prediction on when they’ll come back down — points and miles are hands-down the smartest way to book any upcoming travel. Why? They’re a perfect hedge against rising prices.

Even if your plans aren’t set in stone yet, it can be smart to book speculatively with rewards, since:

Award bookings are typically fully refundable if you need to cancel.
You can set price alerts and rebook if prices come down.
Booking won’t tie up your cash, helping you preserve liquidity.
You’ll get ahead of dynamic pricing and lock in current rates.

For flights, you can avoid a lot of dynamic pricing by focusing on this airline’s loyalty program, which still uses a fixed, distance-based award chart. Or this one, which uses an award chart for its partner bookings.

For hotels, there’s never been a better moment to book any stays you’re planning with this major chain — not only because of rising travel costs, but because you have a narrow window to lock in current pricing before some changes take effect this spring that will devalue your points.

But remember: No matter which programs you’re focused on, booking with rewards now can help you lock in better rates before they potentially surge even higher in the coming months.

BUSINESS CARDS

The business cards worth a double-dip

Holding more than one of the same credit card may sound like overkill, but there are actually many reasons it makes sense to do so — especially if you’re a business owner.

Maybe you have multiple entities whose expenses you want to keep separate.

Maybe you’re expanding, or you’ve landed a new client, and you need to duplicate your travel strategy for a new territory.

Or maybe you just want to make the most of your position as someone with multiple taxpayer identification numbers and harvest multiple welcome bonuses — just one of the many advantages in the points and miles game unique to business owners.

Whatever your reasons, know that while there are many cards that restrict your ability to do this, there are also many that don’t.

Want to know which ones are worth having in duplicate? (Or triplicate, or quadruplicate?) Ed Pizzarello outlines why these business cards in particular are worth getting more than once.

BIG OFFERS

This 100,000-point bonus is a no-brainer

Speaking of business cards, right now one of our favorites (and yes, it’s one on Ed’s list too — just in case you already have it) is offering a juicy six-figure bonus that everyone should be interested in.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card lets you earn a whopping 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 in the first three months from account opening.

This is easy math, given those points are worth $2,050 per TPG’s March 2026 valuations, and this card only charges a $95 annual fee. (Just one of the reasons we say it’s a good one to get more than once, if you can.)

And you can get even more value from those points with the right transfer partners — and Chase definitely has the right ones.

You could transfer points to World of Hyatt, where you can book an off-peak night in a basic hotel for as little as 3,500 points (and, soon enough, that floor will be lowered to 3,000 points!). Or you can book iconic luxury hotels like the Park Hyatt Tokyo starting at just 35,000 points — an incredible value given that this hotel’s cheapest rates start at around $1,000 per night.

Or, transfer your points to high-value airline partners like United MileagePlan, Air Canada Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

This card packs serious earning power for businesses, too. You’ll earn 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 in purchases spent across these categories: advertising, travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services purchases.

Bottom line: This highly lucrative 100,000-point offer is low-hanging fruit for any business owner, and it’s ripe for the picking!

Today’s top stories

TSA wait times hit 3 hours Monday as partial government shutdown drags on

Wait times at TSA checkpoints escalated Sunday as staffing crunches across the country left passengers standing in long lines to get screened.

American Express opens a brand-new ‘speakeasy-style’ lounge: First look inside Sidecar

American Express has introduced an all-new airport lounge concept called Sidecar. Here's a look inside the first location in Las Vegas.

Clear’s new ‘e-gates’ are now live at 37 airports — with more to come in 2026

Clear, which fast-tracks paying members through airport security, has expanded a new high-tech setup to dozens of major hubs.

Business owner’s pocket guide to Austin: Recommendations on where to stay and what to do

Recommendations on where to stay and what to do, brought to you by Capital One Business.

It’s worth double-checking: My credit card’s rental car coverage paid out for damage I thought was excluded

After shredding a tire on a Fiji pothole, I assumed my credit card wouldn't cover it. Filing the claim anyway taught me a valuable lesson.

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The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don’t cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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