Hawaiian Airlines cuts Honolulu to Austin flights as of March 2025

As of March 26, 2025, Hawaiian Airlines will cancel its flight between Honolulu (HNL) and Austin (AUS), which currently operates 2-3x weekly. For context, the flight is operated by an Airbus A330-200 with the following schedule:

HA94 Honolulu to Austin departing 8:50AM arriving 9:15PM
HA93 Austin to Honolulu departing 9:15AM arriving 1:05PM

The 3,763-mile flight operates eastbound on Sundays and Thursdays with a block time of 7hr25min, and operates westbound on Mondays and Fridays with a block time of 8hr50min.

This route was announced in late 2020 and was launched in March 2021, during the peak of the pandemic. Around the same time, the airline also launched a route to Orlando, which ended up being cut in 2022. So at least the Austin route lasted for four years.

It’s not a surprise to see the Austin route cut

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Hawaiian Airlines is cutting Austin service. The route made sense during the peak of the pandemic, when Hawaiian had limited places it could fly its wide body jets, given that so many places in the South Pacific were closed to visitors (Australia, Japan, New Zealand, etc.).

So flying an A330 to Austin (with pretty bad aircraft utilization to boot) was better than just parking it, but that’s about all that can be said. Of course things have evolved quite a bit since then. While flying across the Pacific profitably can still be challenging, every country has reopened to visitors, and demand has been increasing, slowly but steadily.

But arguably what really “killed” this route is Alaska’s takeover of Hawaiian. Alaska Air Group is now able to do its route and fleet planning more centrally, and presumably the airline group has decided that there are more profitable places it can send these wide body jets. That could be in Asia or the South Pacific (with increased feed from Alaska via Honolulu), or it could even be between Honolulu and Alaska hubs in the mainland.

While Alaska Air Group is committed to maintaining a hub in Honolulu, I have to imagine that at some point we’ll see some wide body jets stationed in Seattle. I don’t think it will happen soon, but I’d be shocked if Hawaiian’s 787s don’t eventually fly out of the Pacific Northwest.

I’m sure the Austin route would have survived if it could be operated by a narrow body jet with better economics, but it just doesn’t make much sense with wide body aircraft.

Bottom line

Hawaiian Airlines will discontinue its Honolulu to Austin route as of late March 2025. The route was first launched in early 2021, so it will have operated for around four years. The route made sense when it started, but with the evolution of demand, plus Alaska’s takeover of Hawaiian, this route was bound to be cut sooner rather than later.

What do you make of Hawaiian cutting Austin flights?

Rio Las Vegas undergoing $340 million renovation

Before we cover the latest updates, let’s go over the background. In 2021 we learned that the 2,500+ room Rio Las Vegas would be renovated and then become a Hyatt property, as part of a $340 million project. This multi-phase project is expected to bring multiple Hyatt full-service offerings to Las Vegas.

Here’s what we know so far about this new Hyatt:

• The 2,500+ room Rio Las Vegas is undergoing a significant redevelopment of current public spaces, including gaming, retail, food and beverage, spa and fitness, and pool recreation deck
• One of the hotel’s existing towers has now completed its renovation, and has become a 1,501-room Destination by Hyatt property, with standard guest rooms averaging 580 square feet; eventually the plan is for this to be branded as a Hyatt Regency
• The remainder of the Rio’s guest rooms are expected to be branded or affiliated with one or more other Hyatt full-service brands after they are renovated, though the details of the branding haven’t yet been announced

The background here is interesting, because in December 2019, Dreamscape purchased the Rio Las Vegas from Caesars. The agreement required the property to continue to be operated as a Caesars property for a couple of years, but the owners are now free to brand it however they’d like.

Suffice it to say that this is a major (and necessary) win for Hyatt. Hyatt used to have a partnership with MGM, though that was terminated in 2023, as MGM instead pursued a partnership with Marriott.

Rio Las Vegas fully belongs to World of Hyatt

While the transformation of the Rio Las Vegas isn’t complete, the property joined World of Hyatt earlier this year, as of March 1, 2024:

• It’s possible to earn World of Hyatt points for stays at the property, at the standard rate (at least 5x points per dollar spent)
• You can redeem World of Hyatt points at the property, and this is a Category 3 hotel, meaning that a free night redemption costs anywhere from 9,000 to 15,000 points per night; one of the nice things is that points bookings automatically confirm into renovated rooms, which aren’t the entry level rooms at this property
• Full World of Hyatt elite perks apply at these properties, for World of Hyatt Globalist, Explorist, and Discoverist members; so you can expect waived destination fees on points bookings (and for Globalists on all bookings), breakfast for Globalists, room upgrades, and more

Rio Las Vegas joins Destination by Hyatt brand

As of November 21, 2024, the Rio Las Vegas has formally been rebranded as a Destination by Hyatt property. This is not only the first Destination by Hyatt property in Nevada, but also the largest property in Hyatt’s portfolio in terms of room count.

This development comes as phase one of the property’s $340 million renovation has been completed, including a full modernization of the 1,501-room Ipanema Tower, featuring a new look inspired by the spirit of Rio de Janeiro, described as “bold, colorful, and unapologetically radiant.”

The hotel has also unveiled six new and distinctly different culinary destinations within the new Canteen Food Hall, along with 220,000 square feet of renovated meeting and convention space, a revamped pool district with four pools, and updated casinos.

Here’s how Mike Waddell, Hyatt’s SVP of Global Franchise Operations, describes this development:

“We are proud to welcome the new Rio Hotel & Casino to our Destination by Hyatt brand portfolio, celebrating Hyatt’s commitment to delivering one-of-a-kind experiences in key markets that matter most to our World of Hyatt members and guests. Rio is an icon reborn, and its legacy and unique character live on. We are excited for our members and guests to discover the experiences that make Rio Las Vegas a standout destination for global travelers.” 

The next phase of the resort’s renovation will focus on redesigning the Masquerade Tower rooms and public spaces.

Bottom line

The Rio Las Vegas is in the process of undergoing a massive renovation. In March 2024, the property formally joined World of Hyatt, without actually joining one of Hyatt’s brands. Now as of November 2024, the property’s first tower has completed its renovation, so the hotel has been rebranded as a Destination by Hyatt property.

Work on the property is ongoing. I wouldn’t read too much into the new branding, as the most significant update is simply that the first phase of the property’s renovation is complete.

This isn’t exactly a world class property, but it’s at least nice for World of Hyatt members to have access to a major property in Las Vegas, after the MGM partnership ended.

What do you make of the Rio Las Vegas joining World of Hyatt and becoming a Destination by Hyatt property?

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review) is currently offering an excellent limited time welcome bonus of 75,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within the first three months, which is quite lucrative.

There are many reasons to get this rewards card, from the 3x points bonus categories, to the $100 annual hotel credit, to the overall value of the Citi ThankYou ecosystem.

Understandably there’s often some confusion about eligibility for the Citi Strata Premier Card, so I wanted to address that in this post, in hopes of maximizing odds of people getting approved.

Citi Strata Premier Card eligibility requirements

There are often questions about what it takes to get approved for the Citi Strata Premier Card, so in this post, I wanted to share the three main things to consider before applying for the card, to try and figure out if you’re eligible. Credit card issuers have all kinds of rules when it comes to approving people for cards, so let’s go over some of those.

Are you under Citi’s 8/65 limit?

Citi will generally approve cardmembers for at most one Citi card every eight days, and at most two Citi cards every 65 days. This is a rolling limit, so just make sure you observe that. This is specific to Citi cards — applying for cards with other issuers won’t count toward that limit.

Are you eligible for the welcome bonus (48-month rule)?

The welcome bonus on the Citi Strata Premier Card isn’t available to you if you’ve received a welcome bonus on this exact card or the Citi Premier Card (which is the predecessor to this card) within the past 48 months:

• Eligibility for the bonus is unrelated to having received a bonus on any other Citi card, with the exception of the Citi Premier Card
• The 48 months is based on when you received the bonus on a card, rather than based on when you opened the card

So as you can see, you are potentially eligible for the bonus on the card even if you’ve received a bonus on the card in the past.

What credit score do you need for the Citi Strata Premier Card?

There’s not a consistent rule as to what credit score you need in order to be approved for the Citi Strata Premier Card, as credit score is one of only many considerations when being approved for a card. In general, I’d recommend having a credit score in the “good” to “excellent” category if you’re going to apply for this card.

Personally, I probably wouldn’t apply if my credit score were under 700, and ideally, I’d hope to have a credit score of 740 or higher. That being said, people with scores lower than that have been approved, and conversely, people with scores higher than that have been rejected. There are lots of factors that go into approval — your income, your credit history, how much credit Citi has already extended you, etc.

Citi Strata Premier Card approval FAQs

To answer a few more of the frequently asked questions when it comes to Citi Strata Premier Card approval…

Is it hard to get approved for the Citi Strata Premier?

Among mid-range credit cards, I find the Citi Strata Premier to be one of the easier cards to be approved for. Of course this assumes you have good credit, including a good amount of credit history, and meet the eligibility requirements. But anecdotally I’ve found that people have better luck getting approved for this card than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), for example.

How long does it take to get approved for the Citi Strata Premier?

Approvals on Citi credit cards can be instant, and you’ll often find that to be the case. However, in some situations a manual review may be needed, so don’t worry if you get a message stating that your application requires further processing time — it doesn’t mean you’ll be rejected. You can generally expect that you’ll get a final decision within a week or so of applying.

Which credit bureau does Citi pull from?

If you apply for the Citi Strata Premier, there’s not a single credit bureau that Citi always pulls from. It could be Equifax, Experian, or Transunion, depending on a variety of factors.

Is it bad for your credit score if you get denied for the Citi Strata Premier?

What are the negative impacts of applying for a credit card and getting denied? The only downside is that there’s a new inquiry on your credit file, which could temporarily ding your score by a few points. While everyone’s situation is different, personally, I wouldn’t consider that to be a big issue, as losing a few points temporarily shouldn’t have major implications.

Meanwhile getting approved for the card and using it responsibly could have a very positive impact on your credit score, by improving your total available credit, history of on-time payments, credit utilization, etc.

If you get denied for the Citi Strata Premier, can you apply again?

Yes, you can. If you’ve been denied for the Citi Strata Premier in the past, you could apply again. Just because you get denied once doesn’t mean you’ll be denied again, especially if aspects of your credit worthiness have improved (for example, if your credit score went up, the number of cards you opened in the past two years went down, etc.).

However, I’d wait six months (or so) between applications, and make sure that something has changed (for the better) about your credit situation.

Bottom line

The Citi Strata Premier Card is offering a great limited time welcome bonus of 75,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within the first three months. This is an excellent bonus, and anyone who is eligible should seriously consider applying, in my opinion.

Fortunately the Citi Strata Premier Card shouldn’t be too tough to get approved for — just make sure you have a good credit score and are familiar with Citi’s eligibility requirements.

If you’ve applied for the Citi Strata Premier Card, what was your experience like?

Promotion on purchased Wyndham Rewards points

Through Saturday, November 30, 2024, Wyndham Rewards is offering a bonus on purchased points. It seems that members are being targeted for either a 40%, 50%, of 60% bonus. In all cases, that offer should kick in as long as you purchase at least 3,000 points in one transaction. If you purchase points, they’ll post to your account within 72 hours.

How much does it cost to buy Wyndham points?

