Category: News

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Slashes Point Transfer Fees

September 9, 2023 2

Virgin Atlantic has slashed the cost of transferring points between family and friends. Effective immediately, you will only have to pay aflat fee regardless of the number of points transferred. Let's look at this 90% drop in fees.

Sam Helmy

Hyatt Now Displaying Resort Fees in Search Results, Just One Week After Being Sued

August 31, 2023 0

Like Marriott, Hyatt has been targeted as the subject of a lawsuit over its lack of transparency for resort fees. But in just over a week, Hyatt has taken action. Here's the latest on making these fees more transparent during the reservation process.

Carissa Rawson

Subscribing to Club LifeMiles: Is It Worth It After Recent Changes?

August 27, 2023 22

LifeMiles members can subscribe to Club LifeMiles to receive miles monthly. With various plans and other perks, the subscription model is interesting but won't provide outsized value to every traveler. Who should subscribe? We dove into the numbers and found out.

Tyler Glatt

American Airlines To Add Revenue-Based Earnings on British Airways and Iberia

August 21, 2023 1

American Airlines will be changing how you earn miles with British Airways and Iberia starting October 18, 2023. Travel after this date will earn miles based on the fare you've paid rather than the distance you've flown, matching American's policy for its own flights.

Carissa Rawson

Avianca LifeMiles Eliminates Manual Bookings by Email

August 17, 2023 1

Avianca LifeMiles has done away with its customer support email, which could be used to complete manual bookings, request refunds for flight cancellations or changes, and find out information about partner award bookings. It might not affect everyone, but it's worth knowing about.

Carissa Rawson

Virgin Atlantic Adds LATAM Award Bookings. Here's the New Award Chart.

August 17, 2023 0

Virgin Atlantic just added award redemptions on LATAM-operated flights. That means travelers now have even more options for booking award flights to South America and even more uses for their Virgin points. Here are the details we know so far about this expanded partnership.

JT Genter

Finnair to Adopt Avios, Make Finnair Plus Program Enhancements. Here's What You Need to Know.

August 16, 2023 0

Today, Finnair announced several noteworthy changes to its mileage program — from adopting Avios as its mileage currency to guaranteeing a certain number of saver award seats on every flight. Here's what we know so far about the changes to the Finnair Plus program and when they're going to take effect.

JT Genter

Earn 3X United Miles Plus on Vrbo Bookings

August 15, 2023 0

Did you know you can earn 3X United MileagePlus miles on Vrbo stays? This is a partnership we haven't mentioned previously on AwardWallet, but it's definitely a promotion worth considering. Here are the details.

Skye Class

More Details on Choice–Radisson Merger: You May Have Higher Status Than Before!

August 10, 2023 2

The merger of Radisson Rewards Americas into Choice Privileges is complete, but there were a few outstanding questions. Given that the programs had different points expiration policies and different thresholds for earning status tiers, how would the integration work for these elements? What would happen to your points and to your former elite status from Radisson Rewards Americas?

Sam Helmy

New American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partner: Qatar Airways

July 26, 2023 4

Rejoice, because you have another transfer partner for your Amex Membership Rewards points: Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Without any announcement from American Express, Qatar Airways simply showed up in the Amex transfer partners portal. Here's what you need to know about this new partnership.

Ryan Smith

Wide-Open Etihad Apartments Award Availability!

July 26, 2023 7

The Etihad Airbus A380 finally returned to the skies this month. And that means the return of the beloved Etihad Apartments. If you want to fly the fabled, once-thought-to-be-extinct product for yourself, we have some great news. We are seeing wide-open award availability for up to two passengers per flight. Here's why you should consider splurging for Etihad Apartments, and the best ways to book.

JT Genter

Air France–KLM Flying Blue Awards Now Permit Free Stopovers on Partner Redemptions

July 21, 2023 6

Great news points and miles travelers: You now can book free stopovers on Air France–KLM Flying Blue award tickets even when traveling on partner airlines. This can unlock incredible value by adding a free second destination to your trip, but there are some important quirks to know about.

Ryan Smith

You Can Now Book ITA Airways Flights With Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Points

July 21, 2023 1

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club joined SkyTeam on March 2, 2023, and it's now possible to book awards for SkyTeam partner ITA Airways using your Virgin points. Best of all, you can do this online. ITA Airways, for those unfamiliar, is an Italian airline and is the successor to now-defunct Alitalia. Here's what you should know about using your Virgin Atlantic points for ITA Airways flights — and the wide-open availability we're seeing.

Ryan Smith

Virgin Australia Moves to a 3-Tier Domestic Award Chart

July 20, 2023 0

Virgin Australia has shifted its domestic award chart into a three-tier model as of July 5, 2023. The new pricing reflects demand and availability for any given flight. In the long run, you'll likely pay more for award reservations.

Sam Helmy

American Airlines (Re)Adds Free Award Changes for Certain AAdvantage Awards

July 19, 2023 5

As part of its switch to dynamic award pricing, American Airlines sunsetted a flyer-friendly policy: Free AAdvantage award changes. Going forward, all AAdvantage awards would be treated like the now-retired Web Special awards. Today, American Airlines is reversing course. On certain eligible AAdvantage awards, you'll now be able to change your award flights without having to cancel, refund, and rebook your flights. Here are the details of this policy change.

JT Genter

IHG Award Nights Can Now Set You Back Up to 250,000 Points

July 19, 2023 3

Without any announcement, IHG has upped the award pricing on some of its properties to a massive 250,000 points per night. Here's what we're seeing at some of IHG's top luxury properties.

Sam Helmy

New Rules To Access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow

July 16, 2023 2

Virgin Atlantic has quietly changed the access rules to its flagship lounge, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in London Heathrow (LHR). The new rules reduce some access and better reflect Virgin’s status as a SkyTeam member.

Sam Helmy

Finnair Devalues Finnair Plus Award Redemptions, Adds New Surcharges

July 15, 2023 0

Finnair award travel is now up to 33% more expensive, thank to a devaluation of Finnair Plus award charts. On top of that, the carrier added new fees on all award flights. Here's a look at these changes for the worse.

Max Prosperi

Act Now: Book AAdvantage Awards, Codeshare Flights Before Northeast Alliance Breakup

July 14, 2023 2

Today, American Airlines announced an initial breakup timeline of its Northeast Alliance with JetBlue. Travelers have less than a week to book AAdvantage awards on JetBlue, book codeshare flights, or change their loyalty number in existing bookings. Here's a breakdown of what that means and what you might want to do in the next week.

JT Genter

Turns Out We Can't Have Nice Things: Hyatt and MGM to End Partnership

July 11, 2023 1

MGM and Hyatt just announced that they'll be ending their partnership on September 30, 2023. While this isn't especially surprising, it is bad news for those who've relied on the partnership to earn cheap Hyatt elite status or get their resort fees waived on Vegas stays. Thankfully, you have a few more days to take advantage of status matches and a couple of months to enjoy reciprocal earnings. Here are the details of this breakup.

Carissa Rawson

World Of Hyatt Award Rebate: Get 20% Back at Select Hyatt Brands

July 11, 2023 10

Summer travel is here and in full force and that means so is Hyatt's latest seasonal promotion. From July 11 through September 17, 2023, co-branded Hyatt cardholders can get a 20% points rebate at select hotels. From boutique hotels in Austin for under 10k points to staying in the heart of Europe for under 3k points, here's how you can maximize this promotion.

JT Genter & Toni Southam