The USA hold true to its government’s America First policy. In July, President Trump signed an Executive Order that ordered the National Park Service (NPS) to mull increased entrance fees for Non-American visitors. A press release on NPS.gov confirmed the results – and upcoming changes – last night.

Starting January 1, 2026, entrance fees for non US-residents will change. And the prices increase drastically:

• The price of the America the Beautiful pass (formerly known as Golden Eagle) will rise to US$250 (~€216) instead of previously US$80.
• If you don’t hold the pass, you’ll have to pay $100 per person on top of the regular entrance fees at the most popular parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or Yosemite.
• Free Entrance Days, five to six days per year on which the entrance fee in all parks is waived, will be only available for US residents going forward.

America the Beautiful Pass Price Triples

Everyone who ever did a road trip through the US is familiar with the America the Beautiful pass. It comes with a price-tag of $80 and includes entry to all US National Parks for every person in one car (or 4 pedestrians) for twelve months after purchase. Starting in January 2026, this offer will be only available to US citizens or permanent residents. Tourists need to purchase a similar pass, with the same conditions, but costing $250 instead.

The pass not only includes entrances fees, but also covers Day Use Fees, as well as fees in National Monuments, National Forests and other federal recreation spots. State Parks on the other hand are not included, as these are not operated by the US federal government.

It is unclear if passes purchased in 2025 remain valid. It is currently possible to buy the American the Beautiful pass online for US$80 (~€69). If you have planned a trip to the United States in 2026, it might pay off to buy the pass now or in December and use it next year. However, there is no official statement if purchased passes remain valid for foreigners in 2026.

No Annual Pass? $100 Surcharge in Select Parks

If you don’t purchase an annual pass, you can still buy entrance tickets for each park separately. However, 11 of the most popular parks will start charging $100 extra if you aren’t a US resident. These $100 have to be paid per person. Affected are the following parks:

• Acadia National Park
• Bryce Canyon National Park
• Everglades National Park
• Glacier National Park
• Grand Canyon National Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Rocky Mountain National Park
• Sequioa & Kings Canyon National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Yosemite National Park
• Zion National Park

If you visit more than two of these parks within a single year, or if you travel with two or more persons, you should purchase the annual pass – since it includes everybody you can fit in a car.

The following map shows all US National Parks. Parks with a $100 surcharge are marked in red.

No More Free Days for Tourists

As mentioned previously, US National Parks waive entrance fees on five or six certain days each year. Starting 2026, tourists can no longer benefit from this rule – it becomes exclusive to US residents. At least for the most popular parks, this doesn’t change too much, as those were too crowded on said days to consider a visit anyway.

Editor’s Note: A bunch of people asked me lately if I would advise visiting the US these days, my answer remains the same: “If you’ve never been there, go for it. It’s an amazing place, and it has always been expensive. But if you have visited in the past, don’t go: You are in for a worse experience at a higher price.” The changes to National Park fees (for tourists) are right down that alley. As a regular visitor of 30+ years, it’s a bit sad to see that recently, I feel a little less welcome every time I cross the pond.

Translated by Felix

Sources: US ministry of the interior press release and NPS.gov

For many years, the British Airways Executive Club was one of the best programs for earning elite status within the Oneworld alliance. But at the turn of the year 2024/2025, that came to an abrupt end. Contrary to earlier announcements, BA completely overhauled the status qualification system. Originally, a purely revenue-based system had been announced, meaning you would have needed more than €8,000 in spend with BA to reach Oneworld Sapphire status.

After massive criticism, the announced system was softened after only a few days. In addition to revenue-based Tier Points, bonus points depending on travel class and distance band were introduced. Initially, this promotion was supposed to run only a few weeks. It was then modified and extended for flights through December 2026 (for bookings until Dec. 2025).

Even at that time, BA indicated:

It’s expected the airline will always offer members a Bonus Tier Point proposition in addition to the general 1 Tier Point for £1 earning mechanism.

British Airways press release, February 2025

And that is now exactly what has happened. Since November 25, 2025, the bonus has been extended indefinitely. No registration is required. In practice, however, little changes since the same bonus amounts have been applied since February.

How the Additional Tier Points Work

In principle, the following applies for the additional Tier Points:

• Short-haul flights:
  • 75 Tier Points in Economy Class (excluding Basic Economy)
  • 175 Tier Points in Business Class
• Long-haul flights:
  • 150 Tier Points in Economy Class (excluding Basic Economy)
  • 275 Tier Points in Premium Economy
  • 400 Tier Points in Business Class
  • 550 Tier Points in First Class

However, several restrictions apply:

• Flights must carry a BA flight number (codeshare flights operated by Oneworld partners are fine)
• All Basic Economy fares are excluded
• Award flights, upgrades, etc. are also excluded
• For Oneworld partner flights:
  • Iberia & American: revenue-based Tier Points, but no bonus points
  • All other Oneworld partners: Tier Points based on distance & booking class, but no bonus points

The bonus points are awarded in addition to the regular accrual. For example: if you fly from Germany to London for €170 (£150) excluding taxes/fees, you earn 300 Tier Points: 150 TP for the £150 ticket price plus 2 × 75 TP as bonus. But only if you did not book the Basic fare without checked baggage.

Customers booking the Basic fare are punished twice. First, cheap fares now earn almost no Tier Points, and secondly, you don’t get the bonus points either because Basic is excluded. And flights with Iberia or American flight numbers are extremely unattractive under the new system: revenue-based accrual applies, but without bonus Tier Points to compensate, even though the airlines supposedly cooperate closely.

Calculation Example

We’ve once again put together an example that illustrates the accrual in the new system. The example is a Business Class flight BER–LHR–JFK–LHR–BER in booking class I. We assume a promotional fare of around €2,000 (including €200 taxes).

Under the old 2024 system, this itinerary would earn 360 Tier Points (40 + 140 + 140 + 40). That corresponds to:

• 120% of BA Bronze / Oneworld Ruby (360 / 300 TP)
• 60% of BA Silver / Oneworld Sapphire (360 / 600 TP)
• 24% of BA Gold / Oneworld Emerald (360 / 1200 TP)

Under the new system, the same flights earn 1,580 revenue-based Tier Points plus 1,150 bonus Tier Points, for a total of 2,730 Tier Points. That corresponds to:

• 78% of BA Bronze / Oneworld Ruby (2,730 / 3,500 TP)
• 36% of BA Silver / Oneworld Sapphire (2,730 / 7,500 TP)
• 14% of BA Gold / Oneworld Emerald (2,730 / 20,000 TP)

Based on this example, you would need to fly about 65% more to reach elite status. Earning status with Economy tickets was neither attractive in the old system nor in the new one.

Too Little, Too Late

British Airways originally aimed to make the points system simpler. The opposite has happened. Of course, BA continues to market all this as an improvement rather than acknowledging that the new system is a major misstep.