Ordinarily you can buy Wyndham Rewards points for 1.3 cents each, before any discounts or bonuses. If you maxed out the promotion:

• With a 40% bonus, you could purchase 280,000 points for $2,600, which is a rate of 0.93 cents per point
• With a 50% bonus, you could purchase 300,000 points for $2,600, which is a rate of 0.87 cents per point
• With a 60% bonus, you could purchase 320,000 points for $2,600, which is a rate of 0.81 cents per point

Ordinarily, when Wyndham Rewards offers a promotion on purchased points, the program offers either a 30-40% bonus or a 25-30% discount, so this is potentially a bit better than the typical offers we see from the program.

How many Wyndham points can you buy?

Wyndham Rewards lets members purchase up to 100,000 points per account per calendar year, before any bonuses. However, during this promotion the maximum has been doubled, to 200,000 points.

Which credit card should you buy Wyndham points with?

Wyndham Rewards points purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as a hotel purchase for the purposes of credit card spending.

I’d recommend using a card with which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending, like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), Citi Double Cash® Card (review), or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review).

When in doubt, review which credit cards are best for buying points and miles.

Is buying Wyndham Rewards points worth it?

Generally speaking, I only recommend buying points when you have a specific short-term use in mind. In the case of Wyndham Rewards points:

• I could see value in topping off a Wyndham Rewards account for the purposes of a redemption, given the low minimum number of points you can purchase to unlock the discount
• While Wyndham Rewards doesn’t have that many aspirational properties, the program does have a fixed price award chart, and there could be value in redeeming points at destinations over peak travel dates (for example, if there’s a major football game in town)
• Wyndham Rewards has a partnership with Vacasa, allowing you to redeem points for a home rental for outsized value

How many points do you need for a Wyndham redemption?

When it comes time to redeem Wyndham Rewards points, there are three tiers of hotels:

• About a third of properties cost 7,500 points per night
• A majority of properties cost 15,000 points per night
• A few hundred hotels cost 30,000 points per night

For example, at a cost of 0.81 cents per point (with a 60% bonus), this would be the equivalent of paying:

• $61 for a night at an entry level property
• $122 for a night at a mid-range property
• $244 for a night at a premium property

While I wouldn’t say there’s widespread appeal to buying Wyndham Rewards points for these kinds of redemptions, there are some situations where the numbers will work out. Perhaps the best value would come in situations where you just need to buy a few thousand points to have enough for an award stay.

What brands belong to Wyndham Rewards?

Wyndham Rewards has more than 9,000 hotels across 20 brands in 80+ countries. Some of the most popular Wyndham Rewards brands include Registry Collection, Wyndham Grand, Dolce, Wyndham, La Quinta, Wingate, Wyndham Garden, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, and Travelodge.

How do you redeem points for a Vacasa rental?

It’s possible to redeem Wyndham Rewards points for vacation rentals with Vacasa, and this has the potential to be a great deal. However, unfortunately this was recently devalued. If you want to book a Vacasa rental, you’ll pay either 15,000 or 30,000 points per night:

• The cost is 15,000 points per night per bedroom, when the rental has an average cost of up to $250 per night
• The cost is 30,000 points per night per bedroom, when the rental has an average cost of $251-500 per night

In many cases this is an opportunity to get outsized value with Wyndham Rewards points. To take advantage of this, just browse Vacasa’s website to find the home you’d like to stay at, and then call Wyndham Rewards at 866-996-7937 to book.

How much are Wyndham Rewards points worth?

Everyone will value points differently, but personally I value Wyndham Rewards points at ~0.7 cents each. Admittedly that’s a very conservative valuation, and if you value the Vacasa partnership, you should be able to get way more value out of points than that.

Do Wyndham Rewards points expire?

Wyndham Rewards has one of the most complicated points expiration policies of any hotel loyalty program:

• Points expire if you have no account activity for 18 months; eligible activity would be any points earning or redemption transaction
• Regardless of activity, points expire four years after they’re earned

Bottom line

Wyndham Rewards is offering a 40-60% bonus on purchased points, which is an opportunity to buy points for 0.81-0.93 cents each. While I most definitely wouldn’t speculatively buy Wyndham Rewards points points at this cost, there are some situations where the math works out, especially if you can redeem points for a Vacasa rental at a property that offers good value.

To those who are Wyndham Rewards fans, are there any properties you can get outsized value at with this promotion?

Aeroplan is one of my all-around favorite frequent flyer programs, thanks to the huge variety of airline partners, the ability to have stopovers on one-way awards for 5,000 points, and the generally great online booking experience.

Promotion on purchased Air Canada Aeroplan points

Through Wednesday, December 11, 2024, the Air Canada Aeroplan program is offering a promotion on purchased points. Officially, the program is offering up to an 80% bonus, which kicks in when you purchase at least 15,000 points in one transaction.

However, Aeroplan often has different targeted offers for members, so it’s possible that some people will see a better promotion than this.

How much does it cost to buy Aeroplan points?

Ordinarily you can buy Air Canada Aeroplan points for $0.035 CAD (~0.025 USD) each, before any discounts or bonuses. Any purchases made with US credit cards and US billing addresses aren’t subject to sales tax either.

If you purchased 500,000 Aeroplan points with an 80% bonus, you’d receive a total of 900,000 Aeroplan points at a cost of $17,500 CAD (~$12,560 USD), which is a rate of 1.4 cents (USD) per Aeroplan point.

While some promotion is better than no promotion, it’s important to emphasize that this isn’t as good as some of the past offers that we’ve seen from the program.

How many Aeroplan points can you purchase?

While you can purchase up to one million Aeroplan points per account per calendar year, there’s ordinarily a per-transaction limit of 250,000 points pre-bonus. However, during this promotion that has been doubled, to 500,000 points.

Which credit card should you buy Aeroplan points with?

Air Canada Aeroplan points purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach a minimum spending requirement, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.

In this case the best options are the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review) or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review), which offer 2x miles and have no foreign transaction fees. Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi Double Cash® Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t be good options in this case.

Is buying Air Canada Aeroplan points worth it?

Aeroplan is one of my favorite frequent flyer programs out there. To cover a few of the basics:

• Award pricing is a combination of zone and distance-based
• There are no fuel surcharges for any award redemptions
• You can have a stopover on a one-way award for an additional 5,000 points
• Aeroplan has more airline partners than any other program out there, including partnering with many non-Star Alliance airlines

There are lots of phenomenal uses of Aeroplan points, and this is a program that I redeem through regularly.

On what airlines can you redeem Aeroplan points?

One of my favorite things about Air Canada Aeroplan is that the program has more airline partners than any other frequent flyer program, and you can redeem points on over 45 airlines. In addition to Air Canada belonging to the Star Alliance, Aeroplan also partners with airlines that include Etihad, Azul, Air Serbia, Virgin Australia, Air Dolomiti, Eurowings Discover, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Air Mauritius, Bamboo Airways, and Emirates.

Unfortunately Aeroplan has been having issues with some partner awards, in particular for travel on Etihad Airways. So unfortunately at the moment those redemptions largely aren’t possible. Always look up award availability before buying points, to get a sense of what you can expect.

Are there fuel surcharges on Aeroplan awards?

Many consumers are frustrated by the practice of airlines adding carrier imposed surcharges to award tickets. In the case of Aeroplan, there are no fuel surcharges on award tickets, meaning you shouldn’t expect to pay big fees when redeeming points.

How much are Aeroplan points worth?

Everyone will value points currencies differently, but personally I value Aeroplan points at ~1.5 cents each. However, I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get way more value from Aeroplan points than that.

Do Aeroplan points expire?

Air Canada Aeroplan points only expire after 18 months of inactivity. However, any account activity that leads to earning or redeeming points (including buying them) would reset the expiration.

What other ways can you earn Aeroplan points?

While buying Aeroplan points could represent a great deal, keep in mind that there are lots of other ways to earn Aeroplan points. Most significantly, Aeroplan is transfer partners with American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, making the currency pretty easy to acquire.

On top of that, in the United States there’s the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review), which is pretty lucrative.

Bottom line

Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is offering a bonus on purchased points. The standard offer is for up to an 80% bonus, which would be an opportunity to buy points for around 1.4 cents each.

While this could represent a good deal, it’s not as good of an offer as some of the past promotions that we’ve seen from the program. Aeroplan points are valuable, and there are plenty of situations under which the math could work out with taking advantage of this. In general I’d only recommend buying points with a short term use in mind, though, as there’s always risk to holding onto points for longer periods.

Do you plan on buying Aeroplan points with this promotion?

In this post, I wanted to recap my favorite way of earning Amex Membership Rewards points that doesn’t involve credit cards. I’m talking about the ability to earn Amex points for online shopping through Rakuten, and that’s also why Rakuten is my favorite online shopping portal. This is an ideal time to sign-up, given the best-ever bonus for new members.

What is Rakuten?

Online shopping portals can be a great way to pick up additional miles & points for purchases you’d make anyway. Just for following a specific link, you can earn bonus points or cash back in addition to the rewards you’d earn for credit card spending.

Whenever I make an online purchase, I always check to see which shopping portal has the best bonus. Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) is one of the largest online shopping portals, and also my absolute favorite, both thanks to the great interface it offers, and more importantly thanks to the ability to earn Amex Membership Rewards points, which offers disproportionate value. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at how that works.

Earning Amex points for online shopping

In 2019, Rakuten introduced the ability to earn Amex Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash back for online shopping. This feature is available to anyone who has an Amex card that earns Membership Rewards points.

This isn’t just great because some of us would rather save up toward our next travel adventure rather than get cash, but it’s also great because of how it offers outsized value. While there are some airline-specific shopping portals, being able to earn a transferable points currency for online shopping gives you so much more flexibility.

Should you earn Amex points with Rakuten?

With Rakuten you can earn one Amex Membership Rewards point in lieu of one cent cash back. In other words, if a retailer is offering 10% cash back, you’d instead earn 10 Membership Rewards points per dollar, which is incredible.

Personally I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that increases the value of the rewards by 70%, since I can get a lot more value with one Amex point than with one cent.

How should you decide whether you’re better off earning cash back or Amex points?

• If you’re good at redeeming points, and/or would like to save up for a travel adventure that involves travel in first & business class, this is the best option
• Meanwhile if you aren’t good about redeeming points and just want to earn cash back that you can spend however you’d like, then the cash back option is better

Just to give an example, you could transfer 52,500 Amex points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and then redeem for a one-way business class ticket on All Nippon Airways from New York to Tokyo, assuming you can find availability.

Given that your opportunity cost is one cent per Amex point, that’s like “paying” $525 to earn the miles for such a ticket, when it would cost more than 10x as much if paying cash.

How to register to earn Amex points with Rakuten

How do you actually register to earn Amex Membership Rewards points rather than cash back through Rakuten? First of all you’ll want to sign-up for a Rakuten account, and you’ll want to do that through a refer-a-friend link, so that you get a bonus for your first purchase.

Once you have an account, the process of converting your account to earning Amex points rather than cash back is easy. Log into your account, and click on the “Account Settings” section.

You’ll then see a section asking how you want to be paid, and select the third option, which is “American Express.”

You’ll then get to a screen confirming this is what you want to do.

You’ll then be asked to log into the Amex account with which you want to earn Membership Rewards points (this has to be a US account that is enrolled to earn Membership Rewards points).

And that’s it! You should then see that your account reflects that you’re earning Amex points.

Going forward, you should see that the rewards section of your account shows your earnings totals both in terms of cash back and Amex points.

