Recap Week Ending 8/30/26

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So let’s get into this week’s recap. The good news is nothing too crazy happened…except for Air France/KLM Flying Blue showing phantom wide-open saver award availability between now and June 2027. Sadly, these flights weren’t bookable. If you did transfer points, I would try to push hard for Flying Blue to return them to you. They have done so in the past when there were business class awards for as low as 1.5k points (Frequent Miler link) just a few years ago.

There’s also a bunch of new international routes announced for next spring/summer season from American and United that are neat. Delta will likely announce new routes soon as well.

Since there wasn’t anything else too exciting, I highlight the benefit of flexibility that many award flights have along with what programs have some pretty draconian policies.

Google also added the capability for their AI to try to plan your trip using points. It’s still in the early stages but it brings up a good question - can AI be useful for award travel.

One underrated perk of using points & miles for flights is increased flexibility. Most airline programs let you change or cancel a flight award with minimal or no fees. The major US airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, United) let you change/cancel awards up until boarding for no fee, a huge perk. Alaska does keep the $20 fee for partner awards though. For a comprehensive list of airline policies, I refer to OMAAT’s article here.

Flexibility is also something you should include when booking a flight and thinking about “value”. Don’t just look at points redemptions from a cents per point value and think about the importance of being able to change or cancel your award flight without major financial penalty.

Some airlines don’t have very friendly change or cancellation policies. And don’t forget some loyalty programs have no way to extend miles expiration, even with qualifying activity.

The worst airline policies. The two programs that come to mind to be very careful with cancellations are Etihad and Iberia.

1) Etihad has one of the worst change and cancellation policies for their awards. “Value” awards, which are pretty much any saver awards can’t be cancelled. Well, technically you can cancel, but you won’t get any of your points or miles back. You also can change your “value” award for 600 AED (~$165 USD). Comfort fares can be cancelled. But you will lose 25% of your miles redeemed. The very expensive Deluxe awards can be cancelled and changed for no fee as long as its done within 72 hours of the flight. These awards cost 2x or more than the saver-level “value” award.

2) Iberia. Flights are not changeable or cancellable if you book a partner award. Thee terms say changes and refunds are only permissible for Iberia, Iberia Express, Nostrum, and British Airways flights. So, if you book an AA award or Qatar award on Iberia and need to change or cancel, bye bye miles!

Can AI help with award travel? Google thinks it can and says that their AI mode can help find the price of flights and hotels in points. There are a lot of limitations to start, including only being able to support Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines along with American Airlines. Google also says they support Choice Hotels, Hilton, and Wyndham. In the next few weeks, Google says they will add Accor, Flying Blue, Hyatt, LATAM, and Lufthansa.

It will be interesting to see how useful this capability is, as award travel is fast-changing and has a lot of little nuances and personal preferences. It can also hallucinate and make things up. So can AI tools at some point help with award travel planning and searching? Right now, there is a lot to be desired but I think that capabilities will continue to improve. But for now, I think my job is safe…

Claude’s Opus5 says I can apparently transfer American Express points to JAL… (they don’t). Also it said that Capital One transfers to JAL at a 1:1 rate (it’s actually a 4:3 rate).

ChatGPT was more accurate and highlighted Bilt at a 1:1 rate and Capital One at a 4:3 rate.

This new one that’s being advertised said that business class award availability to Tokyo is “wide open”. But I need to give them all my personal info to see it because “it’s free” but then asks for payment to view dates. FYI, business class to Tokyo is not wide open…

With airlines adding new routes, that means more chance for award space. Both American Airlines and United announced new international routes this past week. Delta likely to announce new summer routes soon as well. Airlines are also adding a lot more leisure-focused destinations, so a lot of cities that didn’t have direct flights from the US are now starting to be serviced!!

Swiss has a lot of business class saver awards for as low as 60k Air Canada points, now through August 2027. There’s also dates during peak ski season. I believe that Swiss lets you bring ski equipment at no additional charge as long as it meets certain weight and size dimensions.