Southwest Airlines has announced several changes to the Rapid Rewards program, effective January 1, 2027:

• Announcement summary
• Companion pass changes

Major changes include:

• Shifting from two tiers (A-List, A-List Preferred) to three tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum)
• SWA credit card signup bonuses will no longer count towards companion pass qualification
• Rapid Rewards points can be redeemed for some limited international partners now: Icelandair, China Airlines, and Etihad Airways

EDIT: If you were hoping to go for Companion Pass for 2027-28, there is still a chance. Per the FAQ:

Cardmembers who are approved for the Rapid Rewards Credit Card on or before Dec. 2, 2026 and meet the requirements for the new Cardmember welcome bonus will have the opportunity to have those points count as Companion Pass qualifying points, even if the spend threshold is met in early 2027.

I have an AA award ticket booked CDG>LHR>ORD>BZN in J. Two weeks ago, there was a schedule change that made my ORD connection 8 minutes short of MCT, which caused the ORD>BZN segment to drop off entirely. I saw that there was availability on a BA flight that departed earlier and would enable me to make my connection in ORD. I called in and attempted to make the change, but the agent, even after escalation, told me that I would have to pay the BA YQ, even though it was an involuntary change. I refused that option and hung up. I then tried the X support team. They were able to get my ticket changed to the BA flight, and put me in the ticketing queue. Today, I got a confirmation email, and my LHR>ORD flight reverted back to the original flight with the invalid connection time in ORD, but all 3 segments are now back in the booking. I have no idea how I got kicked back to the original itinerary. Should I just roll with it? I'm not really that scared to be 8 minutes short of MCT, I have Global Entry. Will I have any issues checking in? There are no other good rerouting options available.

As an aside, why has it become so impossible to get AA to change an award ticket these days? The phone agent I had was knowledgeable, but still wasn't allowed to do the right thing in this situation. It's ridiculous.

I'd appreciate any thoughts folks have on a trip I'm planning domestically. I've got the Amex Platinum and I'm taking way too much time making a decision here.

Options:

1. Pay cash $348/RT (2 guests $698 total)

2. 58,000 points - transfer from Amex to Delta, use points exclusively at 1.18x redemption

3. I have a $200 off $1,000 when booking thru Amex Travel. Do I book a Comfort+ which is $1,180? This would trigger the $200 credit. It's also fully refundable so I thought about booking, and then downgrading to the lower fare class, but since its thru Amex I'd guess they'd refund me the money instead of Delta eCredits.

My head is spinning.

hi

im interested in traveling to Kuaui and staying on points. I have grand Hyatt Kuaui booked but looking to also stay for a few nights at north side of Kuaui.

any suggestions on places to stay with points? I see Wyndham has a property but when I check its not showing available points stay in may. I’ve been checking periodically for months. Any idea when the rooms become available to book?

I called Asiana Airlines just before they go out of of their Star alliance partnerships. To redeem a flight in early November. I have seen those flights being available in both United and Air Canada as redeemable flights. Plus, I provided multiple dates that these direct flights were available in those systems but they are not available at Asiana anymore.

They told me that they are no longer booking any Turkish Airlines as part of their flight redemption.

This is not written anywhere on their website. I couldn't find any official explanation anywhere.

I was recently using my Asiana just to get to 25,000 points so I can make a one-way redemption flight from Turkey to USA. With the way that they are doing now, it seems like I have to waste my points. I tried calling two agents. One of them also said that they don't book United anymore as well.

Does anyone have any suggestion as to what can I do at this point?

Hey guys! I Booked this incredible first class journey on JAL through American for 115k miles + $80. It’s using The itinerary mentioned below and it seems the first leg is on the 777-300ER and the second on the new a350-1000. This will be my first time on JAL, does anyone have any experience or reccs when flying JAL??

I Want to take full advantage of the perks within the experience… any lounge/seat/amenities I should be aware of and ask for?

SYD-HND ~10 Hours onboard 777-300ER
Seat 1D
Takeoff: 10am
Arrival: 5:30pm

~15 overnight layover in Tokyo

HND-CDG ~13h30min onboard JAL’s Flagship a350-1000
Seat 2A
Takeoff: 8:30am
Arrival: 5pm

Found united and alaska flight back home but dont have enough milesHi everyone,I found two flights to Tokyo on date around Dec 17. The only points i have remaining are capital one points. The economy flights for united are 150K points per person and Alaska are 70K per person. Looking on fastest way to achieve 210k alaska or 300k united points

Edit :
Can everyone in the comment please explain me how do i find flights which give me a cheaper option than the above. I am looking for sfo-nrt/hnd for dec 17.

Jal has 70k points + 336 $ per person. So 3 tickets is same points + 1000$

Alaska has 70k points + 5.60$. So 3 tickets is 210K points

United is 150k points. That is 300K if i dont buy ticket for my 1 year old and have him sit on my lap for 19 hrs journey.