There are a few things to note about earning Amex Membership Rewards points through Rakuten:

• Even after making the switch with your earnings preference, the rewards you see with retailers will continue to show cash back, but will automatically be converted into points
• Existing rewards earned won’t be converted into Amex points, but rather this preference will just be applied to purchases going forward
• You don’t actually have to pay with an Amex card in order to earn Amex points through Rakuten; you can pay with any credit card

How often do you get “paid” with Rakuten?

If you make a purchase through Rakuten you should see it show in your Rakuten account within hours. However, you only get “paid” (whether in cash or points) once every three months. Assuming you have a balance of at least $5 (or 500 Membership Rewards points) you’ll get paid as follows:

• For activity between January 1 and March 31, get paid on May 15
• For activity between April 1 and June 30, get paid on August 15
• For activity between July 1 and September 30, get paid on November 15
• For activity between October 1 and December 31, get paid on February 15

Rakuten’s refer-a-friend program

If you’re new to Rakuten, make sure you sign-up through a refer-a-friend link, so that you can earn a reward for your first activity. Rakuten is currently offering a best-ever $40 bonus for new members, where you receive that reward if you make a purchase of at least $40 within the first 90 days. That’s a way to basically get $40 worth of stuff for free, as you can even purchase gift cards.

See this post for everything you need to know about the Rakuten refer-a-friend program.

Bottom line

Rakuten is my favorite online shopping portal thanks in large part of the ability to earn Amex Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash back for online purchases. Given the conversion rate, by my valuation this increases the value of rewards by around 70%.

If you’re into earning travel rewards, make sure you’re using Rakuten to get as much value as possible. If you’re not yet a Rakuten member, make sure you sign-up through a refer-a-friend link, so you can earn the biggest bonus possible.

Anyone else love Rakuten for the ability to earn Amex points?

La Compagnie used to have a lot more fare sales in the past, but with the amount of premium demand there is across the Atlantic nowadays, plus the carrier becoming more well established, they’ve become rarer. That’s why I think this deal could very well be worth taking advantage of, and I especially appreciate the long travel window.

La Compagnie’s transatlantic business class fare sale

La Compagnie is running a fare sale, valid for tickets booked between November 21 and November 25, 2024. With this, you can pay $2,200 all-in roundtrip for travel from Newark (EWR) to either Paris (ORY) or Milan (MXP), which are the carrier’s year-round routes, in addition to a seasonal flight to Nice (NCE).

What’s awesome is that the promotion is valid for travel all the way through April 30, 2025, so that gives you quite a long travel window.

There are blackout dates, and you can see all available dates for the La Compagnie fare sale through the carrier’s website. You can also search these fares through Google Flights. Fortunately availability is largely very good, with many dates during the promotion period being bookable.

This won’t be for everyone, but I do think this could make sense for some. If you value nonstop travel and/or don’t have miles to redeem, you won’t see business class fares much cheaper than this. For that matter, these fares aren’t that far off from the carrier imposed surcharges that some airlines have on business class tickets.

Note that these tickets are non-refundable, though are changeable. So you have flexibility to change the dates in the future, though any fare differences would apply.

The La Compagnie A321neo business class experience

La Compagnie currently operates a fleet of two Airbus A321neo aircraft, each featuring 76 seats in an all business class configuration. I’ve reviewed the La Compagnie experience, and was impressed.

While La Compagnie’s business class seats as such aren’t cutting edge, there is something nice about traveling on a jet with fewer people, and for that matter the cabin also looks really cool.

The value here is simply incredible, especially when you consider that the airline offers complimentary high speed Wi-Fi (and it’s actually high speed, similar to JetBlue). The food, drinks, and service are all quite good as well, though nothing that’ll blow you away. It’s all about the overall value, plus the convenience of traveling nonstop on a smaller jet.

I’d book La Compagnie again in a heartbeat if I had any firm travel plans that coincided with this sale.

Bottom line

All-business class airline La Compagnie has a new fare sale for “Blue Friday.” For tickets booked by November 25, 2024, and for travel through April 30, 2025, you can book roundtrip travel on La Compagnie for $2,200 per person. It’s not the most exciting deal ever, but if you value premium travel and this fits your travel plans, it’s quite a good value.

Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this La Compagnie fare sale?

In this post I wanted to take a look at the Thompson Miami Beach, which is expected to open in June 2025, so just a couple of months after the Andaz. This property is also accepting reservations, though probably won’t be quite as popular as the Andaz.

Basics of the new Thompson Miami Beach

The 147-room Thompson Miami Beach is accepting reservations for stays as of June 1, 2025. This represents quite a delay, because going back several months, the hotel was accepting reservations for stays as of January 30, 2025. Hopefully we don’t see additional delays beyond that.

The property is located at 1685 Washington Avenue, so it’s not a beachfront property, as it’s set back a couple of blocks from the ocean. The hotel will have a rooftop pool, plus a signature rooftop restaurant. Rooms at the Thompson Miami Beach will start at 295 square feet, with standard suites starting at 590 square feet.

For those not familiar, Thompson is one of Hyatt’s lifestyle brands, with a big emphasis on food & beverage outlets that are popular with locals. It’s kind of funny that the Thompson brand is coming full circle in Miami. The Confidante Miami Beach used to be a Thompson, before joining Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. And now that property will become an Andaz, while this new property will become a Thompson.

Below you can find some renderings of the Thompson Miami Beach.

Thompson Miami Beach rates & points requirements

With the Thompson Miami Beach accepting reservations, what are rates like?

For those redeeming points, this will be a Category 6 World of Hyatt property, meaning a free night redemption in a standard room will cost 21,000-29,000 points per night. Meanwhile a free night redemption in a standard suite will cost 36,000-44,000 points per night.

Cash rates at the Thompson Miami Beach are variable. The hotel is now expected to open in summer, which is the quieter season in Florida. As a result, I currently see rates starting at under $300 per night. However, as we get into the busier season again, I see rates starting more than twice as high.

If you are looking to book a cash stay here, I’d recommend doing so through the Hyatt Privé program, which offers extra perks like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, and a hotel credit.

This is a moderately exciting addition for Miami

It’s always nice to see more hotel options where travelers can redeem points. In particular, Hyatt hasn’t historically had a great presence in Miami, especially when it comes to luxury and upper upscale properties. So I’m happy to see that Miami is getting both an Andaz and a Thompson.

That being said, I have a hard time getting too excited about this property:

• Part of the issue is that I live in Miami, so I’d never actually stay here (and to be honest, I don’t really understand why people vacation in Miami, other than it being an easy getaway)
• This property is set back a couple of blocks from the beach, and it’s also a small property, so it won’t have a resort vibe, but rather will have more of a city hotel vibe
• I used to be a big fan of the Thompson brand, but I feel like some of the newer properties in the United States are just “bleh,” with small rooms, poor construction quality (like bad sound insulation), and very high pricing for what you get

So we’ll see how this property turns out, though at first glance I’m more excited about the Andaz than the Thompson, given the location closer to the beach, even though it’s a couple of miles north.

Bottom line

The 147-room Thompson Miami Beach is expected to open next year, and is currently accepting reservations for stays as of June 2025. This is one of two new Hyatt lifestyle properties expected to open in Miami Beach in the coming months.

More points hotels are always a good thing, if you ask me, though I don’t find the location of this hotel to be particularly inspiring.

What do you make of the Thompson Miami Beach?

Air Tahiti Nui cuts Seattle to Paris route

Since June 2023, Air Tahiti Nui has been operating a 2x weekly, year-round flight between Seattle (SEA) and Paris (CDG), which has been an add-on to the existing Papeete (PPT) to Seattle route. The route currently operates with the following schedule:

TN58 Papeete to Seattle departing 11:35PM arriving 11:00AM (+1 day)
TN58 Seattle to Paris departing 1:25PM arriving 7:55AM (+1 day)

TN57 Paris to Seattle departing 11:00AM arriving 12:15PM
TN57 Seattle to Papeete departing 2:30PM arriving 10:05PM

This service is operated using a Boeing 787-9. The airline has just four of these aircraft, and they each feature 294 seats, including 30 business class seats, 32 premium economy seats, and 232 economy seats.

There’s a change coming to this route, as flagged by @IshrionA. As of January 5, 2025, Air Tahiti Nui will discontinue its route between Seattle and Paris, as it will instead shift those Paris frequencies to Los Angeles. However, the airline intends to maintain 2x weekly flights between Papeete and Seattle.

Air Tahiti Nui shifts capacity back to Los Angeles

French Polynesia is obviously popular with visitors from Metropolitan France, though it’s more or less on the other side of the globe, nearly 10,000 miles away. As a result, Air Tahiti Nui exclusively operates one stop service between Papeete and Paris.

Historically, Air Tahiti Nui’s service to Paris has operated via Los Angeles, with the following schedule:

TN8 Papeete to Los Angeles departing 11:45PM arriving 10:35AM (+1 day)
TN8 Los Angeles to Paris departing 1:30PM arriving 9:05AM (+1 day)

TN7 Paris to Los Angeles departing 12:05PM arriving 2:15PM
TN7 Los Angeles to Papeete departing 4:30PM arriving 10:05PM

When Air Tahiti Nui launched the Seattle to Paris flight, it reduced its Los Angeles to Paris service from 7x weekly to 5x weekly. In other words, the airline just shifted a couple of its frequencies from Los Angeles to Seattle, to mix things up a bit.

I found shifting capacity to Seattle to be an interesting move:

• Obviously a significant number of passengers on Air Tahiti Nui’s flights from the US to Paris are simply connecting all the way through; so the question is how the airline can most profitably fill those remaining seats on the transatlantic flight
• Air Tahiti Nui has a partnership with Alaska Airlines, so I imagine the airline was hoping it might pick up some significant local demand between Seattle and Paris
• The two routes (via Los Angeles or Seattle) are roughly the same length, as they’re within 35 miles of one another

With just 2x weekly service between Seattle and Paris, I’m not surprised that the route probably wasn’t gaining much traction with the local market. It’s not like Los Angeles to Paris is an easy market either, but at least it can be operated daily, and there’s a lot more demand between Papeete and Los Angeles.

While Air Tahiti Nui’s business class hard product leaves a bit to be desired, this sure has been a fun, exotic way to travel between Seattle and Paris.

Bottom line

Air Tahiti Nui will be discontinuing its route between Seattle and Paris, after less than two years of operating in the market. The airline will maintain service between Papeete and Seattle, but the transatlantic frequencies will shift back to Los Angeles. This means that Air Tahiti Nui will be back to operating daily flights between Los Angeles and Paris.

What do you make of Air Tahiti Nui ending Seattle to Paris flights?

Star Alliance Lounge Guangzhou Airport basics

The Star Alliance has opened a lounge at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), in China. The lounge has opened effective immediately, and follows standard Star Alliance lounge access policies, meaning it’s open to Star Alliance first and business class passengers, as well as Star Alliance Gold members.

The new 24/7 lounge is located in a dedicated space on the upper level of the existing GBIA lounge in the Terminal 1 international area. It’s not a very big lounge — it’s just 750 square meters (~8,100 square feet), with seating for 100 guests.

The lounge features a glass facade offering tarmac views, and amenities like workstations, and seating for both relaxation and productivity. There’s also a 100 square meter VIP room available upon request (which seems like a huge space to dedicate to this purpose, given how small the lounge is?). The lounge also has a bar, buffet, restrooms, and shower suites. Then there’s art from local artists, as well as a “tea appreciation corner, where guests can experience the region’s renowned tea culture.”

