A new policy is now in effect at Emirates that restricts first class award redemptions to Skywards elite members, a move that is aimed at driving more business to Emirates and its portfolio of co-branded credit cards. Just ahead...
Last Time To Fly In Lufthansa First Class?
We are less than a month away from the Miles & More loyalty program tying redemption prices to revenue prices. Will this practically mark the end of using miles for Lufthansa First Class award space? My Fear That We...
5 Delta SkyMiles Redemption Sweet Spots
For many years, Delta Air Lines SkyMiles has been the least valuable loyalty program among the three major US network carriers. While elite status benefits are roughly similar to American and United, redemption pricing is in a different league...
5 American AAdvantage Redemption Sweet Spots
American Airlines AAdvantage is now the most valuable loyalty program among the three major US network carriers. One reason is because of its both objectively and relatively attractive award redemption charts. Here, I’ll highlight my top five American AAdvantage...
5 United MileagePlus Redemption Sweet Spots
United MileagePlus is not the program it once was…over the last few years, we’ve seen an avalanche of devaluations on the redemption side, making it a far less valuable loyalty scheme with most “aspirational” flight awards exponentially rising in...
Korean Air Standby Award Booking: Success!
After repeated failures to clear the award standby list in 2024, I was successful in my first attempt to score a standby first class award seat on Korean Air in 2025. Korean Air Standby Award Booking: Success Korean Air...
Flying Blue Offers A Dubious Reason For Latest Devaluation
2025 is off to a Flying (Blue) start with an unannounced devaluation of Flying Blue redemptions on both Air France / KLM and partners. But Flying Blue argues this was necessary in order to offer more award space at...
The Bleak Future Of Partner Award Travel
While it appears Alaska Airlines will resolve its last-minute partner award blocking, that was but a symptom of a wider and ongoing problem: the death by a thousand cuts of partner award travel. Partner Award Travel Is Harder Than...
Is Alaska Airlines Considering Draconian Restrictions On Partner Award Redemptions?
While Alaska Airlines has not officially confirmed whether it was a glitch or a preview of what is to come, bookings on partner carriers were unavailable for several hours today for travel departing within 72 hours, whether booking online...
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Goes Dynamic: Hoping For The Best, Fearing For The Worst
Virgin Atlantic will go dynamic and “reinvent” Flying Club starting later this month. While some of the changes sound promising, I’m very much in the “leave well enough alone” camp and not optimistic about the net effect of these...
Transatlantic Flights Are Packed…In Premium Cabins
I’ve closely followed award space availability for years and have never seen a shoulder season in Europe quite like this one, with premium cabin demand seemingly through the roof in both directions. A Busy European Shoulder Season: Transatlantic Flights...
The 10 Best Frequent Flyer Programs…United Airlines Is #3?!
Point.me has released a report on the world’s best frequent flyer programs, with a surprise “bronze” finish for United Airlines MileagePlus. Let’s unpack this list and explore the value of each of the top programs. The 10 Best Frequent...
Massive Devaluation: United Airlines Raises First Class Redemption Costs On ANA, Lufthansa
Bad news for United MileagePlus travelers: United Airlines drastically raised redemption prices for first class travel on partners like ANA and Lufthansa, a massive devaluation. I’m updating this post with United’s statement concerning the price hike. United MileagePlus First...
Booked! JAL A350-1000 First Class
Shockingly, to me at least, I was able to score an award seat on Japan Airlines (JAL) on the brand new Airbus A350-1000 in first class…a “bucket list” review flight I thought I might have to wait years to...
The 10 Best Airline Award Ticket Sweet Spots [2024]
Earlier I wrote about how some of the most lucrative award travel redemptions are often the most boring. Here, I want to point out my current list of the 10 best airline award ticket sweet spots. Top 10 Airline...
Update: Massive Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Devaluation
UPDATE: The reason we appear to be seeing the “old” pricing on the Turkish Airlines website is that new post-devaluation pricing does not go into effect until February 16, 2024. Language has been added suggesting the old award charts...
My Turkish Airlines Award Ticket Horror Story…
As much as I love Turkish Airlines–and I do love Turkish Airlines–trying to rebook a canceled Miles & Smiles award ticket has become an exercise in hopeless futility and endless frustration. While Turkish offers great value in mileage redemptions,...
Has Air Canada Launched A Clandestine War Against Fraud?
While a series of concurrent acts may be unrelated, it is reasonable to ask whether Air Canada has just launched a multi-prong war against what it views as fraud. But are the innocent travelers caught in the dragnet simply...
Pathetic: Another No-Notice Delta SkyMiles Devaluation On Redemption Side
As if the new high bar to qualify for Medallion status was not anti-loyalty enough, Delta continues to whittle away at what little value is left in the SkyMiles program, this time with a devaluation on trips originating or...
Massive United Airlines Devaluation: What To Do Now
United Airlines rolled out a massive devaluation of economy class awards last week and now has devalued premium cabin awards as well on both United metal and on partner carriers. This represents a gut punch to MileagePlus members and...