In practice, the new system is unlikely to help restore loyalty. Those who left in the past months have long since found alternatives. The fact that the initially temporary bonuses are now permanent does not change that, especially since they are tied to strict conditions.

Even Iberia Plus is now more attractive in many cases. It also uses a revenue-based system, but awards 1 point per € instead of £. And similar bonus points as in the British Airways Club are offered not only for BA flight numbers, but also for American Airlines (except Basic Eco) and Iberia.

Calculate Miles & Status Credits

Since the bonus points are now permanent, we’ve included them in our mileage/status calculator. The status calculator shows which frequent flyer program gets you closest to Oneworld Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald with your flights.

For Economy tickets, it’s important that the fare type is also specified. Otherwise the system assumes Basic fare, which gives no bonus points. To avoid that, you need to activate “expert mode” and provide all optional parameters (issuing airline, price, fare). For example, for a Standard fare ticket to New York costing €250 (incl. fuel surcharge, excl. taxes):

BA:O:BER-LHR-JFK-LHR-BER:BA:250EUR:standard

Interestingly, the BA Club is now among the best options again, alongside Iberia Plus, if you book the Business example to New York above and aim for Oneworld Sapphire. But even then, you’d need three round trips.

However, once Economy flights and/or Oneworld partner flights are included, the British Airways Club loses ground, bonus points or not. And in reality, hardly anyone flies exclusively with BA; there will always be some partner flights included.

Source: British Airways

After years of devaluing its points, gifting its status to anyone with a Hilton credit card, getting rid of almost all US Executive Lounges, and no longer offering free breakfast in the US, Hilton has now decided to introduce a new status tier above Diamond, called Diamond Reserve. Unlike other status tiers, however, this one will not be attainable only through a certain number of nights or stays, but will require a minimum spend of at least US$18,000 (~€15,527)! At the same time, the requirements for Gold and Diamond are being lowered.

New Diamond Reserve Status

This new status will be the highest Hilton status. To earn it, you will need:

• 80 nights OR 40 stays
• AND US$18,000 (~€15,527) spend

While 80 nights or 40 stays seem like a reasonable ask for a top-tier status, the minimum spend of US$18,000 (~€15,527) is really high. If one were to really stay 80 nights at Hilton hotels, those 80 nights would have to cost at least US$225 (~€194) per night, presumably before taxes & fees. This makes it almost impossible to earn the status with mid-tier brands or in countries with lower price levels.

These will be the new benefits of the status:

• Better upgrades: Lately, many have complained that upgrades were getting worse. Now, Diamond Reserve members will apparently get better upgrades. Also, they will get one Confirmable Upgrade Reward per year, allowing them to directly upgrade a booking of up to 7 nights to a 1-bedroom suite.
• Guaranteed 16:00 late checkout: There were also quite a few complaints about the late checkout lately. This has now been addressed, as Diamond Reserve members will get a guaranteed 16:00 late check-out. That’s actually quite a good benefit.
• 120% bonus points: Diamond Reserve members also get 20% more bonus points than normal Diamond members. However, the points have been so heavily devalued in the past years that this is still pretty worthless.
• Premium Club Access: Hilton seems to be introducing Premium Clubs, which aren’t considered as usual Executive Lounges. In other words, this is a way to offer a lounge but no longer offer it to Diamond members (let alone Gold members as it used to be). It remains to be seen how many hotels will implement this, but it sounds like bad news for Diamonds.
• Exclusive Customer Service: A dedicated 24/7 hotline. Nothing to brag about.

For a status that’s supposed to get people to spend US$18,000 (~€15,527) per year at Hilton hotels, the benefits could be better. At IHG, for instance, you get confirmable upgrades much more easily, and only need to pay US$225 (~€194) per year to get the guaranteed 16:00 late check-out at InterContinental hotels. The value of the Premium Club Access also depends on how many of those clubs Hilton intends to open. If it’s not many, the benefit has little to no value. And the bonus points and hotline are a joke anyway.

New (Lower) Status Requirements for Gold & Diamond

Hilton has also announced a change to the status requirements of their Gold and Diamond status.

• Gold:
  • 40 25 nights
  • OR 20 15 stays
  • OR $7500 US$6,000 (~€5,176) annual spend
• Diamond:
  • 60 50 nights
  • OR 30 25 stays
  • OR $12000 US$11,500 (~€9,920) annual spend

This can be good or bad news. If you were struggling to reach the status before, this can be a good relief. If, however, you were qualifying with ease, you’ll probably have more members to compete with for upgrades, etc. The number of guests receiving free breakfast and lounge access will probably also increase, which may lead to worse service. I’ve already noticed that the food quality and quantity at executive lounges has gotten much worse at many properties in Europe (e.g. at the Hilton Düsseldorf, Hilton Berlin, or Hilton Lille). I could imagine these changes accelerating that trend. It also remains to be seen what effect the new Premium Clubs will have.

It should be noted that these changes are valid for 2026 to qualify for 2027. This year, you still need to complete the old requirements for next year’s status. Also, no changes have been made to the requirements of Lifetime Diamond (10 years of Diamond + either 1,000 nights or US$200,000 (~€172,518) spend). As of now, there will be no Lifetime Diamond Reserve status.

Further Changes to the Program

Hilton has also announced some other changes to its program:

• Stays at Homewood Suites and Spark will now earn 5 points per USD, instead of 10. Considering how badly points were devalued, this seems like a bad joke. Luckily, there aren’t many Homewood Suites in Europe, but it was one of my favourite brands in the US.
• No more Elite Rollover Nights. Previously, if you earned more nights than required, they would roll over to the next year. Well, that’s over. The only positive is that the lowered tier requirements probably even this out for most members.
• Confirmable Upgrade after 120 nights. If you hit the 120-night milestone reward, you’ll get a confirmable upgrade voucher for a suite on a stay of up to 7 nights. This would be the 2nd voucher for Diamond Reserve members, and the first for those who hit the nights without hitting the minimum spend. It should be noted that 120 nights is a ridiculous number for such a benefit.

Conclusion

These Hilton changes benefit two travellers: Those who spend A LOT at Hilton hotels, and those who were struggling to meet the current qualification requirements. Everyone else will see their status benefits diluted in one way or another. It’s a strange decision that Hilton didn’t use this opportunity to motivate members to stay more nights at all hotels of their portfolio, but instead incentivised them to only book expensive luxury hotels, and otherwise even stay fewer nights at Hilton hotels than before. I guess that Hilton found the current requirements to be too high for casual tourists and too low for business travellers and thought this was an adequate solution.

Almost 10 years ago, we introduced you to Where to Credit, a website for comparing mileage credits across different frequent flyer programs. Back then, we had already helped translate the site into German, and for many years, we relied heavily on Where to Credit to show you the mileage-earning opportunities for our flight deals.

Ten years ago, you would usually earn the same number of award miles and status miles at a 1:1 ratio. That has changed significantly in recent years, with more and more programs introducing zone-based or revenue-based earning structures. However, Where to Credit did not take differing award/status miles or revenue-based mileage accrual into account.