Interestingly, Star Alliance plans to open a second branded lounge at the same airport, in the upcoming Terminal 3. However, more details aren’t yet available about that.

At present, 10 Star Alliance airlines fly to Guangzhou, including Air China, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Turkish Airlines. Those airlines offer a total of 774 weekly departures, to 50 destinations, in 10 countries.

Below you can find some pictures of the new lounge (which doesn’t look particularly modern — obviously it’s just the repurposing of an existing space, with minimal investment).

Star Alliance’s current lounge network

For travelers, one of the major benefits of the global alliances is access to alliance lounges. While a vast majority of these are lounges operated by individual airlines, each alliance also has some branded lounges.

In the case of the Star Alliance, the company currently has lounges in Amsterdam (AMS), Buenos Aires (EZE), Guangzhou (CAN), Los Angeles (LAX), Paris (CDG), and Rio de Janeiro (GIG). Some of the alliance’s lounges are quite nice (like the one in Los Angeles), while some are a bit less impressive (like the new one in Guangzhou, based on the impression I get).

Star Alliance is tied with SkyTeam when it comes to the size of its branded lounge network. SkyTeam also has six lounges, in Dubai (DXB), Istanbul (IST), Santiago (SCL), Sao Paulo (GRU), Sydney (SYD), and Vancouver (YVR).

As a point of comparison, oneworld is the newest alliance to get into the lounge game, and currently has locations in Amsterdam (AMS) and Seoul Incheon (ICN).

Bottom line

The Star Alliance has opened its first branded lounge in Asia, located in Guangzhou Terminal 1. It’s always nice to have more alliance lounge options, though I wouldn’t expect this to be the most impressive lounge in the network, since it just takes up a small part of an existing lounge. Still, if you’re traveling through the airport, this new lounge option is something to keep in mind.

What do you make of the new Star Alliance Lounge Guangzhou?

The Confidante Miami Beach becoming an Andaz

The Confidante Miami Beach used to belong to The Unbound Collection, which is Hyatt’s brand for independent upscale hotels.

In 2022, the 339-room hotel was sold to new owners, at a cost of $232 million, or $684,000 per key. At the time it was announced that the property would undergo a roughly $60 million renovation, and would then be rebranded as an Andaz.

The Confidante Miami Beach closed as of March 2024, so that it could undergo an extensive renovation, prior to reopening as the Andaz Miami Beach. While the goal was initially to reopen as of late 2024, that timeline didn’t stick. Instead, the hotel is now expected to reopen as of March 5, 2025, and and it’s now accepting reservations for stays as of that date.

Renovations at the property include an all-new lobby (with a “first-of-its-kind ocean view check-in experience”), a reinvention of all culinary offerings in partnership with José Andrés Group, and a new pool area.

Below you can find some renderings of the new Andaz Miami Beach — the plans look beautiful!

Andaz Miami Beach rates & points requirements

With the Andaz Miami Beach now accepting reservations, what are rates like?

For those redeeming points, this will be a Category 6 World of Hyatt property, meaning a free night redemption in a standard room will cost 21,000-29,000 points per night. Meanwhile a free night redemption in a standard suite will cost 36,000-44,000 points per night. However, as of this moment, I’m not yet seeing award nights loaded, but that should change soon.

Cash rates at the Andaz Miami Beach are steep. Admittedly the hotel is scheduled to open in peak season, and around then, rates are pretty consistently $800+ per night. Meanwhile in September, I see rates starting at $500+ per night. I doubt the hotel will be able to sustain rates quite that high, but I also can’t say I’m surprised by those rates.

If you are looking to book a cash stay here, I’d recommend doing so through the Hyatt Privé program, which offers extra perks like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, and a hotel credit.

I’d consider this to be great news

Since I live in Miami, I’ve never stayed at The Confidante Miami Beach. However, based on everything I’ve heard, the hotel is a bit past its prime, but of course people like it for its beachfront location. The hotel isn’t by any stretch of the imagination “luxury,” not that The Unbound Collection is supposed to be that.

It’s great to see that money will be put into this hotel to hopefully make it feel a bit fresher and more luxurious. This should be Hyatt’s most premium property in the Miami area, so I’m sure many World of Hyatt members will appreciate this. It’s one of two Hyatt properties opening here soon, as we’ll also see the opening of the Thompson Miami Beach. However, that property won’t be beachfront.

Miami has long been a hot hotel market, but it has only gotten hotter during the pandemic. Room rates have been through the roof, and I’m sure the Andaz will be able to charge much higher rates (which is of course the negative aspect of this rebranding).

Bottom line

The Andaz Miami Beach is expected to open as of March 2025, replacing The Confidante Miami Beach. It’s nice to see Hyatt getting a higher end property in Miami, since it’s an area where the brand lags (meanwhile Marriott has lots of great options in Miami).

What do you make of the plans for the Andaz Miami Beach?

Turkish Airlines’ five Lanvin amenity kits

Turkish Airlines has a new amenity kit collection, designed in collaboration with French luxury fashion house Lanvin. There are five different bags, so that passengers can collect different ones over time.

The various bags are inspired by Lanvin’s most iconic designs, and are crafted to be reusable and versatile. The bags feature limited edition Lanvin cosmetic products, including hand & body lotion, as well as lip balm.

The collection offers bags in brown, black, tan, and cream, which are available on flights of at least eight hours. Furthermore, a wallet-style black and brown bag is provided on flights between five and eight hours.

Turkish Airlines also highlights how the kits are created with sustainability in mind, with the eye mask and socks made from recycled materials, the earplugs packaged in paper to minimize single-use plastics, and the toothbrush crafted from bamboo.

Below you can find a video and some pictures of the new Lanvin amenity kit collection.

Is this an improvement over the old amenity kit?

Personally I’m not a brand obsessed person, but I appreciate when airlines have collaborations with luxury brands:

• For one, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, as it’s a way to put a high-end brand in front of a pretty affluent customer base
• When an airline collaborates with luxury brands, it’s generally a reflection of the company’s overall market position, and reflects how much it cares about offering a good experience

As I said above, I’m not a fashionista, but I basically live with the ChatGPT of fashion. So I asked Ford “where exactly does Lanvin rank nowadays?” His response was “they’re expensive, but they haven’t been cool for about 10 years.” So make of that what you will.

Anyway, during the last Turkish Airlines long haul flight I took, I received a very nice Salvatore Ferragamo amenity kit. So I’m not necessarily sure the change to Lanvin is an upgrade, but at least it’s something new, and I like the variety that it provides.

Bottom line

Turkish Airlines has rolled out new Lanvin amenity kits. There are five different kits, so that travelers can collect different ones over time. The kits are available on flights of over eight hours, and then there’s a smaller kit on flights of five to eight hours.

It’s always cool to see a new collaboration, so I’m looking forward to getting one of these kits on my next Turkish Airlines flight.

What do you make of Turkish Airlines’ new Lanvin amenity kits?

It seems that American Airlines has a plan that will see the airline enforcing its boarding priority, and I kind of love it. This first started being trialed several weeks ago, and is now being expanded on a widespread basis.

American’s genius plan to stop boarding “cheaters”

American has nine boarding groups (not including pre-boarding), and all too often you see people not following the correct boarding order, and boarding way ahead of when they’re supposed to. In some cases I suspect it’s because people truly don’t know better, though I would guess that in most cases people know exactly what they’re doing.

Part of the issue with enforcing boarding order is how we go about boarding planes. You generally go up to the gate scanner, and then scan your own boarding pass face down, whether it’s on your smartphone or a physical boarding pass. It’s very rare to see gate agents actually check boarding passes prior to them being scanned. Of course this creates a recurring problem. When people realize they can get away with it once, they do it again.

Several weeks ago, View from the Wing reported on how American started rolling out technology to simplify the boarding process, and it’s… remarkably easy?

Thanks to new technology from the Fort Worth-based airline, when passengers scan their boarding passes before their group number has been called, an audible tone and visual alert will go off at the scanner, so that the gate agent knows that they’re trying to board ahead of their group. The gate agent is then supposed to ask the passenger to step aside until their group is called.

American has been trialing this for the past several weeks at a limited number of airports. There’s now an exciting update. As reported by Sean Cudahy, American has now expanded this technology to over 100 airports in the United States. So you can now expect this to be used on a widespread basis.

Well done, American!

It’s not often I say this, but… well done, American, on introducing technology that should improve the passenger experience! It’s important for airlines to enforce boarding priority for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they market priority or preferred boarding as a perk to so many different passengers.

This is such an obvious and simple solution, and it should make boarding with the first few groups a little bit less stressful. Of course it’s worth acknowledging a couple of points:

• It comes down to the gate agent to actually enforce the rules, based on the tone they hear
• This adds a small layer of complexity for those trying to board with a companion in a lower group, as that’s still generally allowed, but could lead to a tone

Bottom line

American is rolling out technology to enforce the intended boarding priority. With this new system, there’s a tone when someone tries to board before their group number is called, making it much harder to get away with cutting the line. This is a simple but smart development, and I’m happy to see it.

While this was initially trialed at a very limited number of airports, the technology has now been expanded to over 100 airports, so we should start to see the positive benefits of this.

What do you make of American’s new boarding technology?

How Alaska’s DIY electronic bag tags work

Alaska Airlines is the first airline in the United States to launch electronic bag tags. This has been a long time coming. The airline first trialed this back in 2016. Then in 2022, the airline tested this further, by sending these tags to 2,500 Mileage Plan elite members. Now the airline is selling these to the general public.

The intent is that electronic bag tags allow those with checking bags to skip the step of printing traditional bag tags at the airport. Instead, passengers will be able to “load” their bag tag up to 24 hours before departure from anywhere.

How is that possible? Customers will be given a permanent electronic bag tag, measuring three inches by five inches. By touching the phone used for check-in to the electronic bag tag, the information will be transmitted from the phone. The electronic bag tag screen will then display the passenger’s flight information.

Then when the passenger arrives at the airport, they can go straight to the bag drop, and just present their boarding pass and ID. Alaska claims that this program will reduce the time spent dropping off checked luggage by nearly 40%.

Alaska is partnering with Dutch company BAGTAG on this program, as these devices are also being used in other parts of the world. It’s claimed that the devices have durable screens that have been tested to withstand being run over by a luggage cart.

Note that these electronic bag tags don’t allow baggage tracking, so these wouldn’t replace an AirTag for those purposes. It sure would be cool if these devices had trackers, so you always know where your bag is. It might also make the cost of these devices easier to stomach.

Below is a video showing the process of checking a bag with this electronic tag.

Alaska Airlines’ SVP of Merchandising and Innovation, Charu Jain, describes this as saving passengers time and giving Alaska Airlines employees more time to spend with other people:

“This technology allows our guests to tag their own bags in just seconds and makes the entire check-in process almost all off-airport.”

“Not only will our electronic bag tags allow our guests to quickly drop-off their luggage after they arrive at the airport, the devices will also give our employees the opportunity to spend more one-on-one time with guests who ask for assistance and reduce lines at our lobbies.”

Alaska selling electronic bag tags for $89

So, how can Alaska Airlines customers get their hands on these tags? Well, they’re now for sale at the cost of $89 per tag.

