United Airlines’ loyalty program changes, 3 upcoming Amex airport lounges and my first award flight redemption
The Point of It All: A weekly recap of all things in TPGLand
This week I did something personally monumental: I booked my very first award flight! I made the jump to The Points Guy in 2025 with nearly a decade of digital media and journalism experience and a gigantic urge to not only understand but utilize points and miles. Here we are, a few weeks short of my first work-iversary, and I’ve taken my learnings and put them into action.
Unfortunately, I cannot spill all of the details here as the flight is part of something I’ve dubbed “Operation Birthday Surprise.” However, here is what I can tell you:
I booked a one-way American Airlines flight for 7,500 Atmos Rewards points (plus $18 in taxes and fees) from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to my hometown. This flight would have been $184 if I paid in cash, which is much higher than what I usually see, likely due to rising oil prices.
This was possible because American Airlines and Alaska Airlines are both part of the Oneworld alliance, which means you can book partner award flights via partner airlines.
I used the website Seats.aero to find the award flight, and it made me feel like an absolute genius. (It’s one of our fave award flight finders at TPG!)
At this point, I still need to decide how I’m returning to New York, but I’ve decided that’s a problem for future Annie.
In other loyalty news, United Airlines made some pretty major changes to its MileagePlus program. Most of it has to do with how many miles you can earn, which, unfortunately, makes being a MileagePlus member less fun if you don’t have one of its credit cards. To me, it feels like the airline is saying, “Sure, we love you! But we’d love you a lot more if you had one of our more elite credit cards.”
Southwest Airlines also recently changed up some of its new policies. I’ve yet to fly on Southwest since the assigned-seats change, but most of the online chatter I hear makes me think the airline is in the midst of some growing pains as customers get used to the policy revamps. Sending them good vibes. Change is hard!
Finally, several new lounges were announced last week, most of them from American Express.
Amex is headed to China for its first lounge on the mainland, a 1,572-square-foot spot at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). (That might sound a bit small, but it’s roughly three times the size of my one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. It sounds spacious to me!)
Amex is also adding a presence in Boston with a Centurion Lounge due in 2029, opening a Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) in 2027, and remodeling its current Centurion Lounge at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) — expect that one to be done in 2027. Busy times ahead for the Amex lounge teams!
Until next time, this has been The Point of It All. Have a fantastic beginning to your week!
P.S. Are you looking for guidance on how to start your points and miles journey? Or have a question you just need to ask? Join us for free “office hours” in the Talking Points chat April 7 and 9 (must be a subscriber), and TPG experts will help answer your questions.
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Dragon-like, I hoard my miles and points. My first rewards flight was round-trip from the US to Rome first class/Delta One. I actually preferred ITA's business class over D1, especially the pre-suite version of D1.