For that reason, we first built our own database for individual programs behind the scenes, and eventually launched an alternative to Where to Credit at miles.travel-dealz.com.

Since Adam, the founder of Where to Credit, has moved on professionally, we reached an agreement with him to take over and continue operating wheretocredit.com. As of yesterday, the old website has been shut down and now redirects to the new Where to Credit, which shows not only award miles – but also status mile accrual.

Additionally, we’ve given our well-known mileage calculator a proper input form, which you can now find at wheretocredit.com/calculator. It calculates your mileage credit based on the routing as well as the ticket price.

Feedback

We’ve kept the structure based on the proven concept of Where to Credit. If you’re missing something or have ideas, feel free to email us at feedback@wheretocredit.com

In June, Turkish Airlines announced a highly interesting promotion: the Star Alliance member promised one million miles (worth roughly €6,000 to €10,000) to anyone who managed to fly with the airline to six continents. Not exactly an easy task within just four months, especially since the terms and conditions presented a few hurdles, and the promotion was even ended prematurely.

The travel period ended on October 27, with mileage credit promised between November 1 and 15. And contrary to some doubts, it has indeed happened. The first miles have now been credited to Miles&Smiles accounts.

Internally, Turkish Airlines appears to have numbered participants based on when they made their first ticket booking. The number, therefore, doesn’t indicate who completed the challenge first.

Figures on Flyertalk suggest that around 1,000 people successfully completed the challenge. A very similar result to last year’s SAS campaign, which had 940 winners.

In our team, two editors were crazy enough to take on the challenge. Peer split his across three separate trips, while Ditmar checked off all six continents in under three weeks. You can read our trip reports on our forum (sadly only in German):

• Trip report by Peer on the Travel-Dealz forum
• Trip report by Ditmar on the Travel-Dealz forum

Did you take part as well? If so, how was your experience? Feel free to leave a comment.

The Allegris cabin has been flying for about a year and a half, and for roughly a year now, it has also featured a First Class. In just a few weeks, the first Swiss Senses long-haul flight to Boston will take off, and Miles&More seems to be using the occasion to make award bookings in the Allegris and Senses First Class possible, as long as you’re a Senator or HON Circle member.

Back in January, we had the chance to test the Allegris First Window and Double Suite thanks to an upgrade. An experience that has so far been out of reach for most travellers. Until now, neither upgrades nor mileage bookings were allowed in the Allegris First. With the introduction of the nearly identical Swiss Senses cabin, that exclusivity seems to be over. At least according to the Miles&More press office:

We can confirm that both mileage upgrades or ‘Cash & Miles’ upgrades from Business Class to First Class, as well as general award flights, are possible in Lufthansa’s Allegris First Class and SWISS’s Senses First Class. The mileage required for upgrades can be found in the fixed Upgrade Award Chart.

Miles&More Press Office

Award flights in First Class

However, as our colleagues at Reisetopia have already noted, Allegris First flights currently don’t seem to be available for mileage bookings. The situation looks different for Swiss Senses First Class. During a test booking via the Senator hotline, availability could actually be found, despite the much smaller route network currently operated by Swiss Senses.

Unfortunately, only Senator and HON Circle members can book Swiss First Class, and therefore also Swiss Senses First Class. That means that, for now, regular Miles&More members still have no access to the Lufthansa Group’s newest First Class product.

Upgrades to Senses and Allegris First

In addition to award bookings, it has also been announced that upgrades from Business Class to Senses or Allegris First Class will be possible in the future, using miles or “Cash & Miles.” Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to verify this yet, but the standard upgrade rates based on booking class are expected to apply:

From Business Class booking classes P, Z:

• Middle East, Caucasus, North & Central Africa: 55,000 miles
• South Africa, North America, India: 70,000 miles
• Central America, Caribbean, South America: 75,000 miles
• Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Far East: 85,000 miles
• New Zealand: 95,000 miles

From Business Class booking classes C, D, J:

• Middle East, Caucasus, North & Central Africa: 35,000 miles
• South Africa, North America, India: 50,000 miles
• Central America, Caribbean, South America: 55,000 miles
• Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Far East: 65,000 miles
• New Zealand: 75,000 miles

Given that most travellers will already have paid several thousand euros for their Business Class ticket, the value of such upgrades remains rather questionable.

Conclusion

While the announcement initially sounds promising, reality doesn’t quite match up. At least Senator and HON Circle members can now book the Senses First Class using miles. Everyone else will have to hope that their upgrade waitlist clears, which on Swiss often only happens at the gate. As a result, passengers miss out on most of the ground-based First Class experience.

Translated by Ditmar

It had to happen sooner or later – and now it has. SkyTeam member SAS has announced that it will raise the prices for award flights in its EuroBonus program.

One particularly popular sweet spot is affected: long-haul Business Class flights will soon cost 60,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles (plus taxes) per direction. Flights with partner airlines are also affected, with some percentage increases even higher. All changes apply to new bookings from December 1, 2025. Until then, you can still book tickets at the old rates – provided you can find availability.

What changes on December 1

You can find all updates on the SAS website under the award chart, where the new and old prices are shown side by side:

• Award chart for flights with SAS
• Award chart for flights with SkyTeam partners

Here’s an overview of the key changes:

Award flights with SAS

For SAS-operated flights, there are only two changes: long-haul Premium Economy awards increase by 13%, and Business Class awards by 20%. The following prices apply one-way:

• Premium Economy to Asia / North America: 45,000 (was 40,000) points (+13%)
• Business Class to Asia / North America: 60,000 (was 50,000) points (+20%)

SAS only charges actual taxes and fees – no fuel surcharges. Depending on the route and cabin, surcharges range from about €6 to €100.

All other routes and cabins remain unchanged in December. However, SAS had already increased many short-haul prices in October when it rebranded SAS Plus to SAS Business within Europe. In exchange, passengers now enjoy perks like an empty middle seat.

Award flights with SkyTeam partners

The changes are much more extensive for partner-airline award flights. On the SAS site, you’ll find a large price matrix depending on the origin and destination regions. Below are some key changes to previously popular sweet spots.

Keep in mind that one-way tickets cost 60% of the round-trip rate, meaning you’ll “pay a penalty” for booking one-way.

