Southwest, Delta reduce elite status requirements

In this week’s air travel news, both Delta and Southwest unveiled changes to their loyalty programs that make it easier to achieve top tier status; United says it will revamp its passenger boarding next week; United also gives an update on the deployment of Bluetooth technology for its in-flight entertainment system; American rolls out a new AAdvantage program offshoot that rewards both businesses and their travelers; Alaska Airlines expands code-sharing with Japan Airlines; Delta flies to a new Mexican resort destination; Spirit and Sun Country Airlines plan to add California routes next year; the Star Alliance cuts the ribbon on a second premium lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle; United reopens a United Club in Newark’s Terminal C; and American opens a new Admirals Club in Denver International’s Terminal C.

Southwest Airlines has rolled out some changes to its Rapid Rewards loyalty program, including reduced requirements for earning tier status. Effective Jan. 1, Southwest said, the level of flight activity to earn A-List status in the program is being cut from 25 one-way qualifying flights to 20 (A-List can also be achieved by earning 35,000 tier qualifying points). The requirement for A-List Preferred status drops from 50 to 40 one-way flights (or 70,000 tier qualifying points). Also beginning Jan. 1, those with Rapid Rewards credit cards (Premier, Premier Business, Priority or Performance Business cards issued by Chase) will get 1,500 tier qualifying points when they spend $5,000, down from the current requirement of $10,000. Starting Nov. 6, A-List Preferred members’ boarding passes will include authorization for two free premium drinks per flight. And effective next spring, the airline said, loyalty members will be able to pay for flights with a combination of cash and Rapid Rewards points.

Delta has followed through on a recent promise by CEO Ed Bastian to reconsider changes to its SkyMiles and Sky Club programs made in September. In response to widespread pushback from the airline’s most frequent customers, Delta said this week it will reduce the required Medallion Qualifying Dollars, or MQDs, to $5,000 for Silver, $10,000 for Gold, $15,000 for Platinum, and $28,000 for Diamond. The carrier said that members who hold the Delta SkyMiles Reserve, Reserve Business, SkyMiles Platinum and Platinum Business American Express cards “will also receive an MQD head start of $2,500 MQDs for the current Medallion qualification year.” 

The airline’s September announcement had also limited access to its airport Sky Club lounges for holders of some Delta/AmEx credit cards. Now, Delta said, Reserve and Reserve Business cardholders will be able to visit the lounges 15 times a year instead of 10, and holders of Platinum and Business Platinum AmEx cards will get 10 visits annually instead of six. Meanwhile, members holding large Medallion Qualifying Mile rollover balances in the SkyMiles program will be able to convert them next year into MQDs “at a more generous ratio of 10:1 (up from 20:1),” Delta said. 

United Airlines will return to a boarding procedure it used prior to 2017 on Oct. 26. Passengers will board the aircraft in an order based on their seat location — window, middle or aisle. The new process is expected to reduce overall boarding time by about two minutes, but will still give priority to select groups, such as unaccompanied minors, people with disabilities, and families with kids under 2. Changes begin with passengers in Group 4, which means frequent flyers, first and business customers and others with preferred boarding status also won’t see their boarding routine change.

Once all customers in Groups 1 to 3 are aboard, the new general boarding process will take place, starting with those assigned to window seats and exit row seats, along with non-revenue flyers. The next group includes middle seat customers, followed by those with aisle seats. The last to board (Group 6) will be those with basic economy tickets on domestic and short international flights. The View from the Wing blog notes that multiple passengers on the same reservation “will all get the best boarding group that anyone on the reservation is entitled to, except that basic economy passengers will still end up in Group 6 even if they’re booked together with a MileagePlus elite passenger or co-brand credit card customer.” 