It goes without saying that $89 seems like a really steep price to pay for the privilege of having less interaction with Alaska employees. That’s especially true when you consider that you need one tag per bag, so if you were checking multiple bags, you’d have to buy more than one of these.

I would assume that these tags would be much cheaper if produced on a larger scale, but I imagine the demand just isn’t there yet. But also, of course the demand isn’t there, because you can’t expect most airline customers to pay $89 for an electronic bag tag, and that’s also not a cost airlines are willing to cover on a large scale.

It’s one thing if all airlines accepted these electronic bag tags, but to buy them specifically for travel on one airline is quite an ask.

I suppose if you’re a frequent flyer with Alaska and frequently check a bag, this could be a worthwhile investment. However, I really have a hard time imagining there will be widespread appeal at this price point.

Bottom line

After trials spanning several years, Alaska Airlines is finally rolling out electronic bag tags on a more widespread basis, as these are now available for purchase. The airline is charging $89 per tag, which sure is steep.

These tags allow eligible travelers to skip the step of printing luggage tags, instead allowing them to load those tags electronically onto a device. This is a cool innovation, no doubt, I just think the cost is going to prevent this from being too popular.

What do you make of these electronics bag tags? Would you pay for one?

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review) is one of the most rewarding mid-range credit cards. While many people might be familiar with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), the Citi Strata Premier is an often overlooked competitor (or complement, depending on how you look at it).

In this post, I wanted to share eight reasons you should get the Citi Strata Premier if you don’t yet have it. In no particular order…

75,000 Citi ThankYou bonus points

The Citi Strata Premier Card has an excellent limited time welcome bonus of 75,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within three months.

Personally I value ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each, so to me that bonus is worth an excellent $1,275, making it one of the best credit bonuses out there. Since a lot of people don’t have this card, these are some easy rewards points to rack up.

Those 75,000 points can earn you at least $750 in rewards, or can be converted into airline miles of ThankYou partners at a 1:1 ratio.

See here for the general restrictions on applying for Citi cards, and also be aware of Citi’s 48-month rule.

Reasonable $95 annual fee

We’ve seen quite a bit of inflation when it comes to credit card annual fees in recent years as credit cards have continued to become more rewarding. It’s noteworthy that the Citi Strata Premier Card has an annual fee of just $95 per year, and there’s no cost to add additional authorized users.

There’s a lot of value in having a premium credit card, so paying a fee of under $100 per year is very reasonable, considering how much value you can get with the card.

The best 3x points bonus categories

Among credit cards with annual fees of under $100, the Citi Strata Premier Card almost unarguably offers the best bonus categories. The Citi Strata Premier offers 3x ThankYou points in the following categories:

• Airfare
• Dining
• Gas and EV charging stations
• Supermarkets
• Hotels

Of particular note is earning 3x points on dining, gas, and supermarkets, which for many people covers most everyday expenses. The card also doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, making it a great card for purchases abroad.

10x points on Citi Travel bookings

The Citi Strata Premier Card gives you a major incentive to book travel through the Citi Travel portal. You can earn 10x ThankYou points for hotels, rental cars, and attractions, booked through cititravel.com. Based on my valuation of points, that’s like a 17% return on that spending.

Now, it’s worth emphasizing that this won’t be for everyone. If you’re staying at a major hotel chain, you typically won’t earn points or receive elite perks on third party bookings. However, for someone who isn’t terribly brand loyal, or if you’re staying at an independent hotel, this could be very rewarding.

Annual $100 hotel credit

Once every calendar year, the Citi Strata Premier Card offers $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees. This is valid when booking through the Citi ThankYou portal. While there may be an opportunity cost to booking this way, many people will find this valuable, and in those cases, this alone can more than justify the annual fee.

Great Citi ThankYou transfer partners

The Citi Strata Premier Card is ideal if you want to earn points that can be transferred to airline partners. These points hold their value quite well, and can give you some amazing premium travel experiences.

For example, Citi ThankYou points can be transferred to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, avianca lifemiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and many more. The opportunities to redeem these points for premium travel are endless.

Best of all, if you have Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, there is some overlap between partners. In many cases, you can transfer points to the same partners from multiple programs.

Maximize the Citi Double Cash

This is arguably the most compelling reason to get the Citi Strata Premier Card. The no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card (review) is one of the best cards for everyday, non-bonused spending. The card offers 1x ThankYou points when you make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for that purchase, meaning you can earn up to 2x ThankYou points.

Rewards can be combined with those earned on the Citi Strata Premier Card, and you could then transfer those rewards to ThankYou transfer partners. If you have the Citi Strata Premier and Citi Double Cash you’d pay a single $95 annual fee, and you’d earn:

• 3x points on airfare
• 3x points on dining
• 3x points on gas
• 3x points at supermarkets
• 3x points on hotels
• 2x points on all other purchases

That’s incredible, and makes this one of the best credit card duos out there.

Get even more value with the Citi Rewards+ & Citi Custom Cash

There are two other incredible no annual fee complements to the Citi Strata Premier Card — the Citi Rewards+^® Card (review) and the Citi Custom Cash® Card (review). Most significantly:

• The Citi Rewards+ offers 10% of your points back for the first 100,000 ThankYou points you redeem every calendar year; this includes ThankYou points earned on other cards, meaning that 2-3x points can potentially earn you the equivalent of 2.2-3.3x points back, when all is said and done
• The Citi Custom Cash offers 5x points on your top eligible spending category every billing cycle (on up to $500 of spending), with categories including drugstores, fitness clubs, gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores, live entertainment, restaurants, select streaming services, select transit, and select travel

If you really wanted to maximize rewards, you could pick up all three no annual fee complements to the Citi Strata Premier, though even one or two could get you a long way.

Bottom line

The Citi Strata Premier Card is an excellent credit card that’s all too often overlooked by people. The card has a big welcome bonus, offers some of the best 3x points categories of any card, and perhaps most exciting of all is that this card allows you to really maximize the no annual fee Citi Double Cash Card, which is one of the best cards for everyday spending. The Citi Strata Premier and Citi Double Cash are one of the best card duos out there.

If you have the Citi Strata Premier, what has your experience been with the card?

Internationally, we’ve also seen some airlines introduce basic business class. Up until now, it’s not really a concept we’ve seen at one of the “big three” US airlines. Could that change, though?

For some time, Delta has been dropping some hints about possibly introducing basic business class. While there still hasn’t been a formal announcement, executives at the airline mentioned this during Delta’s 2024 Investor Day (today), so I wanted to recap everything we know so far.

Delta appears to be planning basic business class

Over the past several months, we’ve seen several hints that Delta may be planning an unbundled business class product. What would that mean? Well, it would entail more options when booking a business class ticket — the most “basic” business class would probably just include a seat and some limited amenities, and then customers could pay extra for fare bundles that include more things, whether it’s seat assignments, lounge access, or flexibility.

As flagged by View from the Wing, during the Q2 2024 Delta earnings call, JP Morgan Analyst Jamie Baker asked the following question:

“This concept of unbundling the front cabin is one that I’ve been thinking about in part because unbundling and segmenting the rear cabin has been such a success for Delta and a few others. I want to be careful about asking about future pricing and all that, but I’m curious what the pros and cons are in terms of possibly going down this path, or is one price for all how we should continue to think about the D1 cabin?”

Delta President Glen Hauenstein responded with the following:

“We’ve talked conceptually about that. I think we’ll be giving you more details as we go, but we’re not ready to talk about the details of those plans moving forward.”

Then during the Q3 2024 earnings call, Hauenstein was asked if premium revenue can continue to grow, to which he answered the following:

“But we also think there’s more to go on the premium products. And I think not to keep harping in on saying, come next month and join us for our Investor Day. But I think we’ll be able to unveil why and how we think those can continue to improve over the medium and long term.”

So while we’ll see how this plays out, it seems pretty clear that unbundling business class is something that Delta is working on, though it remains to be seen how imminent the implementation is.

While it has been suggested that there may be an announcement during the 2024 Investor Day, that didn’t exactly materialize. However, during the presentation, Delta emphasized how in 2024 and beyond, it plans “further segmentation aligning value to price.”

Outside the United States, there are quite a few airlines that have unbundled business class, ranging from Emirates, to Finnair, to Qatar Airways. In general, I would expect that “basic” business class could include some of the following restrictions, based on the precedent we’ve seen at other airlines:

• Fees on seat assignments
• Fees to change tickets
• No lounge access or restricted lounge access
• Restrictions on priority check-in, priority security, and priority boarding

My take on Delta unbundling business class

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen strong leisure demand for premium cabin travel, while business travel hasn’t fully recovered. This combination is a double-edged sword — it’s easier to fill premium cabins, but airlines aren’t seeing as many of the super expensive premium fares as they saw before the pandemic.

I would think that Delta’s primary goal with unbundling business class would be to get people to buy up to more expensive premium fares to avoid certain restrictions. I know airlines try to market unbundling as intending to offer a better value option to more travelers, though in reality I suspect the cheapest current fares would simply become the new “basic” fares, where fewer perks are included than now. So consumers likely wouldn’t come out ahead.

Personally I think the most logical implementation of an unbundled premium cabin would be in domestic first class, at least to start. I hate to say it, but this could be a way for Delta to reimpose change fees on tickets, by making these tickets not changeable or cancelable without paying a fee. Maybe the airline wouldn’t include seat assignments in advance for non-elite members, or something, but I wouldn’t expect it to be too draconian beyond that.

Unbundling business class on long haul flights is a bit trickier, as it’s a coordinated effort. That’s because so many long haul markets are dominated by joint ventures, which coordinate fares, schedules, and restrictions. Delta has a joint venture with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic across the Atlantic, and with Korean Air across the Pacific, so we’d likely see this implemented on a wider scale.

In addition to the potential above restrictions, I wonder if we could maybe see the airline offer Delta Sky Club access on basic business class tickets, while restricting Delta One Lounge access to non-basic business class tickets.

Keep in mind that Air France-KLM have already added seat assignment fees in business class in many markets, and in some ways, perhaps that’s one form of unbundling business class. I mean, I guess by that criteria, British Airways’ business class has been unbundled for a very long time.

Bottom line

While nothing is official, Delta appears to have plans to unbundle business class in 2025 and beyond. We’ve seen the concept of basic business class at some foreign carriers, and you can expect that this will include restrictions related to change fees, seat assignments, priority services, etc.

Personally I think Delta is most likely to use this as a way to reimpose change fees on many premium tickets, in order to get people to book more expensive fares. I also think it’s safe to say that if Delta does go this direction, American and United will almost certainly follow.

So for now we’ll mark this as “developing,” but it’s something to keep an eye out for…

What do you make of the prospect of Delta unbundling business class?

Delta selling a vast majority of domestic first class seats

As flagged by View from the Wing, Delta executives have today highlighted just how much progress the airline has made when it comes to selling premium seats. Specifically, nowadays just 12% of Delta’s first class seats are going to passengers getting upgrades.

It’s absolutely wild to think how that number has changed over the years. Going back to 2011, Delta only sold 14% of its first class seats. So in 13 years, we’ve seen a more than six-fold increase in the percentage of first class seats sold.

It’s clear in which direction things are headed, as complimentary first class upgrades are increasingly becoming a thing of the past. First class domestically has gone from a cabin that loses money, to one that’s incredibly profitable.

It’s also worth emphasizing how quickly this is changing. Just over a year ago, Delta executives claimed that around 74% of first class seats were being sold, so that increase is continuing, and it sure feels like Delta won’t stop until that number is close to 100%.

