It is always commendable when programs announce changes to reward prices in advance.

But when Emirates announces changes starting from May 20 without providing any further details, the practical value is very limited. Especially in the current situation, it is up to each individual to speculate in which direction the Skywards rewards will go. However, if Emirates was planning a fundamental price reduction, it would probably have been communicated differently.
In the last price adjustment, award levels in Economy Class were lowered, while awards in Business and First Class became more expensive.

Especially in the Middle East, you can currently see various attractive hotel promotions. The reason for this is logical: While foreign airlines can relatively flexibly adjust their route networks to the demand situation – for example, the Lufthansa Group has suspended all flights to Dubai until September 13 – this is not really feasible for hotels.

Especially in the programs of Accor, ALL, and Global Hotel Alliance, GHA Discovery, both of which are relatively strong in the Gulf region, offers for program members are piling up, combined with a generally low price level.

GHA is currently going so far as to give certain local members, after corresponding registration, 50 Discovery Dollars (worth 50 USD), which can then be redeemed in hotels in the region within two months…

As times (unfortunately) change, this is also reflected in the Miles+Bonus program of Greek airline Aegean Airlines.

Not too far away geographically, Greece is indeed dealing with two politically uncomfortable neighbours in Russia and Iran. As in more distant countries, military service is regaining importance here as well.

As it has been the case in the program for young parents during parental leave, Miles+Bonus now allows you to maintain your elite status even in the case of military service without corresponding program activity. This is the first time in the world that a program plays such a role in contributing to the security of its country.

After the demise of Spirit Airlines, many are questioning the future of low-cost carriers in the US. With the major, financially stronger U.S. airlines all introducing a basic fare to better compete with them, their room to manoeuvre has indeed shrunk.

Frontier is now the largest remaining (ultra) low-cost airline and has the answer for its Frontier Miles members: For every round-trip booked by May 31 and flown by August 31, you’ll get a bonus of 5,000 miles. For this, you already get a one-way award flight in the program.

This bonus can be collected up to four times, and perhaps this could be a good opportunity to support the sector – and thus the competition – in the USA a bit!

Uber is indeed entering into more and more partnerships with Frequent Flyer programs, but these are each country-specific and, by nature, of limited use to frequent flyers. For example, as a Delta SkyMiles member, you only earn miles in the US, and as a Flying Blue member with Air France KLM, you only earn in France – without the ability to link your Uber account to multiple programs.

There is now hope thanks to a newly announced partnership with Accor’s ALL program, where members will be able to earn points in multiple countries. Details are not yet known, but there is hope that one will indeed be able to benefit from the partnership across borders.

The partnership will start in the second half of the year in France, Germany, Poland, Morocco, and the Gulf States, both for Uber rides and orders with Uber Eats.