On April 02, United will make its MileagePlus program a bit more interesting for holders of one of its co-branded credit cards – but practically useless for everyone else.

As a credit card holder, you will earn one more mile per USD on United flights (so 6 miles per USD as a basic member), but otherwise 2 miles less (so 3 miles per USD as a basic member). At Basic Economy fares, non-cardholders will no longer earn any miles at all as a basic member, and even cardholders will only earn 3 miles per USD.

At the same time, flight awards on United will be discounted by 10% for credit card holders.

All of this aims, of course, at forcing customers to use a credit card, which is a huge source of revenue for United, as it is for other U.S. carriers.

The small problem with that, however, is that United currently serves 73 countries outside the U.S., but only offers a credit card in 13 markets (eight of which are in Central America). Even if you wanted to play the game, members in key markets like Germany, Spain or China simply don’t have that option.

If you, as a frequent flyer, expect a certain level of planning security from your program, you are unfortunately quite misplaced with ITA.

In a somewhat peculiar manner of communication, ITA updated the program conditions of its VOLARE program without informing the members about it.

The program will be available only until March 30. After that, no more points can be collected, but until April 30, points can still be redeemed with program partners – but not with ITA itself!

And then? Presumably, the program will merge into Miles & More. Presumably, unused points will not be carried over. Presumably, most of the reward partners are no longer offered, as Miles & More does not operate on such a concept.

Presumably.

Until the end of the year, you can earn double reward and status miles on flights of SkyTeam member Vietnam Airlines in their Lotusmiles program – provided that the bookings are made online and on Fridays. On domestic flights, the double status miles only apply to existing status customers.

If you are planning trips to the region (or even with connections, e.g., to Australia), such flexibility is definitely worth it. This way, with a single round trip between Ho Chi Minh City and Paris or London in Business Class at the Flex fare, you can achieve Platinum status, which corresponds to SkyTeam Elite Plus status.

And if you already have enough miles in your account by May 31, you can also benefit from an awards promotion: All international award flights until the end of the year – if booked by May 31 – are reduced by 20% during off-peak periods, some (e.g. Milan) even by 40% and the flights Hanoi-Amsterdam even by 60%, which makes them a real bargain!

If, like Hyatt, you combine a revenue-based earning structure in your loyalty program with a fixed award chart, then regular award increases are unavoidable.

Hyatt last did this in their World of Hyatt in 2021, and we all know the developments in hotel prices since then. Thus, the price increases that will come into effect in May are quite steep and are being heavily criticised from all sides. However, the criticism should be more moderate if the accrual velocity were also taken into account correctly.

An unexpected side effect of this increase in award prices, however, is that the conversion to Frequent Flyer miles suddenly becomes more interesting, as nothing is changing there. Previously, you had to weigh up whether to use a Category 4 reward night or a short-haul reward flight with Air France or KLM, which you could get by transferring points into Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program. From May, for the same number of points, you will only get a Category 3 reward night – but still the same reward flight.

In uncertain times, the question always arises whether one should redeem miles or not.

While there are generally several reasons in favour – better availability during low-demand periods, higher flexibility for rebookings – this time it might look a bit different: Due to high fuel prices, most airlines have already increased their fuel surcharges – even though many have secured fuel at a fixed price for the entire year through so-called fuel hedging – and in most Frequent Flyer programs, you have to pay these surcharges for award flights. Since these surcharges mean that award flights are not always economically attractive even in normal times, it looks obviously even worse now.

The situation is different only in the US and some other programs, where award flights are exempt from these surcharges.

The merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines is still not finally accepted by the authorities, but Asiana has already announced what would happen in that case to the Asiana Club.

For a period of ten years, you can keep the miles you have accrued in the Asiana Club before the merger and use them from there. This can be an interesting option, as only flight miles are converted from the Asiana Club to Korean Air’s Skypass at a 1:1 ratio. Non-air partner miles, however, will only be exchanged at a 1:0.82 ratio. This was one of the key points raised by the competition authorities, and the airlines hope that by retaining the Asiana miles, they can allay these concerns.

However, if you are an Asiana Club member and plan to use your miles on Star Alliance partners, you shouldn’t wait too long!

In 2014, Etihad bought the ailing Alitalia with the promise of making it “the sexiest airline in Europe” (in the words of then-CEO of Etihad, James Hogan). The rest is well known.

Several management teams thereafter, an out-of-court settlement between the Italian state and Etihad for a compensation payment of 300 million EUR for the mismanagement at that time has now been reached.

What does this historical digression have to do with frequent flyers today? In 2024, Etihad recorded a record profit of 476 million USD – which shows that the margin for the airline is becoming very narrow in view of the amount to be paid. And frequent flyers will certainly have to contribute their part. Miracles from Etihad Guest are unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Sometimes the ideas of loyalty managers take strange turns…

For example, Vueling: One must already be grateful in Europe if a low-cost airline even offers a Frequent Flyer Program – the list of counterexamples is still very long, from easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air to Volotea and Smart Wings – Vueling is now taking an even stranger path in its Vueling Club.

As a basic member, you no longer earn any miles with Vueling flights. Only from the Smart level onwards do you earn 3 miles per EUR, which increases to 5 and then 7 miles at the higher Elite levels.

The elite levels are now reached on a revenue basis, with a minimum annual spend of 200 EUR with Vueling required for the Smart level. If you fly less, the program probably won’t bring you any benefits anyway, so why this complication…?

Furthermore, it seems that as a Vueling Club member, you can still collect miles on all Vueling flights if you book the flights through Iberia. Or Iberia Club members can collect miles on Vueling flights as usual.

Hand on heart, how many Marriott brands can you name off the top of your head? 5? 10? That should be the range for most of us.

However, Marriott has the problem, like many other hotel chains, of having many more brands in their portfolio. 35 in the case of Marriott, to be precise.

To bring those closer to their Marriott Bonvoy members, you will receive 2,500 bonus points and a bonus status night per stay at any hotel brand for stays between February 26 and May 10. You need to register for this promotion by April 26.

This may not be the most generous promotion the world has ever seen, but it might be an incentive to brush up on your general knowledge a bit.

Luxury hotels, however, often have a completely different problem: they are independent or just a group with a few properties, so a customer loyalty program is hardly worthwhile, or it only offers customers limited benefits, as they are not necessarily loyal to a specific hotel.

Journey Rewards has recognised this market gap and is now offering a program platform for such hotels (and luxury rentals). 1,400 accommodations worldwide – with a total of only 5,000 rooms! – are currently available.

The program offers flexible redemption options, including the possibility of point pooling. A status system is also offered, and the highest published level, Legend, is reached with an annual spend of 50,000 USD.