From Europe (and vice versa), round-trip prices:

• Business Class within Europe: 40,000 (was 30,000) points (+33%)
• Business Class Europe → North America: 140,000 (was 130,000) points (+8%)
• Business Class Europe → Central America: 180,000 (was 147,500) points (+22%)
• Business Class Europe → South America: 190,000 (was 165,000) points (+15%)
• Business Class Europe → Middle East: 130,000 (was 105,000) points (+24%)
• Business Class Europe → Southern Africa: 180,000 (was 165,000) points (+9%)
• Business Class Europe → Southeast Asia: 190,000 (was 187,500) points (+1%)
• Business Class Europe → Rest of Asia: 180,000 (was 165,000) points (+9%)
• Business Class Europe → Pacific: 280,000 (was 275,000) points (+2%)

Other worldwide routes (round-trip):

• Business Class within North America: unchanged at 50,000 miles
• Business Class North America → South America: 100,000 (was 90,000) miles (+11%)
• Business Class within South America: 75,000 (was 50,000) miles
  (Interestingly, First Class would now be cheaper than Business, if available.)
• Business Class within Southeast Asia: unchanged at 50,000 miles

Conclusion

Until now, long-haul SAS award flights were known for low mileage costs but terrible availability, especially to Asia, where finding a Business Class seat is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Availability to North America is somewhat better, but not by much.

A 20% increase in Business Class award prices is annoying, but still acceptable. Few frequent flyer programs offer cheaper redemptions. For comparison, Flying Blue also charges 60,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket, but adds about €200 in fuel surcharges per direction. EuroBonus now matches the mileage price, but without those extra fees. On the other hand, SAS’s route network and award availability are much more limited. Could this be an early step toward merging Flying Blue and EuroBonus?

Personally, I don’t feel any urgency to redeem my remaining 800,000 EuroBonus points from the SkyTeam Challenge right away. In any case, it would be nearly impossible, as the most attractive routes (like Tokyo or San Francisco) usually only show last-minute availability.

Translated by Ditmar

It’s only been a year since Norwegian Cruise Line renamed the well-known Free at Sea package to More at Sea – and now it’s being renamed again, this time to Even More Free at Sea. For short cruises up to 6 nights, the “old new” package actually gets cheaper, but prices are going up for longer cruises.

NCL will also no longer distinguish between inside/outside and balcony cabins in terms of speciality dining visits. In the new Free at Sea package, the number of included speciality restaurants only depends on the length of the cruise.

For the internet, there will now be a flat 150 free minutes for cruises of 2 nights or more. This benefits short cruises, but previously cruises of 11 nights or more came with 300 free minutes.

There are no changes for the shore excursion credit or included drinks – except that starting March 1, 2026, the second private island, Great Stirrup Cay, will also be excluded from the beverage packages.

The New Prices

For short cruises of 1 to 6 nights, prices for the new Free at Sea package actually drop significantly. On a 4-day trip (3 nights), you theoretically only pay €37 per night for the first and second person in a cabin. For cruises of 8 nights or more, it becomes slightly more expensive for the first and second guests.

But it becomes significantly more expensive for longer cruises for guests in the 3rd–8th berth in a cabin. Here, price increases go up to 23%.

Prices for the old More at Sea package vs. the new Free at Sea package in comparison:

Speciality Dining Visits

With the new Free at Sea package, guests in inside and outside cabins benefit. But in a balcony cabin, you now have to make do with fewer included speciality restaurant visits.

Free Internet Minutes

Going forward, cruises of at least 2 nights will always get a flat 150 free minutes. In the More at Sea package, there were still 300 free minutes for cruises of 11 nights or more. Unfortunately, this is still far from an unlimited rate.

Conclusion

NCL wants to make the package more attractive for short cruises. Especially in the US market, the trend is currently toward short Caribbean and Mexico cruises of 3–6 nights, and these changes target exactly that. In Europe, however, NCL cruises are usually longer than a week, and therefore benefit much less from these changes.

The fact that NCL is throwing the More at Sea brand name overboard so quickly is surprising. More at Sea was supposed to highlight the additional benefits compared to Free at Sea. Presumably customers simply didn’t adopt the new name.

Looking to try out NCL? Here are our best NCL deals:

The Cheapest Cruises from the USA this Winter (e.g. 4 Nights Royal Caribbean from Los Angeles for €161/$169)

For many years, Aegean Airlines has offered one of the easiest paths to Star Alliance Gold status. Over time, the rules have been adjusted several times. But even now, the status with Miles+Bonus has still been comparatively easy to maintain – at least since the tightening of the rules in 2023, as long as you travelled to Greece once per year.

Now there is more bad news. The requirements to achieve and keep Star Alliance Gold status are once again being significantly increased. Until now, it was enough to take 4 flights with Aegean + earn 12,000 status miles per year to renew Gold status. In the future, you will need 12 flights with Aegean or Olympic Air and 18,000 status miles. So one trip to Greece per year won’t be enough anymore.

Aegean is also introducing a new Platinum status with even higher thresholds. At the same time, there are new benefits for Silver & Gold status, mainly related to seat selection.

New (and Old) Qualification Rules

The new rules take effect on November 5, 2026. So everyone can still benefit from the old rules at least once more. It’s not yet entirely clear whether November 5 refers to the actual upgrade date or the renewal date. But it’s likely the former – that’s also how it worked with the changes two years ago. The following table compares the old and new thresholds:

New Status Benefits

While the requirements are being tightened, there is at least some positive news. Aegean is expanding the status benefits for Silver and Gold members – also valid starting November 5, 2026:

• Miles+Bonus Silver:
  • Free standard seat selection on Aegean & Olympic Air flights
  • 1,000 bonus award miles as a birthday gift each year
• Miles+Bonus Gold:
  • Free standard seat selection on Aegean & Olympic Air flights
  • 50% discount on extra legroom seats
  • 2,000 bonus award miles as a birthday gift each year

A completely new Miles+Bonus Platinum status is also being introduced. You reach it with 72,000 status miles per year, including at least 32 flights with Aegean or Olympic Air. Hardly anyone is likely to achieve this. Still, here’s a look at the most important perks:

• 30% mileage accrual bonus on Aegean & Olympic Air flights (instead of 20% for Gold)
• Free seat selection on Aegean & Olympic Air flights (incl. Up Front & Extra Legroom)
• 2 additional checked bags on every Aegean/Olympic Air flight (instead of 1 as Gold)
• Aegean Business Lounge: Up to 8 guests allowed (instead of 1 guest). They need to be on the same booking
• 3,000 bonus award miles as a birthday gift each year
• Exclusive Platinum hotline
• Ability to gift Gold status

Conclusion

The 2023 changes already caused major frustration. Until then, Star Alliance Gold status could be renewed relatively easily without ever setting foot on an Aegean aircraft. Then the requirements for that scenario were suddenly tripled, and it became almost mandatory to fly to or via Greece once a year.

Now, even that easy workaround is gone. One annual trip to Greece was not a major barrier for frequent flyers. But reaching 12 segments is much harder if you’re not island-hopping across Greece. For non-Greeks, Star Alliance Gold via Miles+Bonus is now basically a thing of the past.

Translated by Ditmar

Among frequent flyer programs, one negative change seems to follow the next lately. Unfortunately, this now applies to Qatar Airways as well. Last year, the airline massively increased fuel surcharges for award flights, and now they’re cutting back on what used to be included services.