United Airlines also said this week that Bluetooth is now enabled on more than 100 of its aircraft and should be on 800 planes by 2032. The feature allows users to listen to content on seatback screens without wired headphones. To use it, flyers should look for a Bluetooth icon in the toolbar near the bottom of the seatback screen, then toggle it to “on” (make sure your Bluetooth headphones or earplugs are disconnected from other devices). Place them in pairing mode and select the device from your list of available devices. United noted that users of Apple AirPods Pro (second generation) can now take advantage of new features in Bluetooth, including Conversation Awareness, which lowers the volume when the user begins to speak, and Adaptive Audio — “a new listening mode that dynamically blends Transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation, adjusting the noise control based on the sound in a user’s environment, like the roar of plane engines.”

American Airlines has introduced a new corporate version of its AAdvantage loyalty program called AAdvantage Business that provides benefits to both participating companies and their traveling employees. It’s open to businesses with at least five employees and does not impose a minimum spending requirement. When flights are booked through AA.com or the airline’s mobile app, the participating company will get one AAdvantage mile for every dollar spent and the individual traveler will earn one Loyalty Point that counts toward achieving status in the AAdvantage program. “These Loyalty Points are in addition to any miles or Loyalty Points the traveler is earning as an AAdvantage member,” American said. Participating companies that also sign up for the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard and use it to pay for travel can double their AAdvantage earnings. 

In domestic route news, low-cost Spirit Airlines plans to add a pair of intra-California routes next spring. On April 5, according to Aeroroutes.com, Spirit will begin operating one daily flight between Oakland and Hollywood Burbank Airport and one a day between Sacramento and San Diego. Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines said this week it will introduce eight new seasonal domestic routes from its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub next spring, including twice-weekly flights to Oakland; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Billings and Missoula, Montana; Boise, Idaho; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Syracuse, New York; and four weekly flights to Washington Dulles. All those routes except Oakland and Syracuse are already served by Delta.

Delta’s reduction of Los Angeles-Maui service from two daily flights to one, which had been expected to continue through Nov. 16, has now been extended to Dec. 12. In the northeast, American Airlines announced plans to expand summer service to New England and Canada next year. Beginning in June, AA said, it will use Embraer 175s to operate daily flights from Washington Reagan National to Hyannis, Massachusetts, and from New York LaGuardia to Hyannis as well as Bangor, Maine; Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with twice-daily service from LaGuardia to Portland, Maine.  

United has reopened its United Club near Newark Liberty’s Gate C74 after an 18-month renovation, once again giving it two membership lounges in its busy Terminal C hub, including a new one that opened last year at Gate C123. The 18,000-square-foot C74 facility can accommodate up to 400. The new club offers a variety of seating styles, totally remade bathrooms (but no showers), a large bar, two coffee stations, a pair of full-service buffet stations, free Wi-Fi and wide availability of AC, USB-A and USB-C ports. The Points Guy notes that the facility incorporates the elements of United’s new club design, including automated entry gates where members can gain access by self-scanning their boarding pass.

At Denver International, American Airlines has opened a new 114-seat Admirals Club lounge in Terminal C, replacing an earlier facility in Terminal A. It’s located on Terminal C’s upper mezzanine level between Gates 30 and 32. Seats come with USB and power ports, and the lounge has a full-service bar and a buffet. It’s open from 4:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m

Alaska Airlines is expanding its code-sharing with Oneworld alliance partner Japan Airlines, after adding its own code and flight numbers to a number of transpacific flights from the West Coast. Alaska’s code will be going onto several JAL routes beyond Japan, including Osaka and Tokyo Haneda to Bangkok; Haneda to Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore; and Tokyo Narita to Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. 

United’s global Star Alliance has opened a second premium lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is served by 20 of its member airlines. The new lounge in Terminal 1, large enough to handle 300 guests, is available to first and business class flyers and Star Alliance Gold customers traveling on member carriers’ flights departing from Gates 10 to 38. It’s also available to eligible United Club and Air Canada Maple Leaf Club members. The other Star Alliance lounge at CDG, located pre-security on Level 10, “will now serve passengers departing on intra-Schengen flights from Gates 50 to 78, as well as guests from various lounge access programs departing from all gates,” Star Alliance said.