Presumably the statistics about the number of first class seats being sold includes cash upgrades, mileage tickets, etc., with just complimentary elite upgrades contributing to that 12%.

Delta attributes a lot of the premium growth to millennials, who have more wealth than prior generations at the same age, and are also willing to splurge more on luxury travel.

Will SkyMiles members be more loyal while receiving less?

I don’t think anyone faults airlines for trying to sell as many first class seats as possible. That’s only logical. I also think Delta in particular does the best job of any US airline when it comes to pricing its first class reasonably, in a way where a leisure traveler could find it to be worthwhile.

Just take the below flight from Tampa to Boston as an example, and you’ll see the reasonable fare premium for each product “upgrade.”

But here’s the challenge, as I see it. In the United States, airlines make a large percentage of their profits from their loyalty programs, and in particular, from their co-brand credit card agreements. Airlines want their loyalty program members to not just be loyal when they book a flight, but also when they pull out their credit card, book a hotel, etc.

Airlines only seem to see upside in this area, and Delta hopes to increase its revenue from Amex by around 50% in the coming years.

If you ask me, those goals are kind of at odds with one another. The airline wants more people to pay for first class — which is totally fair — but also wants more people to be loyal to the airline, when one of the primary perks of elite status is complimentary upgrades.

We’ve seen Delta continue to increase elite requirements, arguing that there’s just such high demand for the carrier’s premium services. But at some point that just becomes pointless, when almost no seats are being “given away” to upgrades.

How does Delta justify this, and think the airline will keep increasing wallet share, while offering less? Well, Delta views SkyMiles as “a manifestation of [the] brand.” In other words, you won’t be loyal to SkyMiles because it offers the most value, but rather because you like Delta as a brand, and therefore you’ll want the company’s credit card.

Is there a certain point at which consumers will stop showing more loyalty to companies while continuing to receive less? Will people vote with their wallet, and look at the overall value proposition of what they’re receiving?

Call me a cynic, but I think Delta management is probably right, and the answer is “no.” The reality is that most consumers aren’t particularly savvy, and aren’t doing much to maximize their rewards. They spend on a credit card that’s connected to an airline or hotel group that they travel with a lot or like, without crunching the numbers and considering if they’re actually getting the best value.

A vast majority of consumers would be best off as “free agents,” not being loyal to any airline, and instead flying the airline with the best value and schedule. They’d also either use a lucrative cash back card, or a card earning transferable points, rather than investing in a program to earn status, only to be disappointed when they don’t get upgraded. But that doesn’t seem to be how most consumers approach things.

Bottom line

Delta is reportedly selling 88% of its first class seats. That’s not surprising, and is roughly what I would have expected. Airlines have gotten much better at monetizing premium cabins, so we’re a long ways off from just over a decade ago, when a vast majority of first class seats went to upgraders.

What’s even more interesting is that the percentage of first class seats being paid for continues to increase by the year, as last year we were told that 74% of first class seats were being sold.

There’s nothing wrong with Delta (or any other airline) selling most of its first class seats. The issue is only that airlines expect their loyalty revenue to continue to increase considerably, while offering members less and less.

What’s your take on the number of first class seats Delta is selling, and what it means for SkyMiles?

Royal Jordanian adds Amman to Washington route

As of March 23, 2025, Royal Jordanian will be launching 2x weekly nonstop flights between Amman (AMM) and Washington (IAD), as flagged by @IshrionA. The flight will operate with the following schedule on Sundays and Tuesdays:

RJ282 Amman to Washington departing 11:45AM arriving 5:45PM
RJ283 Washington to Amman departing 8:50PM arriving 3:25PM (+1 day)

The 5,965-mile flight is blocked at 13hr westbound and 11hr35min eastbound. Royal Jordanian will use a Boeing 787-8 for the route, featuring 270 seats. This includes 24 business class seats and 246 economy class seats.

Royal Jordanian’s current destinations in North America include Chicago (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Montreal (YUL), New York (JFK), and Toronto (YYZ). All of those are cities with large Middle Eastern populations, with Chicago and New York having the benefit of also being oneworld hubs, thanks to partner American Airlines.

The Washington to Amman route was served by United starting in May 2022. However, United suspended the route as of July 2024, and for now there are no signs of it returning, given the increased tensions in the region.

It’s going to be interesting to see if United ultimately restarts this service to compete with Royal Jordanian, or if Royal Jordanian has the market to itself. In terms of connections, obviously United has the advantage in Washington, while Royal Jordanian has the advantage in Amman.

Royal Jordanian’s unique marketing for this flight

While this flight is now on sale, last week Royal Jordanian starting hinting at this new service. On its official Instagram account, the airline teased this route with a video, as flagged by @FlyingHighRyan. In the short video:

• There’s first a red hat with the text “He is back!” written on it
• Then there’s a message saying “And we’re taking you right to the middle of the action!”
• Next, there’s a message saying “Fly Non-Stop to Washington D.C.”
• The final page says “Stay tuned!”

It’s hard to know whether the airline is actually serious with its positivity, or if the airline is trolling. This isn’t the first time that Royal Jordanian has gotten controversial with its marketing, and has involved politics.

In November 2016 (when Trump was running against Clinton), the airline had a fare sale to the United States, marketing the opportunity to “travel to the US while you’re still allowed to.”

Then in February 2017, when Trump instituted a travel ban for those from seven Muslim-majority countries, the airline had a “Bon Voyage” fare sale, with the “Bon” being written over the word “Ban.”

So either the carrier’s feelings have evolved, the airline is playing both sides, or the airline is trolling.

Expect a lot more growth from Royal Jordanian

In 2023, Royal Jordanian announced its impressive fleet renewal and expansion plans. Not only is the airline replacing many of its existing aircraft, but the fleet size will also grow considerably. This order consists of Airbus A320neos, Boeing 787-9s, and Embraer E190-Es.

Currently Royal Jordanian’s long haul fleet is comprised of just seven Boeing 787-8s. While the airline plans to continue flying those, it also has six Boeing 787-9s on order. That will basically double the carrier’s wide body capacity, given that the 787-9s are larger than the 787-8s.

The first 787-9s are expected to join Royal Jordanian’s fleet in 2025, so I imagine that will enable the carrier to add more long haul destinations, which haven’t been possible until now.

Bottom line

As of March 2025, Royal Jordanian plans to launch 2x weekly flights between Amman and Washington. This is a route that United tried to operate for some time, but which has been discontinued in recent months, in light of tensions in the region. Now Royal Jordanian is giving the route a try, and it’s even involving politics in the marketing of it.

What do you make of Royal Jordanian launching Washington flights?

Petition asks Marriott to recognize airline crew status at hotels

There’s a change.org petition that currently has around 7,000 signatures, which urges Marriott to start honoring Bonvoy elite status when airline crews (pilots and flight attendants) are staying at Marriott properties while on work trips. Let me just share the petition in its entirety:

I am a military veteran who has spent more than an impressive total of 1011 nights in Marriott properties. Throughout my journeys, my family and I have remained loyal to the Marriott brand. We hold four Marriott credit cards and consistently choose Marriott hotels for our accommodations. However, there is an issue that leaves me deeply disappointed – the non-recognition of my loyalty status when staying in rooms purchased by my airline.

Among airline crew, many of us have cultivated a significant status with Marriott, a testament to our years, often decades, of loyalty. Yet, when we stay at your hotels during our trips, this status – a symbol of our lengthy and dedicated relationship with your brand – seems to be unacknowledged.

This lack of recognition is not only disappointing, but it also undermines the respect and appreciation we believe should be associated with our loyalty status. This is especially poignant in my case, as I am a proud Titanium for Life member – a rank illustrating my unwavering allegiance to Marriott.

Our request is simple: Please reconsider your policy regarding lounge access for those of us in the airline industry. We urge you – as valued members and lifelong supporters of your brand – to acknowledge our loyalty status at your hotels, as you do in your airline. Our loyalty to Marriott has not faltered; we just ask that you return the gesture.

Please honor our loyalty, respect our status, and allow us the enjoyment of our earned privileges across all platforms of your brand. Show us that our commitment matters. Sign this petition to stand with airline pilots around the world in urging Marriott to reconsider its policy.

My take on this hotel elite status petition

For some background, let me explain why Marriott Bonvoy doesn’t award elite nights or offer elite benefits on airline crew stays during layovers. Marriott Bonvoy offers points and elite benefits to members on “qualifying rates,” and in the case of airline crews, these rates are non-qualifying for two reasons:

• The terms specifically state that a rate is non-qualifying if “the Member does not directly pay the Participating Property for such room” (in these cases, the airline pays directly for the stay, and not the member)
• The terms also state that a rate is non-qualifying if “the guest room was booked at a tour operator, wholesaler, or crew room rate or package” (as you can see, these stays would be booked as crew room rates)

So, where do I stand on this? From the perspective of Marriott and individual hotels, obviously they don’t have much of an incentive to go above and beyond on crew hotel stays. Airlines get huge discounts on room rates by promising a certain amount of volume, and it’s not like the individual crew member has any discretion over where they stay. These contracts are negotiated on a really high level, and guarantee thousands of room nights for a property.

At the same time, I also get where airline employees are coming from. Obviously in an ideal world, a loyalty program would foster a long-term relationship with a company, and shouldn’t be transactional. Members earn their elite perks through qualifying stays, so it would be nice to be able to use them even when a stay isn’t qualifying.

But it’s also worth being realistic here, and understanding that loyalty has become incredibly transactional:

• Marriott doesn’t have to try as hard as some other hotel groups when it comes to loyalty, given its massive footprint; so if your “loyalty to Marriott has not faltered,” then that’s sort of on you, and you’re being loyal to a faceless corporation that doesn’t really value you back in the same way
• With how credit card perks have evolved, there are so many pathways to status, and it’s also so much easier to earn than in the past; that’s also why there’s less leeway or discretion than in the past, since hotels have no shortage of elite members
• Speaking of that last point, Marriott hotels just have an absolutely massive number of elite members, with things like club lounges being very overcrowded; so I also can’t blame hotels for not wanting to be overly generous there

It’s worth noting that some airlines do negotiate club lounge access for certain ranks of employees at many hotels. For example, at Emirates, pilots and pursers generally receive club lounge access, and it’s something the airline pays for (or negotiates).

Bottom line

There’s a change.org petition urging Marriott Bonvoy to honor elite perks for airline crew members when on work stays. Marriott doesn’t offer elite credit or honor elite perks on these stays, since they aren’t paid by the actual member, and crew rates are also excluded as qualifying stays.

While I can appreciate where airline employees are coming from — they’ve worked hard to earn status, and want those perks honored on all stays — I don’t see Marriott budging here.

Where do you stand on this petition for elite perks on crew stays?

Basics of the new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley

The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley has opened as of November 20, 2024. This property is a partnership between Hyatt and Extell Development Company, and is located in Deer Valley, Utah, not far from Salt Lake City. It’s located at the Deer Valley Resort, and specifically, this is the first property to open as part of the Deer Valley Resort expansion that’s currently underway.

The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley offers 387 accommodations, including 40 suites and 55 private residences. Entry level accommodations are 340-360 square foot village view rooms, and entry level suites are 600 square foot studio suites.

The property has a heated year-round pool and whirlpool, fitness center, kids club, and game room. In terms of dining, there’s a signature restaurant, a lobby bar, an alpine bar, and a market coffee bar.

