News and notes from around the interweb:
- Emirates first class loads are down by 50% amidst the Iran war. That’s actually great news for using points, since Emirates actually makes first class upgrades easy you can even upgrade an award ticket and every empty seat is available for upgrade at the airport (and even onboard).
- 30% bonus on transfers from Chase to Virgin Atlantic through July 7.
- “Service dog” here’s a reminder that if their owner speaks to them in baby talk, the animals rest on pillows, or they’re part of a photo shoot in the aircraft window then they are not a service animal.
- Which one of you thinks this is okay?
I’ve seen a lot of things in first but this is a first for me
by
u/Ashamed_Shake2914 in
delta - 330 free Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus miles for updating your profile (HT: Frequent Flyer Bonuses) reminds me of when you used to get free Hilton points twice per quarter for updating your email address, so I’d swap email addresses back and forth twice at the beginning of each quarter.
- Southwest charges for this now. They can no longer take over half an hour to deliver bags, or damage them, and shrug “well it’s free.”
Thanks @SouthwestAir pic.twitter.com/nVkr2w1Gsw
— FredySpaghettie (@Fredward40handz) June 9, 2026
Huh… wonder why demand has dropped… a real ‘thinker’ this one…
#47 Campaign, 2024: “I will not send you to fight and die in stupid foreign wars that never end.”
#47 Victory Speech, 2024: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
2026… Just… “two-more-weeks!”
” Emirates actually makes first class upgrades easy you can even upgrade an award ticket and every empty seat is available for upgrade at the airport (and even onboard).”
Not true if you are under nine years old!
@ECR12 — Good catch. A sad day when 8-year-olds can’t enjoy their caviar and a refreshing shower aboard EK’s luxurious a380. /s
I would take Etihads A380 F class anyway. Less bling, but more luxurious. And better lounge at AUH
That being said, woudln’t fly through the UAE or Qatar right now. Not concerned about being shot down, but would be annoying to be stuck for 2-3 days in JUne heat.
If this war prolongs that demand is falling further.
Realistically the chance anyone is stupid enough to hit a commercial liner is next to none. But who wants to take a chance.
@Jon F — 100%. Not worth it for EK, EY, QR, or any others. (One person was killed and at least 63 others were wounded when an Iranian drone struck Terminal 1 at Kuwait International Airport.)
@BBT – Whether or not they are targeting a commercial airliner, its pretty hard to argue there is zero risk of accidents when missiles and planes share the same airspace. Russia did it twice in recent years…. in 2014 (MH17) and 2024 (J2 8243).
The Iranians are not stupid but are crazy. And if the airport is targeted, you may be also.
We had booked 2 business class seats on Emirates in late April: JFK to MXP. In early March I was exploring the website just to see if I could figure out where an upgrade MIGHT show up, and stunningly the upgrade was already there. Since I was short the 39,000 points pp for the upgrade, I transferred as many as I could and then called Emirates to buy the extras.
At that point the agent seemed puzzled. She said, “Why are you buying points? You have 62,000 points in your account.” I said I needed 78,000. She said no. “The upgrade price is 30,000 points.” I said, “Each, right?” She said “No. 30,000 for both.”
So I scored an upgrade from business to first for 15,000 points pp.
I attributed that to the drop in first class demand because of the Mid-East situation.
My problem is now my husband and I are ruined! I mean, he complained bitterly coming home business class on Air France. Gee.
Finding a lot of good redemptions on Emirates lately, as low as 105K points to India/Asia, but the fees are still just absurdly high (~$1200-$1500 each way). I’m still happy to fly through Dubai, but they have to sweeten the deal a bit.
@Mak — Those ‘fees’ are nothing new. 105K points to India/Asia depends, like, in J? One way?