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The world of points and miles moves incredibly fast. All too often, airlines, hotels, banks, loyalty programs, and credit card issuers make minor changes, many of which can go unnoticed. So, we wanted to create a place where you can learn about changes caught by the AwardWallet team that are too small to justify their own post. Welcome to our new series: “Points of Interest!”
In each post, we will list niche news that likely flew under your radar over the past few weeks.
Page Contents
- Amex Centurion Lounge LAX Closes Spa
- Delta To Amend SkyMiles, MQD Earnings on Kenya Airways Flights
- IHG Ditches Pay With Points
- Best Western Shortens Elite Status Year
- Radisson Removes Emirates as Transfer Partner
- Japan Airlines Ever-So-Slightly Increases Fees on Award Redemptions
- Delta Tweaks Change and Cancellation Fees on Flights From U.K.
- LATAM Pass Removes Elite Earnings on Select Partners
- Redeem Emirates Skywards Miles for Cargo Shipments
- Final Thoughts
Amex Centurion Lounge LAX Closes Spa
If you're a fan of a pre-flight massage and have a means of accessing American Express Centurion Lounges, you might be disappointed to find that the LAX outpost closed the doors to its spa. Amex eliminated the spa from the list of lounge benefits on October 3, 2024.
This news may come as a surprise if you didn't realize the LAX Centurion Lounge had a spa to begin with. But, from what we can tell, the line for getting such treatments was routinely long. So, this change might be perceived as only barely negative.
Delta To Amend SkyMiles, MQD Earnings on Kenya Airways Flights
On October 4, 2024, Delta added a new table to its partner airlines webpage. Effective October 15, 2024, Kenya Airways flights credited to the SkyMiles program will earn differently. This change is a positive one, as most fare classes will get a boost in total miles earned and the percentage of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) earned, and all impacted classes will become eligible for a Medallion mileage bonus.
For reference, you can view the soon-to-be-new table below:
And you can see mostly marked improvements compared to the soon-to-be-old accrual table:
IHG Ditches Pay With Points
As of October 1, 2024, IHG offered two similarly-named redemption options: Points & Cash and Pay With Points. A day later, IHG removed the latter from its One Rewards program.
For the unfamiliar, the Pay With Points feature allowed members to use points to cover stay-related expenses. This perk wasn't available at every IHG property and was generally a poor use of points. So, if we had to guess, Pay With Points might be something travelers can live without.
It's worth noting that Points & Cash is still available. If you're short the points necessary for an award stay, you can still buy the remaining points needed to cover the difference. Do remember that if you make such a booking, you will be entirely refunded in points if you cancel, making it a backdoor way of buying IHG points.
Best Western Shortens Elite Status Year
Earlier this month, the Best Western Rewards program quietly shortened its elite status year by three months. Now, if you earn status with the program, your benefits are valid through December 31 of the next year instead of March 31 of the year after that.
That means Best Western elite status earned in 2024 will be valid through December 31, 2025 instead of March 31, 2026.
Of all the hotel loyalty programs, Best Western Rewards isn't the most-loved. But it's still a notable change that Best Western removed three months you'd otherwise get to enjoy your organically-earned elite status.
Related: How To Get Best Western Elite Status via Status Match
Radisson Removes Emirates as Transfer Partner
Many hotel loyalty programs give members the opportunity to transfer hotel points to airline miles. Some of these (e.g., Marriott Bonvoy airline transfer partners) are better than others (e.g., Hilton Honors transfer partners)
On September 19, 2024, Radisson Rewards shortened its list of airline transfer partners with the immediate and unannounced removal of Emirates Skywards.
Here's a list of the surviving Radisson airline transfer partners:
Japan Airlines Ever-So-Slightly Increases Fees on Award Redemptions
Japan Airlines issues a hard-to-earn mileage currency through its JAL Mileage Bank program. Generally speaking, converting Marriott Bonvoy points to Mileage Bank miles is the only real way for a U.S.-based traveler to build up a stash. But JAL miles are incredibly valuable if you can generate them.
If you have JAL miles, redeeming them will cost you a tiny bit more. On October 1, 2024, JAL increased the taxes and fees on award tickets — but by truly minuscule amounts.
Government-imposed taxes and fees now start at $12.80 instead of $12.40. Partner airline fuel surcharges and other carrier-imposed fees start from $19.30 instead of $18.60. That means total government-imposed taxes and fees and carrier-imposed fees now start at $32.10 per person, per award — up from $31 per person, per award.
It's a minor change that many travelers may not even notice, but we wanted to give the heads up that the out-of-pocket costs on JAL Mileage Bank redemptions have been tweaked.
Delta Tweaks Change and Cancellation Fees on Flights From U.K.
On September 26, 2024, Delta updated its fee policy page to adjust fees on tickets originating in the U.K. The good news: Change and cancellation fees for Main Cabin and Comfort+ tickets dropped from £200 to £150 for flights booked on September 26, 2024 and forward.
The bad news: Delta One flights originating in the U.K. no longer have free changes or cancellations. Delta One tickets booked prior to September 26, 2024 will continue to have no change fees or cancellations.
Why Delta decided to only tweak fees on flights from the U.K. is a mystery to us. But here's the updated policy for reference:
LATAM Pass Removes Elite Earnings on Select Partners
Back in late August 2024, LATAM quietly removed elite-qualifying points earnings from Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines flights. While you can still earn and redeem miles on these carriers, these flights will no longer help you earn LATAM elite status.
Redeem Emirates Skywards Miles for Cargo Shipments
Also in late August 2024, Emirates added the ability to redeem Emirates Skywards miles for SkyCargo shipments from Dubai. Redemptions start at 5,000 miles and in increments of 1,000 miles up to a maximum of 200,000 miles per transaction. However, we don't have a redemption rate for these as you must call the Emirates SkyCargo call center to redeem.
Final Thoughts
Even if you're plugged in 24/7, it's easy to miss these minor loyalty program changes and niche points and miles news. Generally, airlines and hotels don't announce these changes — particularly when negative. That's why we at AwardWallet closely monitor websites to catch these changes.
While these changes aren't worthy of a standalone post, we want to keep you informed of all of the changes to the award travel ecosystem.
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