Effective immediately, Qatar Airways has removed free seat selection for Business Class award tickets. Anyone who wants to reserve a seat in advance before check-in will now have to pay around €100 per flight. For frequent flyers with Oneworld Sapphire & Emerald status, seat selection remains free.

This change was not officially announced by Qatar. It was first noticed by a Reddit user. According to the user, Qatar customer service gave this response:

As per the latest guidelines from the Loyalty team, passengers who upgrade to Business Class(U) using Avios or Qcredits, or those who book Business Class tickets under the U RBD, will no longer be eligible for complimentary seat selection. This change is part of an update to the seat selection policy and has been effective starting 03 November 2025.

As I have checked, this information was published internally. The policies are subject to change anytime without any prior notice.

Response from Qatar customer service according to Reddit user lurker3212

The change apparently came into effect on November 3. This can also be verified through a test booking on the Qatar Airways website. In the first step of the booking process, it still shows that seat reservation is included:

But in the next step, charges are applied as soon as you select a seat. For example, on Frankfurt – Doha, each seat costs €95.37:

We assume that the booking channel does not matter, because award flights booked via e.g. BA Club are also issued in the same booking class U.

For paid Business Class tickets, there has long been a Light fare that includes neither lounge access nor seat selection. It remains to be seen how long lounge access for award flights will continue to be included.

Translated by Ditmar

Since 2023, China has been increasingly opening up to international tourism. What began with visa-free entry for citizens of five European countries was gradually expanded. In the meantime, the country can now be visited for up to 30 days (instead of 14) without a visa, and almost all European states are included (but still not the UK).

Most recently, December 2025 was communicated as the current expiration date of the regulation. Now, visa-free entry has officially been extended until December 2026. The rule now also applies to Swedish citizens.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is quoted as follows:

China has decided to extend visa-free policy to France and other countries to December 31, 2026. China has added Sweden to the visa-free scheme effective from November 10, 2025 to December 31, 2026

Nao Ming, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China according to gov.cn

Even though only France is mentioned, it can be assumed that the regulation will be extended to all of the European countries that had visa-free access in 2025. A corresponding confirmation can be found via the state news agency Xinhua:

On the same day, the Chinese foreign ministry announced that China will extend its unilateral visa-exemption arrangements for more than 40 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, to Dec. 31, 2026. The current visa-free policy for nationals of some of these countries runs until Dec. 31, 2025 before the extension.

China Focus: China widens visa-free access in latest opening-up move | english.news.cn

Accordingly, digital arrival cards are also to be introduced from November 20. So it is finally no longer necessary to squeeze all countries visited in the past two years into a single line with a ballpoint pen. Filling out the online form will still remain voluntary, with paper forms still available. Until now, there had only been a trial run for selected airports.

Visa-free entry should now be available to nationals of the following countries:

• Andorra
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Bahrain
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Iceland
• Italy
• Japan
• Kuwait
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Oman
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• Romania
• Saudi-Arabia
• Slovenia
• Slovakia
• Spain
• South Korea
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uruguay

All offers to China

Have you held back from booking flights for 2026 until now? Then take a look at the following deals:

The 10 Cheapest Voco Hotels in the World

In More Than 100 Luxury Hotels: 3-For-2 or 4-For-3 at Mandarin, Four Seasons, Raffles, Conrad & More

Shanghai, China: €1,376 China Southern Business Class from Madrid (Long Layovers)

Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi’An & More Chinese Cities: €744 Lufthansa Group Premium Economy from Oslo

Beijing, Shanghai, & Seoul: €455 Lufthansa Group Flights from Stockholm & Gothenburg (€519 With Luggage)

The Cheapest Marriott Hotels in the World

China: €659 Shanghai Airlines Non-Stop Premium Economy Flights from Budapest (With 2×23 Kg Luggage)

Ten Destinations in China: €428 China Eastern / Shanghai Airlines Flights from Budapest (With Luggage)

The Cheapest Accor Hotels Worldwide by Continent

China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan & More Asia: China Southern Flights from Madrid Starting at €396 (with Luggage)

Southeast Asia, China & More: €426 Shenzhen Airlines Flights from Barcelona (With 2×23 Kg Luggage)

Business Class to 20 Chinese Cities for €1,349 with Lufthansa & Air China from Norway

Shanghai & Hangzhou: £369 / €426 Hainan Airlines Flights from Manchester (with Luggage, Beijing Stopover Possible)

Xi’An, China: €1,459 Non-Stop Shanghai Airlines Business Class from Budapest

Shanghai & Nanjing: €740 China Southern Premium Economy from Amsterdam (With Luggage)

The Cheapest Hilton Hotels Worldwide

World of Hyatt: 500 Points for Staying at New Hotels

Which of the Six Disney Resorts Across the World Should You Visit?

The 30 Cheapest Ritz-Carlton Hotels Worldwide

Overview of All Raffles Hotels Worldwide

Until April 2025, it was a fixed rule that you need a business class ticket or international connection flight to access SkyTeam lounges before domestic journeys. It was a welcome surprise when members of the alliance changed that rule. Six months after the the initial 25 lounges opened their gates to SkyTeam Elite Plus status holders on domestic flights, the list has been expanded to more than seventy locations.

The document linked above shows all lounges, and can therefore be a little confusing. We have compiled a list that just includes affected airports, sorted by the hosting airline. New entries are printed bold.

Most Changes in China, Mexico & South Korea

As you can easily see from the distribution of our list, status holders on domestic itineraries in China, South Korea and Mexico benefit most from the latest changes. With China Eastern and Xiamen Air, two Chinese airlines have opened almost all of their domestic lounges to frequent flyers. This is good news, not only because of China’s extensive domestic flight network. From personal experience, the domestic lounges are often more enjoyable than their international counterparts.

The other two airlines opening up lounges on a large scale are Korean Air and Aeromexico. On the world’s busiest route (Seoul to Jeju), SkyTeam Elite Plus members can now enjoy lounge access in each direction. Outside entire airlines changing lounge access rules, the addition of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is noteworthy. Due to slow ground transport, air travel is important to Vietnam, and lounge access on domestic routes was previously possible only in Hanoi.

Delta SkyClubs Still Missing From the List

The most glaring omission from the list remains Delta Air Lines, but American travellers on domestic itineraries are in a special situation anyway. In most cases, not even business class tickets grant lounge access. Other members like Saudia limit lounge access to their hubs. Carriers like Taiwan’s China Airlines are missing because they simply don’t operate domestic flights.

While most frequent flyers will benefit from these rules in one way or another, there are two notable exceptions. Delta SkyMiles tier holders are denied lounge access on any domestic itinerary in the US, to both Delta and SkyTeam partner lounges. If you gained your SkyTeam status through Aerolíneas Argentinas, you still can’t access any SkyTeam lounge before a domestic flight.

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Lufthansa‘s loyalty program Miles&More is currently aiming to help members regain their status or reach a new one by the end of the year. Last week, the program announced a stunning promotion to buy points via CO2 compensations. This week, an e-mail to Miles&More members detailed an opportunity to earn bonus points. Affected are all flights operated by Miles&More member airlines to Canada, the USA and European business class flights.

