Happy Friday. Here’s the latest miles, points, travel, and deals news:
Bilt Cash Launches 2026
Bilt is replacing its milestone rewards program with Bilt Cash starting January 1, 2026, giving you $50 in Bilt Cash for every 25,000 Bilt Points you earn within a calendar year.
You’ll be able to redeem Bilt Cash dollar-for-dollar at merchants in the Bilt network, through the Bilt Travel portal, for fitness classes, home delivery orders, and mobile dining checkout.
Bilt Cash can also purchase elite status upgrades, including increased transfer bonuses on Rent Day, early access to Bilt experiences, or one-time access to Home Away from Home hotel booking for Blue and Silver members.
The new currency is designed to grow alongside Bilt’s expanding ecosystem of neighborhood merchants, so expect additional earning and redemption opportunities after launch.
You’ll earn Bilt Cash on top of your regular Bilt Points, which aren’t going anywhere along with your existing transfer partners.
The earning rate works out to 0.2 cents per point at each 25,000-point threshold, functioning as a bonus reward for your regular spending.
Any milestone rewards you claim before December 31, 2025 will remain active until they expire or you’ve earned the maximum points for that specific milestone reward.
Here’s the critical part: unclaimed milestone rewards will completely disappear at year’s end, so you’ll want to claim any rewards you’ve earned before 2025 wraps up.
Air Canada New Downtown Routes
Air Canada is launching four new US routes from Toronto’s downtown Billy Bishop City Airport starting in spring 2026, with New York LaGuardia service beginning March 29 (4 daily), followed by Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles on June 1 (2 and 1 daily respectively), and Boston on July 1 (3 daily) — all flown with Dash 8-400 turboprops in partnership with United.
The expansion is enabled by a new US Customs preclearance facility opening at the airport by early Q2 2026, allowing you to clear immigration and customs before departure instead of dealing with it stateside.
This move doubles Air Canada’s capacity at the convenient island airport from 12 to 25 daily departures and directly challenges Porter Airlines, which currently runs 41 daily flights from Billy Bishop and already serves three of these four destinations (minus LaGuardia).
You’ll get free inflight Wi-Fi, complimentary snacks and drinks including beer and wine on all flights, with Air Canada potentially adding Philadelphia and Reagan National routes down the line if these initial services perform well.
Alaska Airlines Tech Meltdown
Alaska Airlines grounded its entire network for seven hours on Thursday after a significant IT outage hit around 7:21 p.m. EDT, affecting both mainline Alaska and regional subsidiary Horizon Air flights (Hawaiian Airlines was unaffected).
The disruption resulted in 229 cancellations on Thursday — with Seattle-Tacoma seeing over 10% of departures axed — and by Friday morning, the carrier had already preemptively canceled 115 flights (14% of its network) as it worked to reposition aircraft.
Passengers with Thursday or Friday travel dates can rebook for any day between Thursday and Monday under Alaska’s travel waiver, and you’re entitled to a full refund if you choose not to fly rather than accept rebooking.
American Returns to Israel
American Airlines will resume daily nonstop service between New York JFK and Tel Aviv starting March 28, 2026, marking its first flights to Israel since October 2023.
The airline will use a Boeing 777-200ER with 273 seats on the 5,677-mile route, with tickets going on sale October 27, 2025.
American previously launched both JFK and Miami service in 2021 but cut the Miami route in March 2023, while a planned Dallas route never launched—leaving JFK as the sole returnee despite being part of the oneworld transatlantic joint venture.
Alaska’s 2026 West Coast Expansion
Alaska Airlines is launching 13 new routes starting March 2026, including service to two new cities—Tulsa, Oklahoma and Arcata-Eureka, California—while pushing San Diego and Portland as key growth markets.
San Diego scores five new routes (Tulsa, Dallas/Fort Worth with 2x daily service, Raleigh-Durham, Oakland with 4x daily flights, and Santa Barbara with 2x daily), representing a 35% capacity increase that positions the city as an alternative southern California hub with connections to East Coast and Hawaii destinations.
Portland adds four new seasonal routes (Baltimore, Idaho Falls, Philadelphia, and St. Louis starting May 13) plus a second daily Newark flight and increased Lihue service, restoring connectivity lost during the pandemic.
Hawaii gets a boost with new Honolulu-Burbank seasonal service launching May 13, LA-Maui going to 2x daily, and San Francisco-Kona and San Francisco-Lihue both increasing to daily nonstops in June 2026, bringing Alaska’s total network to 142 destinations.
United Grows Chicago Hub
United is launching 10 new nonstop routes from Chicago O’Hare starting February 2026, including Santa Barbara (SBA), Monterey (MRY), Eugene (EUG), Rochester MN (RST), Marquette (MQT), Wausau (CWA), Paducah (PAH), Lynchburg (LYH), St. George (SGU), and Idaho Falls (IDA).
Service begins February 24 with Paducah, followed by Lynchburg in March, Santa Barbara and Eugene in April, and the remaining six routes launching in May with frequencies ranging from once weekly (Monterey, St. George, Idaho Falls) to three times daily (Rochester, Marquette, Wausau).
The expansion uses Boeing 737 MAX 8s for Santa Barbara, Monterey, and Eugene, while regional jets including the CRJ550, CRJ200, and E175 operated by SkyWest will handle the other routes.
You’ll also see boosted frequencies to six existing destinations: Hilton Head (HHH), Halifax (YHZ), Palm Beach (PBI), Sun Valley (SUN), Nassau (NAS), and Aruba (AUA).
Hawaiian Companion Discounts on Alaska
Hawaiian Airlines credit cardholders can now use their companion perks on Alaska Airlines flights across North America, not just on Hawaiian-operated routes between Hawaii and the mainland.
The change applies to both the annual $100 companion discount and the one-time 50% companion fare on the personal and business cards, making them significantly more useful if you live on the mainland and fly Alaska regularly within the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.
JetBlue Drops Bonaire Route
JetBlue is pulling out of Bonaire on January 3, 2026 — barely over a year after launching service to the Caribbean island on November 5, 2024 — because local authorities are ending a multi-year revenue guarantee early, which means the airline would be flying at a loss without the subsidy.
The route was already struggling before the subsidy ended, with JetBlue cutting service from twice weekly down to just once weekly at the end of August.
Business Gold Gets Squarespace Credit
The American Express Business Gold Card now offers up to $150 in annual statement credits for U.S. Squarespace purchases, available immediately to all cardholders with enrollment required.
