Preorder (Better) Meals In Virgin Atlantic

Head for Points: "Assuming you don’t mind losing a bit of the spontaneity and surprise of choosing on board, pre-ordering your main course lets you choose from a much wider range of options.

In my case, on a flight from London Heathrow to Male in the Maldives (my coverage of that trip will appear next week) I had a choice of ten different main courses. This is a huge increase from the usual three offered on board."

My Emirates Pass Offers Discounts In Dubai This Winter

Frequent Flyer Bonuses: "Emirates has brought back the My Emirates Pass offer for the winter season. This promotion provides discounts and special offers for shopping, dining, leisure activities and much in Dubai and the surrounding area. '

Etihad Removing First Class From DC, Moving It To New York

One Mile At A Time: "Currently Etihad’s only route to the United States with first class is the carrier’s daily Abu Dhabi to Washington flight. That will soon be changing. As of April 22, 2024:

Etihad’s Abu Dhabi to Washington route will be swapped from a three cabin 787 to a two cabin 787, meaning it will no longer feature first class

Etihad’s second daily Abu Dhabi to New York flight (the non-A380 frequency) will be swapped from a two cabin 787 to a three cabin 787, meaning it will start to feature first class"

Points Wire Note: If you have a first class ticket booked on the Washington Dulles route that will be impacted by this aircraft swap, I would work on getting it sorted ASAP.

For those who booked an award ticket via a partner program, expect to have some difficulty if you want to move to the JFK flight. You'll need to talk with the program with which you booked.

Etihad A380 Returning To JFK

One Mile At A Time: "Etihad had announced that its plan was to fly the A380 exclusively between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London (LHR), with no firm plans to fly the jet to any other destination, as the airline planned to bring back just four A380s. It seems the Abu Dhabi-based carrier has had a change of heart, and has announced that as of April 22, 2024, the A380 will also serve the New York (JFK) route."

Points Wire Note: While flying The Apartments on the London Heathrow route is fun, the JFK route is so much better as you have time to experience all it has to offer.

Here's hoping we see some award space when they launch the route!

Bose Headphones For $199, Plus Earn 15X Amex Points

Disclosure: I may earn a commission if you use the link below.

Bose has dropped the price of their Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones from $329 to $199 for Cyber Monday.

Throw in the fact that Rakuten is offering 15% cash back and you can get a great deal. If you have linked your Amex Membership Rewards account to Rakuten that 15% can be earned as 15x Amex points.

If you don't have a Rakuten account, the sign-up bonus is $40 (or 4,000 Amex points) if you spend $40 in 90 days.

Sign up for Rakuten (my referral)
Direct link to Bose
Also available on Amazon

Your Bank Might Cover Foreign Currency Refund Discrepancies

View From The Wing: "I always assumed you incurred exchange rate risk on returns. If you book a prepaid hotel in Europe, for instance, and you get a refund later the actual amount of the refund could be more or less than what you originally paid."

"I’ve redeposited award tickets where the taxes and fuel surcharges were substantial, and I’ve lost money when those fees were credited back to me when the dollar strengthened between the time of booking and refund. It never occurred to me to ask my card issuer (usually Chase in that case) to make good on the difference."

CLEAR Plus Increases Price To Add Family Members

The Bulkhead Seat: "Without notice, CLEAR increased the cost of adding adults to a CLEAR® Plus Family Plan from $70 to $99 a year. Current CLEAR® Plus members will pay the new price for their additional members when their own annual membership renews. This is the second recent increase as adding family members cost on $60 in early 2023. Children under 18 remain will remain free for members."

Points Wire Note: The Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, and Amex Green each offer credit to cover the cost of a CLEAR Plus membership. This can take the sting out of adding family members. If you have more than one of these cards, you could also use a different card to pay for separate memberships and get reimbursed by each card.

Qatar Airways Black Friday Sale

Max Miles Points flagged that Qatar Airways has launched a Black Friday sale.

You can get up to $150 off economy and up to $350 off business class if you book by November 24, 2023.

You must travel between December 31, 2023, and October 31, 2024.

Minimum stay: 7 days or first Sunday
Max stay: 1 month

Blackout Dates from the US: May 15, 2024 - July 30, 2024
Blackout Dates to the US): June 20, 2024 - September 15, 2024

Eligible departure airports: Departure Airports: Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), and Washington D.C. (IAD)

Eligible destination airports for business class: Amman (AMM), Baku (BAK), Mumbai (BOM), Beijing (BJS), Cairo (CAI), Colombo (CMB), Cochin (COK), Cape Town (CPT), Doha (DOH), Dar es Salaam (DAR), New Delhi (DEL), Dubai (DXB), Entebbe (EBB), Yerevan (EVN), Goa (GOI), Hanoi (HAN), Hong Kong (HKG), Johannesburg (JNB), Kilimanjaro (JRO), Kathmandu (KTM), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), the Maldives (MLE), Nairobi (NBO), the Seychelles (SEZ), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Singapore (SIN), Zanzibar (ZNZ)

To book or for more details, check the promo page (my affiliate).

Get $75 When You Sign Up For CLEAR Plus

Miles To Memories: "CLEAR is once again running a popular promotion for new members. You can currently get $75 in the form of Uber credits when you sign up."

Direct link to offer.

Points Wire Note: Pay for your CLEAR Plus membership with an Amex Platinum, Amex Business Platinum, or Amex Green and you'll be reimbursed in the form of a statement credit.

Americans Can Use Malaysia Electronic Entry System

Loyalty Lobby: "The program requires passengers with the following nationalities to preregister their arrival card electronically at least three days prior to flying to [Malaysia] and then register the fingerprints at the counter upon the first visit. For all subsequent visits, they can then use the eGates as per program description."

Register Here.