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| New routes to look forward to |
| by Brian Kelly |
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Greetings from sunny Mykonos, Greece! I’m on vacation this week but didn’t want to miss the chance to update you on all the latest travel news.
First, American Express threw cardholders for a loop on Thursday when news dropped that the annual authorized user fee on The Platinum Card® from American Express would be raised from $175 total for three cards to $195 for each card (see rates and fees)!
For those of us that have three authorized users on our accounts, that adds $585 on top of the annual $695 fee (see rates and fees). Depending on how much your authorized users travel and take advantage of the Centurion Lounge benefits, it might not make sense to pay for the individual cards moving forward. Instead, you may find it better to pay a lounge fee when needed.
There were also a few exciting new airline routes announced this week, so I’ll highlight some I’m really excited about. After a summer full of international demand — especially to Europe — it’s good to see some new airlift, but the legacy domestic carriers have also been adding increased service to the South Pacific and Latin America to meet consumer demands.
Air France
Delta Air Lines will stop flying from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, and Air France will pick up the route on a 279-seat Boeing 787 starting Oct. 30. RDU says it’s the first time that a Dreamliner will fly regular international service from the airport, and it will give local travelers a chance to try out service on Air France right from North Carolina.
American Airlines
Starting in December, American Airlines will have increased service on 23 routes to the Caribbean and Latin America for winter travelers. Additionally, the carrier also just announced this week that it’s adding three new European destinations from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) — Copenhagen; Nice, France; and Naples, Italy — beginning in spring 2024.
American — and a few other airlines — have sights set on Cancun, Mexico, too. American announced nonstop service from Pittsburgh, giving it a total of 18 nonstop Cancun routes from the U.S. Other new departures include Nashville and Cincinnati.
There are also eight new routes from Miami this winter: seven domestic routes and one international route to Governor’s Harbour in the Bahamas.
Delta Air Lines
Starting in October, Delta is expanding its reach in Latin America with its LATAM joint venture partnership. New routes include Miami to Medellin, Colombia, on Oct. 29. This new daily service will be operated by an Airbus A320 and will compete against existing flights operated by American Airlines and Avianca.
Also on Oct. 29, LATAM will start flying to Delta’s Atlanta megahub with its first route to Lima, Peru, operated by a Boeing 767. This flight will operate three times each week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
United Airlines
As Zach Griff reported in April, United Airlines announced the largest expansion between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand in aviation history, one that includes six new and upgraded routes. Among those is United’s first-ever direct service to Christchurch, New Zealand, which begins Dec. 1 from San Francisco three times per week.
United is also anticipating a busy winter season to Cancun and will fly its wide-body, 364-seat Boeing 777-200s from Chicago, Denver and Houston. The flights will operate daily through March 30, 2024.
With so many great new flight options, there are bound to be some great points and miles redemption opportunities to search for and book. While airfares moving forward are forecasted to be lower than this past summer, overall pricing still remains higher than pre-coronavirus pandemic levels — especially on international flights.
The TPG team is already recommending you start booking summer 2024 trips now. This is when points and miles are super valuable — because of the flexibility. If you lock in a great redemption now, you’ve likely saved yourself thousands of dollars over cash fares. Plus, if you need to cancel or change your plans, award miles can be redeposited into your account.
Have a great weekend,
BK
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
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| Photo Credit: WYATT SMITH/THE POINTS GUY. |
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