All departures before December 31, 2025, will be rewarded with the following points:

• European Flights
  • Economy Class: 20 Points & Qualifying Points (no bonus)
  • Business Class: 60 Points & Qualifying Points (instead of 40)
• Flights to the USA & Canada
  • Economy Class: 80 Points & Qualifying Points (instead of 60)
  • Premium Economy: 100 Points & Qualifying Points (instead of 80)
  • Business Class: 250 Points & Qualifying Points (instead of 200)
  • First Class: 400 Points & Qualifying Points (instead of 300)

The bonus applies to both new and existing bookings. The only conditions are that you registered your Miles&More number during booking (so switching it later might not work out) and that your flight is operated by one of the following airlines:

• Air Dolomiti
• Austrian Airlines
• Brussels Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• Discover Airlines
• Eurowings
• ITA Airways
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Lufthansa City Airlines
• Luxair
• Swiss

There is no need to sign up for a promotion, the points are credited automatically. If you are wondering how close you are getting to a status with the extra points, let us refresh your memory:

• 650 Points & 325 Qualifying Points for the Frequent Traveller (= Star Alliance Silver)
• 2,000 Points & 1,000 Qualifying Points to become Senator (=Star Alliance Gold)
• 6,000 HON Circle Points to enter the HON Circle (can only be earned on Miles&More member Business or First Class tickets)

The promotion also applies to HON Circle points.

Bottom Line

The bonus points are a nice gift for people who have already bought tickets, or are planning on traveling anyway. We would not recommend buying tickets just because of the bonus, as the option to buy status points via Lufthansa’s CO2 compensation promotion is easier, most likely cheaper and less time-consuming.

Once again, Iceland loses a budget airline. After Wow Air ceased operations in 2019, history is now repeating itself with PLAY Airlines. The carrier only operated its first flight in 2021 and even had former Wow Air managers on board.

It had already become clear over the summer that the airline was struggling. The concept of transporting passengers from Europe via Iceland to North America was officially abandoned at that time. Now everything has happened very quickly.

As stated on the company’s website, flight operations have been suspended with immediate effect. A look at Flightradar24 shows, however, that the airline was still flying passengers this morning, including to Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

Consequences for Ticket Holders

Bankruptcy now seems unavoidable. Affected passengers theoretically have a right to rebooking, but they will have to file their claims with the insolvency administrator.

Anyone holding a ticket should instead try to get a refund through a credit card chargeback and then arrange an alternative flight themselves. Based on experience, this should work with all Visa and Mastercard credit cards, but not with American Express. More details here:

It is possible that other airlines, such as Icelandair, will offer rescue fares (discounted tickets for stranded passengers).

Translated by Ditmar

Since May 2024, Lufthansa has been flying with the new Allegris cabin. So far, it has only been available on the Airbus A350, serving numerous routes out of Munich. That is about to change. Lufthansa recently took delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner equipped with Allegris seats. This aircraft (without First Class) will be operated out of Frankfurt.

Today, Lufthansa announced additional routes on which the Allegris Dreamliners will be deployed this winter. However, there is one major limitation: due to ongoing certification issues, only 4 of the 28 Business Class seats will initially be available for booking.

Five Routes Announced from Frankfurt

Originally, the first aircraft was scheduled to fly from Frankfurt to Montreal. That plan has now changed, with Toronto becoming the first destination. Service will begin there in early October, with other routes to follow at the start of the winter schedule from late October:

• Frankfurt – Toronto (October 9 to 24, 2025)
• Frankfurt – Bogotá (from October 30, 2025)
• Frankfurt – Rio de Janeiro (from October 31, 2025)
• Frankfurt – Hyderabad (from November 2, 2025)
• Frankfurt – Austin (from December 2, 2025)

The Majority of Business Seats are Currently Blocked

In theory, the Boeing 787-9 offers 287 seats, divided as follows:

• 28 in Business Class
• 28 in Premium Economy
• 231 in Economy Class

However, most of the Business Class seats are still not certified. Only the four suites in the first row have received approval. This means Lufthansa can initially sell just four Business Class seats per flight. The seat map reflects this arrangement.

Some may wonder why Lufthansa is deploying the new aircraft now instead of waiting a few more months. The airline explains this on its website, citing crew training as the reason:

This is a strategic move: By introducing the Boeing 787-9 early – even with limited Business Class capacity – Lufthansa can train and certify a large number of cockpit crews on the new aircraft type.

Lufthansa Group for Business

According to Lufthansa, the airline expects to receive 10 Dreamliners with the Allegris cabin by the end of the year. By fall 2026, the fleet should number more than 20. At that point, the four-engine Airbus A340s will likely be retired.

Translated by Ditmar

The Alitalia successor ITA Airways left the SkyTeam alliance in spring 2025 and is expected to join the Star Alliance next year. A partnership with Miles&More already exists.

Now, a cooperation between ITA Airways and United Airlines has also been announced. Effective immediately, mutual mileage accrual is possible. In addition, ITA status customers may access United lounges on United flights, and vice versa.

Further benefits, such as free baggage and priority check-in, are expected to follow once ITA officially becomes a Star Alliance member (likely in 2026).

Mutual mileage accrual

When flying with ITA Airways, the following mileage credits apply starting yesterday (September 9), depending on booking class:

In addition to award miles, status miles (PQP) are also credited, which is rather unusual for a non-alliance partner. For tickets booked through United, the crediting of award and status miles is revenue-based as usual.

When flying with United, passengers can collect miles with ITA Volare. However, this is hardly worth mentioning since the program will be discontinued at the end of 2025, and it remains unclear what will happen with existing miles. Those interested in the accrual details can find the table on the ITA website.

Feel free to use our miles calculator to see how many miles you’d get for any route:

Lounge access

The following rules apply for lounge access:

• ITA Volare members with Premium or Executive status can access United Clubs on United Airlines flights (location overview). One guest is also allowed.
• United MileagePlus members with Gold, Platinum, 1K, or GS status may access ITA Airways lounges on all ITA flights (location overview). Presumably, one guest is allowed here as well.

More information is available in the ITA Airways FAQ or at United Airlines.

Source: LoyaltyLobby

Last year, Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines. Soon after, they announced that Hawaiian plans to join the Oneworld Alliance, and that Alaska and Hawaiian would use a joint frequent flyer program. Now, the airlines have released the framework for their new program, including the name Atmos Rewards. While it follows the footsteps of Alaska Mileage Plan in many cases, it introduces a few notable changes.

Reaching the Oneworld Emerald status has now been made a bit more difficult, but there are a few positive changes for members flying on Hawaiian flights or those who wish to earn their miles using a credit card.

