One Mile at a Time

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it’s investigating airlines (among other businesses), to determine to what extent they’re using personalized pricing. I know social media would have us believe that this is the most worthwhile effort ever, but don’t expect anything to come of this. FTC launches personalized pricing inquiry into airlines The FTC has just ordered Delta, United, and JetBlue, to provide detailed information that will allow the agency to study the use of per

At this point, just about all passengers are familiar with the concept of “basic economy,” whereby the cheapest economy tickets in many markets come with a lot of restrictions, in an effort to get people to buy-up to more expensive fares. In recent times, we’ve increasingly seen that also spread to premium cabins. This spring, United Airlines introduced a basic product for its Polaris business class, and now the airline has rolled out a “basic” product for its domestic first class. Detail

The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (learn more) is Hilton’s most premium co-branded credit card, and there are all kinds of reasons to consider picking it up. While the card has a steep $550 annual fee (Rates & Fees), I find that to be easy to justify, thanks to benefits like an annual free night award, up to $400 in annual Hilton resort credits (get up to $200 in statement credits semi-annually for eligible purchases made directly with participating Hilton Resorts), up to $200 in

A couple of nights ago, I randomly stumbled upon an American Airlines training video from 2000, intended specifically for newly hired customer service representatives. It goes without saying that in recent years, morale among American employees is about as low as it has ever been. So this video was quite the throwback… A fascinating American Airlines employee training video The below roughly 22-minute video is something that American used in 2000, to welcome new customer service employees

Marriott Bonvoy isn’t exactly known for being terribly generous when it comes to complimentary room upgrades. That’s where the Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards program comes into play, which allows members to earn upgrade “certificates” that can be used to confirm upgrades prior to arrival. However, like everything with Marriott, these tend to be pretty controversial with members, and not everyone finds them to be equally useful. So let’s talk a bit about Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards. How

It sounds like Marriott customer service will go from bad to worse, as Marriott seems to be rolling out some significant corporate job cuts. While the hotel brand is confirming this is happening, it’s not sharing the exact details. Marriott makes job cuts in “some corporate disciplines” Marriott has confirmed that it’s making corporate job cuts in “some corporate disciplines.” This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. First of all, we’re talking about Marriott, a company where customer se

Hilton and Hyatt may be getting into a lengthy legal battle over the use of the word “Select,” with Hyatt claiming that Hilton is trying to copy it. Is there merit to this case, or is there enough difference between the two brands that it won’t cause confusion? This is an interesting situation… Hilton & Hyatt are both using “Select” branding In February 2025, Hyatt announced its newest hotel brand, Hyatt Select. The idea is that this is an “upper-midscale transient brand designed to me

Hyatt will be opening its biggest-ever hotel in New York, and it’ll even feature… a free-fall thrill ride?! “Flagship” The StandardX Times Square opening in 2028 Hyatt is partnering with Extell Development Company to debut the The StandardX brand in North America, with plans for The StandardX Times Square, expected to open in the second half of 2028. The hotel will have approximately 1,800 rooms, and will be located at 255 West 45th Street, in Manhattan’s Theater District. This will be

It’s an interesting time for aviation in Greenland. We’re witnessing huge investments in the territory’s aviation infrastructure, and as a result, we’re also seeing quite a bit of extra air service there. In early 2025, government-owned Air Greenland announced that it would double its jet fleet. There’s now an update, as we’re just months from the plane entering service, and we now have a better sense of how this will all play out. Air Greenland will fly Airbus A320neo as of April 2027

The Bilt Palladium Card (learn more) is the most premium card in the Bilt credit card portfolio, and personally, it’s one of my all-around favorite cards (Rates & Fees). If you’ve been on the fence about picking up this very lucrative card, I’d highly recommend applying ASAP, and definitely before the end of 2026. Let me explain… The Bilt Palladium Card is incredibly lucrative The Bilt Palladium Card is one of my favorite credit cards, and it’s the card that gets the most of my spending. J

