Delta Skymiles Change: The Strategy Behind the Shift

After six years and millions of hours of labor, Delta Air Lines has officially completed the last phase of its $2.3 billion overhaul effort at Los Angeles International Airport.

As the summer travel season comes to a close, one airline is giving travelers a reason to start planning next summer's vacation. Delta Air Lines announced it will be operating its largest trans-Atlantic flight schedule ever, debuting just in time for summer 2024. The airline will be adding new destinations including Naples and bringing back service to Shannon, Ireland.  According to Delta, next summer it will operate 260 weekly flights to 18 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). This includes a new flight from JFK to Munich three times a week that will start on April 9, 2024, and a daily nonstop flight to Shannon, Ireland that will begin on May 23, 2024. The carrier will expand its existing service to Italy — it already flies to Milan, Venice, and Rome — with a new daily service to Naples. It will also resume service between Atlanta and Zurich, Switzerland, four times a week, which had originally been cut in 2019. 

I’m trying to master the downward dog when a flamingo trots past. The bird stands on the edge of my mat as I eye it from my upside down position. Puffing up its fuchsia feathers, it bends over effortlessly, its beak touching the ground, as if to prove its superior flexibility. Welcome to yoga, Bahamas-style.

Travelers to Singapore’s Changi Airport soon won’t need to show their passports to leave the country as the popular airport looks to implement biometrics throughout the immigration and boarding process.

Using foreign money wisely requires understanding the going exchange rate with the U. S. dollar and practicing the following strategies to avoid excessive fees.

Editor'' note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

Stretching along an island in the St Lawrence River, Montréal has a complicated soul thanks to its blend of French and English heritage. You can explore this dichotomy and much more – art, music, dining – in its diverse neighborhoods. 

It’s been ten days since Hawaii’s governor announced that West Maui would reopen to tourists on October 8th, but the debate seems to just be heating up now.

One of the fruits of getting on a train is that it makes me want to chat. So instead of gazing at Kent as we proceed to Paris from London, I talk to my neighbour. Martha grew up in San Francisco, studied in Oregon, and puts syrup on everything. When we part ways on the concourse of Gare du Nord – she to lunch with a friend from Wisconsin, me to amble around before continuing towards Turkey – she says the best things about the US are Taylor Swift and meatloaf. It’s good to talk.

I typically refrain from commenting on ebbs and flows of loyalty and frequent flyer programs. Why? It’s somewhat uninteresting. My perspective is there will be a never-ending shift towards optimization, goosing revenue, and a focus on quarterly results by travel companies.

Two years ago, I took a daytrip from Boston to Los Angeles to hit AAdvantage Platinum Pro frequent flyer status on American Airlines. The status I earned on that trip went along with two other airline elite status levels I also held at the time: Delta Air Lines Platinum Medallion and United Airlines Premier Gold (I hit the higher Premier Platinum tier the following year).

The way passengers earn status for Delta Air Lines is about to change.