Option to Choose between Distance or Spend-Based Miles

In the past years, many programs have changed the way they credit status miles from a distance-based approach to a spend-based approach. Atmos Rewards has decided to take a different approach: Let the member decide. Once a year, you get the choice between earning 5 points for each dollar you spend (excl. taxes) or continuing to earn points the old way, based on the distance you fly. There’s actually even a third option: getting a flat 500 points per segment – though this is probably only a good choice for people who exclusively fly very short segments.

There seems to be one negative change, though. As the third option is getting 500 points per segment, it seems logical that the minimum credit of 500 points will be removed if you choose to continue earning points by distance. This could make it more difficult for some members to reach their status.

These choices only apply to flights with Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian. Flights with partner airlines, booked through partner websites, will continue to earn based on the distance, including the 500 minimum points per segment.

Same Ruby & Sapphire Status Qualification, Tougher Emerald Qualification

Now that we covered how to earn status points, let’s take a look at how many you’ll need for each status. Starting next year, these are the new status names and requirements:

• MVP Atmos Silver (Oneworld Ruby): 20,000 status points
• MVP Gold Atmos Gold (Sapphire): 40,000 status points
• MVP Gold 75K Atmos Platinum (Emerald): 75,000 80,000 status points
• MVP Gold 100K Atmos Titanium (Emerald): 100,000 135,000 status points

As you can see, the Silver and Gold status remains untouched. Gold 75K is now renamed to Platinum and requires 5,000 more miles. The biggest change comes to the 100K status, as Titanium now requires 35% more miles than before. However, the Titanium status also comes with a very interesting new perk:

New Free Same-Day Global Upgrades for Titanium Members

Members of US-based frequent flyer programs will be familiar with the concept of frequent flyers being upgraded on the day of the flight, if there’s an available seat in a higher travel class. However, all programs only do this on domestic flights. Atmos Titanium members, however, will now be eligible for upgrades on all routes, even on long-haul flights. The catch: Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian have a relatively small long-haul network. Still, this is a very nice new perk for the program’s most loyal members.

The perk is announced as “starting in Spring 2026”. It’s thus possible that some exclusions may be worked in until then, such as excluding basic economy tickets. This, however, is all speculation at this point.

Free Upgrades on Hawaiian Flights Within North America

While the free global upgrades are limited to Titanium members, all members are eligible for free upgrades on all Hawaiian Flights within North America. Of course, the lower your status, the less likely you are to end up in First Class. However, the chances of getting a seat with extra legroom will definitely be higher. These upgrades will be confirmed at least 48 hours before departure, unless you booked a Saver fare (then it’s 2 hours – and unlikely).

Basically, this perk was already there for Alaska Airlines flights and has been extended to Hawaiian flights. While they’re not exactly life-changing on small island hopper flights within Hawaii, they can mean quite a relief for your legs on Hawaiian’s flights to the continental USA:

Communities for Members

The program is also introducing a new concept, called communities. Members can subscribe to one of 6 communities to receive offers and perks that suit them best:

For Europeans, the “Global Locals” community seems like a wise choice, though we currently have absolutely no idea what exactly these communities will offer. Members can switch communities once every 365 days and have to actively join one.

Earn Uncapped Status Points with Atmos Credit Cards

Alaska Airlines also used this rebranding opportunity to roll out new credit cards. We won’t get into much detail as it’s not available to our European readers, but basically, from next year, you can earn unlimited status points by spending money with an Atmos credit card, earning a status point for every $1-3 spent, depending on the credit card you select. There are three different cards: Ascent Visa Signature for $95/year, Summit Visa Infinite for $395/year, and a business card for $70 per business and $25 per card. They offer different benefits, ranging from free checked bags to waived partner booking fees and lounge passes.

The End of HawaiianMiles

While Mileage Plan gets to live on through Atmos Rewards, HawaiianMiles will cease to exist on October 1, 2025. If you have a HawaiianMiles account, make sure to link it with Atmos Rewards before September 25, through this link. Miles will be converted at a 1:1 ratio.

Conclusion

Alaska Airlines made many changes to its programs at the beginning of this year, especially to the number of miles you’ll earn on flights with partner airlines. Those changes made the program rather unattractive to Europeans. Now they’re changing their program again, extending benefits to Hawaiian flights and giving a unique global upgrade perk to its most loyal members. However, reaching a status seems to be as difficult as before for Europeans. Thus, Atmos may be a pretty good program for people living on the US West Coast, but for Europeans, it remains a niche program.

Vietnam is currently gaining among popularity among international travellers. The country’s beautiful beaches, low prices and flavourful cuisine make it a favourite among our editors and readers alike. There are good news for those who were interested in going, but wanted to avoid the hassle of getting a visa. Starting August 15, 2025, members of twelve European countries can enter the country without additional measures for 45 days after arriving at the airport.

Passport holders of these twelve countries will enjoy visa-free entry:

• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Hungary
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Switzerland 

These are joining Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belarus on the list of European countries who were already granted visa-free entry to the South-East Asian country. The exemption rule is set to last at least three years, with visa-free entry ending in August 2028 for citizens of Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic.

We currently offer the following deals to Vietnam:

• Fifth Freedom Flights: €108 Emirates Roundtrips between Bangkok and Da Nang, Vietnam (With Luggage)
• Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines: €444 China Eastern Flights from Milan & Rome (With Luggage)
• Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia & More: €375 Scoot Flights from Athens (€501 with Luggage)
• China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan & More Asia: China Southern Flights from Madrid Starting at €396 (with Luggage)
• Southeast Asia, China & More: €426 Shenzhen Airlines Flights from Barcelona (With 2×23 Kg Luggage)
• Round the World: Three Example Routings, Starting at €924 (Separate Tickets; €1,081 with Checked Luggage)

SAS Scandinavian Airlines and the hotel chain Scandic entered into a partnership last year designed to benefit customers of both companies. The cooperation bore its first fruit at the end of April when a status match was announced: members holding frequent flyer status with SAS now receive perks when staying at Scandic hotels, and vice versa.

At that time, it was also announced that starting in June, members would be able to transfer bonus points between the two programs. That deadline passed without further news—but now, it’s finally here. From now on, points can be transferred between the two programs. The exchange rate is:

1 EuroBonus point = 2 Scandic points

You can initiate the transfer via the following link:

Redeeming Scandic Points

Thanks to the exchange rate, the transfer could be worthwhile for EuroBonus frequent flyers who’ve accumulated a lot of points. Free nights at Scandic theoretically start at 10,000 points (= 5,000 EuroBonus points) per night.

As the redemption chart shows, there are very few options for 10,000 Scandic points, but more at 15,000 or 20,000. In addition, there are regular time-limited discount promotions.

Free nights are also subject to availability quotas. While there is theoretically a Scandic Go (without breakfast) in Stockholm for 10,000 points, we were unable to find any availability in sample searches. You can check availability by selecting the corresponding filter in the hotel search:

In Luleå (northern Sweden), there are at least a few dates at the advertised price:

Redeeming Eurobonus Points

For those who’ve accumulated their fair share of Scandic points, a transfer to Eurobonus can also make sense. Flights within Scandinavia (including remote destinations like Svalbard and the Faroe Islands) start at 5,000 Eurobonus points (= 10,000 Scandic points) and business class flights to North America start at 50,000 Eurobonus points (= 100,000 Scandic points).