One way flight is 1500$ or more per person

My friend is planning an international trip for her birthday in 2028. 20hrs in-flight each way from the US.

My home airport is a Delta hub so they’re usually my default but, looking at the flight options, it’s unlikely that we’ll be flying a Delta partner.

We’ll likely book Turkish or Etihad (or possibly a combo of United, Turkish and something else).

Since I’m not familiar with any of these award programs, I thought I come here. I’ll be booking a business class ticket so I’d expect to earn a decent amount of miles. Domestically, United is probably the only airline I’ll be using whatever I earn on. Possibly American but I rarely see decent flight options with them.

So, who should I book through? I’ll have to create an account regardless so should I try to book through Turkish (for example) and earn miles that way? Is there usually a better rate if am booking directly with United as opposed to a partner? Or vice versa?

Update: My question is not about earning miles now. I’m trying to think ahead about how it’ll be best to redeem whatever miles I earn on this trip. I know nothing about redemption rates or transferring for any of those airlines or partners.

Ex. Will it better to book through Turkish Airlines and transfer later to United or perhaps another partner with better award offers? Or book through United since that’s probably who I’ll end up using the miles with later?

Hi all! I've been checking many times daily for JAL for next year. Just have a quick question regarding release timing. My understanding (from this) was that JAL releases at 10 AM JT (9 PM ET for me) but I've noticed that I don't actually see the new release date become available for selection until the next day.

Is 10 AM PT accurate, or are there other times I should be checking instead (i.e. 12 AM ET). Thanks in advance.

Edit: Okay getting conflicting times in the thread now lol. Which one is it?!

Hello , would appreciate any help on this… but basically have 230K capital one miles and would like to maximize their use for flights to Japan. I know I just missed the increased transfer bonus to JAL.. and i have looked at flights via aeroplan but do not even think this is possible based on points per flight that I am seeing through their own portal.. My question is, is 200K points enough for one way business class flights to Japan in February through transfer to travel partners ? Or should i not even bother

I know Atmos recently changed its policy for lap infant seats from paying 10% of the cash business class fare to paying only taxes & fees. Are there any data points showing it works for Starlux J award seats?

The route went on sale today, and doesn't begin flying until May 2027. I was looking at late August/early September, and J seats are 200k-400k per person, one way. I obviously wouldn't pull the trigger until they're at least <100k.

From my very limited understanding, FlyingBlue is pretty random in this regard. But I didn't know if I should be checking daily, or if I shouldn't even bother for a while. I suppose I could set an alert.

Hello, I’m AF for platinum card is coming up and I will not be renewing it as I’ll be traveling Asia for about a year. I have like 180k points and need to transfer them to a partner soon or else they’ll be gone cause I don’t wanna downgrade to the gold just to keep membership rewards points.

I’m looking into the best transfer partner for the best value. I don’t really stay in fancy hotels and hotels in SE Asia are so cheap so the Hilton transfer bonus has no value to me. I was thinking maybe Aeromexico cause they have a 1-1.9 bonus rn and they have some partner airlines in Asia which I could use.

Any advice helps thanks!

Currently weighing two options for a flight to London.

IAH-LHR BA direct J 99k Amex + says $400 but when I click then says $600 (I don’t know what is right). Leaves 3pm arrives 6am. BA 787-10 (not super familiar with BA’s product so idk if that’s their nice product.)

IAH-DFW short hop positioning on United then DFW-BOS-LHR on DL 1st then VS J on a 330neo with a 3 hour layover. 98k total Amex + $250 and its 11am to 7:30am total trip.

Hey everyone!
I’m based in New Jersey and have a pretty good amount of United MileagePlus miles, but unfortunately no American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

My mother-in-law is coming to visit us from Morocco, and I found a Royal Air Maroc flight that requires relatively few AA miles compared to the cash price.

Unfortunately, United miles won’t help me book it.
I’m trying to figure out if there’s any legitimate way to exchange United miles for AA miles, or another creative way to book this flight without paying the full cash fare.
I also have a $500 Southwest travel credit from Chase that I don’t expect to use.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Are there any legitimate options I’m overlooking?

Appreciate any advice!

Going to Italy for Spring break and was able to get 3 RT Y awards from ATL-FCO for 59,400+$74.49 each. The cash RT fare is $1,426 so that works out to 2.3 CPP. Now, maybe I should factor in the $150 I had to pay to get the 15% points discount with the Gold card but I also got a 40,000 SUB so I call it a wash. The biggest surprise to me was the return leg, if I booked it as a one way it was about double the cost but when I did a RT I was able to get it down to the same cost as the outbound.