The expansion coming to Deer Valley Resort is more than doubling the resort’s skiable terrain, and once complete, will feature 16 new ski lifts and a new 10-passenger gondola. The network of chairlifts will offer access to over 235 ski runs across 10 mountain peaks.

While this project was only announced as a Hyatt in late 2023, this property was under development for a long time. Prior to the Hyatt announcement, it was known as the “Mayflower Resort.”

Grand Hyatt Deer Valley rates & points requirements

The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley is a Category 6 World of Hyatt property. This means a free night redemption costs the following number of points:

• 21,000-29,000 points per night for a standard room
• 36,000-44,000 points per night for a standard suite
• 42,000-58,000 points per night for a premium suite

As far as cash rates at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley go, they’re all over the place. In peak ski season (around January and February) I see rates starting at around $900 per night, while at the end of the season (in April) I see rates starting at around $500 per night.

If you are looking to book a cash stay here, I’d recommend doing so through the Hyatt Privé program, which offers extra perks like room upgrades, complimentary breakfast, and a hotel credit.

Based on the current points rates vs. cash rates, redeeming points will generally prove to be the better value. For what it’s worth, I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each.

This is an exciting addition to the Hyatt portfolio

The United States has some great ski areas, though there aren’t all that many great ski resorts bookable with points. Fortunately we’re seeing more and more options over time. As it stands, my three favorite ski resorts in the United States that are bookable with points are the following:

• The St. Regis Deer Valley is a popular points properties and has a high percentage of suites (which is good for elite upgrades), though based on my most recent stay, I’m not returning here
• The St. Regis Aspen is right in the heart of Aspen, so you can’t beat the location, especially with Aspen being such a charming down
• The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek is a property in the cute Beaver Creek complex, and is probably the best luxury Hyatt ski resort in the United States

There are of course some other options, but those are my favorites. The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley complements the nearby Hyatt Centric Park City, which is otherwise pretty popular with World of Hyatt members.

Bottom line

The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley has opened as of late November 2024, and is part of the Deer Valley Resort expansion. It’s fantastic to see another great Hyatt ski option in the United States where you can earn and redeem points. I look forward to checking out this property at some point!

What do you make of the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley?

Details of the American & Aer Lingus partnership

In late 2020, Aer Lingus was approved to join the oneworld transatlantic joint venture. This previously included just American, British Airways, Iberia, and Finnair. Aer Lingus is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), though prior to that hadn’t been part of this agreement, and the airline also continues to not be part of the oneworld alliance.

With this joint venture, the airlines can share revenue and coordinate fares, schedules, and routes, across the Atlantic. Then in early 2022, American and Aer Lingus launched a codeshare agreement for flights between the United States and Ireland.

This primarily included American placing its code on Aer Lingus flights within Europe, and Aer Lingus placing its code on American flights within the United States. This is intended to create a more seamless experience for passengers, so that they can easily book itineraries involving both airlines through either carrier’s website.

What’s odd is how little reciprocity there was with this agreement initially, both in terms of mileage earning opportunities and elite perks. We saw the mileage earning situation change in late 2023, and now we’re seeing the elite perks situation change in late 2024.

American & Aer Lingus frequent flyer reciprocity

Back in December 2023, American AAdvantage and Aer Lingus AerClub added reciprocal mileage earning opportunities. American AAdvantage members can earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points for all flights that are marketed and operated by Aer Lingus. Miles are awarded based on revenue, which includes base fare and carrier imposed surcharges, but excludes government imposed taxes and fees.

Specifically, AAdvantage members can earn 5x miles per dollar spent on Aer Lingus flights (the same as the rate of earning on British Airways and Iberia), plus there are elite bonuses:

• AAdvantage Gold members get a 40% mileage bonus, for a total of 7x miles
• AAdvantage Platinum members get a 60% mileage bonus, for a total of 8x miles
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro members get an 80% mileage bonus, for a total of 9x miles
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum members get a 120% mileage bonus, for a total of 11x miles

On top of that, as of November 2024, we’ve finally seen the introduction of reciprocal elite perks, as flagged by @xJonNYC.

For example, AAdvantage elite members can now receive perks like priority check-in, fast track security, priority boarding, lounge access, and free checked bags, when traveling with Aer Lingus. This is a massive step in the right direction.

There’s still no sign of reciprocal award redemptions, though we’ve been told that those should be introduced eventually.

This partnership is really strange

I’m really confused by the execution of Aer Lingus’ integration into the oneworld transatlantic joint venture. Ordinarily, the whole point of these joint ventures is to create as much metal neutrality as possible, which means giving customers an incentive to also travel on partner airlines.

Typically when a joint venture launches (or an airline is added to an existing joint venture), we almost immediately see reciprocal perks between airlines. This includes the ability to earn and redeem miles, take advantage of elite perks, etc.

Now, roughly four years after Aer Lingus joined the oneworld transatlantic joint venture, and nearly three years after American and Aer Lingus started codesharing, we’re seeing the first signs of elite reciprocity.

Interestingly Aer Lingus historically had a partnership with United. The two airlines finally recently ended their codeshare agreement, but they still offer reciprocal mileage earning.

I have to imagine there’s a reason for this lackluster and very drawn out integration, I’m just not sure what it is. Anyone have any insights?

Bottom line

American Airlines and Aer Lingus launched a codeshare agreement in early 2022, roughly a year after Aer Lingus was approved to join the oneworld transatlantic joint venture. In late 2023, we saw the airlines introduce reciprocal points earning, and now in late 2024, we’re seeing the airlines introduce reciprocal elite perks. There’s still no sign of reciprocal award redemptions, though.

I’m happy to see the airlines continuing to move closer together, though I can’t help but find this whole execution to be very strange.

What do you make of the American & Aer Lingus partnership?

SWISS now offering Sisley products onboard

SWISS has partnered with French brand Sisley to refresh its first class skincare offerings. With this, we’re going to see Sisley hand cream and facial lotion available in the lavatories in SWISS first class, and Sisley hand cream, face cream, and eye and lip balm, available in SWISS first class amenity kits.

This will be rolled out gradually over the coming days and weeks. For those not familiar, Sisley is a very well regarded French skincare brand, with some very expensive products. All the products available on SWISS come from established retail lines, available to the general public.

Specifically, SWISS will offer the following products in first class:

• In the amenity kit, there will be 10ml of face cream (Hydra-Global), 5ml of hand cream (Crème Réparatrice Mains), and 5ml of eye and lip balm (Baume Efficace)
• In the lavatory, there will be a 75ml bottle of hand cream (Crème Réparatrice Mains) and a 100ml bottle of facial lotion (Sisleÿa Lotion de Soin Essentielle)

Just to give a sense of the pricing here, 40ml of the face cream retails for 248 CHF (~$280), so 10ml would be roughly $70 “worth” of face cream (of course that’s an extreme oversimplification, but the point is, this stuff is pricey).

The only thing surprising about this collaboration

The one thing that’s a bit surprising here is that SWISS is highlighting a French brand in its first class. For “national carriers,” it’s common for them to try to highlight products from their home country, especially when it’s something a country is known for.

Switzerland is known for lots of super high-end skincare brands, ranging from La Prairie to Cellcosmet. For what it’s worth, up until recently, SWISS had products from Soeder, also a brand from Switzerland.

So I wonder if SWISS just decided to go with Sisley because it has a great reputation, in spite of not being Swiss. Or I wonder if SWISS just couldn’t get a deal on any of the Swiss brands, as they didn’t see a return on investment on such a partnership.

Given the margins on skincare products, you’d think that being able to provide what essentially amounts to samples of your products to a very affluent crowd would make a lot of sense.

Bottom line

SWISS is partnering with Sisley for first class skincare, as the airline will offer Sisley products in first class amenity kits and in lavatories. So make sure you take those amenity kits home with you, and be sure to generously moisturize your face in the lavatory!

Now if only SWISS first class were easier to book with miles… I guess there are always cash upgrade offers.

What do you make of SWISS partnering with Sisley?

I didn’t even think my observations were that controversial, and more readers agreed with me than not. Thinking Cairo Airport isn’t good is about as controversial as stating that the DMV doesn’t have the world’s best service.

But fast forward to the past several days, where this has somehow become a national story in Egypt. The Egyptian government is angry at me, has threatened me, and has even released video footage of me “enjoying” the airport to prove that I’m lying (by posting footage of seven minutes of the roughly four hours I spent at the airport — and yes, those seven minutes do look pretty pleasant!).

The government has gone so far as to suggest that I was on someone else’s payroll to slander the airport. It’s completely nuts.

I’ll be steering clear of Egypt until further notice

Following this incident, several readers asked if I’d still travel to Egypt, and/or urged me not to. I wanted to talk about that in a bit more detail in this post. First of all, thanks to everyone for their feedback, and to those who expressed concern at the situation… I appreciate it!

I want to say in no uncertain terms that I’ll be avoiding Cairo and all of Egypt for the foreseeable future, and won’t be visiting the country or even transiting an airport there. I’m basically viewing myself as a persona non grata in the country. I don’t want to go so far as to say that I’ll “never” return to Egypt, but unless there’s some useful dialogue that comes of this (unlikely) or unless there’s a regime change at some point, I’m just not going to risk it.

I don’t ultimately know what would happen to me if I traveled to Egypt again, but the government clearly stated that it will “take all necessary legal action against those who attempt to harm the credibility and reputation of the civil aviation sector through unfounded allegations.” Since the government insists that my claims are unfounded, and even states that I’m on some foreign entity’s payroll to slander the airport, it’s just not a risk that I want to put myself (or my family) through.

Now, I’ve seen some people suggest that I should be scared way beyond that, saying I should be worried to travel anywhere in the Middle East, and one person even pointing out that the United States and Egypt have an extradition treaty, etc. While I appreciate the general warnings, that’s not something that’s causing me any concern as of now:

• I don’t think this is what extradition treaties are made for
• In the scheme of the enemies of Egypt, I have to imagine that I still rank pretty low
• I’m deliberate and careful with the Middle Eastern countries that I travel to, so unless there’s some information I’m not privy to, I don’t have concerns that this will cause me issues with other countries

I still can’t believe the Egyptian government’s response

I’ve been blogging for nearly 17 years, and I’ve shared my fair share of travel opinions and takes on the blog. While I’ve had all kinds of parties take issue with what I write (as you’d expect), I’ve never in my life had as unwarranted (in my mind) of a response as the Egyptian government’s attack on me. To start:

• Clearly the Egyptian government isn’t familiar with the Streisand effect, and how they just brought a lot more attention to the issues at Cairo Airport than I ever could have
• I’m just some random blogger, so to have a government come after me in this way is just such a disproportionate response; you’d think I was acting on behalf of some foreign government that is an enemy of Egypt
• I shared my sincerely held beliefs about Cairo Airport, and I didn’t say a single thing that was dishonest or that I didn’t believe; I think it’s really important to be honest when sharing experiences, because I operate under the assumption that if I lie, someone will hold me accountable, and I deserve that
• As longtime OMAAT readers can attest to, I’m not someone who is seeking out drama, unlike some other bloggers and vloggers, who seem to constantly have problematic run-ins; since the Aegon Mykonos incident over three years ago, I’ve had basically no drama, and that’s quite some time for someone who travels as much as I do

It honestly didn’t faze me much initially, but the more I think about it, the wilder I think this whole thing is. How crazy is it that a government spent a countless number of hours finding CCTV footage of me all over the airport, and then selectively published parts of it to make it look like the airport is perfect?