Here’s an overview of the best Eurobonus sweet spots:

Source: Flyertalk

Air Canada Aeroplan isn’t a frequent flyer program we at Travel-Dealz report on very often—and that’s not likely to change. The program has announced significant changes, making it even less attractive for readers based in Europe.

These changes will apply to all flights from January 1, 2026. From then on, award miles for all flights with Air Canada will be awarded based on the ticket price, not flight distance. At the same time, the system for earning status is changing, with much higher spending requirements on Air Canada.

Up to 84% Fewer Award Miles for Air Canada Tickets (Revenue-Based)

Currently, mileage earning for Air Canada flights depends on the distance flown and the fare class. Between 10% (for domestic Basic Economy) and 150% (for Business Class) of the flight distance is credited as miles.

In the future, the number of miles earned will be based solely on the ticket price. As a rule, there will be 1 mile per CA$1 (~€1) of base fare. With Aeroplan status, you’ll earn more—between 2 and 6 award miles per CA$. In other words, it makes no difference whether you’re flying from Frankfurt to Toronto or from Toronto to Halifax—if the ticket costs the same, the miles earned will be the same. More details are available on Air Canada’s website.

This applies to all flights operated by Air Canada, regardless of which airline issued the ticket. It also applies to flights on Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Austrian, Copa, and United, if ticketed by Air Canada. For all other Star Alliance flights, no changes (yet).

Here are three examples of Air Canada flights, based on current round-trip fares:

• Example 1: Frankfurt – Vancouver in Economy Basic (€535, incl. €165 taxes):
  • Previously: 2,505 miles (10,020 mi × 0.25)
  • New – No status: 593 miles (593 CA$ × 1)
  • New – Aeroplan 25K: 1,186 miles (593 CA$ × 2)
  • New – Aeroplan 50K: 2,372 miles (593 CA$ × 4)
  • New – Aeroplan SE¹: 3,558 miles (593 CA$ × 6)

¹ Aeroplan SE = Aeroplan Super Elite (highest status)

• Example 2: Frankfurt – Vancouver in Economy Standard (670€, incl. 165€ taxes):
  • Previously: 5,010 miles (10,020 mi × 0.5)
  • New – No status: 809 miles (809 CA$ × 1)
  • New – Aeroplan 25K: 1,618 miles (809 CA$ × 2)
  • New – Aeroplan 50K: 3,236 miles (809 CA$ × 4)
  • New – Aeroplan SE: 4,854 miles (809 CA$ × 6)
• Example 3: Frankfurt – Toronto – New York in Business Lowest (2,199€, incl. 196€ taxes):
  • Previously: 12,857 miles (8,578 mi × 1.5)
  • New – No status: 3,373 miles (3,373 CA$ × 1)
  • New – Aeroplan 25K: 6,746 miles (3,373 CA$ × 2)
  • New – Aeroplan 50K: 13,492 miles (3,373 CA$ × 4)
  • New – Aeroplan SE: 20,238 miles (3,373 CA$ × 6)

For European members who often fly long distances on relatively cheap tickets, this new system is clearly a disadvantage. Only those with Aeroplan 50K status (equivalent to Star Alliance Gold) or higher might earn miles similar to before. But earning that status is also about to get harder:

New System for Earning Frequent Flyer Status

Currently, Aeroplan status qualification is quite complex. It requires a certain number of segments (SQS) or distance-based miles (SQM), plus a minimum spend on Air Canada flights (SQD). Depending on the status, this ranges from CA$3,000 (~€1,851) to CA$20,000 (~€12,342). Only the 25K status can be earned without flying.

Going forward, the system will be completely overhauled. The only thing that matters will be Status Qualifying Credits (SQC). You’ll need:

• Aeroplan 25K: 25,000 SQC
• Aeroplan 35K: 35,000 SQC
• Aeroplan 50K: 50,000 SQC (= Star Alliance Gold)
• Aeroplan 75K: 75,000 SQC
• Aeroplan Super Elite: 125,000 SQC

Ways to earn SQC include:

• Air Canada Economy Basic: 0 SQC
• Air Canada Economy Standard & higher: 2 SQC per CA$
• Air Canada Economy Flex & Business: 4 SQC per CA$
• Star Alliance flights: 1 SQC per 5 award miles²
• Air Canada Vacations bookings: 1 SQC per CA$
• Shopping partners (Uber, Marriott, etc.): 1 SQC per 5 award miles²
• Aeroplan credit card: 1,000 SQC per CA$5,000 in spend²

² capped at 25,000 SQC per calendar year

Just like for award miles, only the base fare in Canadian dollars counts, excluding “real” taxes. Fuel surcharges do count toward the fare. The table from Air Canada provides more details on how SQCs are awarded depending on the ticketing airline.

SQC from Air Canada, Star Alliance & Partners

As mentioned, you can earn a maximum of 25,000 SQC per year from Star Alliance partners. But even that is difficult. A round-trip Frankfurt–San Francisco on United in Business Class would yield 17,000 miles = 3,400 SQC.

To reach Aeroplan 50K (Star Alliance Gold), you’d need:

• 7 United Business Class round-trips to San Francisco
  and
• Air Canada tickets worth CA$12,500 (= ~€7,800) or CA$6,250, depending on fare class
  (Economy Basic tickets are completely excluded)

Flying with Star Alliance is no longer worthwhile

If you fly only with Air Canada, you’d need to spend CA$12,500 (~€7,714) to CA$25,000 (~€15,428) (Basic fares excluded). That might be achievable for a business traveller flying in Business Class, but for leisure travellers, it’s nearly impossible.

Previously, just 3 United Business round-trips to San Francisco and CA$6,000 (~€3,703) in spend with Air Canada sufficed. And even that wasn’t easy. Other options like Uber rides or credit card spending are hardly relevant for Europeans. So, earning meaningful status from Europe is becoming virtually impossible.

Conclusion

From a European perspective, Aeroplan was once a relatively attractive program for earning and redeeming miles. But now, with strict spending requirements on Air Canada, frequent flyer status is hardly worth pursuing.

Going forward, it will become even harder—almost impossible—for Europeans to achieve any meaningful status. And that, in turn, negatively impacts the number of award miles earned on Air Canada. Without status, you’ll only get about 1.6 miles per euro spent, which is lower than almost any other program.

For members in Canada or the U.S. who can earn miles through credit cards, Uber, shopping, etc., the new system may still have some appeal. But for Europeans, Aeroplan is effectively dead from 2026 onward. United MileagePlus, American AAdvantage, and Delta SkyMiles have all taken similar steps in recent years—but none quite as drastic as this.

Translated by Ditmar