Here’s your miles, points, travel, and deals news for November 14, 2023.
I’m flying today from Chicago to Capetown via Doha on Qatar Airways business class for a two-week vacation, but I’ll still be posting on here.
Deals and Points News
- Southwest announced they will devalue Rapid Rewards points by 4% starting on January 1, 2024, but any bookings made before January 1 will be at the old rates.
- Southwest is also increasing the cost of its alcoholic drinks starting on November 15th. Liquor and ready-to-drink cocktails increase from $7 to $9, wine increase from $6 to $8, and beer increases from $6-7 to $7. [HT: VFTW]
- You can now redeem JetBlue TrueBlue points on Qatar Airways. The U.S. to Doha in business class is 70,000 points and beyond Doha is about 106,000 to 140,000 points.
- Aeroplan has a 100% to 125% mystery bonus on purchased points. My offer was for a 100% bonus, which works out to 1.27 cents per point (after converting CAD to USD) which is a great deal.
- The AAdvantage shopping portal has an all-time high of 1,700 miles for a BarkBox subscription.
- Shake Shack has a deal for free Chicken Shack Sandwich with $10+ purchase with code CHICKENDANCE.
Amex Offers:
- Cathay Pacific for $175 back on $1,000+ in spending by December 31, 2023.
- Virgin Atlantic for $300 back on $2,000+ in spending by January 12, 2024.
- JetBlue for $50 back on $200+ in spending by December 31, 2023.
- OfficeMax/Office Depot for $15 back on $100+ in spending by February 14, 2024.
- American Express Gift card for $50 back on $1,000+ in spending by December 31, 2024.
Travel News
- JetBlue applied for slots to fly to Lisbon (LIS) for two daily flights, most likely from New York (JFK) and Boston (BOS)
- Turkish Airlines is adding a flight from Detroit (DTW) to their global hub in Istanbul (IST).
- American Airlines is launching flights to Tulum’s new airport (TQO) from Charlotte (CLT), Dallas (DFW), and Miami (MIA), with service to start on March 28, 2024.
- Breeze Airways added many new routes:
- Orlando to Burlington VT, Evansville, Madison, New York-Stewart, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
- Tampa to Burlington VT, Madison, Myrtle Beach, and Plattsburgh.
- Myrtle Beach to Charleston WV and Providence.
- Grand Junction to Orange County and San Francisco.
- Charleston SC to New York-Stewart.
- Aeromexico added a daily flight from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Mexico City (RDU).
Dubai Airshow News:
- FlyDubai ordered 30 Boeing 787-9s with the first deliveries in 2026.
- airBaltic ordered up to 50 additional Airbus A220-300s to add to their 44 current A220s.
- Ethopian Airlines placed an order for 20 Boeing 737 Max 8s with an option for 21 more, and 11 Boeing 787-9s with an option for 15 more.
- Emirates increased their order of the new Boeing 777X to 205 aircraft, plus Emirates ordered additional Boeing Dreamliners, 20 787-8s and 15 787-10s aircraft.
- EgyptAir ordered 10 Airbus A350-900s.
- Royal Jordanian ordered 6 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