What an absolutely shocking invasion of privacy. Like, it’s one thing to publish footage if someone committed an actual crime at an airport, but to publish footage of me and broadcast it on the national news in Egypt when I quite literally didn’t commit any crimes is just next level.

I also love the number of government trolls (or something) who are coming here and commenting about how I’ve been “exposed” for lying, like this one:

You are a liar supported by dirty Ethiopia and you will be punished by law  and banned from entering Egypt forever

Let me once again emphasize that seven minutes of my roughly four hours at Cairo Airport were published. Of course the airport looks super pleasant based on that footage, because the government cherry picked the seven minutes that make it look the best.

But what a truly bizarre invasion of privacy. Online complaints about Cairo Airport are absolutely endless, so to think that any foreigner with no agenda can be publicly shamed and attacked for their perception of an airport is kind of wild.

I can’t help but wonder if there’s anything else that can be done to hold the government responsible here. I mean, Egypt is a country that has flights and travelers from all over the world, including multiple nonstop flights from the United States.

For example, Thailand has extreme defamation laws, but at least they’re clearly published, so travelers should make themselves familiar with them. In the case of Egypt, there are (to my knowledge) no laws against sharing your opinion and experiences traveling through an airport. I mean, heck, government-owned EgyptAir sends out post-flight surveys soliciting feedback on the experience.

Even within the context of different governments taking different approaches, Egypt’s response seems extreme, in terms of threatening me, making up false accusations against me, and publishing video footage of me.

Will this incident change my content going forward?

I’m trying to reflect on whether I learned anything from this incident, or if anything about this will change the way I approach content in the future. Maybe my opinion will evolve over time, but initially I’m just viewing this incident as a very strange outlier.

I’ve been blogging for a very long time, and for the most part, haven’t had too much drama. I mean, I receive some consistent threats that I won’t get in to, but it’s the internet, so what can you really expect? As I reflect on what I could take away from this incident, here are a few thoughts:

• I’m not suddenly going to stop being objective, or stop sharing negative thoughts on something, if it reflects how I feel; while most of my posts highlight the “best” rather than the “worst” of things, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with either approach
• I’ll continue to be careful about the timing of publishing negative things, so that I don’t publish them when I’m in a country where it could pose a risk (as I generally do)
• This certainly makes me hyper aware of how some of the more “controversial” governments out there may take serious issue with what ultimately amounts to a random person’s opinion

I’m certainly open to other lessons as well, and like I said, my feelings may evolve over time.

Bottom line

It has certainly been an interesting few days here on the blog. A post sharing my general dislike of Cairo Airport somehow made national headlines in Egypt, and caused the government to accuse me of all kinds of things, including taking a trip “aimed at undermining Cairo Airport.” The government has even threatened to take legal action against me.

I’ve dealt with quite a bit of negative feedback and even many threats on the blog over the years, though this one definitely takes the cake.

What’s your take on this situation, and what my takeaway should be?

Oman Air will be newest oneworld member airline

Oman Air will be joining the oneworld alliance, in a process that should be completed on June 30, 2025. Initially Oman Air was supposed to join the alliance in 2024, but that timeline has been delayed for a variety of reasons.

In 2021, Oman Air revealed its plans to apply to join the oneworld global alliance. The Muscat-based airline was hoping for Qatar Airways’ support in accomplishing this. Qatar Airways is not only another airline from the region, but also a oneworld member airline. For that matter, Qatar Airways’ former CEO was the chairman of oneworld at the time, and one of his primary goals was to expand membership in the alliance.

Then in 2022, plans were formally announced for Oman Air to join oneworld. So it looks like it’ll be around three years from when it was announced until when it actually happens. I know there’s a lot of back-end technology that has to be updated, but goodness, this is a drawn out process.

In fairness, there’s a lot going on at the airline — Oman Air has a new(ish) CEO, and the carrier is also undergoing a restructuring, including shrinking considerably.

The oneworld alliance is one of the three major global alliances. Major airlines in oneworld include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, and more. In the past few years the alliance added two new members (Alaska and Royal Air Maroc), but also lost one member (LATAM).

The oneworld alliance is also in the process of adding Fiji Airways within the next year, and Hawaiian Airlines is expected to join in 2026, now that it has been acquired by Alaska Airlines.

What is Oman Air, anyway?

Oman Air is a Muscat-based airline, and it operates a fleet of nearly 35 aircraft, including Boeing 737s and Boeing 787s (the airline recently retired all Airbus A330s, so that represents quite a capacity reduction). This is definitely more of a “boutique” airline, and doesn’t compete on the global scale that Emirates and Qatar Airways do, for example. Oman Air flies as far West as the UK, and as far East as the Philippines.

Oman Air has an incredible business class product, as the airline has Apex Suites, which are among my favorite business class seats. Oman Air used to have first class on two Boeing 787-9s, but that product has now been rebranded as Business Studio. The issue is that Oman Air is quite inconsistent. On a good day, Oman Air is top notch. On a bad day… well, not so much.

I’m thrilled that Oman Air is joining the oneworld alliance — oneworld offers the strongest elite recognition of any major alliance (I love being a oneworld Emerald), and the prospect of earning and redeeming oneworld miles for travel on Oman Air is exciting.

I’m also curious to see what Oman Air does when it comes to lounge access for elite members at its Muscat hub. In addition to a solid business class lounge, Oman Air has a great first class lounge. With Oman Air having discontinued first class, the airline is no longer using this lounge. Could we see it make a comeback as a oneworld Emerald lounge? I wouldn’t count on it, but it sure would be nice…

Alaska Mileage Plan and Qantas Frequent Flyer already allow you to redeem miles on Oman Air, ahead of the airline joining the alliance. On top of that, Oman Air has a partnership with Air Canada Aeroplan, so you can redeem Aeroplan points for travel on the airline.

Is Oman Air a good fit for oneworld?

In some ways I’m surprised that oneworld is the alliance that Oman Air is joining. As much as I’m personally thrilled about this, on the surface you’d think that Star Alliance would be a better fit:

• The oneworld alliance already has Qatar Airways, one of the biggest Gulf airlines, which competes pretty directly with Oman Air for connecting traffic
• Star Alliance, on the other hand, doesn’t have any airlines immediately from that region; the closest airlines would be EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, but I wouldn’t consider those to be direct competitors in the same way

I suspect this comes down to Qatar Airways and Oman Air cooperating pretty closely in general, and really viewing themselves more as partners than as rivals. Qatar Airways is even currently leasing planes from Oman Air. I suspect this friendship between the airlines is part of the reason that Oman Air selected oneworld.

Bottom line

Oman Air is joining the oneworld alliance, and the current plan is for the airline to join the alliance on June 30, 2025. Oman Air’s desire to join the alliance was first revealed in 2021, so this is quite the waiting game. As a oneworld loyalist, I’m excited for this development, both when it comes to earning and redeeming points.

What do you make of Oman Air joining oneworld?

Through Sunday, December 8, 2024, Rakuten is offering a best-ever bonus for new members who are referred by existing members:

• If you refer a friend to Rakuten and they spend $40, then both the person referring and the person being referred receive $40
• In order to be eligible, the person being referred needs to make a purchase within 90 days

In this post I wanted to highlight the easiest way to take advantage of this offer, as it’s an option that a lot of people overlook. If you’re eligible, then there’s simply no reason not to do this.

Easiest way to make a Rakuten purchase

Rakuten is an online shopping portal that partners with hundreds of retailers, offering cash back or Amex Membership Rewards points for purchases you’d make anyway. Sometimes there are even elevated bonuses, as we’re seeing right now.

Getting $40 back on a $40 purchase is awesome, though I get that a lot of people might be thinking “well I can’t think of anything I need to buy right now that costs around $40.”

In this post I wanted to highlight the easiest way to earn this bonus — buy a $40 gift card and you’ll get $40 back. Below I’ll outline the process, for anyone who may not be a Rakuten member yet.

Step 1: Sign-up for a Rakuten account

The first step is to sign up for a Rakuten account through a refer-a-friend link. You can sign-up through my link (thanks for your support!), or others are free to leave their links in the comments section.

The process of signing up should only take a couple of minutes.

One of my favorite things about Rakuten is how you can earn Amex Membership Rewards points in lieu of cash back for your online shopping. Once you’ve signed up for your account you can choose to select Amex Membership Rewards points rather than cash back as your earnings preference.

Note that this change won’t apply to the sign-up bonus, but will apply to everything else going forward. This is an excellent opportunity, since personally I value one Amex Membership Rewards point at significantly more than one cent.

Step 2: Buy a $40 gift card

While logged into your Rakuten account, you’ll need to make an eligible purchase. There are several websites dedicated to selling gift cards that partner with Rakuten, including raise.com, giftcards.com, and giftcardmall.com.

You’ll want to buy a gift card specifically through one of these websites, because the terms allow you to earn credit for gift card purchases, which isn’t the case when buying gift cards through many of Rakuten’s retail partners.

I’ve had issues with raise.com (I’ve found orders are often canceled for unknown reasons), but giftcards.com works well, in my experience.

So enter giftcards.com in the search bar at the top of Rakuten’s website.

Then click the “Shop Now” button, which will take you to giftcards.com. All your purchases while on that site will automatically be tracked.

The website sells a variety of gift cards with popular retailers, including DoorDash, Uber, Delta, Southwest, Hulu, Netflix, Dominos, and many more.

For example, you could buy a $40 DoorDash gift card at face value, and the code will be delivered by email within minutes.

Step 3: Wait for your credit to post

Once the purchase is complete, you should see Rakuten automatically tracking the purchase.

Within an hour the purchase should be fully reflected — the Rakuten account will show a credit in the amount of the sign-up bonus, plus the rewards for the actual purchase (which will vary based on whether you choose to earn cash or Membership Rewards points). As a standard, giftcards.com offers either 1% cash back, or one Membership Rewards point per dollar spent, but sometimes we see increased offers.

The one major catch here is the delayed payment period. You’ll only be paid once quarterly, and there’s a cutoff for payments:

• For activity between January 1 and March 31, get paid on May 15
• For activity between April 1 and June 30, get paid on August 15
• For activity between July 1 and September 30, get paid on November 15
• For activity between October 1 and December 31, get paid on February 15

Is buying a gift card with Rakuten worth it?

Essentially new Rakuten members will get $40 cash within a few months if they spend $40 now. Based on that, I’d say:

• This is a great deal and no-brainer if you were going to spend $40 with a merchant that you could buy a $40 gift card from anyway; if you’re going to spend $40 with DoorDash anyway, why not earn $40 in cash back a few months down the road in the process?
• This could be especially lucrative if you can refer a friend or family member, since between the two of you you’ll be getting $80 in value (or potentially $40 and 4,000 Amex points, which is even better)

Bottom line

Rakuten is offering a best-ever $40 bonus to both the person referring and the person being referred through the refer-a-friend program. I’m a huge fan of Rakuten in general, and there’s lots of value to be had here.

If you’re looking for the easiest way to complete this offer, purchase a $40 gift card to a retailer of your choice through giftcards.com. You’ll then get $40 in cash with your next payout.

If you would have spent money with a retailer anyway and aren’t yet a Rakuten member, then this is a no-brainer. Best of all, it’ll get you into the habit of using Rakuten, and earning rewards for all your online purchases.