Here’s the latest miles, points, and travel news:
Bilt’s Rumored Card Lineup
Leaked code from Bilt’s website has revealed potential details about three new credit cards ahead of the official January 14 announcement, though a Reddit user who discovered the information notes these remain unconfirmed rumors.
The leaked Blue card would have no annual fee and offer a $100 Bilt Cash welcome bonus, earning 4% Bilt Cash on everyday spending plus 1x points on rent, mortgage, and all other purchases, with no foreign transaction fees.
The Obsidian card would carry a $95 annual fee with a $200 Bilt Cash welcome bonus, earning 4% Bilt Cash on everyday spending, 3x points on either dining or grocery (your choice, capped at $25,000 per year), 2x points on travel, and 1x points on rent and everything else, plus a $100 annual Bilt Travel hotel credit and cell phone protection.
The Palladium card would have a $495 annual fee with a welcome bonus of 50,000 Bilt Points and $300 Bilt Cash after spending $4,000 in three months, earning 4% Bilt Cash on everyday spending, 2x points on all purchases, and 1x points on rent and mortgage.
The Palladium would also include Bilt Gold status, a $400 annual Bilt Travel hotel credit, $200 in annual Bilt Cash, and Priority Pass access.
All three cards would allow you to use Bilt Cash to waive rent and mortgage transaction fees, which is the key feature since Bilt charges a 3% fee on rent payments made with credit cards.
The Reddit user noted that alternative card names also appeared in the code—including Home, Everyday, Neighborhood, Titanium, and Platinum options—with different earning structures and spending requirements to waive fees, suggesting Bilt may still be testing multiple configurations.
This represents a major departure from the current Wells Fargo card that only requires five transactions per billing cycle to earn 1x points on rent with no fees, a structure that reportedly cost Wells Fargo millions as cardholders earned points on large rent payments without significant additional spending.
Hilton Status Match Returns
Hilton’s bringing back its status match offer for 2026, letting you convert your elite status from competing hotel programs into Hilton Gold or Diamond with benefits extending through March 31, 2028.
The requirements are more achievable this year—you’ll need 6 paid nights within 90 days to lock in Gold status or 12 paid nights to upgrade to Diamond, down from the previous 8 and 14 nights.
You can match from programs including Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, IHG One Rewards, and Accor Live Limitless, but this is a once-per-lifetime opportunity, so you’ll want to time your application around periods when you have Hilton stays already planned.
Southwest Sale: 30% Off
Southwest is running a sale offering up to 30% off base fares with promo code DREAMBIG, though the discount appears to apply primarily to Basic and Choice fare types based on current searches.
You can book travel for Monday through Thursday flights between January 26 and May 13, 2026, with blackout dates throughout that period and a 21-day advance purchase requirement for continental U.S. routes only.
The booking window closes Thursday, January 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and any changes to your reservation after purchase will void the discount entirely.
AA’s Free Wi-Fi Launches
American Airlines rolled out complimentary Wi-Fi for AAdvantage members on January 6, 2026, covering about 90% of its fleet at launch — specifically, all aircraft equipped with Viasat or Intelsat connectivity, which includes every narrowbody and dual-class regional jet.
Long-haul planes like the Boeing 777-200ER, 777-300ER, and older 787-8 and 787-9 models won’t have free Wi-Fi initially since they use Panasonic systems, but you can still buy access starting at $10 per flight or score statement credits with co-branded American Airlines credit cards.
The airline expects free Wi-Fi to reach nearly every flight by early spring 2026, with all new 787 deliveries getting the complimentary service from day one — and you don’t need to be an AT&T customer to use it, just a member of the free AAdvantage program.
Hawaiian’s Major Fleet Upgrade
Hawaiian Airlines announced plans for a significant overhaul that includes refurbishing its entire Airbus A330 fleet with first class suites (likely the Leihōkū Suites currently on its 787 Dreamliners) and a new premium economy cabin, plus a 10,000-square-foot Mauka Lounge at Honolulu’s Terminal 1.
The A330 refurbishments won’t begin until 2028, replacing the current 2-2-2 lie-flat first class configuration, while airport renovations including the new lounge, lobby updates, and gate area improvements will run from now through 2029.
The lounge addition comes as Hawaiian faces competition from Southwest Airlines, which has also proposed opening a lounge at HNL, making this a much-needed upgrade from Hawaiian’s current Premier Clubs that operate across Hawaii’s four major airports.
Schiphol Meltdown Reaches Day Five
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport remains stuck in a winter operations nightmare as snow, ice, and freezing temperatures force massive cancellations for the fifth straight day, with Tuesday seeing 46% of flights axed (276 cancellations so far) following Monday’s devastating 53% cancellation rate (726 flights) and Sunday’s 43% hit (568 flights).
KLM is taking the hardest punch as Schiphol’s main hub carrier, with the airline now critically low on de-icing fluid as extended queues and overwhelmed ground operations shred its tightly-scheduled aircraft rotations and crew positioning across its global network.
