Loyalty Program News for Frequent Flyers

Act fast to redeem Virgin Atlantic miles before the upcoming devaluation, and Citi ThankYou points transfers to Virgin Atlantic might get you to that award even faster thanks to a new bonus offer.

It’s a messy relationship when it comes to airline partners, and this month sees Alaska end its on-again, off-again relationship with Delta and formally marry Virgin America. This is good news for Alaska fliers although Delta travelers lose a valuable earning and burning partner. Alaska also beefed up benefits for its Mileage Plan members; this is a net win for Alaska fliers.

The past year was one of non-stop change in the travel rewards industry with huge changes in major frequent flyer programs, bank credit card offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. We saw devaluations continue for all three of the major domestic legacy airlines. And the major travel rewards credit card issuing banks all imposed stricter sign-up bonus rules. There were several mergers between airlines and hotels that also lead to some big changes to loyalty programs.

The wait is over! Barclaycard has released the online application page for the Aviator Red Mastercard.

Barclaycard was the issuer of the US Airways co-branded cards before US Airways merged with American Airlines. When the merger occurred, existing cardholders were given the option to convert their cards to a variety of new Aviator cards in the lineup. Unfortunately, those cards were not available for new applicants at that time.

As we approach the holiday season, sign-up bonus offers for new credit cards are proving to be generous and rewarding. Also, read on to find out how Hilton is making lifetime Diamond status easier to achieve and how to bypass part of American’s new elite status spending requirements in the new year.

Alaska Mileage Plan is a crowd pleaser, and it continues to impress with new redemption opportunities with Japan Airlines. Also, don’t miss the latest points and mileage earning bonuses for making online purchases as you shop around presents this holiday season.

United’s much-heralded Polaris lounge and inflight product are finally here. The airline rolled out the new offering Dec. 1 and will slowly make its way across the airline’s network in the coming months and year. Delta also put its MQMs on sale, but the prices will make your jaw drop. At least, Air France and KLM have put some awards on sale and Aeroplan (Air Canada) has some free miles up for grabs.

Delta is surprising us with a Cyber Monday mileage sale; it’s not often that Delta lowers the price of a mileage ticket. And JetBlue is helping us to feel extra thankful this season by matching our TrueBlue point donations to charity.

United has announced a new fare class that is especially restrictive. It is designed to counter ultra-low fare airline competition, but frequent flyers should be cautious before booking it. American is also giving its Concierge Key members a nice new bonus.

There are some opportunities to score bonus points with many travel companies this week. Scoop ‘em up while you can! And American peeked in some good news announcing a partial waiver for the elite qualifying dollar spend requirement put into place for next year’s elite program. We have all the details.

Between now and the end of the year, Barclaycard is offering one of its biggest signup bonuses ever for new cardholders. If you are approved for the card before the end of the year and spend $3,000 in the first 90 days, you can earn 50,000 bonus miles, which is equal to $500 in travel redemptions.

When it comes to redeeming points and miles for a dream vacation, Thailand is often at the top of the list. Low prices for hotels, tours, and dining combined with lots of flights with relatively decent award space into Bangkok create the perfect, friendly storm for an amazing trip.

There have been several big rumors floating around the blogosphere recently regarding changes to the business card offerings from Chase. These have included rumors of a new product, possible changes to bonus categories, and the possible elimination of one of Chases’ current offerings. We now have official confirmation from Chase of exactly what is in store.

American Express rewards spenders at small businesses

Between now and the end of the year, earn double miles and points when using your American Express card at qualifying small businesses in your area. Included in the offer are more than 50 Amex-branded cards including the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express and Hilton HHonors American Express. What’s unique about this promotion is that Amex is doubling whatever rewards currency your card offers.

Delta has devalued its miles for the fourth time in a year offering zero advance notice to flyers. You might want to rethink your loyalty. Just be careful if you go with American next year as it plans to introduce basic economy fares with no frills that are sure to come with all kinds of restrictions.

This week brings good news in terms of rich promotions, but also sour news in terms of more restrictive airline fees. Read on to see who the winners and losers are in the world of travel this past week.

Until now, Etihad has kept its Airbus A380 private residence an option for big spenders only. Now, the airline is allowing big mileage spenders to get in on the luxurious experience. Plus, there are plenty of bonus miles and points up for grabs this week.

Airlines in the SkyTeam alliance are making it easy to request missing miles from past flights. Frequent flyers should always double-check their accounts to make sure they receive credit for flying. It’s easy to forget to look and sometimes miles are missed. Other news this week include new amenities aboard Hawaiian Airlines, new routes between North America and Europe, 3x on Airbnb through United’s app and a new 5x bonus for Amex premium cardholders.

In the travel enthusiast community, it seems we can barely go a few weeks without an announcement of some sort of award chart devaluation or benefit reduction in one of our favorite programs. So any time we can actually announce an improvement to an award program, it comes as a big relief.

New Opportunities from the Marriott/Starwood Merger

Remember when it was first announced that Marriott would be buying Starwood? It struck fear into the hearts of many travel hackers that the industry’s most valuable transferable point program might be ruined or even eliminated by a hotel chain with a low value rewards program. So far, those fears have been unfounded. Marriott and SPG recently announced the first major changes to their awards programs and the news is good!