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card continues to be one of the most rewarding and compelling business cards out there, and is part of the excellent collection of Chase Ink Business credit cards. There’s not another business card out there that offers the same combination of a huge welcome bonus, generous return on spending, and useful perks, all while having such a low annual fee. This is my in-depth Chase Ink Preferred review, so let me talk a bit more about why this is one of my favorit

A roughly 16,000 square foot Chase Sapphire Lounge is expected to open at Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA). This will require some patience, as the project has just been approved, but it’s at least nice to know that this is on the horizon… hopefully. Chase Sapphire Lounge Seattle now in the pipeline! The Port of Seattle has just approved plans for a new Chase Sapphire Lounge at the airport, in partnership with Airport Dimensions, as flagged by View from the Wing. This new lounge

It sounds like Qatar Airways is no longer committed to introducing a new first class product. I guess this is what happens when you go through three CEOs in three years, as we’ve gone from “definitely no new first class,” to “definitely a new first class,” to “maybe a new first class.” Qatar Airways’ premium focus has long been on business class Qatar Airways is known for its world-class Qsuites business class, which is among the best in the world. So while Gulf rivals like Emirates have c

In late 2024, Aircalin, the international airline of the South Pacific French territory of New Caledonia, disclosed a fascinating (and somewhat surprising) aircraft order. There’s now an update, as the airline is just weeks from taking delivery of its first of these planes, and we now also have a sense of what the interiors will be like. Aircalin taking delivery of two Airbus A350-900s A couple of years back, Aircalin disclosed an order for two Airbus A350-900 aircraft (meaning the order w

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that this happens every so often, but it sure is kind of hilarious when it does. A Diamond Medallion’s shocking email response from Delta JonNYC flags how a Delta Diamond Medallion member emailed the carrier feedback about a negative experience. The response from Delta started with “here’s a more polished and professional version with a warm, empathetic tone.” Funny enough, the feedback being provided by the customer was specifically regarding frustrat

I’d like to take an in-depth look at the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, which is potentially the most compelling Chase business credit card for everyday spending, and part of the Chase Ink Business card portfolio. The card has no annual fee, an excellent welcome bonus, and a great rewards structure. In conjunction with other cards earning Ultimate Rewards points, this can be one of the most useful cards for a small business. Link: Learn more about the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit C

Delta SkyMiles is having a limited time Delta One (business class) award sale. While I can’t say that the “sale” price of 795K miles roundtrip from Miami to Tokyo is speaking to me, there are some semi-decent deals here, if you do happen to have SkyMiles. Delta One three-day award sale, starting at 115K miles If you’ve ever redeemed Delta SkyMiles, you probably know how inflated premium cabin award rates generally are. Occasionally Delta SkyMiles has an award sale, which brings the lowest

Alaska Airlines will connect Alaska and Japan! I don’t care that this flight is operated by a Boeing 737, this is easily the coolest new route we’ve seen announced by a US carrier since United added flights to Greenland and Mongolia. Alaska launching Anchorage to Tokyo Narita flights as of May 2027 Between May 13 and September 7, 2027, Alaska intends to operate daily nonstop flights between Anchorage (ANC) and Tokyo Narita (NRT), with the following schedule: AS21 Anchorage to Tokyo Nar

Over the past couple of years, the operators of London Heathrow Airport (LHR) have been conducting a terminal occupancy review, which impacts which airlines operate out of which terminals. The results are now in, and five airlines will have to change terminals in 2028. The big losers here are Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Let’s talk a bit about the concept behind this review, and then discuss the results… Why Heathrow conducts terminal occupancy reviews First for some context, here’s how a sp

Bilt is the program known for its lucrative credit card portfolio and rewards on housing payments. I’d say Bilt can be extremely worthwhile, though also really complicated, especially in light of the changes that we saw in early 2026. Well, Bilt has now announced quite a few program updates for 2027. Some are positive, some are negative, but I’d argue that the fundamental value proposition isn’t changing much here. If you liked the Bilt Blue Card (learn more), Bilt Obsidian Card (learn more)