You’ll find stranded passengers camping out in the terminal as Amsterdam hotels fill up, and if you’re connecting through Schiphol to North America, Africa, or Asia, expect serious downstream disruption as the airport’s role as a major European hub means cancellations ripple far beyond the Netherlands.
Alaska’s Record Aircraft Order
Alaska Airlines placed an order for 105 Boeing 737-10 aircraft and five additional Boeing 787-10s (exercising all remaining 787 options), plus secured purchase rights for 35 more 737-10s, with deliveries extending through 2035 in what marks the largest aircraft order in the airline’s history.
The five additional 787-10s bring Alaska’s total widebody order to 17 aircraft (five already flying), supporting the airline’s plan to serve at least 12 long-haul international destinations from Seattle by 2030—you can already book flights to London Heathrow, Rome, Reykjavik, Tokyo Narita, and Seoul Incheon.
Alaska’s fleet will grow from 413 aircraft today to over 475 by 2030 and 550 by 2035, and the airline will unveil a new global livery inspired by the Aurora Borealis on its first Alaska-painted 787-9 while keeping Chester (the Alaska Native figure) on narrowbody tails and maintaining Hawaiian Airlines’ separate livery.
Starlux Eyes East Coast Expansion
Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines just took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 (with 17 more on order), and this longer-range widebody can fly about 10,375 miles — roughly 590 miles farther than the A350-900s currently in its fleet — which finally puts the US East Coast within reach from Taipei.
The airline currently serves LAX, Ontario (ONT), San Francisco, and Seattle from its Taipei hub, with Phoenix joining the route map on January 15 as its fifth US destination.
European service is slated to begin in the second half of 2026, and the new A350-1000s will seat 350 passengers across four cabins: first class, business, premium economy, and economy.
Breeze Airways 35% Off
You can snag 35% off Breeze Airways flights with promo code YESYEAR, but you’ll need to book by January 9, 2026, at 11:59 pm PT.
The discount works for travel between January 12, 2026, and September 15, 2026, though keep in mind it only applies to the base fare and won’t touch taxes or fees.
$100 SoFi Invest Bonus
You can earn $100 or 10,000 Amex/Bilt Points through Rakuten when you open a new SoFi Active Invest account and deposit at least $100 within 45 days of clicking through their link.
The bonus decreased from $125 but remains double the standard $50 offer, and you can potentially stack an extra $25 from referrals plus a $50 Rakuten signup bonus if you’re a new member.
Delta Opens Non-Airport Lounge
Delta is launching the Delta SKY360° Club on the event level at Sphere Entertainment in Las Vegas, marking the airline’s first lounge outside of an airport and Sphere’s first branded hospitality space.
SkyMiles members can book packages through the SkyMiles Experiences platform to access the intimate lounge during live music acts, The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, and special events at the venue, with auction opportunities available for shows like the Backstreet Boys residency this month.
Delta’s branding will appear across Sphere’s 580,000-square-foot LED Exosphere display and onsite signage throughout 2026 and beyond, with both companies planning to replicate this partnership model at future locations as part of Delta’s strategy to offer experience-based perks beyond traditional airport lounges.
Touchless ID Goes Nationwide
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, which uses facial recognition to verify your identity instead of showing a physical ID at security, is currently available at 15 airports with five airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, and United).
The service will expand to 50 more airports by the end of spring, with 16 priority locations rolling out first—Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas Love Field, Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Bush, Houston-Hobby, John Wayne-Orange County, Kansas City, Long Beach, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, San Jose, Sacramento, and Washington Dulles—followed by 34 additional cities including Albuquerque, Austin, Birmingham, Boise, Buffalo, Charleston, Chicago Midway, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Hartford, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio, San Diego, San Juan, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, and Westchester County.
You need to opt in by uploading a U.S. passport to your frequent flyer account with a participating airline, and you can only use the dedicated Touchless ID lane when the indicator appears on your boarding pass.
Air Premia Expands to D.C.
South Korean carrier Air Premia will launch four-times-weekly service between Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Washington Dulles (IAD) starting April 24, operating Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays with a 320-seat Boeing 787-9.
This marks the airline’s fifth U.S. destination since beginning trans-Pacific flights in 2022, joining LAX, HNL, EWR and SFO, with the 787 featuring 56 Premium-class reclining seats in a 2-3-2 configuration and 253 economy seats in a 3-3-3 layout on a route where it’ll compete directly with Korean Air.
Hilton Defranchises MN Hampton Inn
A Hampton Inn in Lakeville, Minnesota made headlines after canceling reservations for ICE agents and telling them they weren’t welcome at the property — prompting swift backlash from the Department of Homeland Security.
The franchise owner, Everpeak Hospitality, issued an apology claiming the issue was resolved, but a visitor showed up that same night and recorded a front desk agent still enforcing the ban.
Hilton moved fast: within 24 hours of the controversy breaking, the hotel giant removed the property from its system entirely, stating the franchisee failed to meet their “standards and values.”
