One Mile At A Time: "Japan Airlines plans to initially fly its Airbus A350-1000s to New York, followed by Dallas. The intent is for the A350-1000 to enter service as of January 24, 2024, initially flying every other day between Tokyo (HND) and New York (JFK)."
"Japan Airlines will take delivery of its second Airbus A350-1000 by March 31, 2024, at the latest, at which point JL5/6 will feature the A350 daily; that’s the official plan as of now, even though seat maps haven’t yet been updated to reflect that"
Points Wire Note:
Hopefully, we'll start to see Japan Airlines open up a bit more award space in the coming year!
Loyalty Lobby: "IHG offers award discounts for stays at select new hotels and has now updated the selection for stays through February 29, 2024. IHG One Rewards members can save 15% on these stays; the discount is shown during the booking process."
View From The Wing: "Bottom-line on this deal, think $149 for 12 months of lounge access and airport priority when you travel with any oneworld airline. With American Airlines, Royal Jordanian Gold gets you not just Admirals Club access (now as much as $850 per year for membership) but also Flagship Lounge access even on domestic itineraries. There are Flagship lounges in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Los Angeles."
"Offer requires residence in one of: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey and UAE. They will request proof such as passport or drivers license."
Points Wire Note:
While this one doesn't apply to Americans, it's always a good idea to keep an eye out for status match opportunities!
Frequent Miler: "Marriott is offering 20% off on up to $3,000 in gift cards via a possibly targeted email being sent to Marriott credit card holders. There is a unique code in the email that you’ll have to click through to get this discount, but this could be a very good deal."
Costco is selling $250 Disney e-gift cards for $224.99 - that's a 10% discount. Limit 2 per membership. While supplies last.
Not a bad way to help keep costs down at Disney.
Points Wire Note:
Pay with a Chase Freedom Flex (or Chase Freedom) to earn 5%/5x on the purchase. If you just opened the Chase Freedom Unlimited to get the offer for unlimited matched cashback for 12 months, you can earn 1.5%/1.5x which doubles after 12 months.
Skift: "Delta Air Lines is already bringing artificial intelligence into its operations. At an investor conference Wednesday, Delta executives said that they started experimenting with AI in the past month for its reservations team and to determine pricing."
"Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s president, added that the carrier also started using AI to figure out how much customers would be willing to pay for premium products in addition to base fares."
"'It really automates,' Hauenstein said. 'It streamlines and accelerates our ability to move faster. So, really exciting on a whole host of fronts. But from the commercial side, that’s one where we really think it has some great power for us.'”
Points Wire Note:
For those of use who enjoy finding great fare deals, this is certainly one to watch.
Amex is out with a targeted offer for Air Canada, If you spend $1,000+, you can get $150 back as a statement credit. Flights must originate in the U.S.
It's unlikely that you'll be able to use this to get a discount on award tickets taxes/fees since Air Canada doesn't make you pay carrier-imposed surcharges.
Ideally, you'll get this offer on the Amex Platinum so you can earn 5x when booking with Air Canada.
One Mile At A Time: "In May 2022, the Air Canada Aeroplan program introduced a creative long term transfer bonus in partnership with Chase. Initially this was only supposed to be valid through the end of 2023, but this has now been extended indefinitely, which is awesome news."
To get the 10% bonus, you must transfer 50,000+ Chase Ultimate Rewards points at once. You can earn up to 25,000 bonus points per year by transferring a total of 250,000 Chase points. Remember, you must transfer at least 50,000 points to get the 10% bonus.
The bonus Aeroplan points can take 72 hours to seven days to post.
Points Wire Note:
Stack this with the current 20% Chase transfer bonus to Aeroplan.
Travel Pulse: "Hyatt Hotels Corporation revealed its development pipeline of more than 35 planned luxury hotels and resorts globally through 2025."
"The new and revamped properties will be branded across the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Miraval, Alila, Andaz, Thompson Hotels, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brands, and Inclusive Collection brands Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts and Dreams Resorts & Spas."
Loyalty Lobby: "Aegean is joining the ever-increasing list of airlines offering complimentary infight WiFi for members of its Miles+Bonus frequent flier program and business class passengers."
"Miles+Bonus base and Silver members can get a Text & Surf package (1.5 MB) free, while Gold and Business class passengers get the Stream package (15MB)."
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