Bilt's $700 Helicopter Perk, U.S. Bank Finally Gets Transfer Partners, and the Citi Flying Blue Bonus Closes Tonight

Big week. Two card programs made moves that actually matter, and one of them has a clock ticking down to midnight tonight.

The Citi Flying Blue transfer bonus closes tonight - Saturday, August 15. If you've been sitting on Citi ThankYou points and have any interest in Air France or KLM award space, this is your window. Bonuses like this don't come back on a predictable schedule.

Friday's edition has the full breakdown on the bonus - along with the Bilt Palladium helicopter benefit and the AAdvantage Executive Card price hike - all in one place.

This is the card program upgrade people stopped expecting. U.S. Bank's Altitude Reserve - long a solid card stranded in a closed ecosystem - just added real transfer partners including Flying Blue and Qantas.

That matters on its own. But the story buried inside Thursday's edition is the Ethiopian Airlines business class sweet spot: 15,000 points for a route that has no business being that cheap.

If you hold an Altitude Reserve and have never had a reason to actually redeem your points for anything exciting, that just changed. Thursday's piece connects all the dots on which partners are live, what the rates look like, and where Ethiopian fits into the picture.

Bilt keeps stacking benefits onto the Palladium tier, and this one is hard to ignore: up to $700 in helicopter ride credits is a legitimately unusual perk for a points card.

Friday's edition covers how it works alongside the AAdvantage Executive Card's fee increase - worth a look if you're deciding whether to keep that card on your roster.

Quietly tucked into Thursday's U.S. Bank story: the Amex Platinum expanded its hotel footprint by 350 properties.

If you've ever had trouble finding a hotel that triggers your Platinum credits or Fine Hotels perks, that pool just got meaningfully bigger - check the full breakdown to see what's new.

The 15k Qsuites deal that ran through August 14 is technically expired - but last week's roundup documented exactly how it worked, which matters the next time a window like this opens.

Knowing the mechanics in advance is the difference between booking on day one and finding out three days after it closes. Worth a read before the next one surfaces.

Go use those points.

- Jack