This is the third trip I have used my Amex points to get an airline ticket. In order to save on the transfer fee I have transferred to Air Canada (United), KLM (Delta), and now Avianca (United). Each time I've had to make sure the tickets are showing up on my apps. I am adding a pet ticket on this flight and this has turned into a 45 minute procedure because it originated from another country. Anyway, I am wondering is it really worth this hassle. Instead of just transferring straight to United or Delta. Is the fee really that high to go through all this? Everything I read says to do it this way but I just figured out my fee would have been $18. Next time I will just transfer straight to the domestic airline. Am I missing something? Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

Planning on reserving a JFK to DEL and additionally a DEL to JFK, both via Air Canada / Aeroplan. But I came across a thread where Air India tried to deny a passenger on a similar ticket booked via Air Canada / Aeroplan (Origin was DEL) due to myraid reasons but then a supervisor was able to check in that person 2 hours later.

Wanted to check how common this is? Anyone else who had a similar experience, when 1 person is booked via Air Canada / Aeroplan and another directly through Air India (Cash), traveling together.

Looking for SIN -> HAN on Dec 20. Would appreciate it if someone with miles in their account searches it up and shares award availability!

(You need a certain at least 1k in KrisFlyer to search award availability)

I just reported https://www.reddit.com/user/EarCurious1147/ on https://www.reddit.com/r/BotBouncer/ (since they commented https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/1x4lcho/comment/pgeosl6/?context=3 ) and they told me that that user was already banned from BotBouncer communities **6 months ago**. See https://www.reddit.com/r/BotBouncer/comments/1sk77g7/overview_for_earcurious1147/

Per https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1x3wwka/comment/pge0bih/?force-legacy-sct=1 it seems like r/churning is already having a good experience with BotBouncer.

It's just very tedious dealing with the bots. It's been grinding me down.

I want to talk to humans about flying on points. I don't want to talk to these digital zombies, wearing our flesh and skin, reflecting back at me the consensus of the internet from six months ago.

EDIT:

THANK YOU MODS!!!

FYI: You can still do manual reports to BotBouncer for whichever bots still leak through by pasting their profile URL as a post on /r/BotBouncer (automod will catch and process it)

Quick update: I finally got through to a supervisor who manually re-issued the tickets on Avianca's side! That immediately triggered the system sync and generated our United confirmation code. Thanks so much for all the help!

Looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with this specific LifeMiles issue.

I booked an award ticket for a United-operated flight (SFO \rightarrow AKL) through Avianca LifeMiles. I have the electronic ticket receipt from Avianca showing:

Ticket Number: Starts with 134...

Booking Ref / PNR: 6-character alphanumeric code

Status: Confirmed / Issued

Entering the 6-digit PNR on United’s "My Trips" gives an error / cannot find the reservation.

Entering the 134 eTicket number on United’s site/app also brings up nothing.

United Phone Support says they cannot find any record of the ticket or reservation on their end using my name, flight details, or eTicket number.

Avianca/LifeMiles Support insists that the booking is fully issued and that the United confirmation code is identical to the Avianca PNR, so they "can't do anything else."

Hi everyone,
Looking for some advice from frequent Qatar Airways flyers or anyone who has navigated a tight connection at Hamad International Airport (DOH).
Here is my situation:
Route: SFO to DOH to NBO (Nairobi)

Ticket Type: Business Class (Award Ticket) on a single booking reference

The Change: Qatar updated my flight (QR 738) out of SFO, shifting departure 35 minutes later.

New Schedule:
Arrive DOH at 18:00
Connecting flight (QR 1341 to NBO) departs at 19:00
Layover: Exactly 1 hour

I called Qatar Airways customer service to see if I could proactively move to the next flight to Nairobi (QR 1335 at 2:10 AM). The agent said:

1. Because the time shift was under 45 minutes and the connection is still at/above the 45-min (MCT) for DOH, it’s considered a minor change, so normal change rules apply.
2. Because this is an award ticket and there’s no award availability on the 2:10 AM flight, they can't move me in advance without charging fare differences.
3. The agent mentioned that if my first leg is delayed on the day of travel, the airport transfer desk in Doha would protect/rebook me onto the 2:10 AM flight (and possibly in Business if available).

I have a safari starting in Kenya on arrival day, so I’m trying to balance the risk:
1. How realistic is a 1-hour Business Class transfer at DOH? Since I'll be among the first off the plane and can use the priority transfer line, is 60 minutes doable if SFO departs on time?
2. Luggage risk: What are the odds checked bags make a 60-minute transfer at DOH?
3. If I misconnect: How smooth is the Al Mourjan transfer desk experience for placing misconnected Business Class passengers onto the 2:10 AM flight (or 8:40 AM flight) if award space wasn't open ahead of time?
Would you recommend keeping the itinerary as-is and trusting Qatar's misconnect protection on travel day, or pushing harder/paying to change ahead of time?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

According to DOC

Scammers Stealing Points via Amazon Shop With Points

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/scammers-stealing-points-via-amazon-shop-with-points/