Hilton Surpass Card Changes

I was disappointed to see that Hilton and American Express are making changes to several products including the Surpass card - I've been using this card over the last few years for multiple stays when needed and the benefits overall have been excellent.  However, the upcoming changes are not favorable in my opinion.

Business Insider has the update here.

Annual fee increase to $150 (from $95)

Priority Pass Lounge access no longer available

4x bonus points on Online Retail Purchases in the US

$50 Quarterly statement credits on Hilton purchases

Complimentary National Car Rental Emerald Club Exec status

While adding some bonus categories seems positive, it assumes multiple stays at Hilton properties.  Since my stay pattern has drastically decreased, this won't be much of an offset.  

Overall I don't see these changes to warrant the increase in annual fee, and I'll likely be canceling this card in the next year.

November 2023 travel

November is here!  I'm looking forward to another fun month of having trips scheduled.  

Thankfully I have an additional day off which means I will be flying back to WI for a weekend to be at home.  Hunting may be on the schedule!

And our annual Thanksgiving trip is also planned and ready - the itinerary map looks something like this courtesy of gcmap:

More info to come!

Updated Star Alliance Airline list

It's been a while since I challenged myself to see whether I could fly on most, if not all, Star Alliance airlines.  I've made some progress though I still have a ways to go!

Here's my updated list:

• 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

Adria ceased operations some years ago and SAS just announced they would likely be leaving Star Alliance for OneWorld.  I'm hoping to have more opportunities to fly on these partners soon.  

New United Promotion In-App

I was surprised to discover a new United promotion in-app this week while I was reviewing upcoming trip details.  A banner appeared with information about fall travel and the ability to earn up to 50,000 bonus miles on flights to Europe in economy:

Bonus miles are awarded at 5x the fare in addition your regular miles earned by status - meaning a 1K earning 11x miles will actually earn 16x miles for the flights.  That's a nice bonus!

Curiously the only cities noted for this promotion are London, Amsterdam, and Paris - maybe there are low travel trends to those cities?

The promotion expires 12/13/23. 

Review: Plaza Premium Lounge YVR

During my return to the US from the International Leadership Association Global Conference in Vancouver, I had the opportunity to visit the Plaza Premium Lounge located in the International Terminal at YVR airport.  Unfortunately there are no United Club's, and the only Star Alliance Lounge was for Air Canada at some distance from my assigned gate.  

The Plaza Premium Lounge is accessible via Priority Pass - if you already have a membership, have your card ready to scan.  

The lounge is not large and was quite busy when I arrived.  Near departure it was almost standing room only.  Both hot/cold food options are available - they ran out of the hot food and plates at one point and some patiently waited for the refresh.

  

There are not many restrooms in this lounge - additional locations are near the gates.  

This was a serviceable lounge prior to departure, though I wouldn't recommend a long stay.