We are still waiting for clarity, but I fear the era of booking Lufthansa First Class with partner miles may be over. I truly hope I am wrong, but it would fit the broader Star Alliance trend: if United...
Stealth Devaluation Of American Airlines Awards Booked Via Alaska Airlines Atmos?
This week, we’ve seen that American Airlines is now restricting nonstop award space booked via partners, but on top of that, it appears that Alaska Airlines is also now charging more miles for close-in bookings on AA. Alaska Airlines...
Unreal: Lufthansa Miles & More Makes Many Award Tickets Nonrefundable, Charges Up To €1,500 To Cancel “Flex” Awards
The new era of “basic” tickets and award tickets tied to revenue pricing make it essential to plan carefully when using your Miles & Mores points, lest you face a cancellation fee of up to €1,500 (i.e. forfeit your...
Emirates Skywards Awards Just Got More Expensive, With One Important Exception
Emirates Skywards has devalued many awards and upgrades again, but this time at least thrown one bone: one-way business class Saver awards are back. Still, it’s another example that Emirates fundamentally looks at loyalty differently. Emirates Skywards Devalues Again,...
Qatar Airways Makes Avios More Secure, But Far Less Flexible
Qatar Airways is tightening the screws on Avios redemptions, and while this is being framed as an anti-fraud move, it also represents a real loss of flexibility for Privilege Club members. Qatar Airways Adds New Avios Redemption Limits To...
Air Canada Aeroplan Devalues Award Chart, Premium Cabin Redemptions Rise Up To 25%
Aeroplan is raising award prices again, and, as expected, the biggest devaluation for U.S.-based travelers is longhaul business and first class awards. Air Canada Aeroplan Raises Award Prices, With Longhaul Premium Cabins Hit Hardest Air Canada Aeroplan will update...
Here Come Award Surcharges Again And It Won’t Stop With JetBlue And Virgin Atlantic
While it does not come as a surprise in light of soaring fuel prices, we are seeing a spike in carrier imposed surcharges (formerly called “fuel surcharge”) on award tickets. The two latest additions–Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue–are particularly noteworthy....
British Airways Avios Devaluation: More Miles, More Cash, Less Value
UPDATE: New pricing has gone into effect and as expected, British Airways Avios redemption rates have risen about 10%, with the cash portion of the redemption rising negligibly to up to 25%. This time, economy class awards were hit...
Virgin Atlantic Doubles Award Surcharges On Business And Premium Economy Redemptions
With no notice, Virgin Atlantic doubled surcharges on both business class and premium economy award tickets. Surcharges on economy class awards have also gone up in price. Virgin Atlantic Quietly Doubles Surcharges On US – UK Award Tickets Virgin...
United Airlines Blocking Air India Award Space
If you’re trying to book an Air India award seat using your United MileagePlus miles, you’re not going to find space…it’s all blocked. All Air India Award Space Blocked Via United MileagePlus This award space blocking is unrelated to...
What I Booked Before Emirates Restricted First Class Awards
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...
