Hyatt Award Chart Updates and Property Changes

Hyatt is making changes to their award charts and we finally have news about which properties are changing categories.  The list is here: https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/rewards/award-chart-updates.html

Thankfully I'm not seeing any changes for the places I typically stay!

 

JetBlue Updating Boarding Groups

I wasn't expecting to receive this update - they are moving from letters to numbers and still have 8 groups:

We always like to give our Mosaic members first dibs, and want to let you know that starting next week (April 29), we’re introducing a simplified boarding process. All boarding groups will be numbered (Groups 1–8)—with Mosaic 3 & 4 in Group 1, and Mosaic 1 & 2 in Group 2 (both Groups 1 & 2 board through a dedicated lane).

Following is the new boarding order:

• Group 1: Mosaic 3 & 4 members, Mint customers
• Group 2: Mosaic 1 & 2 members, EvenMore® customers
• Group 3: JetBlue Premier Card Cardmembers, JetBlue Business Cardmembers. Blue Extra fares, Early Boarding Perks You Pick® (excluding Blue Basic fares)
• Courtesy Boarding: Active military, Customers traveling with car seats or strollers
• Group 4: JetBlue Vacations customers and general boarding based on seat location
• Groups 5 - 8: General boarding based on seat location

United in the news

I'm always watching for relevant airline updates and the past bunch of days were significant for United:

-Scott Kirby alludes to a merger with American Airlines

-United possibly rolls out free Wifi across their fleet, then clarifies it's not free! (via Live and Let's Fly)

-Will Jetblue merge with United (or other airlines)?

Many of these would have impacts for travelers!

My Star Alliance Goal - Update

Some time ago I challenged myself to see whether I might be able to fly on all Star Alliance airlines.  This has been an ongoing goal though not specifically a priority given my change in travel patterns over the last few years.  Crossing 1M miles this year was a special milestone! 

However, I was able to add a new airline to the list after flying Singapore Airlines for the first time last week:

• Aegean Airlines A3
• Air Canada AC
• Air China CA
• Air India
• Air New Zealand NZ
• ANA NH
• Asiana Airlines OZ
• Austrian OS
• Avianca AV, TACA Airlines TA
• Brussels Airlines 
• Copa Airlines CM
• Croatia Airlines OU
• EGYPTAIR MS
• Ethiopian Airlines ET
• EVA Air
• LOT Polish Airlines LO
• Lufthansa LH
• Scandinavian Airlines SK
• Shenzhen Airlines ZH
• Singapore Airlines SQ
• South African Airways SA
• Swiss LX
• TAP Portugal TP
• THAI TG
• Turkish Airlines TK
• United UA

The project continues!

Statement from United on Travel

United published a message late in the week from CEO Scott Kirby about the state of operations and fuel costs - it's an interesting read:

https://www.united.com/en/us/newsroom/announcements/cision-125448

I'll be curious to see how flight prices adjust in the upcoming weeks.